Twittering Tales #146 – 23 July 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 #145 -The Roundup

Photo by Zoë Pappas at Pexels.com

Starting us off…
The Deal
“So, Norman. Do we have a deal?”
“Let me get this straight. All’s I need to do is vote for your guy, an’ I get the cash?”
“That’s right.”
“OK! Where do I sign?”
“Right here.”
“Quickest cash I ever made.”
“Now about your soul…”
“My what?! Wait a…”
“Fine print Norman, fine print.”
~kat
276 Characters

By Lisa at Tao Talk:
Not So Fast
John sat across the table from me; paper was ready. A look of triumph distorted his usual sour expression.
“Ms. Smith, once you sign, you’re admitting gross insubordination and will no longer work here.”
I held up a DVD.
“Not signing. Judge will want to see your hand on my ass.”
[280 characters]

By The Dark Netizen:
Deal
I waited for the old man to finish reading.
He looked at me and smiled.
“I’m glad for this offer. I’ve wanted to get rid of that piece of land for many years now. Are you sure though? The land is useless.”
I nodded and smiled as he signed the papers.
We had a place for the bodies…
Character Count: 280

By Amritha at Igniting Hope:
The Signature
Her signature was worth a million dollars bringing smiles to many faces. Though she found her job mundane and hectic, one thought keeps her going – The thin line of difference when a signature turns into an autograph! With this thought she signed off in style.
(260 characters)

By Kristian at Tales From the Mind of Christian:
The Proposition
He was charming and handsome, yet when he invited her to his apartment amongst the rowdy throng, she felt repulsed.
His gold wedding ring glinted tellingly. No doubt it would be the old saga of a wife that doesn’t understand him.
She needed an escape, after all, he was the boss.
[280 Characters]

By Willow at WillowDot21:
The Rant Speech
I am right you are wrong a lot of people like what I am doing . I am so popular. Those who don’t agree should get out of the U. S. Go home and sort their own governmental catastrophes.
Don’t bother coming here if you don’t agree with me. If you don’t like me leave. I am incharge.
(279 Characters)

By Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
The Verdict
The assistant district attorney listened to the defense attorney’s closing argument. He tried to look calm and collected, knowing that his future with the DA’s office rested on the outcome of this case. But looking at the jury, he knew that the verdict wouldn’t be going his way.
(279 characters)

By Lorraine at Lorraine’s Frilly Freudian Slip:
Misconception
Who knew
unleashing Armageddon
wasn’t a button-push
but a scrawled slash
of ink on the
document of death.
(104)

By Reena at ReInventions:
The Devil Wears Red
“Black appears to be your favorite color, Mr.President?” The journo wanted to end the conversation on a lighter personal note.
“Yes. It’s formal, it’s dark, it’s distant and honest.”
“Honest?”
“I’ve never understood why Devils wear a red tie.”

By Di at Pensitivity101:
Pip felt uncomfortable under his gaze. The wedding ring was new.
Did he recognise her from the one night stand last week?
120 characters

By Larry at East Elmhurst A Go Go:
She Gets a Second Chance
“We only met the day of Apollo 11, so I don’t remember him well,” Kammy said. “All I know is that he’s married and left handed. I wonder how things will go when we meet again. ”
“Oh well,” Ciara sighed. “I hope for your sake you get it right this time.”
(257 characters)

By Graham at Graham is Just My Name:
Sean posed his manicured hands delicately. His pen was cradled softly between his fingers. His ring was so polished it almost sparkled.
Her slightly tanned skin was silky soft.
Her heart fluttered.
She closed her eyes and mentally nodded.
Sean had become Sally.
(261 chars)

By Kitty at Kitty’s Verses:
A Chance
The pen in her hand urged her to sign. The ring in her finger reminded her of her responsibility. Not for herself and her partner, but for the kids they brought into this world. Tearing the papers, she dialled their counselor’s number. Taking chances was how life was meant to be.
280 characters

By Jellico at Jellico’s Writing Nook: (Newbie Jellico wrote two tales. One for two weeks ago and one for last week! Enjoy!)
Acid Bath (For TT #144)
‘Did you see how nice he looked?’
‘The mortician was good.’
‘Looked like wax.’
‘Clay… definitely clay.’
‘I heard his entire face melted off.’
‘Hydrochloric acid will do that.’
‘How did it happen?’
‘Wife caught him banging her best friend.’
Char. Cnt: 234 + Title

The Letter (For TT #145)
It wasn’t easy.
It was never easy.
In fact, it was the hardest thing he’d ever had to write.
‘It is with my sincere regret…’
Damn. He hated writing these letters. Words seldom, if ever, consoled. Sigh…
‘… was killed in the line of duty…’
Sniff. Pause.
Char Cnt: 257 + Title.

By Dave at @DaveMadden:
Click
Click-click. Click-click.
I wondered how the room could ignore this eardrum assault?
“Hey Carl, can I borrow your pen?”
“Man…it’s out of ink,” and I chucked it in the trash can behind me.
Kathy offered him a new pen, a standard Bic. Relief…
Does nobody hear him tapping the table?
Character Count: 278

By By Pratibha at Prat’s Corner:
My Stroy

“Take all the time you want,” he said encouragingly, pushing the paper and pen along with it, towards me.
If only I had, I thought.
I knew I had to do this soon, if not right away. So, after years of hiding behind silence, I wrote the “story” all wanted to hear,but not the truth.

