ANCERC
I look at the letters and dwell on them. The tiles dance in front of me, the letters blur.
ANCERC
The tiles scream the word back at me in their blatancy. The word I can opt for is obvious. There is even a place for it on the board. An ‘A’ from ‘anger’ is free. Triple Word; the points would spawn if I just place the tiles on the board. But I won’t give in to it, even if I have to relinquish the game.
I pass, throw ‘A’ in the sack and take another tile. My heart sinks as I realize it is another ‘A’.
My opponent takes the ‘G’ from ‘anger’ and puts down ‘lung’.
Is this for real, a cosmic joke?
Tears sting my eyes as I pass again and exchange yet another tile. This time a ‘U’ emerges.
My opponent plays. He takes the ‘P’ from my earlier ‘pain’ and puts down ‘hope’. He scores a Double Word from it.
I look at my tiles in desperation. I am about to pass again.
But then I see it, the other word.
I struggle to keep my poker face on, but beam internally. I use the ‘E’ from ‘hope’ and place the tiles down one by one. The word ‘cure’ materialises on the board. My smile finally breaks free and my face cracks up.
My opponent looks at me funny; after all, I only got six points.
—
Trifecta, for this week’s challenge, has asked us to write a story using the word DWELL. I hope you like it, or at least, are touched by this little story. I look forward to read yours.
Sandra's scribbles 
creative… very nice response enjoyed it
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it.
What a fantastic piece-love how you used the prompt :-)A game of scrabble-made me think that in real life we play a similar game-choosing the emotion we want from our “baggage” or opting out & looking for better ones-loved it Sandra:-)
I love how you interpreted my story! Thank you for your feedback 🙂
:-)a pleasure
i so enjoy this interpretation as well! 🙂
:-)you are so nice
Aren’t all girls made of sugar and spice and everything nice! :p
Ha!ha!Not me;-)
I love how you use Scrabble as a metaphor for the character’s inner thoughts. Nicely done!
Thank you Bee, I really appreciate your comment!
You do a great job conveying that very human determination not to give in to something that would be too much, even if it’s just a game; the success at the end is touching.
Thank you.
This hits home for me, and I understood that feeling completely.
Thanks Jennifer, I’m glad you were touched by it.
Yes. The inner satisfaction we experience is far more valuable than outside accolades. Excellent piece!
Thanks a million, I’m glad you liked it!
very well done. Somehow, I missed the letters at first and still got your strong message.
I’m very happy you got the ‘between the lines’ story here. Thank you for your comment.
i liked it, i actually felt like i was there ^^ clever response to the prompt ^^
Thanks KZ 🙂
Victory indeed. I like the refusal to use the obvious word.
Thank you Janna, much appreciated.
Ah, this is often my thinking when I play Scrabble (: Always shoot for that *one* word.
I usually play very sporadically, maybe that’s why I never win!
As a Scrabble addict, I really enjoyed this. The life strategy is perfect, the Scrabble strategy is somewhat questionable, I’m afraid. 😉 Great response to the prompt!
As long as the bad strategies are only applied in a game and not in real life, I think we’ll be fine. Thank you for reading 🙂
Symbolism can mean a lot at times like this. Very well written.
Thanks a lot Joe.
Scrabble! Lance and I love this game. Great post.
😀
Since I wrote this post I have been consumed by Scrabble frenzy, can’t stop playing!
Neat take on the prompt. Love the ending. We have some serious competitions at our house. I confess, I probably would have gone for the triple word score, just to beat my husband.
But then the narrator would have to admit to himself that he is giving in to cancer, and he wouldn’t do it for the world. He was a fighter, this one.
Kind of a Ouija-Scrabble… cool.
thanks.
We are Scrabble addicts here. We play daily. I love the internal struggle and how she hangs on every word as if it were a divination of the future. Great stuff.
We’ve become scrabble addicts since we realised we can play the game on smart phone; a lot of strife has been spared since the points are automatically calculated! 🙂 I’m happy you enjoyed it Steph.
Very creative. I really enjoyed this.
Thank you.
I love this take on the prompt, and the thought processes she goes through.
Thanks Sarah Ann, I’m glad you enjoyed it.