Excellent There are always consequences. On Devil-may-care Street by LisaMay      Consequences Contest Winner

Desiree rode her motorbike to work, roared up the driveway and parked it in the yard at the printing company. Feeling perky, she knew she looked ultra spunky in her shorts and skimpy top. She didn’t give a moment’s notice to the fact that her dad would’ve had a fit if he’d known she’d ridden to work dressed like that. Upon arrival, with a quick ‘hi’ to a couple of her workmates, she sat down at her desk. The telephone rang and she picked up the receiver nonchalantly. “Are you the young woman seen riding a motorbike in peak-hour traffic this morning along Devil-may-care Street?” Desiree, made anxious by the man’s tone of authority, confirmed that she had been in that location. “This is Sergeant O’Gravity. Your attire constituted a traffic hazard. You will be charged with Public Nuisance and Dangerous and Reckless Driving. Several insurance companies will be wanting to have a word with you as well.” Aghast, Desiree mumbled: “Oh my gosh… I… um… but I didn’t hit anything…”  “Your inadequate clothing was dangerous both to yourself and fellow motorists. Several cars ran off the road because their drivers were drooling…” Desiree glanced up when she heard muffled sniggering, and saw a knot of her male work colleagues clustered around another telephone. She suddenly realised it was one of THEM talking on the phone. She slammed hers down and burst into tears, her feel-good day shot to bits.  But she learnt a valuable lesson that day. Several, in fact – about road safety; about sexist workplace bullying; about seeing the funny side of things; and about the dangers of tempting fate. And finally, she realised that her father was right to be upset about the lack of protective clothing she should have worn when riding her motorbike.  It was a good thing she lived to learn these lessons. Writing Prompt Write a STORY (no poems) of no more than 400 words describing an action or conversation and the CONSEQUENCES that followed. MUST INCLUDE the word LESSON within a sentence anywhere in the story. Consequences Contest Winner Author Notes Author's Note: This happened to me in my first job back in the 1970's. I was riding my first motorbike and thought I was pretty 'cool'. I was relatively shy back then but not averse to wearing 'hot pants' as they were the current fashion. Bad combination. I have seen the aftermath of what happens when bare skin makes contact with a road surface at speed. I have been a motorcyclist for 50 years, road bikes as well as trail bikes, and I've lost count of how many times I've fallen off in mud or sand, but have only ever been knocked off a motorcycle once by a car. Luckily, I was wearing full protective clothing at the time so I wasn't injured. (Illustration is a Vintage Harley Girl poster by Florian Rodarte.) * * *

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