"Brace Pride Journey"

Sarah stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, frowning at the metallic glint that adorned her teeth. Orthodontic braces. They were supposed to straighten her teeth and give her a perfect smile, but right now, they felt like a burden. She sighed, adjusting the wire on one of the brackets, then ran her tongue along the rough surface.

It had been a month since Sarah's braces were fitted, and she still hadn't gotten used to them. Her friends teased her, calling her "Metal Mouth" and "Brace Face." The jokes stung, and Sarah often found herself avoiding social situations, fearing the unkind remarks.

One afternoon, Sarah's mom suggested a trip to the local park. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly overhead. Sarah hesitated, unsure about facing the outside world with her braces on full display. But something within her pushed her to give it a try.

As they strolled through the park, Sarah noticed a group of children playing a game of Snakes and Ladders on a picnic table. Curiosity piqued, she watched as they rolled the dice and moved their tokens along the colorful board. It reminded her of her own journey with braces—a game of chance, filled with ups and downs.

Sarah's eyes fell on a girl around her age, Lily, who had the most radiant smile. It was as if her braces were just an accessory, enhancing her charm rather than detracting from it. Intrigued, Sarah mustered the courage to approach her.

"Hi, I'm Sarah," she said, smiling nervously.

Lily returned the smile, her braces shining. "Hey, Sarah! Nice to meet you. Do you want to play?"

Sarah nodded, joining the game. As they rolled the dice and moved their tokens, Sarah realized that the game mirrored her own experiences. The ladders represented the moments of progress—the adjustments that brought her closer to her desired smile. The snakes, on the other hand, symbolized the setbacks—the painful tightening and occasional discomfort.

Throughout the game, Sarah and Lily shared stories about their orthodontic journeys. Lily spoke of the initial discomfort and how she had gradually grown accustomed to it. She shared tips and tricks, like using dental wax to soothe irritated gums and embracing colorful rubber bands to make the braces more fun.

As Sarah listened, she began to see her braces in a different light. They were not a hindrance but a stepping stone to the smile she had always wanted. Inspired by Lily's confidence, she felt a renewed sense of determination.

Days turned into weeks, and Sarah's perspective shifted. She no longer saw her braces as an obstacle but as a reminder of her commitment to self-improvement. The teasing from her friends bothered her less, and she even started to embrace her "Metal Mouth" nickname, owning it with a sense of humor.

With each visit to the orthodontist, Sarah felt a sense of progress. Her teeth were shifting, slowly but surely, into alignment. The discomfort and occasional pain became more manageable, and she became adept at caring for her braces. She even started experimenting with different colored bands, turning her braces into a fashion statement.

As Sarah's treatment progressed, her confidence soared. She no longer shied away from social gatherings or smiled timidly to hide her braces. Instead, she beamed with pride, knowing that her braces were a testament to her resilience and commitment to personal growth.

One sunny afternoon, Sarah found herself back at the park where she had first met Lily. They sat on a bench, chatting and laughing, their braces glistening in the sunlight. Sarah reflected on her journey—the highs and lows, the moments of doubt and the newfound self-assurance.

"You know, Lily," Sarah said,

 her voice filled with gratitude, "I used to see braces as a burden. But now, they feel like a badge of honor—a symbol of my strength and determination."

Lily smiled, her braces gleaming. "I'm glad I could help you see that, Sarah. Embracing our journey and the obstacles we face is what makes us stronger."

As Sarah looked at her reflection in the park's pond, she saw not just the braces but a reflection of resilience and growth. The game of Snakes and Ladders had taught her that life was a series of ups and downs, but it was how she navigated those challenges that defined her.

With newfound confidence, Sarah stood up, ready to face the world. She no longer saw her braces as a burden but as a reminder of her own strength and the beautiful smile that awaited her at the end of this journey.
























Written by xxxforce ChatGPT (Sorry i cheated  ) But it's still incredible what this tool could generate within seconds... 

Once I saw that it was chat gpt, I coukd feel thst style ... chat gpt has a very distinct style to it's stories...

I have an idea for, what I think, would be a good “snakes and ladder” short story.  I worked it out in my head on the drive home.  But no orthodontia is involved.  Would I be wasting my time to type it out here?

I personally never used ChatGPT before, this was just an opportunity to test it for me.
I prefer myself human-written storys, because they're absolutely more lively.
There are many Pro's And cons to it, but still it's quite interesting what this tool could do.

Short stories do not come easily to me! They take longer to plan and work out than the long ones, at least when I do it!

Snakes and ladders… I guess this is the same as chutes and ladders? So, it’s a race, but the winner wins purely by chance. I can see finding a way to make this about braces I’d love to read what others come up with, though. I’ve been fairly short on creative energy more recently but I’d be happy to cheer everyone else on <3

Okay, here is my attempt to write a short story using Sparky's rules.

It's around 1000 words and has snakes and ladders as part of the story. Let me know what you think.



Snakes And Ladders

By Braceface2015


My girlfriend sets the box in front of me and says, “Let’s play a game.”

