DP Daily Prompt: Why, Thank You?

What’s the best (or rather ,worst ) backhanded compliment you ever received? If you can’t think of any—when’s the last time someone paid you a compliment you actually didn’t deserve?

When I first came to Montreal, my husband invited his friends to dinner. My husband was unaware of my cooking skills, he therefore cooked everything himself.

His friends enjoyed the food, before they left, they said, “thank you for the excellent food, you are such a good cook.”

I felt very uncomfortable I knew I did not cook anything, I replied, “thank you, but my husband cooked everything!”

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/dp-daily-prompt-6/

Fiction

One warm sunny day Pat and his friend Jim made plans to take a  trip by car to the island of Newfoundland.

Their intention was to stop overnight in a few places along the way, to do that they needed some help to see which route is the best.

Jim volunteered to map out the route, he said the best way to do it from Montreal, where they lived is start from Montreal, drive to Quebec city, have lunch there, from there continue driving until they reach Fundy National park in New Brunswick, stay overnight in a motel.

Pat drove and Jim helped with the route, they’d stop in Sydney Nova Scotia from where they’d take the ferry to Port aux basques, Newfoundland.

Pat was happy, they set off , to their destination, they loved Quebec city, they thought it felt like they were in Europe, from there they drove on to Fundy park ,spent a night, moved on the next day to Sydney, Nova Scotia, they took the ferry in the evening, reached Newfoundland in a few hours, They got off the ferry and drove to St. John’s, and reached the capital of Newfoundland in ten hours, They checked in at a hotel and planned to see the city, next day.

 

365 Writing Prompts: Never Again

Have you ever gone to a new place or tried a new experience and thought to yourself,”I’m never doing that again!” Tell us about it.

I never regretted being in a new place, it was always a place where I could learn a lot from. The place was Montreal, Canada. I was lucky to find a friend instantly. She and I took long walks daily. It was August, sun shone every day, we were two friends enjoying the beauty of nature.

Then came November the skies looked cloudy and threatening, on one of those days I had the opportunity of witnessing a snowstorm, it was intense, I never saw snow before,how could I, I came from Dhaka, we have monsoon season but not snow. I was not prepared for it.

That day I was wearing sandals, sari and unaware that I’d be stuck in a storm, not rain but snow. I went to the bus stop to catch the bus home, but the buses stopped running , I called a cab, they refused because I lived in a part of the city where all kinds of transportation had to stop because it was too dangerous.

This was my introduction to snow, I heard in the winter time skating is the most popular sport. My husband took me to Mount Royal, he learned  to skate, to him ‘hey it’s easy you’ll learn it instantly all you need is a pair of skates, and a warm jacket and a pair of pants.”

I cannot recall what I thought of it, I certainly agreed to try, I kept falling down, every ten minutes I complained I was cold, I needed hot chocolate to warm me up. I don’t know how many cups of hot chocolate I consumed but I did not learn to skate.

Fast forward I was in a new place once again, this time I was a teacher in an elementary school. Here in the winter time the kids go  skating once a week, oh joy I thought to myself I couldn’t learn to skate in Montreal, what are the realistic chances of me learning it here, none, nada, but I tried. I finally accepted the fact  I’ll never learn this skill so it’s better to call it quits!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/365-writing-pr…ts-never-again/

DP Daily Prompt: Road Tripping

‘Tis the season for road trips– if time and money were out of the equation, what car -based adventure would you go on?( if you don’t or can’t drive, any land based journey counts.

I’d love to take a road trip to Montreal, I know from St.John’s to Port aux Basques will take at least ten hours by car, we’d have to get a ferry from there to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. From North Sydney we’d drive to New Brunswick, we have to stop overnight in a motel. Early morning after breakfast we’d drive as far as Quebec City. We will stay overnight in a hotel or motel near the highway. From Quebec City we’d take the highway to the city of Montreal. We’d stay in the same apartment we stayed the last two years.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/26/dp-daily-prompt-road-tripping/

DP Daily Prompt : Offside Memories

Team USA is playing today in the soccer world cup in Brazil. Do you have any funny/harrowing/interesting memories from a sporting event you attended, participated in, or watched?

Last year my daughter and I watched an ATP 1000, tennis match in Montreal,Canada. If my memory is correct, it was a men’s match, two Canadian players were in the semi final and final matches. Nadal played the final against Milos Raonic.

Milos lost the match, I know Milos is a good player, against Nadal he was unable to play well. I guess poor Milos lacked experience and Nadal took full advantage of it.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/dp-daily-prompt-5/

DP Daily Prompt: City Planners

If you could clone one element from another city you’ve visited— a building, a cultural Institution, a common street food, etc.– and bring it to your hometown, what would it be?

The idea of cloning is terrific, some of the institutions, buildings,shopping centers, common streets I’ve seen in another city or cities and bring back to my hometown, there are a few I’d like to have in my hometown e.g. “Oxford Street In London, England” is a grand addition to my hometown, or even “Selfridges”, here is one problem I’m bound to encounter, my hometown is not large enough for the store or the street that could be placed with ease.

