29 May 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2751: lacks sensitivity

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

"I completely agree with you that Uppity Foolery Watch and often even the Lofton County Free Voice lack sensitivity and nuance, but listen: your crowd -- not mine, because you won't have people who think like me, much less look like me, where we can help your crowd make better decisions -- your crowd has been sensitive and nuanced toward one another for thirty years and gotten a whole neighborhood washed 20 miles from right by the Veteran's Lodge clear into Old Big Loft. There's nothing sensitive and nuanced about that disaster you've let happen that FEMA won't even pay for. You all are sensitive and nuanced and stuck with the bill, but hey: I don't pay property taxes, and rent where rent control is guaranteed because I paid for my access with 20-plus years of honorable service to this country. So, y'all enjoy all that you have voted for and earned. Thoughts and prayers and all of that."

Sgt. Vincent Trent was on the phone with an associate, and his children eleven-year-old Velma and eight-year-old Gracie were hanging out on the Trent porch with friends Eleanor (11) and Andrew Ludlow (10) from next door.

“See, the thing is,” Velma said, “my dad is real calm, but he is really calmly going to tell you everything you need to know about yourself and your situation. He has both sensitivity and nuance, and they still can't save you.”

“Yep,” Eleanor and Andrew said.

“He's actually a lot like our Cousin Harry, also known as the Angel of Death,” Andrew said. “On a good day you are just going to wake up wherever you are going in eternity and figure out then how you were sensitived and nuanced right on through the gate.”

“Yep,” Eleanor and Gracie said.

Seven-year-old Amanda Ludlow had come to ask Gracie a question, but then came up onto the porch and joined the conversation.

“I feel like sometimes people mess with Papa because they need the drama, somehow,” she said.

“Ain't it the truth,” Gracie said, “because otherwise, you gotta know better than that by now!”

“What it is, is,” Andrew said, “people want to see how much they can get away with, but what they need to learn is, 'Don't even think about it again.' And, see, God made Papa for that, and it's a good thing he moved back here with us. Otherwise, those kinds of people would be in more positions like the types that got the Ridgeline Fire going over six neighborhoods and got Bayard Heights washed out! I mean, it's not even a year since the Ridgeline Fire last October because it's the first week of September, which means Lofton County is wiping out seven neighborhoods and a bunch of innocent people a year on some foolishness!”

“That's not safe,” Amanda said. “That's definitely not safe because most tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes aren't working that hard!”

“What I'm trying to figure out,” Velma and Gracie's brother nine-year-old Milton Trent said as he came out and joined the conversation, “is how many neighborhoods Lofton County has, because, in a few years at this rate, we may really start having problems around here!”

“And that's the thing,” Eleanor said. “Humans are way more dangerous than any natural disaster. We invented the atomic bomb, and if you drop like ten of those, there goes the neighborhood for the planet! Between the radioactive dust and the way that dust will stop light from warming up the planet – so long, life!”

“Whoa,” Milton and Amanda and Gracie said.

“But see, this is why some people do need to call Papa, Cousin Harry, and your dad,” Andrew said, “and also get chased down the street by our sister Edwina, and mess with either of the Trent or Stepforth grandmas. See, God is good, having folks pre-bombed today to preserve the planet for when He is ready to straighten it all out and make it over in the future. Sgt. Trent and Cousin Harry are like smart pre-bombs for folks, and Papa and y'all's grandmas and Edwina are just the nuclear pre-bomb options.”

“You know,” Amanda said as she hugged her big brother Andrew, “it all makes so much sense when you explain it, Andy!”

“I try,” he said.