I’ve seen this box or one like it since we were old enough to play board games. This particular box is heavy cardboard and was printed before I was born or at least it seems like it. The box has been sitting in the cupboard along with all the other games at my Grandparent's cabin since it was built.

We’ve known each other since she moved into the house next door before we started school. She’s always had a competitive attitude and we’ve had fun almost every day competing in some way, whether it was who could eat the most crackers without drinking something or who could stare without blinking the longest. This is just another example of the competition.

It’s just a simple game of ‘snakes and ladders’, but we always find ways to make our competitions more fun. I say, “Okay, what do I get when I win?”

She grins, her braces flashing in the dim light from the lamps. “You get to ask me one question, and no matter what it is, I have to answer completely honestly.”

I smile at her, and my lips slide over my new braces. The braces are the result of another bet we made. The look of her teeth has bothered her all her life and she has finally been able to do something about them. We both work for the same company and the health insurance plan has an orthodontic clause which reduces the total cost of the treatment, but it only covers the cheapest style of braces and only at a few clinics.

I won’t say she cheated when we made the bet, but I found out she heavily stacked the odds in her favour without telling me. She won and I had to get braces at the same time she did, and I have to keep mine as long as she has hers. It hasn’t been as bad as I expected it to be. She did reward me for going through with getting the braces by kissing me, repeatedly and with enthusiasm, as soon as we could find a secluded spot after getting them on.

As she sets up the board for the game, she adds an interesting twist. “Every time you land on a snake, you have to put one set of elastics on. If you land on a ladder, you can take one set off. The game doesn’t just end when one of us lands on the ‘finish’, if they have elastics on, they have to go back ten spaces for each elastic and continue.”

I’m not sure how she is stacking the odds in her favour, but there has to be a way she is doing it. Just like all the games in the cupboard, pieces have been lost and replaced by others, and the dice are no exception. She hands me one set and takes the other. We even have to compete to see who goes first, and a best-of-three game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ decides she is first.

I’m the first one to land on a snake and she hands me a bright orange pair of elastics to connect between my canines. We stay pretty even for a while, and she ends up with purple, pink, green and yellow elastics scattered throughout her mouth. I have her run them across the front of her teeth in an X pattern to stop her from opening her mouth. She retaliates by having me do a box shape on both sides, effectively doubling the force of the elastics and stopping me from moving my jaws apart.

She’s the first one to land on the finish and removes one set of elastics. It takes her back to a snake and she has to put them back on. It takes me a while to get the right combination of dice to land on the finish and I remove two sets of elastics and land on a ladder, so I can remove another set of elastics.

She lands on a ladder, and she does something I didn’t know she can do. She uses her tongue to remove the elastics instead of her fingers. My mouth would drop open if it could, but I have a set of elastics holding my teeth together. She’s not done just yet. She rolls her dice and lands on the ‘finish’ square again. She only has one set of elastics left, and that means she is going to land on the snake again, so she runs her tongue over the elastics and moves her piece to the bottom of the snake.

I land on a ladder, which means I can remove my last set of elastics. On the next roll, I have the right combination and land on the ‘finish’ square. It’s nice to win the game, but my girlfriend isn’t ready to concede defeat just yet. She moves beside me and pulls my face to hers, then kisses me. Her tongue snakes into mine and I get lost in the kiss. Her hands go behind my head and she gets vigorous with her tongue, snaking back and forth between our mouths.

I laugh as she pulls back slightly. I have one set of elastics on my canines, and there is another set connecting us together. The opportunity is too good to miss, and I pull her onto my lap and kiss her back. She won’t let me get my fingers between us to remove the elastics joining us, so I have to wait until her magic tongue disconnects us.

She moves my piece back to the snake and hands me the elastics she removed.

I get a chance to say, “That’s cheating you know, I removed all my elastics before you did and finished the game.”

She smiles at me, her braces sparkling in the lamplight and the elastics across her mouth glistening with the moisture left from our kiss. “Is that the question you want me to answer?”

I return her smile, my lips catching on the edges of the brackets I so recently received. “Actually, no. I have a better question for you. Will you marry me?”

Her smile gets bigger and her eyes begin to sparkle as tears form in the corners of her eyes. Instead of answering me with words, she puts her face against mine again and uses her tongue to connect our mouths together with the elastics remaining on our teeth.

I like the ancient setting of the story. Having the braces handmade and adjusted by someone not specifically trained is a nice touch.

Thank you.  I had to try long and hard to come up with something that would come close to Sparky's wonderfully quirky storytelling.

I work on the principle that there's quite a few "mainstream braces" stories on here... boy or girl has bad teeth / needs braces / wants braces / gets extreme mouthwear etc. So it's nice to have a bit of fun. As BF2015 has commented many times: whilst my early stories were 'braces stories', these days I tend to 'write stories that contain braces'.... which allows me to do silly things.... like kill off my 4 main characters.... (or have I?)

The second version is more polished. The way you changed it makes it clearer what you want to say. In my opinion, you should have waited to post the story until you had it in the final form, the one you were happiest with.

For me, I think the treatment in the first version is better.

