Disrupting A Family's Upside Down Budget - ZAPFIC50 MONDAY (Week of 3/24/25) | Prompt: bus (transportar)

in Freewriters10 days ago

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I remember as a schoolgirl a difficult time in my family's life when our school district decided to rezone the neighborhood. The district did so without consultation with or consideration of the families that were affected. The disruption it caused was huge. So much so that all families in our neighborhood bonded together to find a solution to just another problem added to their already overflowing plate. For us kids, the situation was devastating as we no longer had use of a free bus ride.

I share a flash fiction story for the prompt "bus" for this week's ZAPFIC50 Monday challenge. This challenge was created by @felt-buzz. in which the story must be told in precisely 50 words.

My story is below:

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Marcus' mother read the letter as he pouted, blurting, "don't make me leave my friends."

"Leaving friends is secondary. My budget is already stretched."

Infuriated at the district's move, his mother immediately telephoned to apply for assistance with transportation costs.

Something a nine-year old doesn't understand in a single-parent household.

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Source

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Recuerdo de colegiala un momento difícil en la vida de mi familia cuando nuestro distrito escolar decidió recalificar el barrio. Lo hizo sin consultar ni tener en cuenta a las familias afectadas. El trastorno que causó fue enorme. Tanto que todas las familias de nuestro barrio se unieron para encontrar una solución a otro problema añadido a su ya desbordante plato. Para nosotros, los niños, la situación fue devastadora, pues ya no podíamos utilizar el autobús gratuito.

Comparto un relato de ficción flash para el tema «autobús» del desafío del lunes de ZAPFIC50 de esta semana. Este reto fue creado por @felt-buzz. en el que la historia debe contarse en 50 palabras exactas.

A continuación mi historia.

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El presupuesto de una familia al revés

La madre de Marcus leyó la carta mientras él hacía pucheros y soltaba: «No me hagas dejar a mis amigos».

*"Dejar a los amigos es secundario. Mi presupuesto ya es escaso».

Enfurecida por la medida del distrito, su madre telefoneó inmediatamente para solicitar ayuda con los gastos de transporte.

Algo que un niño de nueve años no entiende en un hogar monoparental.

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Source

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I leave here the screenshot evidencing the 50-word limit for my story for 3/24/25 for prompt: "bus"

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If you'd like to participate, here's the official post:
Si quieres participar, aquí tienes el post oficial:

ZapFicMonday: It's ZapFic50! Write a story in PRECISELY 50 words. Plus: results from last week's ZapFic240 contest!

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RULES:
  • Post to the Freewriters Community.

  • Use #freewritehouse, zapfic50monday, and #zapfic tags.

  • Place a link to your post in the comments to the official ZAPFIC50 Monday post.

  • Please use a word/character counter (if you search for word counter on the internet or in your phone's app store you will get a big choice!) wordcounter.net and include a screenshot. This makes it easier for you and @feltbuzz!

  • Use the prompt provided as you see fit (use your imagination)

  • You have 3 days (until Thursday 23h59 GMT) to post a Zapfic50 Monday (a story written in exactly 50 words) using the prompt given.

  • Try to tell a complete story if you can!

  • The story should only exactly 50 words (including spaces)

NORMAS:
  • Postea en la comunidad de Freewriters.

  • Utiliza las etiquetas #freewritehouse, zapfic50monday y #zapfic.

  • Pon un enlace a tu post en los comentarios del post oficial del Lunes de ZAPFIC50.

  • Utiliza un contador de palabras/caracteres (si buscas contador de palabras en Internet o en la tienda de aplicaciones de tu teléfono tendrás una gran selección) wordcounter.net e incluye una captura de pantalla. Así será más fácil para ti y para @feltbuzz.

  • Utiliza el texto como mejor te parezca (usa tu imaginación).

  • Tienes 3 días (hasta el jueves a las 23h59 GMT) para publicar un Zapfic50 Monday (una historia escrita en exactamente 50 palabras) utilizando el tema propuesto.

  • Intenta contar una historia completa si puedes.

  • La historia debe tener exactamente 50 palabras (espacios incluidos).

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Good luck everyone with whatever your endeavors.

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SUPPORTS THESE COMMUNITIES:


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SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/

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English is my native language.
If translation included, I use DeepL to assist my readers.
Thanks for your patience an understanding
.

El inglés es mi lengua materna.
Si se incluye traducción, utilizo DeepL para ayudar a mis lectores.
Gracias por su paciencia y comprensión.

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As kids, there are certain things that are very hard to understand.
What we could easily deal with is our primary emotions.
The underlying factors that caused our parents to take such decisions are even hard for them to manage.

That is so true @jmis101. A lot of things my parents did, I didn't understand the reasons. In truth, it's not for them to understand the complexities of adulthood. Children are in their own little world with their emotions and surroundings. They don't want to be disrupted.

Thanks so much for your visit. Take care and have a good rest of your week.

!LADY

!INDEED
Every stage with its emotions and challenges.

You are welcome ma'am

Trust the authorities to always act against the welfare of the people

That is so true in so many areas of our lives. We are just a number to them. A statistic they analyze and apply a one-size fits all. I just learned the other day that the poverty level of families in the U.S. was raised so that it now includes any household earning $49K and under. That's alarming.

It takes a couple both working sometimes to rise above this figure. And that's why poverty in the U.S. can't decrease. Inflation, recession, and other factors won't allow for recovery.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate your thoughts and engagement. Take care and have a good rest of your week.

!LADY

Oh wow! What a policy. Increase the poverty level, get parents to work harder, pay more tax and create employment for nanny positions to fill in for absentee parents. Indeed we are just numbers to them.

Warm regards ❤️

Sadly so, I must admit. Your assessment is on point. It's daunting sometimes and feels as though you're crawling and can never stand upright with both feet on solid financial ground. Take care.

!LADY

❤️🌹

Why I was downtown at City Hall speaking up for the people ... we already KNOW kids like Marcus will suffer ... and some of them were brought down by their teachers to speak up that day, too!

That's good to hear that people were getting involved looking out for their interests. Thanks for sharing this.

!BEER