Scott Mayerowitz/AP

Twenty-four year old Brady Walsh authentically enjoyed it when people called her a ginger. It was much better than being a drab brunette or a vaunted blonde, and anyone meaning to insult her with the term were doing so out of envy.

She had resolved to deasil, invoking only positive qualities and expressions of her personality, now that she had arrived in America, as a counterweight to all of the negativity in the world.

“Oh damn,” the former Dubliner muttered. “There goes my resolve. Bloody Starbucks is closed because of negativity. No. Postponing my afternoon caffeine is a finite problem. Plenty of other coffee places in Portland.”

There were, too. A quick check on her smartphone revealed the nearest one was a mere six-blocks away. It took fifteen minutes to get there with all the downtown foot traffic, but finally, she was sitting at a small table for two (though she was only one) with a steaming hot mug of Sumatra in front of her.

“Better finish corresponding to Edgar. The lad’s not going to like that he doesn’t qualify for a position.” Brady shook her head back and forth to throw long, luxurious spicy-crimson locks away from her face. “He’s got to learn that the world does not revolve around his still developing skill sets.”

Opening a secure text app, she accessed the saved message, and deftly keyboarding, completed her missive. After pressing Send, she closed the app again, then got back on Facebook, twitter, and Instagram. Perusing her usual groups, Brady was momentarily distracted by the sound of a barista using a pressurized coffee machine to prepare someone’s espresso.

Then the witch continued to search the relevant social media groups for a proper candidate to join her forming coven. “Dear Edgar might make it someday, but at his young and tender age, he’s still too hostile. I’m looking to add to the light of the world.”

I wrote this for Wordle #201 #amwriting #MLMM #Wordle hosted at Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. The idea is to use ten of the twelve words listed below in a short story, poem, or other creative work. I used eleven or the twelve since the only “Thewles” I could find was Thorpe Thewles, which is a village in England.

I consider this pretty much a “throwaway” piece. I wrote it just to see if I could make all of the words fit somehow. Here’s the list. I bolded the words I used in the body of my story so the reader could pick them out better.

1. Drab
2. Envy
3. Counterweight
4. Correspond
5. Qualify
6. Ginger
7. Revolve
8. Deasil: In immediate origin deasil is a Gaelic word that derives from the same root as the Latin dexter, “right, right-handed” which even then could mean “skilful” (hence our word dextrous). In witchcraft, including modern Wicca, to move deasil is to invoke positive qualities.
9. Finite
10. Pressurize
11. Postpone
12. Thewles

I admit that my tale was driven by the words “deasil” and “ginger”. Calling a redhead a ginger is considered insulting by some but not all, so I had to explain that in my story. Also, finding out the word “deasil” has applications in witchcraft got my attention.

I considered making this story end on a sinister note, but finally decided Brady was going to be a young person (witch) who would be a positive influence in social media and well as in the rest of her life.

Oh, all Starbucks everywhere were closed on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 for racial bias training after an incident at one of their Philadelphia-based stores.