There is a certain creative freedom when it comes to writing. I am aware that the word “nobbly” is not strictly a word. However, when I saw this picture, the words “nobbly chopsticks” came into my head, with that spelling too. The word means something that is bent or horribly contorted, as you will see.
copyright John Nixon
Nobbly Chopsticks
“Nobbly chopsticks are a way of life!” the teacher shouted. The students were seated in the cafeteria, each with a pair of chopsticks as straight as a question mark after an earthquake. “You make the most of what you’ve been given. If Life gives you one leg, you make do! If Life gives you nobbly chopsticks . . . ?”
“You make do,” the students echoed. They started eating, or attempted to. Only one in five could even grasp the noodles at all.
The teacher spied one boy holding the bowl, slurping the broth. “Hey you! What are you doing?”
“Life gave me hands . . .”
The Green-Walled Tower 
March 25th, 2014 at 6:47 pm
Great last line, very amusing. I love a humorous piece and yours had me smiling all the way through. I had this image of a slightly, crazed teacher standing in the middle of the cafeteria waving nobbly chopsticks around.
March 25th, 2014 at 8:01 pm
Yes, some sort of tough love institution or something. Glad you liked it. 🙂
March 25th, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Dear David,
I nearly spewed my coffee all over my keyboard at that last line. I’m pretty good with chopsticks but I’m not sure how I’d do with nobbly ones. You never disappoint with your writing and creativity.
Shalom,
Rochelle
March 25th, 2014 at 8:04 pm
Well, Rochelle, I’m glad I don’t have to Paypal you money for a new keyboard. 🙂 I’m pretty good with chopsticks, although still not as good as Koreans, of course. I’m amazed at the way they can totally debone a cooked fish with just chopsticks.
March 25th, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Ha har, David – Light and funny, yet profound and earthy… 🙂
March 25th, 2014 at 9:16 pm
That’s a great description for it, thanks. 🙂
March 25th, 2014 at 8:57 pm
LOL! I love that punchline 🙂
March 25th, 2014 at 9:22 pm
That’s one kid with his head on straight.
March 25th, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Great stuff!
March 27th, 2014 at 8:38 am
Thanks. 🙂
March 25th, 2014 at 10:57 pm
A great solution to the nobbly chopsticks problem!
March 27th, 2014 at 8:38 am
A lot easier than straightening out the chopsticks, at least. 🙂
March 25th, 2014 at 11:18 pm
Haha! I love your description of the chopsticks. I have a pair like that and they’re challenging to use. The ending is just terrific. I really enjoyed this one.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:38 am
Glad you liked it. I never used chopsticks until I was 21 and was pretty terrible with them. But after coming to Korea, I had to learn pretty quickly. I still couldn’t use ones like these though.
March 25th, 2014 at 11:39 pm
Very funny! There’s always a smart ass in the class.
March 25th, 2014 at 11:48 pm
Yep, always that one that has to play by their own rules. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 12:03 am
that’s one cool twist. good job
March 27th, 2014 at 8:36 am
Thanks!
March 26th, 2014 at 1:06 am
David, an excellent metaphor for life. That last young man will go far. Perhaps he’s the Bill Gates of Nobbly Chopsticks.
janet
March 27th, 2014 at 8:36 am
I like that, the Bill Gates of Nobbly Chopsticks. This should be a kind of test to find creative thinkers.
March 26th, 2014 at 3:08 am
Ha Ha, brill and nobbly is such a great word 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 8:35 am
I should start a campaign to get it into the dictionary. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 6:28 am
This is a brilliant parable! One student was truly using his brain!
March 27th, 2014 at 8:32 am
It would be funny if it was all a test from the teacher and he was the only one that picked up on it…but in this story I don’t think so. I guess each reader can make up their own minds about that.
March 26th, 2014 at 12:41 pm
That last boy is my type of guy! I would have done the same 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Then you must be smart. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 5:49 pm
or lazy 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 12:42 pm
add it to your list of “my favorites” 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 8:31 am
Aw, thanks.
March 26th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
Definitely enjoyed the ending 🙂 life gave me hands
March 27th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Glad you hear it. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Smart kid – he used his head to think through the problem! He’s going places. Great story! Thanks, Nan 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Yep, he’s thinking outside the bowl, as it were.
March 26th, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Loved this. Last line is superb.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:28 am
Thanks. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 9:35 pm
Lol…hands…. love it! Sounds like something I would have (and probably did) do when told I couldn’t do something because of my disability.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:26 am
Glad you liked it. Always find another way around, right?
March 26th, 2014 at 10:34 pm
lol that was a great last line 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 8:24 am
Thanks. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 10:43 pm
I didn’t see that coming David. Nice to be surprised. Thanks. Love the photo.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:24 am
Thanks, Susannah. 🙂
March 26th, 2014 at 11:19 pm
I now have a new line to use. Thank you sir.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:23 am
You’re most welcome. I hope you start a trend.
March 27th, 2014 at 1:58 am
We humans are an adaptable species 😉
March 27th, 2014 at 8:23 am
Luckily or we wouldn’t last long, not if we had to only eat with chopsticks like that.
March 27th, 2014 at 2:40 am
Think that teacher taught in my school…
Loved your last line David and your humour as always
Dee
March 27th, 2014 at 8:22 am
Ain’t it the truth. Do it the hard way because it builds character instead of finding the simplest way to do something. Glad you liked it.
March 27th, 2014 at 2:49 am
David this is great.. A question mark in an earthquake! I love picturing that.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:21 am
I went through a few metaphors in my head before I settled on that one. 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 3:21 am
Very cute! If only we could all look at life like that little boy. 🙂 Nice lesson hidden in there, David.
