Five-Word Challenge: Summer 2019

By Terry Leatherwood <t_leatherwood@peoplepc.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: June 2019

Summary: Response to summer challenge.

Story Size: 1,577 words (9Kb as text)

Folc4evernaday issued the following challenge.

Five words challenge

Your story must include the following words.

- Lemonade
- Pink
- Pool
- Float
- Cape

Like a dummy, I accepted the challenge (first one I've ever
taken up). The following tale came out.

The familiar characters of this story are not my own but are the
property of corporate entities (DC Comics, December 3rd
Productions, ABC, etc.) other than myself. This work is a labor
of love and is presented with no expectation of remuneration.

***

Lois leaned on her cue and sized up her next shot -- a two-bank
carom that would knock in the twelve ball and set her up with a
good angle at the eight ball. Her opponent, a short, rotund man
who must have weighed three hundred pounds, stood to her right
and shook his head. "You'll never make that shot, Lois. You
should just tap it off the side rail and let me shoot."

"Ha!" Lois returned. "You're just worried you're going to
have to drink that lemonade I bet you. It'll make a good chaser
to that beer you're sucking down."

"At least it isn't pink. Just leave me a good shot when you
miss this one."

"I'm not missing this one, Al. Just shut your pie hole and let
me shoot."

"Fine. Go ahead. But I'm gonna tell you I told you so."

She chalked her cue and set up for the shot. She held the cue
still for a moment, then stroked the cue ball against the first
rail. It kissed off the second rail and tapped the twelve ball to
the lip of the corner pocket. It hung there for a long breath,
then it slowly fell in.

Al snorted disgustingly. "I can't believe you made that shot.
Minnesota Fats might not be able to sink that one."

Lois chuckled and lined up the eight ball, an easy tap into the
side pocket. "Get ready to give me the money." She called the
shot, took a few seconds to line it up, then gently tapped the
cue ball into the eight and watched it meander into the pocket.

She tipped her cue over her shoulder and made a "gimme-gimme"
motion with her left hand at Al's girlfriend Yvonne, who'd been
holding the two twenty-dollar bills the players had bet on the
game. "Thanks, Yvonne," said Lois. "Don't forget to get that
lemonade for Al."

He slammed his cue back into the rack with the others. "I'll
drink it later."

Yvonne brought a glass with yellow liquid in it and forced it
into his hand. "*Se debe beber ahora, querida*. You promised *la
senorita* that you would drink it as she watched." She pressed
his fingers around the glass. "I will not have it said that you
break your word."

He stared at his girlfriend for a long moment, then grunted and
set the glass to his lips. Lois called out, "You want a
straw?"

Al gave her a dirty look around the side of the glass, then
tipped it up and chugged the entire contents. When the glass came
down, he put his free hand on his ample stomach and let out a
champion belch. He waved his hand in front of his face and said,
"Wow, that tastes nasty."

Lois laughed again. "Especially the second time around, right?"
She gave Yvonne a thumbs-up and grinned at her. "He really did
give me a good game. Don't give him too hard a time, okay?"

Yvonne smiled back. "I will not. But who will you play next?"

Lois shrugged. "Well, I've had the table for almost an hour,
and I've got a good stake for my next poker game. But I'm game
for another one. Any takers?"

No one spoke for a moment, then a baritone voice spoke from the
front door. "How about me?"

Lois turned and said, "Sure, pal, just pick out--"

Her voice froze. It was suddenly quiet enough to hear a cricket
burp. Her next challenger was Superman.

Superman shut the door behind him and walked to the table.
"You're playing eight-ball, right? What are the stakes?"

She made the decision to rip her husband a new one when they got
home. How dare he interrupt her tonight? She rarely got to take a
night to herself any more. This was her night and she was having
fun!

Al shook off his torpor and said, "We been layin' twenty a
game."

Superman smiled at Lois. "How are you doing, Miss Lane?"

