Touch Grass

In today's story, Touch Grass, Beth struggles to balance work and motherhood

Today's prompt was inspired by a brief moment in an old Bewitched episode. If you have a suggestion for a writing prompt, please let us know! 

More about Susan Quilty

Susan Quilty mainly writes novels, including two standalone novels and her YA series: The Psychic Traveler Society.  Susan's short stories for Freely Written are created during quick writing breaks and shared as a way to let go of perfection and encourage writing for fun.

Website:  SusanQuilty.com
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Transcript

Below is the transcript for Season 1, Episode 166 of Freely Written, a podcast by author Susan Quilty:

Welcome to Freely Written, where a simple prompt leads to a little unplanned fiction.  

[Light piano music]

Hi, friends! I’m Susan Quilty, and today’s prompt is Touch Grass.

As we head into summer, kids are wrapping up another school year. Many of us are gearing up for vacations and spending more time outside—until the heat and humidity drive us back into the air conditioning! 

On that note, sitting in the A/C is a great time to read one of my books. You can also read them at the beach, the pool, on the plane… wherever summer takes you. Check the show notes for links or visit SusanQuilty.com to learn more. 

When the weather is nice, I do like to get outside as much as possible. Or as the kids might say, touch grass. Though from what I gather, touch grass is more of a reality check, telling people to step away from the online drama and spend some time outside… in the real world. 

Today’s prompt came to me when I was watching an old Bewitched episode where artificial grass was accidentally installed at the Stephens’ house, and Darrin accused Samantha of putting it there with witchcraft. Ugh. Darrin was such an insecure baby man, but that’s getting off topic… In this artificial grass episode, there’s a bit where another couple keeps touching their grass while arguing over whether it feels real or fake. Hence the prompt.

If you’re new to Freely Written, the reason for a prompt is simple. Here’s how this works: I sit down with a prompt and write whatever comes to mind, with no planning and very little editing. Then, I record the story and share it with you. 

Here’s today’s story:

Touch Grass

Friday. I just have to hold on until Friday. Beth looked up from her overstuffed calendar app to the dishes piled up by the kitchen sink. She had two more conference calls before picking up Jamie from robotics club, grabbing a quick dinner, and going to Seth’s band concert. 

In theory, working from home was supposed to make it easier to stay on top of both work and the house. It didn’t. Especially at the end of the school year, when both of her kids had a slew of extra events. But Friday was the last day of school, and she was taking the next week off before the kids started the first of several summer camps.

Beth stacked a few dishes more neatly, then hurried back to her desk with her third cup of coffee. She had barely slipped her headphones over her ears when her boss was texting about the slide deck she’d already shared in Slack. 

Three hours later, Beth was wrapping up her last call and anxiously glancing at the time on her phone. She’d planned to change her clothes for the concert, but was now very short on time. Her white work blouse would do, but the pajama pants needed a quick change. While her project manager rattled off a list of action items, Beth mentally ran through the clean clothes in her closet and settled on a casual red skirt that would work with both her blouse and her everyday sandals. 

By the time she was in the car, Beth was three minutes late. She pulled up Jamie’s school on GPS, looking for the fastest route and praying for green lights. 

Both Jamie and Seth were waiting outside the school when Beth drove into the parking lot. 

“Hey, I thought you were going to Mallory’s house before the concert?” 

Seth only shrugged, looking down as they climbed into the backseat. Jamie was quick to answer for him. 

“She dumped him.” 

“She did not!” Seth barked, nudging his sister’s arm roughly. 

“That’s what I heard,” Jamie said innocently, while Seth scowled. 

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” Beth offered, watching Seth roll his eyes and shake his head in the rearview mirror as she pulled away from the curb. 

Beth wanted to stop the car, hug Seth, and hear the whole story. But the traffic lights had not been kind, and they still needed to eat something before going back to the school for Seth’s concert. 

“Pizza or tacos?” she asked, trying for a not-too-overly bright tone. 