I've enjoyed both versions of your story.

In my opinion, you should have waited to post the story until you had it in the final form, the one you were happiest with.

Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I wish I knew when I was happy.  I generally wake up in the wee hours with crystal clarity about some improvement on whatever I'm busy writing.  Which is not to say that the inspiration still makes sense by lunchtime.

How do other writers handle this?

Thank you for this advice.

On the technical side, I use an amazing bit of software called yWriter7 -- https://dereferer.me/?https://dereferer.me/?http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter7.html .  It's overkill for short stories of a thousand words or two, but fantastic for longer pieces.  Best of all, it's free to use (without restrictions, nag screens, time-bombs and the like).  The single feature (of many) I like best is that it uses Microsoft's text-to-speech engine to read the piece back.  That catches a multitude of problems that my eyes miss.  It also means I can stay productive while doing things like cooking.  All the author asks is to pay the fee to register it if it proves useful.  From there, it's into Grammarly as you do.  I also like Hemingway.

It's clear I have a bigger problem on the discipline side.  In my defence, I'm finding that writing creative fiction is a very different thing from technical writing, and I find that I learn something new almost every time I rework a piece.

I have to be honest... I've fallen out of love with writing stories for here in particular...I write for fun, for pleasure...

Man, do I feel you there. I've written dozens and dozens of unpublished braces stories. They're short and mid-length, explicit and not, but I just keep them to myself at this point. Writing them is really just a pleasant personal distraction from my series of adventure novels.

The bit that made me laugh was the concept of there being a National Snakes and Ladders Championship!

I too enjoyed both versions. It shows the process he went through to get to the final story. The second version was more polished, and there was enough difference between both versions to make it interesting.

I feel like I must throw in my try as well. With 2493 words I'm cutting it very close

Snakes and ladders

Alecia chuckles in glee as she puts the dice and game pieces back into the box. "Oh, dad, don't make such a face! One could almost think that you're not enjoying it anymore."

"Yes, I do", I shake my head. "It's just that losing five out of five games, THAT'S..."

She shrugs nonchalantly. "Is it MY fault that you're having such bad luck?" She grins broadly at me. Her silver smile reflects the light of the low sun.

I take one of the dice in my hand: "Are you sure that they are not tampered with?"

She puffs out her cheeks. "These are YOUR games. Besides, we use the same dice! How am I supposed to..."

"I wasn't being serious," I fend her off with a smile.

Then her grin turns sly. "So? Aren't you going to honor your betting debt?"

I sigh, "I should never have accepted. It was so clear I was going to lose."

"Then why did you agree?"

I don't answer directly. "Do you play with Susanne that much, too?"

Alecia nods. "Yes, I do. But mom wins about half. I don't have as an easy time with her as I do with you."

And really: Today my luck is worse than usual. But I take it sportsmanlike. After all, I don't see my daughter as often as I would like to anyway. So, every moment is precious. That's why I'm definitely not going to get upset over a lost board game!



"Okay, what did we bet on again?"

"You wanted to chop me a plate of fruit."

"And you shall have it," I make my way to the kitchen.

"But please cut the apple into small pieces, dad!"

"Are you always this demanding?"

"Ha, ha!", I can almost hear her 'pout'. "I went to the orthodontist today, didn't I tell you? My teeth are pretty sensitive by now. I can't bite anything hard at the moment."

"Should I skip the apples completely then?"

"No, as long as you cut them into small pieces, I'll be fine!"



A minute later, she appears in the doorway. "You know what I'd really like to do again sometime..."

"What?", I ask as I peel an orange.

Alecia hums and haws, not wanting to spill the beans at first. "That... that we might do something together again sometime. You know... like now... just with the three of us. Me and the BOTH of you..."

I lower the orange. "That's... »complicated«..."

She waves it off. "I know..." She regrets even bringing up the subject.

Three years ago, Susanne - my ex-wife - and I filed for divorce. 'Grown apart' is probably the term used for such situations. No 'bad blood', just different views.

As long as she was not yet of age, we both had custody of Alecia. But as the girl had decided to spend more time with her mother, we slowly drift further and further apart.

The fact that she continues to try to get us back together is.... well... 'bittersweet'. And she knows that herself. But at the same time, Alecia hasn't given up hope yet. And so it happens that soon after a grin appears on her features again.

She leans in the doorway with her arms crossed: "I told you that I'm looking for an apartment. I want my own place when university starts."

I nod; during her last visit she had complained about how expensive an apartment of her own would be. For now, I still want to keep it a secret, that she will receive a 'subsidy' from me.

Her grin widens: "As soon as I have my own four walls, I'll invite you BOTH to the housewarming. Then you MUST come and then... then we can do something together again!" Before I can reply, she turns around and disappears.



A short time later I enter the living room with the plate. Alecia takes a slice of apple and carefully bites into it. "Yes, that's OK. I can chew that."

"Did your orthodontist do anything special today that your teeth are so sensitive now?"

"Not really," she shakes her head. "It's just that..." She doesn't complete the sentence and instead shrugs.

