2 prompts
3 handymen
304 words
Don opened the front door of the craftsman. "Charlie? Dad?" No answer. He walked into the living room. Empty. The kitchen. Also empty. Charlie's car was in the driveway, so the garage was his next stop. Empty.
Finally, he headed out to the back yard. Bingo. Charlie and his bosom buddy, Larry, were knee deep in the koi pond, heaving rocks onto the grass beside the pond. "Hey, Buddy!" he called, earning a startled yelp from his brother. "Sorry," he said in a tone of voice that conveyed exactly how un-sorry he really was. "You guys having fun?"
"A riot," Charlie's snarled. "You want to help?"
"Sure," Don sat down, took off his shoes and socks, and rolled up the legs of his jeans. "Whaddya need me to do?"
"I'm putting in a new fountain, and I need it sixteen inches deeper right here."
"So you're moving sixteen inches of rock."
"Funny. At least sixteen inches." Charlie grunted as he lifted a slippery rock. "You gonna help, or you gonna nitpick?"
Don took the rock from Charlie's hands. "Step aside and let a manly man do the job. No offense, but you guys are not exactly weight lifters"
"Actually," Larry picked up a rock and tossed it onto the grass, "since I joined NASA, I have drastically increased my physical regimen."
"That's good," Don said, lifting another rock. "Hey, Chuck..." At that exact moment, Don's foot slipped and the agent flailed and fell backwards into the koi pond. His shoulder slammed into the bank and he grunted in pain. Charlie and Larry scrambled to help him onto the bank.
"What is going on out here?" Alan demanded as he walked into the back yard.
"Nothing," Don snarled, rubbing his throbbing shoulder.
Charlie burst into laughter. "Don was just impressing us with his manhood."
Author's note: We were chatting about romance novel cliches and decided to use the challenge words "heaving" and "throbbing" in a PG-13 manner.