Before they could respond, her phone rang. It was work, again. Beth glanced at the phone as Jamie voted for tacos and Seth sank deeper into his seat. 

With a sigh, she answered the call over hands-free, saying, “Mel, you’re on speaker with my kids in the car, and you have two minutes before we hit Chipotle.”  

The call ended as they parked at Chipotle, and Beth hurried them inside. Mel had been calling with an urgent request—weren’t they all? And Beth was mentally prepping the response she would message to their group as soon as they ordered at the counter and found a seat. 

The kids ate their burritos while Beth tapped away at her phone. She managed a few bites from her burrito bowl and a few laughs at Jamie’s Robotics Club stories between answering follow-up questions over text. Seth watched her with a frown while he ate. 

“You know what I’m going to do on Friday night?” Jamie asked after slurping a huge gulp of soda. “I’m going to stay up all night. Because there’s no school after Friday!”

“You never have school on Saturdays,” Seth said, squelching some of her enthusiasm. 

“Well, yeah, but… it’ll be summer,” Jamie told him, as if that made this Saturday a very different kind of Saturday. 

Seth shrugged and piled their trash on the tray, saying he needed to be back at the school early. 

“To see Mallory?” Jamie asked sweetly. 

Seth ignored her, taking the tray to the trash bin. 

“Leave it alone,” Beth told Jamie gently. “He doesn’t want to talk about it yet.”

Jamie agreed, then jumped up to follow Seth to the car. Beth trailed after, finishing up one more text. 

“Oh, come on, Mom!” Seth snapped when Beth nearly bumped into someone as she left the restaurant, still texting. 

She apologized and skirted off to one side of the walkway, then felt her phone vibrate in her hand. 

“Ugh,” Seth groaned when Beth bit her lip, clearly trying not to look at her phone. “And they say we’re bad with phones. Mom, you really need to touch grass.”

The snide tone stopped Beth short. She knew Seth was hurting, navigating something with his girlfriend, but she didn’t appreciate the tone when she was trying so hard. 

“Touch grass?” She repeated, well aware of the insult in the term. “Touch grass?”

Some people looked their way, and Seth cringed at the attention. 

“I’m not goofing off online,” Beth went on angrily. “I’m working! I’m trying to make ends meet. Pay the bills. Keep my boss happy. Get you dinner. Get you to your concert.” 

In a fit of frustration, Beth dropped her phone in her bag, kicked off her sandals, and stomped around on the small strip of grass at the side of the building. 

“How’s this?” she asked, feeling the cool grass tickle between her toes. “Is this what you want?”

Then she stopped, really feeling the grass—and the stares from strangers passing by. She pressed her hands against her cheeks as her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew huge. 

Seth stared in shock, then burst into laughter. 

Jamie kicked off her shoes and jumped into the grass as well, dancing around as Beth opened her arms and drew Seth into a hug. 

“You’re a little crazy,” he whispered, still laughing softly as he pulled away. “Now get out of there, people know me around here!” 

Laughing through apologies, Beth pulled on her sandals and ushered Jamie into the car. 

“Are you okay?” Beth asked, before Seth followed Jamie into the backseat. 

He ducked his head and sighed, carrying weight that hurt Beth’s heart. 

“Can we talk about it later?” 

“Yeah,” she told him gently. “After the concert. We can go for a walk, okay?”

“Okay,” Seth agreed, then stopped her from getting into the driver’s seat. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.” 

“I’m sorry, I was ignoring you.” 

Their eyes met. They smiled, then got into the car and drove back to the school. 

The End 

Thanks for listening. If you’re a regular listener, you may have noticed that a character in last week’s story is named Darrin. Yes, you can thank my current Bewitched rewatch for that, too!

If you liked today’s story—or any other Freely Written story—please share it with your friends. I would also love for you to check out my novels and other books. You can learn more on my website, SusanQuilty.com or search for “Susan Quilty” wherever you buy books. If you prefer listening, my first novel, The Insistence of Memory, is now available as an audiobook, too!

Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you. 

[Light piano music]