“sparse inventory of reasons”

There were always excuses. Always. Excuses are easy to come by and sound as weak as they are. True reasons, now those were harder to come by. In a world with a sparse inventory of reasons, she picked and chose with a delicate hand. She became adept at saying, “I could give you excuses, but they’d be just that. I do have a reason though.” People would stare for a moment, perhaps give a long slow blink, digesting this bit of information that supposedly made sense. Eventually they’d realize it did make sense, and they’d want the reason…or not. Usually they didn’t. Usually people were very much aware that they walked this same tight wire of excuses vs reasons. Most people were simply happy you’d cancelled. Unless they truly needed you. Those people, the needy ones, couldn’t understand the difference, couldn’t find any justification for why you weren’t where you’d said you’d be or worse, why you wouldn’t say you’d be there at all. There is nothing wrong with being needy, of course, we’ve all been there, but the ability to have someone drop everything and be there for you…that’s a big ask. It’s a huge ask. And she’d always thought of herself as a person who would drop everything, who would always be there…until she realized she was not that person at all. She could be, sometimes, but with children of her own and a sparse inventory of reasons that she wasn’t even allowed to voice, she was now relegated to

5 Minute Stretch Exercises are a creation of Laura Munson and were learned at Haven Writing Retreats. Write for five minutes, no corrections or stopping.
This prompt was taken from Last Tango in Melrose, Montana by Dan Vichorek.