"I confess I was quite surprised when you suddenly had braces half a year ago. After all, as a child you had fought tooth and nail to avoid them."

"Well yes," Alecia blushes slightly. "You know: I've since come to the realization that it's pretty stupid to be the only one to still have crooked teeth. But when I finally understood that, I was about to graduate. And then I wanted to wait that out." She shrugs. "Now school is done with, but in the mean-time I've become an adult. And the stupid thing is that I now have to pay for the treatment myself. I hadn't thought of that at all, otherwise I wouldn't have waited so long."

"But doesn't that have the [/i]'advantage'[/i] that you will now cooperate much better? If you let the treatment slide now, it's YOUR money you're throwing away..."

It goes without saying that Susanne will probably cover most of her daughter's treatment costs.

Alecia rolls her eyes. "Woah, you're always so 'reasonable'!" Then she shrugs. "But you're kind of right."

"So, are you happy with the results? Did you invest your money well?"

"What's that supposed to be when it's done?" she replies. Her voice sounds surprisingly sharp. "Why are you questioning me like this?"

"Can't I just be curious?", I return, surprised. "I only see you once every few weeks. I just want to stay in the loop. But if you don't want to talk about it..."

I half expected her to actually change the subject, but she brushes it off, "No, it's fine." Then she cocks her head. "Yeah, on the whole, I'm happy I guess."

"That sounds to me like there's a huge »BUT« to follow?"

"That's one way to put it." She sighs emphatically.

"So, what happened? Care to tell me?"

Alecia hesitates, but then gives in, "Did mom tell you what 'great idea' the orthodontist had in stock for me last time?"

"No, it's been a few weeks since we talked..."

"Headgear, dad!", she almost spits out that word. "Last time, the idiot actually had the glorious idea that I should wear one of those stupid silver bridles from now on!"

I nod understandingly, "NOW I understand where your [/i]'good mood'[/i] comes from. And why your teeth hurt more than usual."

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, stop it!"

"I didn't even know braces like that were still used. I thought they were relics of the '80s."

"You wish!" she exclaims. "During the last appointment, he suddenly had that metal bow in his hands and had succinctly said, »I guess this will come to you as a surprise...« How very funny!! I was dumbfounded when he strapped that thing around me."

"I can very well believe that. You didn't know beforehand that something like this was coming?"

"I knew NOTHING." Alecia shakes her head vehemently. "That's why I'm so upset.... He then only mentioned that he had already feared that my treatment might develop in that direction. And that I - now that this had come to pass - practically only have the choice between jaw-surgery and that effin' headgear..."

I grimace with pity, "Both alternatives sound less than desirable."

"You can say that out loud. But if he had already suspected that, why couldn't he have told me? Woah, that sucks. If I had known beforehand..."

"... then you would have at least had time to prepare for it," I suggest.

"... then I would have looked for another doctor," Alecia contradicts, smiling awkwardly.

"Do you think the results would have been different with another orthodontist?"

After a few seconds, she shakes her head.



"Is this new development so horrible to you?"

She stares at me as if she can't believe what she's hearing: "Dad! That's headgear! A darn bridle! First of all, that thing is incredibly uncomfortable. And second, it makes me look completely ridiculous!"

"I don't think so," I disagree.

It's clear she doesn't believe a word I say.

"But - if you don't mind me asking - how did you decide?"

"How? I already told you: I've been wearing this thing for a month now!" She scowls at me. "How am I supposed to decide when the doctor says there's no alternative? Because I don't want surgery."

"At least that warrants some serious thought!"

My daughter nods and lets a slice of apple wander through her fingers. "When Mom then took his side, it became completely hopeless."

"I'll have to come to Susanne's defense on that one," I remark. "If your orthodontist uses such a device on you, he will have good reasons for doing so. If I were you, I would at least try to..."

I can't complete the sentence.

"Woah, DAD! You too?" Alecia looks at me accusingly.

I shrug. "You said it yourself, kid: you don't want to be the only one with crooked teeth."

"Yeah, I don't... But... Woah, if the treatment hadn't been so expensive..." the girl begins.

I interrupt her: "You'd better put THAT thought out of your mind right away. You will definitely not stop your treatment just because..."

"»...just because I have to wear stupid headgear?«", she completes the sentence for me.

"... your treatment isn't going quite as smoothly as you had hoped," I correct.

"Woah, Dad, you have no idea how much that thing sucks. Let me tell you something: It really - REALLY! - sucks!"

Then she suddenly grins widely. "But I'll tell you something else: You and Mom: You're still alike. After all, she said the same thing as you: »Don't even thing about...« and so on."

A melancholy smile on my face. "Does it help, then, if we both say the same thing?"

Alecia rolls her eyes. "You mean: »Do I have even the slightest chance if...« Woah, that's going to suck SO bad!"

"Did the doctor say how long you have to wear that brace?"

"He can't tell yet. That was SO clear!" Alecia snorts. "Could be over in a matter of three months. But I may end up walking around with that thing still wrapped around me a year and a half from now."

