Thank you. And from a real-life hometown resident(maybe I need two for all the people in my head.)G-d bless David Simon for cataloging every cigarrette butt in Balmer County so it looks like I know stuff!(I have a pretty good corner vocabulary, too, any one wants cocaine at an f2f could send me.)Funny I know stuff about a town I've never been to, and had to look up stuff about the town in which I actually sit. I also owe Joseph Wambaugh's "The Black Marble" pretty heavily.(That one's like a cop love story...romantic for Wambaugh.) Deb's favorite sentence is the most "mine", huh? Because when I was just out of college and trying to take over the world with my will, I read that if you smile over the phone, people can hear it. (I was all trying to be "Seven Habits For Effective Cripples" girl then. You wouldn't recognize me. But I got a nice metaphor out of it.)

Risking pneumonia to check out some tip about redneck dealers in campgrounds in Balmer County.

Whereabouts in Baltimore County do you envision this happening? I live in the southwestern part of B.Co., near Patapsco State Park and Spring Grove mental hospital (one of my traffic-ducking shortcuts takes me right through the grounds), so if you ever need digital photos of interesting places, etc. let me know. I'd be happy to oblige.

You're a teeny bit more likely to find the rednecks, etc. out in Carroll County, these days. There was a big bust not too long ago that rounded up a bunch of people in Carroll, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City, with the majority in Carroll County. One of the B.Co. guys was my neighbor--the one who threw the awesome 4th of July parties. (I still can't believe I went to parties hosted by a drug dealer. Can't believe the dealer's property abuts my own. Also, he really didn't seem like the type.)

Almost forgot:

Deb, insent.

Anne, got it. And Susan, backsent again.

Deb, insent again. I think I may finally have it.

YES! Pretty much nailed both synopses this time. Beautiful, Susan. These are immeasurably better and clearer.

If I ever really wrote that story for real, I would, Anne. Thank you. I was just, you know, flying by the seat of my pants for speed purposes. Just trying to construct a fool's errand with a lot of trees.

thought he could hear a twinkle in her eye

erika, I know I'm late, but I just had to join the loving-this-sentence club. Also, I really wanted to know more about those people, as well.

Hear ye, hear ye!

Now is the time for all good drabblers to come to the aid of their drabble community.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy drabbler.

I drabble, therefore I am.

(No, these bastardized cliches have nothing to do with the new topic. I'm apparently just over-caffeinated.)

Drabble #28 (fateful encounters) is now closed.

Drabble #29 was suggested by AmyLiz (whose tagline cracks me up). I'm making it deliberately broad as hell, just to see what happens.

Your drabble challenge topic, should you choose to accept it, is music. That's it. Go anywhere you want with it.

Aw, you guys. With the encouraging and stuff. (It will not be possible for me to do justice to every idea that the hamster in my brain dislodges in its trip through the wheel, but I hope the judges love it, too.) Although I gotta tell you, crafting something for cash feels like "Hey, baby, wanna date? I've got metaphors that can make you scream. Tropes so twisted they're kinky...you know you want it." I know it's better than my previous efforts, though.