It had rained all day yesterday. The torrential downpour had virtually flooded the route she usually took when she ran, so she decided to take a detour. She ran everyday, rain or shine. It was how she’d lost 70 pounds.
The rains had made the day humid. She pulled off her jacket and tied the sleeves around her waist. She relished the feeling of the fresh air on her arms and the tiny sliver of taut belly that peeked out from underneath her athletic top. She felt powerful and sexy and beautiful.
“Oh yeah, baby!” A crude voice yelled from above her. She looked up and saw construction workers standing on the scaffolding of a high-rise building.
“Take the rest of it off!”
“What a body!”
She kept her face stoic until she turned the corner, out of their sight, then pulled the jacket back over her shoulders. As she tried to catch her breath, she found a stray chocolate candy in her pocket and popped it into her mouth, waiting for her body to relax.
Jennifer Terry 
Your stories are always so poignant! I love how you subtly show the effect the workers’ cat calls have on her. Ugh! I wish guys would stop doing this. Cat calls aren’t compliments! They’re objectifying and degrading!
Thank you so much! Yes, catcalls are the worst. So degrading.
I love this story. It shows how her go to stress relief is candy – which is sad. It is sad that the catcalls from these men made her feel she needed the candy. Excellent story, Jenn!
Thank you so much. I was hoping that would come through.
It sure does comes through and I love that the reader has to figure that out.
Cat calling is not very nice. It makes you feel like a ‘piece of meat’ essentially. I can understand why she would eat a chocolate for a bit of comfort. Better to go a different route next time, so she doesn’t need more and more chocolate lol.
Good story.
Yep, or she’ll gain all the weight back going that route everyday! Thanks for reading, and I like your new pic!
Thanks Jen for the compliment 🙂
Ahhh …. well thought out story for the prompt photograph. Yes, this type of taunting can result in one feeling like an object. Her hard work to be in shape and healthy was being ridiculed. So Sad …
Great write …
Isadora 😎
Thank you!
I once had a friend who was upset because she never got cat calls, whilst all her mates did. she thought there must be something wrong with her. Her friends on the other hand envied her for being able to pass a building site in peace.
Visit Keith’s Ramblings!
Ha! Trust me if your friend doesn’t know how good she has it!
Ugh, cat-calling is truly one of life’s most overlooked levels of harassment, if you ask me. It completely throws respect and dignity out the window. That being said, I like the main character that you’ve created.That piece of chocolate is such a small detail but speaks volumes about the effect the catcalls had on her and the mental and emotional of the main character. Well done!
Thank you! Yes, I agree catcalling is definitely harassment and it can have a very damaging effect on women.
Great story, love the contradiction of her will to stay healthy and her bad habit to go to candy to release stress, and the fact she is reacting so strongly to the cat call and how she is still so conscious of her image. It’s a sad reality so many women have to deal with daily.
Thanks, yes catcalling can have a more negative effect on women than they realize. I read an article about women that changed the parts of town they visited and how they dressed because of harassment.
That’s horrible, women shouldn’t have to be..
I love how you bought the story off of the scaffold and into behaviorism. Great read!!
Thanks. To me construction workers = catchalls.
Enjoyed!