Three Thing Challenge

tiger | coconut | slurpee (frozen drink)

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THE GIRL’S RED hair was brighter than the others. A carrot red, as opposed to the dark mahogany of the girl standing next to her, or the strawberry blonde of the one peeking from behind.

The McIvers and their red hair. The photographer sighed and snapped the picture. Another year, another McIver picnic. He spun around, looking for another shot. Only a bunch of pretentious lawyers and spouses drinking mint juleps and shit. Otherwise, nothing.

As events go, it was one of the better ones. The food was catered, high quality, and the evening ended with an A list act. There were worse jobs. A memory of his recent gig made him shudder. No more fundamentalist weddings.

A tall, thin woman with blonde hair and wearing too tight dress giggled loudly as a redheaded man pulled her off into a side building. He didn’t take a picture of that. He knew the rules. No compromising images. He’d been covering the picnic for eight years now. He’d like to make it nine.

He turned back to the cages and took a few shots of the trainer pushing out the last tiger from its cage.  Every year, the McIvers took their family pictures surrounded by big cats. Rich people and their quirks. This year it was tigers.

He turned back to the girls. They had potential for interesting. The McIvers paid him more for interesting.  He snapped another few shots. He probably should start getting set up, but his gut was screaming that the carrot headed girl was about to do something that could pay off his car loan.

The carrot headed girl chewed on the straw of her slurpee, curiosity written all over her. “What kind of tigers are they?”

The handler pretended to not hear as he pushed one of the cats into position. The cat moved slowly, an indignant look on its face. Can cats be indignant? The photographer chuckled to himself. The answer had to be yes, because that was one indignant tiger.

As if the tiger could hear him, it growled and snapped at the handler. Two of the girls squealed and jumped back, but the carrot head didn’t. She smiled and moved closer. That was interesting. He snapped another picture.

“I asked you a question,” the carrot headed girl snipped, her tone imperious. “What kind of tigers are they?”

The handler shot her a look. “Bengals. Stay back.”

“Why? They looked drugged.” The girl moved closer. “Are they drugged?”

“Siobhan, stop showing off.” The girl with the mahogany hair pulled out her phone. “Daddy says it’s time to get in position.” She pulled at the girl. “Come on. I want another coconut water.”

“Your father’s not the boss of me.” The carrot headed girl shimmied over to the closest cat. “Hi, buddy,” she murmured and petted his side. “You’re so soft… ”

Now that was interesting. The photographer raised the camera, taking picture after picture.

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Ah ha! How fun! Not only another three things challenge, but also an opportunity to provide a little bit of backstory involving Siobhan McIver, the heroine of FlyGirl, available for you to read for free on Wattpad.

Thank you, Haunted Wordsmith!!