“Na, no way, Grace,” MJ said, almost choking on his sweet tea. “Not On Purpose is good—real good—but the best of those first stories we uploaded is definitely, Gracelets,”
“Whoa,” Beau chimed in. “Y’all are way off. It’s Where The Story Takes Us.”
“Yuck,” MJ said with a stank face. “Dude, every time I read that story I can smell that chia stuff stewing again.”🤢
“Well. Hank sure liked his Mango Smoothie,” Grace said beaming. She pretended not to notice MJ elbow Beau and wink. “Okay then if y’all are so smart, why don’t we make a bet?”
“Interesting,” Beau said, intrigued. “What do you have in mind, Grace?”
“Um, we could let the readers decide which story is the best?”
“What—like a poll?” MJ answered. “I’ve tried polls before, and nobody votes. That’s no good. There’s gotta be a better way.”
“Maybe we could count Likes, Comments, and Shares?”
“Excellent idea, Grace” Beau said, prompting a big smile from her. “And the terms?”
“Whoever’s story has the most points before next Monday’s Porch post gets to be front and center of our Founding Member Trading Card!” Grace was excited now.
“I like it,” MJ said. “We could give 1 point for a Like, 2 points for a Comment, and 3 points for a Share.”
“And readers can award a story with all three, a Like, Comment, and Share? For a total of six points?” Grace asked Beau and MJ expectantly.
“Sure, Grace,” Beau answered. “Readers can Like, Comment, and Share the story they like the best, if they want to award it all six points.”
Grace spit in her hand and extended it.
MJ looked at Beau and said, “I think we' just got whoo-dooed, brother.”
Then the two followed suit and the deal was struck.
A lot of what we write together starts with a conversation like this—real or imagined, it’s hard to tell the difference most days—and then we build a whole story out from there. This one never grew legs, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it anyway.
It’s just a quick moment on the porch, but it somehow says a lot about who the trio is when they’re sitting there—Beau holding the line, Hank happily wandering off into a wing night memory, and Grace clocking all of it. It’s one of the very first pieces I ever wrote about the three of them, and it still feels like a snapshot I can’t quite top.
I know it’s short, y’all—but I’ve got a feeling this one might end up being your favorite.
-Grace
Hey this is MJ. Y’all read this next one, and there’s no doubt in my mind it’ll be the winner!
Gracelets is easily my favorite from this group, and possibly of the first stories we uploaded. We were all trying to get a handle on this group writing thing, or at least I was — I had no idea how to go about this thing. And then Gray drops this story on me, and I’m like 🤔 “cooler” and “toes”? Not to mention that she’d just spent half my monthly budget on bracelets at the boat races…
Beau - there is so much to love about this story. Grace actually ordered Nag Champa. Not for herself, mind you. And my Snickerdoodle Smoothie was green. Not snickery. Not doodly. Green. Grace in her element. And what did Polk and I do? Lugged the sofa, of course. And cast opinions on duvets, as if we had heard the word before. Of course this is my favorite of the three. Who doesn’t love a green Snickerdoodle smoothie?
Don’t forget to like, comment, and share your favorite of these three stories!
Likes = 1 point
Comments = 2 points
Shares = 3 points
The winner will get to be front and center on our SWG founders group photo trading card!