"That's quite a long time-frame," I remark in astonishment. "But I imagine it also depends on your cooperation?"

She rolls her eyes. "Thanks, dad, for reminding me," her voice dripping with sarcasm.



"Did you bring the thing with you?"

She nods "I had to wear it to the orthodontist earlier. Why do you ask?"

I smile, "Well, I just thought: If your cooperation really is that important, you might as well put the headgear back on now."

Alecia chokes on a piece of banana. "*cough*... No way... *cough* ... definit... *cough* definitely not... *cough* Where did you *cough* get THAT stupid *cough* idea?"

I try to look innocent. I don't know if I succeeded: "If it's so important for your treatment, it makes sense to actually wear your headgear. And the more you wear it, the faster you'll get used to it..."

I'm afraid my daughter's eyeballs are going to pop out of their sockets: "Whoa, dad. You're already just as bad as mom!"



I'm about to retort when she cuts me off, "This topic sucks. I don't want to talk about it anymore." She points to the stack of board games. "Come on, let's play another game instead."

"All right," I concede. After all, I don't want to annoy her any more than I absolutely have to. "How long do you actually plan to stay today?"

"You want to get rid of me already?" retorts Alecia, half amused and half nervous. Has her 'bad mood' perhaps caused me to have enough for today?

"Not at all. I just want to know if you're staying for dinner. Because I haven't got anything here. We'd have to order pizza."

"Sounds good. I'm in."

"Do you still like Hawaiian pizza? Then I'll order for later and you can pick a game in the meantime?"


https://dereferer.me/?https://img.ricardostatic.ch/images/ec155b43-230d-4fa3-a5ee-460dadd20e4d/t_1000x750/spiel-leiterspiel-schmidt-spiele
That's the board game I'm talking of. I had this game as a child


When I return, she has already set up the playing field. "I don't even know THAT game."

"That's no surprise," I laugh. "You picked the oldest game in my collection. I've been playing that when I was a kid."

"Then it's ancient," she grins.

"Cheeky monkey!"

"Care to explain the rules?"

"You don't know »snakes and ladders«? It's actually quite simple," I begin. But then I get an idea: "What do you think, should we bet on the outcome again?"

"Really? YOU want to bet? After you've lost so many times?"

"I'll win sooner or later", I shrug.

"If you insist..." Alecia grins. "Let's see... If I win... then you have to look at apartments with me next weekend. Mom doesn't have time and I don't want to go alone."

"That's a big ask!" I protest. Not that I would ever refuse. And Alecia suspects as much.

She grins cheekily, "Don't chicken out Dad!"

"All right, then. And if I win, you put your headgear back on after the game and wear it until you leave."

My daughter's eyes get big. "Really now?"

"Didn't you see that coming?", I smile.

Sullenly, she shakes her head. "Won't do."

I smile, "Whatever happened to »Don't chicken out!« ?"

"Whoa, Dad!" she hisses at me angrily. A second later, she shrugs resignedly, "Whatever. You're not going to win anyway. So it doesn't matter!"



"I'm almost at the finish line," she triumphs fifteen minutes later. "A »2« or more and I've won."

"Or you'll crash down by thirty points if you roll a »1«...," I note.

"Fat chance," she laughs. And then scowls at the dice a second later, »1«. With an annoyed face, she pushes her figure down the ladder. "Don't you dare winning now, Dad!"

I roll the dice and... jump over the ladder to the goal with a mighty leap, laughing.

"Whoa! Really now? You can't be serious..."

"You think I cheated?"

"Of course not. But... But did you have to win NOW of all times?"

"You mean NOW of all times when the wager is uncomfortable for you for the first time?"

She just rolls her eyes in response.

I shamelessly savor my win, "What did you say earlier, kid? »Aren't you going to honor your betting debt?«"

For a moment, I'm afraid she's going to throw the game board at me. "Whoa, that sucks."

"Let me suggest something to calm things down: Even if you lost just now: If Susanne agrees, we can still meet up some time. What do you think?"

Alecia's mood improves abruptly. She rummages in her backpack and pulls out a flat pouch. "Now I can ALMOST forgive you for making me put on that stupid headgear!"

"Too kind!"

THE END

I feel like I must throw in my try as well. With 2493 words I'm cutting it very close

And what an excellent set of 2493 words they were!!

And yes, it's interesting to see how  different people have joined together Snakes and Ladders with braces.

Now, you're probably asking yourself "when is Sparky going to post a story?"... well, In have a file ready, "snakes&ladders.txt". It's got the (c)opyright line in it, and the title...... but my mind is STILL blank! So, let me get finished with Serena's battle, then maybe my brain will come up with something.....

And the rest of you: keep writing, these are some fun short stories!

Alecia chuckles in glee

I love the atypical setting, and that you do such a great job of making the characters come alive.

If I understand Sparky's challenge, it has two parts to it. The first is to write a story less than 2500 words long. The second is to have the theme of snakes and ladders as part of the story.

Some of us have done stories focused heavily on the snakes and ladders part, while others have been writing stories to meet the word limit with less concern about the snakes and ladders portion.

