October 9, 2018

Twittering Tales #105 – 9 October 2018

About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a photo prompt. Your mission, if you choose to accept the challenge, is to tell a story in 280 characters or less. When you write your tale, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. And if for some reason I missed your entry in the Roundup, as I have occasionally done, please let me know. I want to be sure to include your tale.

Finally, have fun!

And REMEMBER…you have 280 characters (spaces and punctuation included), to tell your tale…and a week to do it. I can’t wait to see what you create this week.

Twittering Tales #104 – The Roundup

Before we move on I want to give a shout out to newcomer, Hrida who forgot to link her tale for the Shoe Tree Prompt. Visit her site for an interesting lesson on “shoefitis”.

Tired of painting on various canvases, walls and other inanimate things, I wanted something raw, something alive. Came across a dying tree and decided that it’d be my canvas this time. I randomly tossed shoes upon it, and named the art – Shoefiti.

~247 characters

Starting us off…
Dr. Willis’ decades-long quest for the mdju netjer, “words of the gods” had been rewarded with an amazing find. As he read the tablet’s message, he realized no one must know. Suddenly, a wind whipped up the sand burying him in a matter of minutes. He was right. No one would know.

280 Characters

By Martin at Martin Cororan:
Pyramid Scheme
Rameses had promised his favourite concubines that he wouldn’t bury them alive upon his demise, but apparently that had been a catacomb-sized lie.
‘Well that’s just great,’ wailed Hehet over his mummified corpse. ‘What now?’
Ngozi began to angrily carve at the stone walls. ‘Now we make shit up and screw with future historians.’

By The Dark Netizen:
Hieroglyphs
There it was, the hieroglyphs I had searched my entire life for.
I placed the torches down, and fished out my translation book, notepad, and a pencil from my bag. began noting the translation of the first line. I jumped up in joy. This was indeed it.
Here lies the recipe for beer!
Character Count: 280

By Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
At the Zoo
“What does it say?” the boy asked.
“It’s about how the ancient Egyptians built a zoo using crude tools,” the man said. “And all of the birds, animals, and snakes they kept at the zoo.”
“Wow,” the boy said, “really?”
“I don’t know, kid,” the man grinned. “I can’t read hieroglyphics.”
(280 characters)

By Willow at WillowDot21:
The Stone
Moses stormed out of Peter’s office. He was so angry! “I spent week’s writing those commandments. And now they are gone!”
Down on earth Azriel was happily playing in the sand waiting for the tide to turn? Satan had promised him a paddle if buried the stone. For Mr Carter to find.
(279 Characters)

By Kristian at Tales from the Mind of Kristian:
The Overlords
When it was translated, the stone caused uproar.
It said “We, the Overlords, leave you now to govern yourselves as you see fit. We will return in five thousand years. From the heavens we will come.”
This stone was dated to the time of the first dynasty, Five thousand years ago.
[276 characters]

By Reena at ReInventions:
Scripted
“From inky thumb impressions of the illiterate to biometrics … the world is round. This script may be old, but the images will convey what alphabets cannot. We can use this in digital devices for the unlettered.”
“Sure, I have already figured out how to dupe them of their money.”
(279 characters)

By Deepa at Sync with Deep:
Pastime
a few years before: “don’t scribble the wall. ”
now: Stop flooding my wall with your memes and jokes
writing on the wall has been my favorite pastime since long.

By Peter at Peter’s Pondering:
Those new contraceptive tablets were great.
The instructions were really clear.
I just had to make a sheath out of the intestine of a goat and stretch it over my organ, before ravishing all the handmaidens I desired.
I didn’t have an organ, or a piano, so I stretched it over my lyre!
(280 characters)

By Hélène at Willow Poetry:
Short Reign
It is said that the son of God will rise in the West. He will be given the name, Trump. He will be recognized by his distinguished orange hair. At the end of his reign, he will be remembered for his Pinocchio nose. His famous nose could stretch all the way to Rocket Man’s Land.
278 Characters

By Ramya at Miles to Go Before I Sleep:
Missing Link
Examining the tablet, the researcher concluded that the tablet depicts an actual event.
A good piece to the puzzle.
Could this be an elaborate hoax or the Missing link?
Character Count : 167

By Deb at Twenty Four:
She frowned as she studied the hieroglyphics. This was getting beyond a joke, they couldn’t be serious but as she studied it, she knew that they were and she almost groaned aloud.
Write an essay praising our glorious and virtuous leader, Cleopatra.
As if.
(254 characters)

By Anurag at Jagahdilmein:
Apocalypse Now
Amidst falling debris, I quickly started the translation software on my computer.
The screen said- WHEN YOU LIFT THE TABLET, AN EARTHQUAKE SHALL DESTROY YOU UNLESS
I kept staring in despair at the frozen screen, which now said-MICROSOFT WINDOWS IS NOT RESPONDING. PLEASE WAIT.
276 characters.

By TheIndieShe:
The murals told the tales of distant past long gone .Men then fought and killed each other. All glory laid to dust.
The myriad figures stand alone.
But the story has not changed.
Men still keep on fighting and killing each other.
And the stony walls blood washed shine anew.
(272 characters)

By at Hrida at Inked Beliefs:
Cryptic Glyphs
Cooper had finally reached the end of the cave. Translating etchings, he realised that it was a doorway to something special. The glyphs of fishes, birds, men toiling and stars only meant a treasure deep under the river which would open, upon discovering only under the moonlight.
~ 280 characters

Thank you to everyone who participated this week.

Now on to this week’s fun photo by Matt Artz at Unsplash. You know I like to find interesting photos to challenge you. I hope you’ll have fun with this one! In 280 characters or less of course, and I’ll see you and next week’s roundup!