Twittering Tales #139 – 4 June 2019

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. This is important as I have noticed that some of the ping backs have not been working. If you would prefer to post your tale in the comments (some people have very specific blog themes but still want to participate), I am happy to post a link to your site when I post your tale in the Round Up.

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!

Twittering Tales #138 -The Roundup

Photo by Moritz 320 at Pixabay.com

Starting us off…
A Break in the Case
“You’re gonna want to see these Brad. I had the lab develop prints from the camera we found at the crime scene.”
“Do we have a suspect?”
“No, nothing like that. Look at this beauty. A ’64 Mustang. Do you think the paint job is original? ”~kat
236 Characters

By Lisa at Tao Talk:
Letting Go
Mim, award-winning life coach, helped clients turn negatives into positives. Every Friday night Mim’s clients gathered their negatives and brought them to the symbolic barrel in the park. It was there they spoke & released their troubles – and found fellowship with like souls.
[279 characters]

By Enzo at Travel, Good Food, Arts and More:
Family Secrets
A white envelope with old negative films had been left on the desk of the studio. Was that a clue to the obsessive questions buzzing in his head about that family secret buried in the past? He just had to inspect the negative pictures against the dimmed lamp on the side table.
(277 characters)

By Reena at ReInventions:
Life Changes
Cinema has gone digital, but I have changed. I feel suffocated in dark movie theaters.
Screens at home serve the purpose well, with added benefits of multitasking.
beauty of antiquity
bewitching charms of the past
forays into dark
they once held me spellbound
with cosy companions
(276 characters)

By Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
The Negatives
“Get me those negatives, goddammit,” the senator told his fixer. “That private detective took some compromising photos of me and is threatening to sell them to the Times unless I pay up. If those pictures ever get published, my career, my marriage, and my life will be finished.”
(279 characters)

By Martin at Martin Cororan:
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
She was convinced he was having an affair. The investigator found no evidence, but his photos were masterful. Together they engaged in more intimate forms of photography. Her husband found the photos, used them to secure a sizeable divorce settlement and lived happily ever after with a succession of trophy wives.

By Graham at Graham is Just My Name:
After 30 indecisive years, she took the 35mm wedding photos from the forgotten reaches of the wardrobe, removed dust and gunge, and sent them off for digital copies.
Then continued with her perfect life.
Weeks later, Detectives arrived and arrested her.
It wasn’t the wedding photos.
(280 Characters)

By Ron at Read 4 Fun:
Picture This
“Wilke, point the camera to that turret. There is a lot of activity, and birds should appear soon.”
“That’s not a bird. It’s the crazy Woman in White the villagers talk about. Is she trying to fly?”
“Two others are helping her. Get the picture. Someone will be framed for this.”
278 characters

By Kelley at AuthorAnonBlog:
Hey Siri
Dan surveyed the film scattered before him.
“There has to be something I’m missing.”
Bodies, splayed open and surrounded by a hodgepodge of mystical ingredients, stared back at him.
He really thought a handful of cinnamon would be the key.
“Hey Siri, how do you reanimate a corpse?”
278 characters  – 48 words

By Shweta at My Random Ramblings:
A Stroll Down Memory Lane…
He had always had a thing for film cameras. He was immune to all the charms of the digital age. He bought film rolls by the dozen. He claimed that his Kodak camera rarely (read: never) let him down. His love of photography was the only thing that was untouched by his Alzheimer’s.
(280 characters)

By Regina at Help From Heaven:
The Real Story
Watching the film of the laughing woman, I marvel that I looked so normal. We were to act as though happily ever after existed, and truth was avoided at too high a cost. The truth is that marriage is a combination of good and bad times, unique to each couple. You hope for many more good ones than bad ones. Both people must work to achieve that goal.
(276 characters)

By Larry at East Elmhurst A Go Go:
Absent Minded and Disorganized
“Oh no, you’re not disorganized,” Mabel told Harold, on their way to a doctor’s appointment. “It’s perfectly normal for a guy not to keep track of his medication, glasses, and keys, though he can easily find an old negative from some obscure party in 1974.”

By John at The Magic Shop:
Celluloid
He discarded the last piece of latex skin into the garbage and the monsters disappeared again. This one was burned alive by kids, a nasty death. It was always sad discarding his “babies”.  But, he also knows that they’ll live forever having been caught on dark celluloid to fulfill one’s nightmares.
(291 characters)

By Di at Pensitivity101:
‘Honey? Look at this!! I think this is your Mom, but that sure ain’t your Dad and ……………….. E-EW!’
109 characters

By Sadje at Keep It Alive:
“What a lovely find. The pictures of our Paris holiday which I thought were lost are on these negatives. We must get them developed honey!” “Stella Have you forgotten what happened at that time? Do you really want to bring back all those horrible memories?”
Character count; 258

