I stood in front of the bench. The sentencing judge peered down at me with a look of disgust.
‘Do you have anything to say in mitigation before sentencing?’ he asked.
My solicitor had advised me against saying anything: ‘Just accept the punishment. You were found guilty. The judge will frown upon excuses.’
But I wanted to say something in my defence. I bit my lip.
‘Very well,’ the judge resumed.
‘There is just one thing I want to say, your honour,’ I interrupted him, drawing another withering look.
‘Please make it quick.’
‘Although I accept that what I did broke the law, I would like it taken into consideration the intention of my actions.’
‘And what were your intentions?’
‘To spread a little joy. Couldn’t we all do with that?’
‘And you thought removing your clothing at the top of a hill and performing,’ the judge checked his notes, ‘the Macarena, with only a medical face mask covering your modesty, would spread joy?’
‘My followers on TikTok liked it.’
‘Would it be fair to say that a combination of an addiction to TikTok, a global pandemic and an awful Euro-dance track may have clouded your judgement as to what people may deem entertaining?’
‘It was my most popular post. It went viral.’
‘For all the wrong reasons. I fail to see how any of this mitigates against the maximum sentence being handed down to you for the crime of public indecency.’
‘My point, your honour, is that my dance did spread joy. The public found it to be decent, rather than indecent.’
I knew I had gone too far.
‘The public,’ the judge said sternly, ‘are not to be trusted upon anything, least of all matters of taste. You are ordered to pay a fine of £1,000 and carry out 100 hours of community service.’
I accepted my punishment, glad that the whole thing was over with. Besides, I had just taken a call from another company wishing to advertise on my TikTok and YouTube channels. Their fee would cover the fine.

This is a response to the #writephoto Prompt: Clouded curated over at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. Click on the link to read other stories inspired by the image.
Haha! Great take on the prompt
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Thank you, who knows what I was thinking with this one, but I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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I did. You broke the stereotypical thinking.
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Haha! Different. 🙂
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Yes, a bit of silliness for a change. Hope it gave you a smile 🙂
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Yes, I enjoyed it very much. 🙂
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every cloud has a silver lining!!!
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You just need to get lucky with these things to hit the jackpot 🙂
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or the cheek of the devil. In my case it’s always every silver lining has a cloud!!
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🙂
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This was a fun one,. good use of the prompt – well done!
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Thank you so much Mason, glad you enjoyed.
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Funny! The fee will cover the fine… good one 👏
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Thank you Beck, glad it gave you a laugh 🙂
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Shall I be watching your instagram feed more closely?
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Haha! I’m afraid my Instagram feed is never this interesting! 🙂
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Interesting. Isn’t spreading joy is community service?
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It should be, but without nudity 😉
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but mask was there, no?
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Excellent take on the subject, your character is not alone in his addiction to Tick Tock . It did make me smile .
Where was the surgical mask actually placed 💜
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TikTok I have tried, once. A complete mystery to me why anyone would want to be on it or even more, spend time watching it. As for the mask, well 2 choices: front or back!! 😉
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Lol, ticktock is not my scene either! …. As for the mask I shall have to leave that to imagination ☺️
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Made me LOL! Now I’ll be singing the Macarena song all day. 😀
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It is very catchy, sorry to put it in tour head, but let’s admit we all enjoy it really! 😉
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Haha. I like his carefree attitude. Great take on the prompt, Iain
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Thank you Shweta, glad you liked it.
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A little joy is much needed… and while perhaps not in ‘the best possible taste’, when has good taste ever made anyone laugh? 🙂
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Very true, bit maybe better to keep it within the law! 🙂
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If the law can be an ass, I don’t see why he can show one 😉
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Haha – very good! 🙂
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🙂
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That was brilliant!!
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Glad you enjoyed Sue 🙂
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starting on the auto-bio are we Iain?
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Well, there was this one time…no, maybe you’re not ready for that yet.
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I’m forcing myself not to imagine it
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That gave me a good laugh, and I can picture a man dancing the Macarena with just a mask on. I can only imagine his TikTok account.
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Honestly, you don’t have to look far on TikTok to find ridiculous stuff like this!
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Brilliant use of the mask!
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Haha! Thank you!
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Flowing against the course did bring a good laugh !!
Funny take and I loved it Ian 😀 😀
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Thank you so much 🙂
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you are welcome Ian ❤
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Quite interesting and very amusing story
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Thank you 🙂
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This was fantastic, Ian! OMG! I laughed out loud. I work out to the Macarena with my hula hoop…yes, the whole movement while hula hooping. I never thought to do it in public with only a mask. What a hoot! Well done! 🙂
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Haha! Thanks Lisa, I can imagine hula hooping to the Macarena is a lot of fun! 🙂
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It is and great exercise. Get the upper and lower at the same time. LOL! 🙂
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This made me smile. Very imaginative.
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Thank you so much Kally
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