It’s Always Christmas At The Vineyards

 

Thanks Rochelle for hosting and Sandra for your picture.  All links can be found here.

Sandra Crook

 

Nestled up to the rusty ornate art work they sipped on Cabernet and Merlot.  They rustled with a sense of importance, the limo waiting.  Simple fine lines, pleasures they could not feel concealed behind the work escaped them.

“Spectacular” they said.

“That sounds Grand.”

“Brilliant!”

Arc-white eyeballs, cracked red finger tips they did not think about.

“That’s cool…”

They loved the work, the chains, the lockets, the devices, the propane, the trinket perched on the porch.  They poured more wine.

The breeze blew hot across the vineyards, the wind of conversation skimmed the surface.

“It’s called Marley’s Harley.”

“Bob?”

 

Jacob-Marley

 

 

 

 

 

 

51 thoughts on “It’s Always Christmas At The Vineyards

  1. Tom, this is a lovely piece of work. I can feel the superficiality of the drinkers, the lack of concern for those who put the wine in the bottles. I really like the first paragraph and how you ended with them missing the point by getting the wrong Marley. You are poet indeed.

    janet

    1. Janet you are too kind for words… thank you for being there…

      Tom

      p.s. with a fresh head I will be on your page ( in the morning).

  2. Dear Tom,
    I echo Janet. Love the line “They rustle with a sense of importance, limo waiting.”
    I think you might mean “pleasures they could not feel” rather than no feel.
    Wonderful writing with themTom Poet edge.
    Shalom,
    Rochelle

          1. Seems the slight hangover isn’t helping…Thanks Rochelle I changed the typo and always love hearing from you.

            Tom

  3. I think they would need to consume vats of Merlot and Cabernet to see that as a limo! 😉 Loved the Bob …Marley ending. I did enjoy the read – thanks Tom (and hope you don’t have a hangover) 😉

    1. The head seems to be ok…..Lucky me. I didn’t mean to imply that they saw the artwork as a limo…I just added the limo and the rustling noise to add to the feeling of importance.
      Thanks Tom

  4. great story.
    With enough wine the contraption could have looked angelic, and have wound up being called, “Charlie’s Harley”; though for my taste it seemed more like a “Gnarly Harley .”

  5. Oh, so you’ve visited some of the local vineyards here in Australia, Tom!

    You captured a certain personality so eloquently, Tom. Perhaps my sarcasm is uncalled for however, my mind’s eye can see of whom you speak with such clarity, it could not be less than truth you recall…!

    Oh, excuse me please….. Let me shake off that energy and say; I loved this, it was very clever… 😉

    1. Sarcasm is rarely uncalled for…..I am pretty sure this could be any vineyard in America…Thanks for the kind words and I am glad you enjoyed it.

      Tom

  6. Enjoyed that musing over the wine – and enjoyed how it fit with your comments very much -true art! Off the bottle myself now, never thought that would happen, never!

  7. Beautifully written and classy as usual Tom. You have some cracking lines in there that show what a true wordsmith you are. Enjoyed the nod to Jacob Marley too. Characters like him are too good to be left idle. 🙂

    1. jwd,
      I agree with you about Jacob….I think is the first post I was called both classy and understated perhaps I have matured a bit in my years. Thanks, man.

      Tom

  8. That first paragraph rocks, that it sets up the scene and characters really well. Especially that second sentence — brilliant. Funny that they jumped to Bob Marley instead of Dickens. Reggae also wafting across the vineyard?

    1. Dave,
      I didn’t name the characters because I wanted the conversation to have an in and out feel, words and buzz lines floating by the ears. I was looking to get a sort of cavalier attitude from them..I am glad it worked. Reggae or at least some cover version of it could most certainly be playing. You are far too kind.
      Thanks,
      Tom

  9. I won’t confess to be smart enough to realize they did not mean Bob marley, but somehow I just didn’t feel that was who it linked with. maybe it is my history writing and reading Fictioneers work where everything is not as straightforward as it seems.

    1. Joe,
      I won’t confess to being smart enough to realize exactly what you are saying…Do you mean that the characters would not think of Bob Marley? Or do you mean that you would not have thought of Jacob Marley? I have to confess… alone in the world I may not have made the connection myself between Jacob Marley and the artwork being called Marley’s Harley if I had not reread A Christmas Carol this year…plus I am not in the story so what I think has little do with it. Nice thing about writings is you can appear to be smarter or dumber than you really are…

      Tom

  10. Tom PPPPP,
    I don’t know how I missed your link the first go around, but now I found it. I must be tired from all my packing. Anyway, I really enjoyed your story. I could felt the hot breeze as they went about sipping their wine. I saw it in my mind and that’s a good thing. I loved the end….Bob Marley…..from one of my favorite classics. Good going!

    1. I think I need to change my pic on the link if you did not see me the first time around. WE can’t have that now can we? Glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed your this week as well.

      Tom PPPPPPP

      1. I must be tired, I even have typos in my comment! Ack! I hate packing.
        No, we can’t have me missing your pic, but I think I did because I’m so damn tired. Won’t happen again Tom PPPPP!

  11. Hi Tom
    This is very clever. I just love that they ‘rustled with a sense of importance’ it really says all you need to know about these people, but for me the best line was ‘the wind of conversation skimmed the surface’.
    The fact that they had the wrong Marley was a bonus.
    Excellent piece
    Dee

Leave a Reply to Tom Poet Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.