By Willow at WillowDot21:
Negatives.
It’s not as glamorous as it used to be. Not anymore. Time was we were sought after with our Pentax and Olympus. We stay up all hours , red light cigarette in mouth, blow the chemicals. We got the shots, developed them made the image, iconic.
We’re not needed now, it’s all digital.
(280 Characters)

By Kristian at Tales from the Mind of Kristian:
Evidence of a Hidden Past
She’d found the old film in the attic.
Looking at the pictures for the first time was like stepping backward in time.
There was her mother, so young, a spark in her eye, holding a baby and standing in front of an orphanage.
She had to pick herself up from the floor.
[262 Characters]

By Tessa at Tessa Can Do It:
Negatives
Linda was pouring over the stuff that wasn’t damaged in the explosion last week. “Help me find those negatives, Ron.”
“What are you looking for, Linda?”
“Lucy’s baby picture negatives. I don’t care about the rest of this stuff. We can replace it, but the baby pictures we cant.”
276 characters

By Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
The Proof
Cleaning the garage of their house, Mary stumbled on some old film negatives buried deep under the pile of books. The pictures told a gruesome tale.
Should she confront her husband, go to the police or just let it pass. Her mind was in a turmoil. Finally she made her decision!
Letter count : 279

By The Indie She:
A Kaleidoscope
Her mind was a kaleidoscope of memories. The life’s roll pulsated with vibrant images eliciting a throwback to her vivacious heyday. But it was also dotted with blank grey canvases.She had chosen to forget what caused her pain. She held what she wanted to hold onto.
(266 characters)

By Deb at Twenty Four:
She had found the old film at the bottom of the staircase, a remnant from someone’s removal she was sure and without a second thought she had picked it up.
Later that night she had peered into the frames and then gaped in wonder – was that Marilyn Monroe with the president?
(273 characters)

By JP at JP the Wide-Eyes Wanderer:
Old Photos
Chandra stared at the film strip. The Marlinsky, the Bolshoi, the Royal Opera house, a still of a young ballerina. So poised and beautiful, she looked closer, was that … YA-YA?
character count 178

By Neel at NeelWritesBlog:
OF PAST LIVES…
Locked in the mind’s inner chambers, the black ‘n white images served as conduits to Lata’s best memories.
Battling the Empty Nest syndrome, the septuagenarian’s days were expended in the past.
Nostalgia and wistfulness ruled roost as her children turned kids once again.
(271 characters)

By Hayley at The Story Files:
Negatives
Avril found the carrier bag of photo negatives in the attic and decided to get them developed. When the photos came back, she saw the faces of relatives and their friends. All those people were gone now, yet here they were now before her, captured forever in print.

By Rob at Art by Rob Goldstein:
*Flicks*
Asteroids populated by cowboys and
Indians, construction workers pound
the broken pavement,
twisting hips and ribs:
Petroleum implants invade his
body and feed on him.
His left leg does a little jig
with his right.
They are lovers.
199 characters

By Peter at Peter’s Pondering:
All is ready, what a lark
hands unsteady, oh it’s dark
tripod mounted, camera fixed
film all counted, cocktails mixed
off with tops and let’s get snapping
I love swaps but not the slapping
All gone home, the films are printed
all alone I stared and squinted
Some may say I’m sad and lonely
Come and join us, ah, if only!
(311 characters)

By John at Broadsides:
It was slow and complicated back then. Select a correct f-number aperture, calculate a fractional shutter speed, wind on the film, frame by frame, 36 times? 24 times? 12 times? Then to the chemists, to wait, for a week, perhaps more, only to find they were all underexposed, out of focus, blurred rubbish. The good old days.

By Indhu at Always:
Not So Distant Past
“Look slightly to your left. Okay, Ready 1..2..3”
Click.
“Ah, I think you closed your eyes! Only two more left in this roll.” said Adi.
“Let’s buy one more roll. I can’t wait to see the photos!” said Anita with a smile.
“Now click me!” said Adi giving the roll camera to Anita.
<274 characters>

Excellent roundup everyone! We have several new tweeters. Welcome! Be sure to check out everyone’s blog pages using the links above. For this week’s challenge, “book titles” as seen below in this great photo by Portraits of Tracy at Pixabay.com. Choose one title or several and find a way to incorporate them into your tale! Have fun and I’ll see you next week at the roundup! 😊

Twittering Tales #139 – 4 June 2019 – Book Titles

Photo by Portrait of Tracy at Pixabay.com

Tea Time

A leaky faucet shattered the silence. Insomnia plagued Hannibal. But this would be his last night in hell. His new book, “A Vintage Tea Party” had earned him freedom.

“Tomorrow afternoon, it’s tea with the ladies,” he smirked, “they’re going to love my savory finger sandwiches.”

~kat

279 Characters

A proper Tea should be served with both savory and sweetsnacks. There should be sandwiches, scones, pastries and cakes—served in this order: Savory (finger sandwiches with various fillings); neutral (scones, crumpets, buns); sweet (cakes, biscuits, pastries).