Twittering Tales #116 – 25 December 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 #115 – The Roundup

Starting us off…
Josh waited for the house to grow quiet before hiding in the box. He had a perfect view of the fireplace.
The front door creaked open. Josh watched in horror as a man in a red suit took the TV off the wall. Before leaving the man whispered “ho ho ho”.
That wasn’t Santa. No way!
~kat
277 Characters

By Ron at Read4Fun:
Not Merry for Everyone
A huge Rolodex, two sections; “naughty” and “nice. The number of names and numbers! Every year he disappeared all night. I knew he brought some of them back to the workshop. I’d catch him this year. Helpers! I never suspected. There will be more than lumps of coal tonight.
273 Characters

By The Dark Netizen:
HOLE
I looked through the hole.
My brother and I had watched a mummy movie, and he suggested we enact it. We made a cardboard coffin. I became the mummy. We only had enough bandage to cover up till my mouth.
I could only watch as he left me inside the coffin and went outside to play…
Character Count: 280

By Reena at ReInventions:
Dark Xmas
I expected at least one stocking under the tree, to have my name on it. But it’s not there.
My mother left me in the car, strapped to seatbelts, and is busy partying inside. She expects me to cry myself to sleep. Well, this looks like …. darker than sleep. Is it the end of the world?
Do they even know that I’m here? I’m not dead.
(265 characters)

By Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
Hide and Seek
Eddie hid inside a large cardboard box. He used a stick to poke out a peephole to see out. He waited for his pals to find him, but no one showed up. He grew tired and, after a while, fell asleep. It was dark when he woke up to the sound of his father frantically calling his name.
(280 characters)

By Kristian at Tales from the Mind of Kristian:
Looking and Hoping
He kept a sharp eye on his peep hole. 
The room beyond was bedecked with Christmas finery and under the tree was a treasure trove of goodies. 
One day, he hoped to be adopted by a family like this, that would be the best present ever. In the meantime, he just looked on and hoped.
[279 Characters]

By Deepa at Sync with Deep:
Black Hole
funny it is
when I enjoyed
reading the story 
‘Alice in Wonderland’
I wondered how
she went on an adventure
after falling through 
a never ending hole.
well, believe me
It is not fun.. 
things are weird here
as I am in the 
black hole.T

By Violet at Thru Violet’s Lentz:
Look Away
For a second- just before he pulled the trigger- Jason was that little boy again
Alone in the dark closet eye pressed to a hole in the bedroom wall not wanting to see- but unable to look away
Today he didn’t want to look away- not when he was dispatching some poor slobs slutty wife
Character Count: 280

By Willow at WillowDot21:
Hidden.
Time had stopped. He’d lost all sense of time. Was it hours or days since mum had told him to stay silent and still. The sound of boots on the stairs grew louder. He stayed stock still not even breathing.
They dragged his family off.
Crushed into the train she prayed he’d survive.
(280 Characters)

By Anurag at Jagahdilmein:
Hunger Games
I stared in horror at the carnage being inflicted on our town by the dragon.
She appeared to be desperately searching for something.
In my nervousness, hunger pangs started gnawing at me. Thank God for the strange-looking egg I’d picked up in the forest this morning.
CRUNCH!
Aah!
280 characters.

By Amritha at Igniting Hope:
Lost and Found!
Ron hid himself in a box with a hole during the game of hide and seek. He rushed out of his haven to his wailing younger sister. She was upset as she could not find him. Yes he lost, but gained much more, the sparkle in her twinkling eyes. Little things in life matter the most.
(278 characters)

By Michael at Morpethroad:
My neighbours have cut down the trees between our places.
I watch them do nudie runs from the bathroom to their room.
They don’t know I can see them.
I started to time them.
He is quicker some days.
She on other days. Must be the cold weather that influences their speed. (266 characters)

By Di at Pensitivity101:
He’d been stealing from other kids pockets when he heard footsteps, so hid in the cupboard.
Now he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, the headmaster and the gym teacher doing that.
He couldn’t tell….. or could he?
It would be easy money.
238 characters

By Lady Lee at Lady Lee Manila:
Consumed by fear, he stood
As still as the dark night above him
He didn’t want to be misunderstood
And life could be so grim

He trembled as the clock struck midnight
What he saw changed his life forever
No one there to fight his plight
Then everything went blur
(255 characters)

By Ponnz at The Swan Song:
Little Santa
They didn’t sense him hiding in the box.
He saw them placing his Christmas gift wrapped in blue.
Once they fell asleep,he watchfully paced to the tree and admired his gift.
He then placed a box close by his with two toffees and a scroll To my the best parents~Santa singing ho ho ho!
280 Characters

By JP at The Wide-Eyed Wanderer:
Sanctuary
Billy watched from his hiding place between the walls. His fingers sore and bloody from tearing a tiny hole through which he peaked out of his sanctuary. Had the monster left? Then he heard the monster roar. 
“Billy you come out now, it’ll only be worse if you don’t.”
Oh crap!
Character count 279

By Deb at Twenty Four:
They peered so intently into the hollow of the tree trunk that she wondered for a moment what had captured their attention, perhaps a caterpillar or even a butterfly.
With a smile she leaned over to have a look and then drew back with a gasp.
Who would have thought it.
(267 characters)

By Ryanne at Ryanne Shore Poetry:
View From a Paper Bag World
Safe here
Huddled, cuddled in dark
Unseen arms of God protect
His whisper tells “all’s well”
Whatever little eye can see
In tiny view torn from
Street’s paper bag world
Is more than enough for me
Grounded angels walking by
Leave scattered pieces
Peace-hope-joy
Carol Jesus
Once like me, a boy

By Peter at Peter’s Pondering:
Roger said “Sorry Mum, I was messing about!”
He knew she would not believe the truth. It was difficult enough for him, and he’d seen it with his own eyes.
The goblin had flown twice around the bedroom and then decided to fly straight through the wardrobe door.
He was still in there!
(280 characters)

By Indhu at Always:
The Secret
The seeker began to count. All ran as fast as they could to find a good hiding place. Amy waited for others and then hid. 
Six different seekers have tried to find Amy but in vain. 
Amy giggled to herself and was proud of her secret hiding place which no one has figured till date.
<279 characters>

By John at Broadsides:
From my castle:
A cardboard box is a homeless person’s castle. It shields me from all those people. Not from the cold and wind. And if it rains we get soaked. Again. I can watch them passing by, going to the warmth of their homes and friends, with parcels and mince pies, and in my cardboard castle, quietly cry.

Awesome tales everyone! And a Merry Christmas to you (if you celebrate). Thanks to everyone who participated last week. For this week’s photo prompt, one of my own creations. I happened upon a decorated tree on my walk with the pup the other night. Not the kind of tree you expect of course. But I found it really beautiful in its simplicity. There is also a red light in the attic of the house just past the tree. Not sure what that’s about. I suppose red is a Christmas color. That is the only decoration. To each their own. I managed to hang a wreath on the front door. Jingle jingle all the way. 🙂 Have a great week. See you at next week’s roundup.

Twittering Tale #116 – 25 December 2018

There had been a spree of holiday heists on Elm St. The neighborhood watch stepped up its surveillance thanks to Norman, who made ornaments fitted with cameras. As he watched monitors in Mrs. Dudley’s attic, the thief made his move.

Could it be? He gasped. The Grinch was real!

~kat

279 Characters