Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Fantastic News or Shards?

Sorry, if I don't meet the expectations of a messenger of any amazing news, but my default reaction to sudden anything is doubt. The first thing I'll ask inside my head usually is: "Is this really happening to me?"

Since my self-centeredness requires suspicion, my reaction to good news, especially if it is acute and sensational, won't be all drumbeat and roaring merriment. Before I kick my heels in the air and dance, I'll wonder how much of that incredible, fantastic newsflash is rhetorical bullshit and what its hidden truth is. Maybe I tend to over-intellectualize things and get lost in abstract arguments within my own maze, instead of paying attention to what's going on right in front of me, but this is who I am.

For the same token of being who I am, since I can figure out my reaction will be socially repulsive, I'll probably act pleased or surprised, or if the messenger is someone who really knows me, I'll show her my true colors.

"No, fairy godmother, don't fool around with me. You can't turn a pumpkin into a four-horse fancy carriage for me to go to the ball. You did! You really did? Wow! But what if the ball is boring with uppity uglies? And what about the clock striking midnight? You're sure I'll make it?

"Then, suppose I made it to the ball, or rather gathered the fruits of that good news, what if people I am used to and love do not recognize me? That is a concern, isn't it? After all, I'm the kind, if given a glass slipper, I'll drop the slipper, and it will break. Then what would the prince bring me instead of my glass slipper? Its shards to cut my feet? No, thank you.

"So please, give me that amazing, incredible, fantastic, awesome, marvelous news in increments, fairy godmother, so I can act happy, feeling truly happy. Who knows, maybe at the end of it all, I'll be chirping for you on cloud nine."

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Prompt:You get some incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully fantastic news. Whats the first thing you do?