Al laughed. "She's been winning for about an hour, Mr.
Superman. Can you cover a twenty-buck bet?"

He grinned. "Just call me Superman, please. And no, I don't
carry money. I can, however, bet a ten-minute flight over the
city, payable tonight, if I lose. Is that good enough?"

Lois glared at him. "Sure. You trust me to hold my own bet?"

"Of course. I'm certain you wouldn't welsh on me."

She gave him a lopsided grin. "Mind if I break?"

He waved at the table and said, "Please do."

Yvonne set up the rack as Superman picked out a cue. Lois
addressed the cue ball from an offset position to the right, then
slammed it into the triangle of pool balls at the other end of
the table. They scattered, and the nine ball dropped into the far
corner pocket.

"Nice break," said Superman. "You shoot the stripes and it's
your shot. Do you have anything?"

"Hush up and let me take a look."

She ignored the quiet gasp from the room. Superman smiled
lopsidedly and leaned on his cue on her left. As she frowned and
moved to her left to check out the table, he moved back several
feet. She finally decided on the fifteen ball and cautiously
tapped it into the side pocket.

"Nice shot. Good touch."

Lois ignored the super-compliment and picked the eleven ball as
her next victim. She lined it up, aimed and stroked.

But her cue didn't strike the cue ball cleanly. It spun and
kissed off the eleven, which missed the pocket, and ended up
almost touching the three ball against the rail.

Lois grunted and sent a sharp look at her opponent, who lifted
his eyebrows and stared back. "What? I didn't do a thing. It
was just bad luck."

"Yeah, right." She stepped back and pointed at the table.
"You're up. Try not to break anything."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let's see -- yeah, I can
reach that."

"Across the table?" blurted Al. "You want to use the
bridge?"

Superman smiled at him. "No thanks. I don't need it."

With those words, he lifted up in the air and slowly swung
horizontal. The people watching collectively held their breath
for a moment, then someone giggled and broke the tension.
Superman addressed the cue ball and took a long look at the three
ball.

Before he took the shot, Lois said, "I don't think you're
allowed to float above the table like that."

He floated back to the floor and collected his cape behind him.
"Can you show me that rule?"

Al laughed. "There ain't no such rule, Superman. The house
rules say you can't lie down on the table, but they don't say
nothing about floatin' over it. You go ahead like you were."

Lois shot a dirty look at Al, who picked up the empty lemonade
glass and saluted her with it. "I think you've met your match,
Lois."

Superman floated over the table again, lined up his shot, and
tapped the three ball into the corner pocket. He settled back to
the floor and walked to the opposite side of the table, where he
tapped in the one, the seven, then the six.

Lois leaned back against the bar and sighed. "You're going to
run the table, aren't you?"

He glanced at her and nodded, then leaned over the table again to
line up the four ball. "I'm going to try."

And he did.

His last shot at a solid ball -- the one -- left the cue ball
five inches from the eight ball. Lois shook her head and pulled a
twenty out of her pocket. "That's a mulligan, Superman. Here's
your money."

"Hang on to it until I earn it."

She walked to the cue rack and put her cue away. "No, I know
when I'm beaten."

"Okay," said Superman. He leaned over the table and gently
tapped the eight into the side pocket. He straightened and put
his hand out. "I'll take it now."

She shook her head and grinned. "Doesn't count. You didn't
call the last shot."

He blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You sank the eight ball without calling your shot. You lose."
She shoved the bill back into her jeans pocket. "I think you owe
me a ten-minute flight over the city."

Superman looked at Al, who shrugged and said, "Sorry, but
that's house rules."

"No one told me what the house rules were."

Lois chuckled. "You should have asked."

He opened his mouth, then sighed and didn't protest any more.
"Fine. Miss Lane, are you ready for your flight, or would you
like to schedule it for later?"

She almost laughed in his face. "I'm ready now. I want you to
fly me home so I can tell my husband how I beat Superman at
eight-ball."

THE END