Week in Seven Words #481

fed
The baby is replete with slices of banana. He reclines on his dad's lap and accepts the mushy offerings from his mom.

fuzziness
What does my health insurance plan cover? The customer service representatives don't always seem to know. They offer optimistic but uncertain responses.

glowing
A lumpy black tree - it glows with dark warmth like a coal.

nightfall
A peach gray sunset over the river. Blossoms imprinted on it like stars.

pleaser
They exclaim over a Portuguese water dog, which flutters at their attention and seeks their patting hands.

roughhouse
Two girls roughhousing. Shoves, handstands, shouts, laughter.

undermined
"I don't get it," she says. Then, as I explain, her eyes seek the ceiling, the surface of the desk, her phone, her nails. "I don't get it," she says.

Week in Seven Words #412

amusements
This time, the game we play is one where I try to tickle her belly, and she tries to block me. When she grows bored with it, she stands under the dining table for a while, her hand on her mom's knee.

apportion
Her younger siblings agree that she should distribute the chocolates. She slices open the box and displays the possibilities. She reads the chocolatey description of each truffle and its contents. As they crowd around, she cuts the truffles into halves and thirds for sampling.

pooled
The candles melt into a pond of rose, purple, and sea green.

reawaken
Good books reinvigorate the conversation you have with yourself and the world.

release
She's abandoning her social media accounts, one by one, to unclutter her mind and free her time.

scales
The soprano warms up her voice in the ringing acoustics of a church.

scorning
It's a grubby work of art. It shows a meanness of character, a cynicism that denies beauty.