March 27th, 2014 at 8:20 am
I’m sneaky that way, putting lessons into things. 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 4:16 am
Of course.. and if life gives you lemons — make marguerita …
March 27th, 2014 at 8:20 am
Exactly. Great mentality.
March 27th, 2014 at 6:03 am
Ha! Brilliant 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 8:19 am
🙂 Thanks.
March 27th, 2014 at 1:34 pm
David, I’m not one to comment about loving many things on the blogosphere, but I truly love this flash!
If I remember correctly, you’re in Korea these days, right? My dad spent time in Korea, and he made sure my sister and I learned to use chopsticks. Actually, he made sure I learned to use chopsticks, and he gave a good college try toward making sure my younger sister learned. He always told us that if we got caught out in the wild with no utensils we could put together a meal of wild edibles and whittle a pair of chopsticks from a nearby tree to eat it with.
Thanks for a wonderful story that stands on its own and also resurrects so many great memories.
All my best,
Marie Gail
March 27th, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Glad to resurrect some good memories. Considering that a large chunk of the world’s population uses them, chopsticks are a great skill to have. I’ve gotten quite good after being here so long, although it was a bit tiring at first. I like Korean metal chopsticks more than wooden or plastic ones. And yes, you can make chopsticks out of anything, even a couple of pencils. Thanks for your comments. 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 2:08 pm
I had a beautiful pair of black enameled chopsticks that my father’s sister gave me for Christmas right before she passed away, but they seem to have gotten lost in a move. I enjoyed using them so much.
March 27th, 2014 at 6:20 pm
whazzup?
March 27th, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Funny story and good punchline. That’s something a kid might actually say. Well done. 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 9:45 pm
That’s a great end, I dare say.
I am left wondering whether that transition from the nobbly woods to the chopsticks to the hand is not a creative license being stretched to its limits? Or is it the way the thoughts wound up being in you as you looked at all those dancing shadows in the wood?
Shakti
March 27th, 2014 at 10:45 pm
Well, I thought of the chopsticks when I looked at the picture and the boy holding the bowl is just the twist at the end of the story; so yes, there is a certain progression of ideas where the final thought does not directly correspond to the first. Thanks for the comment.
March 27th, 2014 at 10:19 pm
This made me smile. Loved it. I didn’t see the teacher as a crazed man, but as a man who’s lived through suffering and hopes to inspire his students to overcome all obstacles – no excuses. Granted, he may not be the brightest man, having overlocked the whole hands thing… 🙂
March 27th, 2014 at 10:46 pm
I saw him as one of those people who purposefully does things the hard way to build character, but it is also just a test for the students, to build resourcefulness.
March 28th, 2014 at 12:40 am
AnElephant chortles gleefully at the images in his big head.
Thanks, David!
March 28th, 2014 at 1:23 am
What an uplifting piece with a thoughtful and inspiring message! Whenever I’m about to use the old “When life gives you lemons…” I’ll replace it with “Nobbly chopsticks!” Great piece!
March 28th, 2014 at 7:04 am
Lesson learned–don’t make life hard when it doesn’t have to be. Love your “nobbly chopsticks.”
March 28th, 2014 at 6:58 pm
Very funny and a lovely title 🙂
March 28th, 2014 at 10:53 pm
What an inventive kid! I’d still be trying to figure out what “nobbly” meant.
March 28th, 2014 at 11:53 pm
So bright, that one. Hope he got away with it.
March 29th, 2014 at 6:03 am
Clever boy – annoying student! 🙂
March 29th, 2014 at 8:50 am
Enjoyed this! Gotta “hand” it to the kid for that response 🙂
March 29th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
I “LIKE” this…I can’t click on any button…it’s loading, loading…Anyway, love this. This is how I feel when I attempt chopsticks, and I love finger food. Really funny!
March 29th, 2014 at 4:41 pm
I love such free spirited kids and individuals and David this was really a creative and fun take on the prompt-enjoyed it totally 😀
March 29th, 2014 at 10:39 pm
Glad you liked it. I see him as kind of an Oliver Twist kind of fellow.
April 3rd, 2014 at 2:57 am
🙂
March 29th, 2014 at 7:22 pm
Ah, it’s like you wrote a story about me, darling. I’m very much a ‘cut the Gordian knot” type person, and have little patience for authority and their random rules.
March 29th, 2014 at 10:35 pm
I think they’re called revolutionaries, or at least visionaries. There are worse things to be. 🙂
March 31st, 2014 at 8:39 pm
Out-of-the-box thinking keeps you from going hungry 🙂
March 31st, 2014 at 8:50 pm
Exactly. The principle of the thing is great and all, except at lunch time. 🙂
April 1st, 2014 at 2:13 am
Oh! I love this.
April 1st, 2014 at 3:56 am
Great last line. I bet teacher loves the smart one?
July 23rd, 2014 at 5:36 pm
[…] Stewart in response to another fictioneers prompt. The story, definitely worth the read, is titled “Nobbly Chopsticks,” and if you haven’t followed David already, I strongly recommend […]
July 24th, 2014 at 2:52 am
I think I missed this story first time around – glad MG’s link brought me here today. You capture the teacher’s character well, but even better, the last line tells us so much about the boy speaking it. Great characterisation, and a good laugh along the way. Thanks
July 24th, 2014 at 3:01 am
Thanks, Jennifer. He keeps his eyes on what’s important: getting food into his mouth. 🙂
July 29th, 2014 at 1:47 am
Smart kids are frequently intolerable but in this case he was enjoyable. Thank for the fun story!
July 29th, 2014 at 2:53 am
Thanks for reading it. Glad you enjoyed it.
May 17th, 2015 at 7:13 pm
[…] a longtime, real-life friend of mine. David and I initially bonded over chopsticks. His short story “Nobbly Chopsticks” inspired me to snap a photo that was later used as a Friday Fictioneers […]