Either way, having stories is very nice to see.

Despite what I said above (which I generally still stand by)[...]

Well, I, for my part, am glad, you did not stand by your principle in this instance 
I enjoyed reading and I hope you don't mind me "borrowing" some ideas

I wish Sparky would stop giving me ideas for stories.

I have been spending quite a bit of time outside working in my garden, and I take my tablet outside for when I take breaks. My mind keeps coming up with things to add to the stories I am working on and it is convenient to use my tablet to write.

It's all Sparky's fault that I have written another story about snakes and ladders. He posted the picture of the rug and this is what happened as a result. I went past the word count limit by a little but I couldn't cut out any of the story to make it fit.

Enjoy, and if you like it, a brief comment is always appreciated.



Snakes And Ladders #3 - The Rug

By Braceface2015


The rug had been sitting in front of the fireplace for as long as I could remember. My great-grandparents had built the farmhouse when they moved from Europe to North America. My great-grandfather and his brothers bought the land and gradually cleared it to farm on. They pooled their resources and bought horses and oxen to farm the land with, each owning a few of the animals and pieces of machinery. With all of them working together, they bought more land and expanded their farms. Some grew grain, some raised dairy cows, and some, beef until they became the largest farming family in the area. The land they didn't farm, they rented out to other farmers.

They all had large families and some of the kids took over running the farms when the older generation retired. My grandfather added onto the farmhouse, until it became the place everyone else gathered at for special occasions, which my grandmother seemed to have frequently. Birthdays were always celebrated at their place, and with so many relatives, it seemed like someone was having a birthday every couple of weeks.

All of this happened when it was expensive to take pictures, so the photos were well taken care of and preserved carefully. Braces weren't something people had back then and the few pictures of people smiling showed how messed up their teeth were in that generation. The original pictures had all been scanned and copies made of them, and there is a bookcase full of albums of the copies. The originals are all carefully stored where they won't get damaged.

Growing up, my cousins and I would pour through the albums, looking at and laughing at some of the pictures. Many times, one or more of the people in the pictures would be around and tell us stories to go with the pictures. Some of the stories have been passed down from the original storytellers and other stories are from the people who were there when the pictures were taken.

All of the younger people gather around and sit on the rug or on cushions and chairs around the edge of the rug while we listen to the stories. Each generation has a few people who have the gift of storytelling and are given the honour of the chairs beside the story chair. The story chair is only used when stories are being told, and it is an honour to be asked by one of the older members of the family to tell them a story from our generation.

There has always been a rug in front of the fireplace and it is where everyone gathers to play games. There is no tv or internet in the room and someone placed a table beside the door for our cell phones, so nobody has contact with the modern world other than to tell stories. The rugs have changed as the old ones wore out and have been replaced by a new one. The latest one is a favourite of almost everyone in the family.

Nobody will admit to being the one to buy the rug, it just seemed to appear between one gathering and the next. The pattern on the rug is from the game 'Snakes And Ladders', and when we play, everyone gets involved. The youngest members of the family take turns being the game pieces and everyone else gets a chance to play, many times being chosen by a random draw. It's quite normal to have five generations playing at the same time, and for someone from the younger members of the family to be in the story chair telling a story.

As technology has changed over the years, so has the look of the aids everyone uses. Canes, walkers and crutches have become lighter and made from new materials. The wheelchairs have become easier to store when not in use and powered chairs are more common. And probably the most noticeable is the considerable increase in the number of family members with braces.

With a family as large as ours, it's no surprise that many of them are no longer involved in farming. We have doctors, lawyers, store owners, and just about every other profession, including banking. Nobody has a high-interest student loan, our family pays for their education, and is paid back when the student goes to work for the family, even if it isn't directly connected to the farm.

That's how so many of us ended up wearing braces. One of my cousins decided she wanted to be an orthodontist. When she graduated, she moved into the building in town, built for her by the family, using the professions they paid for, on land they bought. She had the same options everyone had. She could pay off her tuition anytime she wanted and work for the family as a contractor to provide braces for the family, or she could buy the building for herself and do whatever she wanted with the building.

Judging by the number of family members with braces gathered around the rug, she has been quite busy taking care of our family, as well as the other people in town. She designed her office to accommodate a variety of ages, with one treatment room for school-age patients, one for high school and college-age patients, and the last one for more mature adults. She's hired several relatives to work for her as a way to pay off her debt sooner.

Word travels fast in our family and it doesn’t take long for everybody to hear when someone else gets braces. With so many of the younger people going through treatment, their parents began to feel the pressure to do something about their teeth too, and some of them became patients. The age of the oldest patient keeps gradually edging up.

It was a bit of a surprise when my grand-aunt decided to get braces to fix a problem she has had for as long as anyone can remember. At the next family gathering, she was told she had to take her place in the story chair and tell everyone her story about her braces. She’s one of the better storytellers from her generation and everyone was fascinated as she spun her tale. She didn’t hesitate to embellish it in places and had everyone laughing at some of the things she said happened, but may not have been quite as she said they were. She stopped several times to show us what had been done and how her teeth had already moved. She even put in her face-bow for part of the time to show the younger people it wasn’t a big deal to be seen wearing it and how little it affected her speech.

