Inspired Muses

1.3 - "There's no place like home."

Three nights ago, Police Commissioner James Gordon came home at 10:38 PM, after putting in an almost fourteen-hour day at headquarters. He did his best to be quiet as he entered the two-bedroom apartment through the alley-facing door, but dropped his key ring directly on his foot. Gordon's toddler daughter, Barbara, turned over in the bed next to her parents', but didn't wake.

Inside the apartment, a green sticky note was on the microwave oven. It said "PORK CHOPS - 3 MINUTES. BEER IN FRIDGE. LOVE, BARBARA." That would be his wife, also named Barbara. Gordon set down his wallet, badge and gun on the dining table, started nuking his food and slipped off his shoes to walk through the rest of the place.

In the smaller bedroom, Gordon's son, James, Jr. or "Jimmy" was sound asleep in his Bugs Bunny pajamas. And seriously, how unimaginative are these parents? In the master, both Barbaras were also out like a light.

Gordon sat down to his rubbery microwaved pork chops, washed it down with a light beer, drank a second one in front of SportsCenter, then turned in at 11:23 PM.

( Survey )

(715)

Muse: The Joker
Fandom: Batman
Please reply here.

1.3 - "There's no place like home."

Man, did they ever get that one right.

Some people have great memories of the towns where they grew up. Maybe they played Little League in the park three blocks away from their house, and a couple years later, they ended up having their first kiss underneath the same bleachers where Mom and Dad used to watch them scramble around the bases. Maybe they had a paper route or a lemonade stand or an arcade where they hung out with their friends.

When people like that get to be adults, they think about staying or moving back to their home towns, probably because they think it'd be a great place to raise a family.

Most spies, though, come to the business with a different kind of background. Our grades were good, but we weren't valedictorians and we liked gym class, but we didn't play varsity ball. We had friends, but nobody we'd really miss for the rest of our lives. And Mom and Dad rarely made it to our games if we had any.

It sort of explains why we like running around on the other side of the world, pretending to be other people.

So you can imagine my joy at finding out the city that the Agency decided to dump me in after I got burned was home, sweet home Miami, Florida.

Miami. I hadn't been back here since I left ten years before. It's where my father was buried two years before, and since I didn't come back for that, I sure wasn't ever coming back for anything. It's where my screw-up of a little brother lives, although I figure my taking the heat from Dad most of our lives gave him just enough room to be a decent guy. I hope.

It's where my mother lives, chain smoking and making worrying into an Olympic-level athletic event.

The absolute last place I ever wanted to end up.

And it'll take a lot more than a pair of ruby slippers for me to get out.

(337)

Muse: Michael Westen
Fandom: "Burn Notice"
Please reply here.

I don't lie. No, that's not a lie, I really don't! See, Joker sort of opened up my eyes and made me see that the truth is something everyone needs to see and to tell. Lies are BAD NEWS.

[Locked]

Okay, so I sort of slept my way through college and lied about that, but it was for a good reason! I had to get into Arkham, and the only way to do that would be to sleep my way in. My grades just weren't cutting it at all, and with a hot bod like this, you might as well use it to get what you want, right? Small lie, so it doesn't count. Plus it brought me closer to my sweetie, so there's that, too!

[Unlocked]

Okay, so I sort of lie. But only when it's funny! Like when I have a gun aimed at someone and I tell them they have five seconds to live when they really have only one? See, I'm trying to make a point. Joker taught me that, too! It's only a teeny lie, ANYWAY, and the person winds up dead either way, so it shouldn't count.

Oh, I guess I lied about my feelings for Joker when I was still just a doc back at Arkham.

Hmm. I lied to Commissioner Gordon when I said that I wasn't mad at him, because I WAS, because he was part of that whole group that put Joker away.

I lied when I said I wouldn't kill the Batman. (Sorry, sweetie! I know you probably don't think I'd do it, but I would as a Valentine's Gift! He was so mean to you!)

Fine, I sort of lie, but none of it should count. I'm not clinically sane ANYWAY.

Muse: Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn
Fandom: Batman
Word Count: 293
Please comment HERE

There is no place like home, really. But, well, I think, that people's definitions of 'home' differ. My own is wherever my wife is. We have lived in many places, from other worlds to other dimensions. And no matter where we have been, by her side has always been the place I have felt most comfortable.

My first home, the place I was born and grew up, was a place that I hated, and that I left as soon as I could, even if that leaving started on accident. I am not a fan of, nor fond of, small towns, and the one I lived in was one of the worst I have known.

Home should be a place you can be yourself, and feel comfortable and wanted. You should be able to stretch there, and find yourself, and know that no matter who you are, you will be accepted. You should be loved, and respected as well. That is home to me.

Whatever home is to each person, it is the solitary center of the heart. It is the place and the possessor of a unique spot there, and to me, that is a good thing. I go to my wife and know I am loved, know I am where I am happiest, know I am alive.

When I get there, to her, wherever she is... I am home.

Alex Rogan
The Last Starfighter
230 words

Prompts this first time will be Serious, Funny & Quotable:

1) Talk about the worst lie you've ever told. [Your muse can lock their post or it can be assumed that all responses to this are locked]

2) What five things do you find most annoying about the opposite sex?

3) "There's no place like home!" - The Wizard of Oz


If you would, please, put the number of the prompt you do in the subject line of your post? Thank you!