Maybe I’d like to bring back the Jean Talon farmer’s market in Montreal, it’s not too large, it’s a place where you can see a variety of yummy foods and produce, oh but bringing some of the produce back to my hometown can be a stumbling block esp. produce which are not grown in my hometown, to bring them by truck is a worry because the produce will rot by the time it gets to my town.

My next option is to leave things as they are and be contented with the thought some things cannot change.

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/dp-daily-prompt-4/

DP Daily Prompt: Antique Antics

What’s the oldest thing you own?( toys, clothing,twinkies,Grecian Urns, anything’s a fair game.) Recount its history from the object’s point of view.

I am a sofa set, I’m not sure when and where I was born, I have traveled in many places,I was tired I needed one place to call home. The owner was kind he let me stay in his well decorated store in Montreal. One day a family came to the store, they were looking for some furniture, I pleaded to God to keep me in the store, I was beginning to love my home. 

I was watching the customers going and coming but no one showed any interest to grab me, I was soooo glad, to my dismay I saw a family approaching towards me. Then their conversation scared me they were thinking of taking me away from my home. My owner tried to convince them the other set is better, but they refused to listen, they bought me and the dreaded thing happened, I’d be shipped to “NEWFOUNDLAND”, I thought I was done with the monotony of travel,but it was my fate, it took me to far away Newfie town. I arrived in the town safe and sound, the problem arose when the shipping agency tried to charge more than the store owner had promised for shipment. The family refused to pay more, they informed the agency, they will not pay any more than what they were promised.

The thought of sending me back to Montreal didn’t seem a good idea to the agents, they agreed with the original price and I was brought to my new home. I’m here for a long time, I see a lot of people they seem to enjoy the comfort I provide when they’re seated.

Lately I’m disturbed by their kittens, they have a bad habit of making me a scratch post, I can tell you this much, if the owner doesn’t stop the felines from damaging my body, I’d end up in the city’s garbage dump. I am very scared, I hope this doesn’t happen to me.

Would you dear readers help me from these naughty Felines?

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/dp-daily-prompt-4/

 

DP Daily Prompt: A Tale of Two Cities

If you could split your time evenly between two places and two places only, which would these be?

 

The two cities I’d love to pick are: St. John’s where I live, and Montreal the city I love to visit.

I like St. John’s a lot,it is a city of about two hundred thousand people, the weather in winter is cold,in summer it is cool,it does not get very hot. This year we had a very long snowy winter, the winter was terrible everywhere,I’m not going to hold it against my city. Our people here are very friendly and co-operative. We can find everything from food to clothing and other essentials without any trouble. 

Our transportation system is excellent,in the city and outside. We have an excellent university, we also have technical colleges for students who’d want to learn a trade right after high school.

I like to  spend part of my time in Montreal, it is a much larger city, I like it because I get to meet my good friends and watch some tennis matches.

It is not really possible to divide my time  evenly between these two cities, but I’d like to go  for a short vacation. 

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/dp-daily-promp…-of-two-cities

 

 

DP Daily Prompt: Ring Of Fire

Do you love hot and spicy foods or do you avoid them for fear of what tomorrow might bring?

If I’m ever given a choice between spicy or bland food,my choice would be spicy, there is no doubt about it. I grew up in a family where any kind of meat,fish , or chicken was cooked with a lot of spices. I also ate green hot chillies with my food.  The chillies did not agree with my stomach but I did not stop eating them until I got sick. Every time I was sick I promised not to eat those green chillies, it was an addiction  I could not give up completely. 

When I moved to Gander with my husband,there was no such thing as green chillies, the locals did not know them and it was not available. So my obsession with chillies came to a screeching halt. What was available in the store was black pepper and salt. I couldn’t imagine cooking with salt and pepper only, so we asked our friends in Montreal to send us some of the spices we use in our cooking.

This is how things worked out for us as far as cooking goes,there was no other issue, we took trips to the mainland each year and bought our supplies and clothing. 

We moved to the capital within a few years,here we can buy anything we need,all kinds of fruits and vegetables and spices too.

The only food I eat without any spices is steak,to me it ruins the taste completely.

Image from wikipedia

 

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/dp-daily-prompt-ring-of-fire

Holidays in Montreal five sentence fiction

VACATION

After nine months of  gruelling hours of teaching , Nadia was excited the school will close for two months of summer holidays.

This meant sleeping in, watching TV ,going for walks and hanging out with neighbors,delightful she told herself.

In the afternoon her husband came home, he told her, “We are going to Montreal to spend the holidays”Nadia was exceptionally happy, she sat and quickly wrote all the places she’d visit this time, which she was not able to on their last visit.

Montreal she thought,’La belle de la province’ she started dreaming of going to the “Farmer’s Market”, she’d buy the delicious cheese bread, eat at the cool restaurant there, this time she made up her mind to eat poutine.

She fell asleep thinking about her trip, she dreamed her luggage was lost and she was frantic, she started yelling what am I going to do without my clothes, her husband shook her, when she awoke, her husband said,”you were dreaming honey, we will go on our vacation next week.”

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/holidays-in-mo…ntence-fiction/