She’s in her mid-fifties, which in our family, is not uncommon to have relatives of a wide variety of ages. I have a nephew who is ten years older than me, and an aunt who is one year younger than me, both currently in treatment.

My grand-aunt has always been a rebel. She chose to have the older-style braces with ligatures securing the archwires in place and picked what she felt was the most noticeable colour she could. She’s not the only one of the older generation to dye her hair, but she is the only one to dye her hair to match her ligatures.

The distinction of being the oldest member with braces goes to my grandmother, though there is some disagreement about whether she should be considered. For Halloween, she had braces glued to an old set of dentures she no longer wears. Her costume was the talk of the town for a while after Halloween. Rumours are common and the rumour is she did it for her husband. Nobody has been able to confirm the rumour, but they both just smile and stay silent when asked about it.

Another rumour is that not everyone has braces to fix an orthodontic issue. There is some truth to the rumour if we consider my grandmother's dentures as having braces for other than treatment. Not everyone who is at our gatherings are family members, some are the girlfriends and boyfriends of my relatives. Some are just casual dates and others are more long-term and have ended up as marriages. It's no surprise when one of them has braces that have been put on by my cousin.

We don't just gather in the house. When the weather is nice, many of us go to the creek and swim, and it isn't always the younger people who go there. At one time, the creek was the main source of water for the farms and a small dam was built below a waterfall to create a holding pond. Over the years, more rocks have been removed from the fields and dumped below the dam, creating a larger swimming area. Sand has been added to form a beach area perfect for relaxing. It's the perfect place to watch the opposite gender running around in their bathing suits, and sometimes sneak off for a little kissing or a little more with the person you are with. More than one member has been added to the family at the beach, especially when a bonfire has been lit in the evening.

Another favourite place to go is the fruit grove. My grandparents' farm isn't the only one with a fruit grove, but it is the largest and most diverse. Everyone helps out to maintain it and share in the harvest when the various fruits are ripe. When it's time to pick the fruit, everyone who is at the farm goes out to pick the fruit and sometimes more fruit gets eaten than is left at the end of the day. Fruit-covered braces are a common sight.

Even with all the modern upgrades that have been made to the farms, my grandparents' farm still has an old-fashioned feel to it. There are still outhouses around the farm, and they get either moved or replaced when they need to be. For the more squeamish, there are bathrooms with running water, though they aren't always convenient to get to fast.

There are still horses on the farm and even though they aren't used to pull machinery anymore, they still get used to give wagon rides in the summer and sleigh rides in the winter, both of which have led to additional members being added to the family, and not all of them through marriage.

The Halloween wagon ride into town is always a favourite of the family. My grandfather used to hitch the horses to the wagons and stack bales on the wagons for everyone to sit on. The younger kids have a wagon with loose hay in the middle to play in. My grandfather has given up the duty of the Halloween wagon ride to one of my uncles and the horses have been replaced by an old tractor, but my grandparents still ride on the lead wagon in their costumes.

My grandmother takes pride in the costumes she has made for her husband and herself, and she updates them every year. He still dresses as a German plowboy and she is dressed as a young Dutch farm girl. The dentures with braces are the touch everyone gets a kick out of. Seeing my grandparents snuggling together on the ride is fun to see, especially when he takes her in his arms and kisses her and her braces sparkle when she smiles at him.

They aren’t the only couple kissing on the Halloween hayride. There are plenty of adults along for the ride to town and lots of them are in costume. They go along to keep an eye on the younger kids when they are going door-to-door trick or treating. The wagon train drops off small groups all around town and picks them up later.

It's been quite a while since I was young enough to trick or treat, but I still go along to keep an eye on the kids. I usually have a girlfriend and she rides with me, and we are usually one of the couples smooching. I’ve known my current girlfriend for most of my life. We’re related, but not by blood. She’s the sister-in-law of one of my cousins.

She’s also a patient at the orthodontic clinic. I've always thought she has the most beautiful smile, with a small gap between her top front teeth. This is her second time wearing braces. The first time she got them was right before she went to college. She started dating a real jerk and he convinced her to have them removed before she was done with her treatment, and he didn’t want her wearing her retainers. They broke up before she graduated, and by then her teeth had already shifted out of position again.

We reconnected at one of the family gatherings and started casually dating, and it became steady dating fairly fast. We never discussed her getting braces to fix her smile, but I knew she didn't like the way her smile looked. Her experience with her former boyfriend left her with some bad memories and it took her a while to get up the courage to get them again. She kept it a secret and didn't tell me she was getting braces again. My cousin was the one who mistakenly let it slip she was getting them.

On the day of her appointment, I picked up a bouquet of flowers and waited outside the clinic until she came out. She had a confused and uncertain look on her face, until I took her in my arms and kissed her. I didn't let her go until I had explored every part of her braces I could reach with my tongue. Her smile when I let go of her was so big and sparkly that I had to kiss her again.

