50 Words

Stimulus, Stimuli

Thrifty Words Theme Challenge #17: Stimulus

Every morning I wake up my brain by having coffee, smoking a cigarette, and reading the news. I shouldn’t say every morning. For the past four years, if the news cycle has been too overwhelming, I take a news hiatus. But these last few weeks I’ve been able to read the news without becoming negatively stimulated.

This morning I read two articles that have informed this week’s theme challenge. At first glance, it seems an easy one. Look deeper.

The first article I read was about the health benefits and possible negative effects of coffee, my current stimulant of choice. I haven’t always used coffee to stimulate my mind and body. For several years I used meth instead.

As I was sipping my coffee I also read about the U.S. Government’s new stimulus package. The four leaders of the House and the Senate have finally agreed on a stimulus package. $600.00 per person with another 600 for each child. It won’t be enough. It won’t even be enough to cover my credit card payment for one month.

My family has been buying groceries on credit. Normal groceries. Not, like, lobster and caviar, cost us between $150 — $200 per week. You do the math. And then there’s the car insurance and phone bill, and last but by far the least, the gas bill to heat our home and cook our food.

We ran out of propane Saturday night. So, I’m sitting here in 18, 987, 693 layers of clothing typing with very cold hands.

The cold is stimulating, at least.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Stimulus or stimulation can mean so many things and have so many connotations. When my inner child, who is a 12-year-old boy, hears “stimulation” my mind immediately goes to Sexy Town. The much older addict me thinks of chemical stimulation. The anxiety-ridden me thinks of the stress-inducing over-stimulation of busy traffic at night in a construction zone or a casino. Then, there’s the IQ stimulation of thought exercises. Is the cat dead or alive or what, Mr. Schrodinger? Brain stimulation in the form of puzzles and video games to stave off Alzheimer’s. Stimulating discourse. Jumper cables attached to body parts and a car battery to stimulate confessions. An economic package. A screaming child in the grocery store or a game of frisbee in the park. A theme challenge writing prompt.

Stimulus: 50 words. Go!

Before I send you to the submission guidelines, I have a request. TBI loves to promote our writers. If you would like your 50 Word stories pushed like inner-city heroin, please leave your social media handles at the bottom of your piece. Feel free to follow us on Twitter @TheBadInfluenc7. Follow the editors of Thrifty Words Theme Challenge, Jonica Bradley and Marla Bishop on Twitter here @lynn_jonica and @tulipchickuk.

50 words Submission Guidelines

Remember, in order to be considered for the challenge, you need to write exactly fifty words (contractions such as ‘you’ll’ and ‘y’all’ count as one, as do articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ ‘and all 23 auxiliary verbs ‘am’ ‘is’ ‘are’ etc. Hyphenated words count as one word.)

Please use the kicker 50 WORDS and ‘Thrifty Words Challenge #17: Stimulus’ as your subtitle and submit by 12 pm EST / 5 pm GMT on Friday, 25 December. All stories submitted by the deadline will be released the following morning at 6 am EST / 11 am GMT.

A reminder: we will only publish one story per author to the roundup. If you submit more than one story, it is most likely that the first story submitted will be chosen for the roundup. You may submit 50 Word stories outside of the theme challenge anytime. They will be published in the Thrifty Words section but not included in the theme challenge roundup.