The Drabblecast

From an email we got- thought forumites might enjoy the exercise

At the end of the Drabblecast Episode #74, Norm had a super-super short ‘story’ (if you could call it that). I thought it was pretty clever considering how short it was (13 words).

Anyways, here it is:


‘Untitled’

“Daddy, I don’t want to visit grandma today.”
“Shut-up boy, and keep diggin’.”



So, if you are bored or have nothing to do or just have a little extra time lets hear your interpretation of the story, I’ll start.

This is the Story of a hillbilly father and his son, they are in the back yard digging for worms so they can go fishing and make a catch. The boys Grandmother is patiently waiting for her son and Grandson to come for a visit and feed her the fish they promised her the last time they visited. The Grandmother is not a very nice person in the eyes of the young boy, always pinching and prodding, grabbing and groping not to mention the nasty Grandma kisses YUCK!

Your turn.

Roy McDaniel



Mine, I’m afraid would be a bit more morbid and mean. I like yours better brother!

The father in this story is known around town for his dirty scheems. He is always trying to cheat someone out of something. This time, he has taken it a bit too far. Upon hearing of his mothers death, he knew that her casket was the perfect place. The only place the cops wouldn’t think of when they were looking for the money. He had to hide that drug money! His friend Harry had been busted, and Harry was a squeeler! The father busted into the funeral home to hide the money in the lining of the casket, planning to come back for it later. Of course, that would mean digging her up .. .. .. but he wasn’t beyond that.

The day of the funeral was when his house was searched. And the cops found nothing. Perfect.

It wasn’t one week before the father got greedy, he wanted his money! But it was his weekend with the boy. Oh well, the boy was 8 .. .. .. strong enough to handle a shovel.. .. ..

Vali McDaniel



My interpretation was this:


Setting would be the old family farm...
An obsessive, socially deprived man (the father) probably one of those men that lived with his ma’ into his late forties. The father is unable to cope with the loss of his mother, whom had died of natural causes in her bedroom at the old rickety farm house. He buries her in the family ‘plot’ but frequently (lets say about every 2 to 3 weeks) must go ‘visit’ her and spend some good quality family time together with her and his son. The father is clearly off his rocker, but the boy- now stuck in the same social reclusive situation is nonplused by the oddity of the situation. The visit time with the rotting hag, for the boy, is no more interesting than the weeding of the farm fields. The boy complains more because of the labor involved with having to dig up grandma again, then the actual time spent chatting to a corpse. I mean, what boy wants to dig up the same hole every 2 weeks?!

David Henderson

Good one Roy.

It’s cool to see how a few words can cause different thought processes in different minds. Some share commonalities and I would guess that these commonalities would be prevalent among many minds. My first thoughts were of the Grandmother being dead and the Father being a bastard/reject as well. Interpretation can be an amazing thing.

Fun exercise.


David Henderson

This is a fun exercise!

"Johnny, your mom and I are ready to go to grandma."
Johnny turns his handsome face to his father. The family resemblance is obvious: brown hair, slender nose and dark, mysterious eyes.
"Aw, dad, I don't want to visit grandma today. I just found this funny wiggly worm here in the ground."
Dad looks annoyed at his son and then at his wife, who seems to be more occupied with her long nails than with her son.
After sighing a big, fatherly sigh, dad gets over to the boy and picks the worm from his hands. Indeed, it does wiggle in a very funny way, this one.
"Okay, put it in your mouth. It'll make you a big, strong mole. Now come over to us and help us dig to grandma's place."

Good job zZacha! I like the twist!
You really burrowed to the heart of the story.

tbaker2500 wrote:Good job zZacha! I like the twist!
You really burrowed to the heart of the story.

Thanks, I had a fun time with it.

And it took me a while to get your joke... It was just so deep and I had to dig in my dictionary to check if I really got the pun. Which makes me love it with extra depth :)

Come on, enough with the dirty jokes already...

Dad is a Chinese immigrant.

Grandma is an ancient golem, long ago buried to stop her murderous rampages.

Alternatively: GRANDMA is a code for some sort of secret underground robot squid manufacturing plant.