Any time she felt embarrassed or was having a hard time after an appointment, all I had to do was wrap my arms around her and press my lips against hers, and she felt better soon afterwards. It took her a while to understand it didn't matter to me that she had braces, and several sessions in the back of the hayloft to convince her I liked how she looked with them.

It was during one of our family games of snakes and ladders that the bet was made. I've always had healthy teeth and my cousin, the orthodontist, said there was no need for me to get braces as there was almost nothing to fix. The gap between my girlfriend's front teeth opened up again when she had her braces taken off early and she didn't wear her retainers. I liked to run my tongue over the gap and she detested that it was still there and enjoyed it when I did it. I've told her many times how sexy I think the gap looks and how much I'd miss it when it was gone.

We were in the middle of a game when she made me a bet I couldn't refuse. If I won, she would keep the gap until close to the end of her treatment. If she won, I had to get braces and keep them until she got hers off. I saw it as a win for me no matter who won the game. We were more interested in distracting each other than we were in winning the game. She kept running her tongue over her braces every chance she had and I kept trying to slip my tongue between my front teeth. In the end, one of the other players beat us both to the finish.

As new players took our places beside the rug, we headed to the barn to discuss the terms of our bet. The discussion only lasted long enough for her to climb the ladder and for me to lay the red rag over the step to notify anyone else the hayloft was in use. She ran her tongue over my top teeth a few times, then it was my turn to enjoy the gap between her front teeth.

A few weeks later, she was there when my braces went on. She picked the colour of my ligatures, and picked them at every appointment I had. We still had the braces on when we got married, and my ligatures matched the colour of the tux I wore. Hers matched the colour of her bridesmaid's dresses.

Our kids have had their turns with braces, and every one of them has asked the same question. "Why do you still have a gap between your front teeth if you had braces?"

We just smile as my wife answers, "It's all the rug's fault."

Nice job @braceface2015

How can someone who has written so many stories not have an idea for a short story?

I've come up with three already. You need to stop giving away the things you come up with and start writing your stories.

and yet we managed to create that connection.  Unless you are not happy with how much or how little "snakes and ladders" and braces were intertwined in our stories, I wouldn't bother too much about an idea having a strong ties to braces.

No, I didn't care how tenuous the link to s&l was! As I said at the start, it was something a local theatre group put out, for 10 minute plays, and I just wondered if.....

Or... sparky has loads of ideas but none held up to his scrutiny as of yet. If that's the case, I would LOVE to hear those story-stubs and rejected ideas. as this would be the perfect glimpse into another persons story-writing process. 

I'll often let my mind wander as I go to sleep, or when I wake up (and am not in a rush to get out of bed). Or having a shower. But while I've been thinking about the four girls in the girl-band, I've still not come up with a snakes & ladders idea.

Maybe I need to think whether my fairies might want to play s&l?

Snakes And Ladders #3 - The Rug
...story chair telling a story.

I really enjoyed this story.  Part of it reminded me of a book in my vintage collection from 1898, Grandfather's Chair.  Here is a 2010 reprint:  https://dereferer.me/?https://www.biblio.com/book/grandfathers-chair-history-youth-hawthorne-nathaniel/d/1253703825?placement=best  Here it is to read online: https://dereferer.me/?https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1926/1926-h/1926-h.htm  It's not about braces but the chair is similar in the roll it plays.

You created a rather fun extended family here.

1) The main character volunteers at a care home. One of the residents is a retired orthodontist. Around a game of snakes and ladders, several residents flashback to their time in braces.

And it's funny you came up with this idea because at the same time I was struck by an idea set in a care home.  I guess now I will have to work on it.

I like how you substituted words for the normal terms used for orthodontic parts. I've experienced older people doing the same thing when I've been talking to them and they can't think of the word they are thinking of.

It's so nice to see one of my ideas get used.

Writing a short story isn't as easy as it seems. I find it takes more planning on my part and I can't build the story the way I usually do. I have a couple of ideas for more stories that would be spinoffs of what I wrote. And I skimmed over a lot of the details I would normally put into my stories.

I guess the story did exactly what it was supposed to, following the plot I planned for it, however it left me wanting to know what happened when the two grand-kids left the care home.

I wanted to thank sparky for starting this challenge.  Not that I don't have dozens of ideas in queue, but I like it when a bunch of us all address the same idea and to see the different ways it progresses.  Out of interest I scanned back trough the general and club sections of the forum and found sparky initiated challenges or exercises, or just threw out an idea to everyone about once a year and now two to four times a year, so I look forward to another by the end of the summer.  This one was particularly successful in the responses it drew.  Thanks, sparky.

So, my local amateur theatre is running a writing competition, for people to write a play no longer than 10 minutes long.
....
The theme (although NOT the title!) will be the same as for that 10 minute play: "Snakes and ladders". Interpret it how you like.

So, my local amateur theatre ran the competition, and in a couple of weeks time they are actually performing 10 of the 10 minute plays! I'm very tempted to go and watch. The play topics cover a whole range of things, including AI, dementia and dating...