By Anurag at Jagahdilmein:
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Ed looked at the pen in his hand wistfully. Use it well, and he could become a billionaire.
But the cost…
Well, a guilty conscience never killed anyone, Ed thought to himself…unlike a pen, as he jabbed it into his wife’s neck, and became the sole owner of her vast estate.
278 characters

By Rekha at Invictus:
Ringing Clarity
Sell? My million-dollar start-up baby?
I’ll have zero say, heck, no identity!
Why can’t I decide?
Why can’t I have it all?
Who’s calling NOW?
Gemma, I told you not….
a-ga….a-d-a…gurgle…
Da-daa-deeeee…
That was easy, I smiled as I signed.
It’s not every day that my son called me daddy….
Character Count: 278

By Linda at Charmed Chaos:
The Wish
“Are you sure about this, Beau?”
“Yes.”
“Once you sign, the change is immediate, and there is no going back.”
“I understand completely.”
He signs his name, and in a burst of light, there is nothing on the table but a watch and gold ring.
A dog sat in the chair.
“Beau, is that you?”

By Sadje at Keep It Alive:
He was listening intently to the arguments from both sides. This was his first case as a Supreme Court judge. How proud his parents would have been if they were alive today. Sitting on the Supreme Court bench was a great accomplishment, even if he was favoring the government.
Character count; 276

By Tessa at Tessa Can Do It!:
Flying the Coop!
“Did you hear about Dan,” Jules asked.
“The cops picked him up,” Ron said. “I wonder if he will spill his guts?”
“Just what we need,” Linda said. “Ron we should get out of here before he does talk.”
“OK, pack the kid and the stuff and let’s get moving. No sense taking a chance.”
276 characters

By JP at JP the Wide-Eyed Wanderer:
Eyes That See
“Your aunt left you everything, including this,” he held a plastic bag, “said you’d know.”
Di gingerly accepted the bag containing her aunt’s eyes and dropped it into her purse. Di cast the spell to show her the last image from the eyes, her aunt’s killer. She screamed only once.
character count 279

By Hayley at The Story Files:
The Pen
The lawyer set himself up, clicked on his pen and began to write as his client talked. Suddenly, he noticed that his words were disappearing on the page. Frowning, he looked at the pen, it seemed normal enough but it wasn’t, it was filled with invisible ink and his client’s demands had vanished.

By John at Broadsides:
We’ll buy 250 million pounds worth of your missiles, of course, to maintain peace, but if you don’t t ask too many questions then on top of the contractual commission we will pay an additional 25% into your nominated Cayman island account. Do we have a deal Minister?

By Tien at From the Window Seat:
The Message
He tapped the pen twice on the paper before naming philosophers. He and his friend deconstructed and debated the arguments all day.
Homeland Security thought their discussion was insightful, not realising their target had disclosed national secrets in the coded exchange.
(270 characters)

By Rob at Art by Rob Goldstein:
The 10-second Memoir
Before Prozac, I once stormed the streets of this City like a mob with conviction, like a Godzilla in search of King Kong.
118 Characters

By The Indie She:
Justice
He stood alone.His fate rested with the man holding the sleek black pen in his blue veined smooth hands flashing a Cartier on a silky cuffed wrist.He had unearthed the nefarious activities of some and was made the scapegoat. Maybe the man in expensive suit would do him justice!
(278 characters)

By Peter at Peter’s Pondering:
He was delighted when a donor hand had been found, after his own had been crushed. Perfect!
He was delighted when there were no complications. Perfect!
He was delighted that the hand matched in colour and size. Perfect!
It was perfect in every way, but one!
It was trying to kill him!
(280 characters)

By Deb at Twenty Four:
“I tell you it’s all wrong.”
“What, it’s pretty standard, isn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
“Alright I’m taking the bait, care to explain?”
“Well when you look at the still what’s thing that comes to mind?”
“The legal system.”
“Exactly.”
“But it’s a show about the legal system.”
“Is it? Oh.”

By Teresa at The Haunted Wordsmith:
Day of Reckoning
Greg chuckled nervously. He had prepared for this; he had–for all of about five minutes in the men’s room while waiting for his name to be called. His mouth was drier than the Sahara in July. The silence in the room was deafening. “Well,” he said finally, “am I in the will?”
276-characters

By Neel at Neel Writes Blog:
CLASH OF VIEWS
“Don’t do what, Sejal?” It’s only a contract”.
“Don’t sign on it. It’s our death sentence, Vikki. It’s…”.
“How on earth is taking our business to Europe a death sentence?”
“It’s a ploy. Can’t you see…”
“No, I see what you can’t see and there’s no cure for paranoia”.
(277 characters)

By Diane at Ladies Who Lunch Reviews;
Parole Board
My heart pounds as I draw a breath.
Yes, Ms. Gray? Something to add?
No, sir, I think my papers are all there.
So it seems. The guard will take you back. The Parole Board will rule next month,
No, please!  They said today!
234 characters

Thank you everyone for making this week one of our best yet! Once again, you have outdone yourselves. This week’s roundup is fantastic! For our next challenge this intriguing photo of a Cenote Cave in the Yukatan by mattiaverga at Pixabay.com. These secret underground caverns are formed when limestone caves in, leaving a hole in the earth that leads to a pool of often gorgeous turquoise-colored water. Some cenotes (pronounced cey-NO-tays and derived from a Mayan word for “well”) are part of a massive underground network of rivers and caves that remain, for the large part, unexplored. For Inspiration, read more about these amazing “pools” HERE.

Have fun! See you at the roundup next week. 😊

Twittering Tales #146 – 23 July 2019

Cenote Cave in the Yukatan by mattiaverga at Pixabay.com

Remembering…

Sandra hoped to quell the nightmares that had haunted her for years in the cool waters of Ik Kil. As she floated in the pristine pool, the sound of drums and chanting filled her head. This place felt oddly familiar, terrifying, peaceful as she remembered she’d been here before.

~kat

278 Characters