31 May 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2753: she went to war

Image by Rodrigo Pignatta from Pixabay

“Listen, put me on the phone next time – what you need to do is tell Cousin Julia is that if she comes over here acting a fool we are going to Jack her up, Jill her down and break her crown – her, her little pail of water, and the pogo stick she wants to jump in on like she got anything to say, because –.

“Vincent, who riled that Ludlow baby girl warrior up again?” Gladys Jubilee Trent said to her son Sgt. Vincent Trent while they were on the phone.

“There's a lot going in the valley right now, Mama,” he said. “I don't know if Edwina has been riled down since she figured out we came to Tinyville on a 'vacatio-vacuation' because of the foolishness – you already know about at Bayard Heights, because every time there is a news report she's like, 'How could these people let this happen to all those kids' homes!'

“But then, little Glendella's Aunt Julia called over here today, and Edwina doesn't know where she stands because Big Glendella Ludlow actually swung on little Glendella, and now Edwina is basically breathing out death and slaughtering or at least toy baseball bats and messed-up nursery rhymes to that whole branch of their family.”

“Yeah, I saw it on Uppity Foolery Watch. I have to give Edwina Ludlow this much credit: she doesn't just talk big. She goes to war – had Mrs. Glendella Ludlow showing that yes, granny heels can be used in athletic situations, because that little girl had her running! It's actually so sad, but that was absolutely hilarious – when you try to hurt a child but you find out that some kids just aren't with that program!”

“Yeah, Edwina is almost like a Jubilee-of-the-mountain in that – makes sense that our own little Gracie Jubilee Trent is her best friend,” Sgt. Trent said. “Capt. Ludlow told me that on the first day that she was in school before they moved, she got up in front of the class and said, 'Hi, my name is Edwina Ludlow, and I bully bullies, so y'all just need to hide now, and I can get along with everybody else. Thank you.' Two days later she's in the principal's office talking about, 'Yes, he pulled my hair and yes I stuffed him into the locker next to me and locked it – I did it and I'm glad I did it! He needed it and I'm here for it! I told y'all who I was!'

“Wow,” Mrs. Trent said.

“So, she's eight,” Sgt. Trent said. “When her grandfather, that same Capt. Ludlow, was 16, the guys at the prep school started playing with some of his cousins. Capt. Ludlow bullied those bullies so hard their life chances got messed up to this day. When he went at 55 to gather all of his grandchildren out of foster care, he left foster parents who were messing with his grandchildren and all the kids in their care in jail, and glad to be there for their own protection. This man sold all he owned except for two dress uniforms and the things his wife needed to get the investigators and lawyers he needed to do all of that.”

“Jacked 'em up, Jilled 'em down, broke their crowns and all the pails of water and pogo sticks they jumped in on,” Mrs. Trent said. “I know you and Melvin still stay ready even though you and the Ludlows are now friends.”

“Listen, my mother is a whole Jubilee-of-the-mountain, Mama – what would I look like, knowing who these people are to already two generations, and not being and staying ready?” Sgt. Trent said. “Vanna is getting her concealed carry just as soon as she turns 18, too, and even wife Melissa has figured out how to reload for me if necessary.”

“That's my smart son,” she said. “Like V.T., you can get along with anyone, and like me and the Jubilee side since 1854, you are ready for folks if they decide they don't want to get along with you … but about baby girl, you know Gracie called me yesterday talking about, 'We gotta pray more for Edwina, Grandma Jubilee – we were doing good with the holy water but then Bad Grandma had to come through here trying to hurt our new friend Glendella and I need way more help from Jesus now with Edwina.'

“Oh, we all are praying, and Capt. Ludlow has found an anger management specialist for Edwina like he has for himself. But he is her anger management specialist from day to day, and he is walking her down from being mad right now. The Ludlows are trying to manage their deep issues, and because the captain is making progress, his grandchildren are following him. Edwina hasn't been this bad for a long time, and I think she will get better again, soon, when all this over-stimulation passes.”

“That's good to know – and you know to stay locked and loaded while they get better.”

“Mama, we already know who we are.”

“Right on, son. Right on.”