“Mercy me!” she exclaimed to no one in particular as she almost dropped the full tray of assorted cookies she had just painstakingly arranged and was about to take out to serve to members of the Ladies of the Lake Tea Group.

Looking down to see what had created the slip that had almost been her undoing, she eyed a small pool of what appeared to be milk on the linoleum floor – evidence of what could surely be deemed criminal carelessness, as just moments before, against her better judgement, she had succumbed to pressure from Myrna to allow her to serve the coffee, a mistake that reinforced her privately held poor opinion of Myrna’s character.

She took it upon herself to rearrange the cookies and the more arduous task of rearranging her expression from one of annoyance to one of the pleasant politeness she was known for, and with an almost imperceptible sigh, she headed out to return to the girls.

Inspired by The Daily Post Daily Word Prompt: mercy