Author Archives: Kat Myrman

Twittering Tale #54 – 17 October 2017

1476833681824

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 based on that prompt in 140 characters or less. 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. Have Fun!

Twittering Tale #53 – The Roundup

treehouse-255518_1280

Photo by Antranias on Pixabay.com

From Kalpana at Gemini in the Sky:
Her pen spews venom on paper in the sunlit forest log cabin . 
She dons her nocturnal skin and slithers for prey in the concrete jungle. 

From Reena at ReInventions:
“WOOOOOW! There is someone in deep meditation inside. Wonder for how many years ….”
“This place is built as a tourist attraction. People are paid to sit there for a day.”
(140 characters)

From My Feelings My Freedom:
The eerie sound in the woods ran shivers.
“Someone’s stalking us!”
“I wish we’d heeded to mom’s advice,”
“Our tree house!” rejoiced my sis.
(137 characters)

From Leena at Soul Connection:
TREEHOUSE!!Mom Can V Go
Yes,Take Ur Lil Sis Wd U Too
Lk Sme1 Alrdy Playng
Hi Can V Join U Up Thr
Ohh Yes M Bored Plyng Alone Since Last 100 Yrs.

From Hayley at The Story Files:
As kids we said the tree house was haunted but it wasn’t till we were adults that we found out the truth.

From Di at Pensitivity101:
When you said ‘Come Up to My Place’ this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.
(74 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and The Other:
You gotta come by and see my new tiny house. It’s a two-story tree house. I built it myself just like those guys who do it on HGTV.
(132 characters)

From Willow at WillowDot21:
Even in the worst of winter it was the safest option for them. They had secreted blanks gloves and bed socks. Huddled together they kept warm.

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
“Darling, this place is perfect for our rendezvous!” said Ann.
She froze when she saw Jim point the gun at her, “That’s why I chose it!”
Letter count : 138

From Irena at Books and Hot Tea:
People are destructive. It’s better without them, among the trees.
But they might come, with their trucks and saws.
I’ll be ready.

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings
Will Mum still be up there Dad?
Yes, don’t worry, she’ll be there!
Are you sure Dad?
I’m sure son, you’ll see. She’s staying up there forever!
(140 characters)

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
Art and Lilly stood arm in arm, gazing up for a final look at their childhood fort, tears in their eyes. The roar of the bulldozers started.

From Vivian at Smell the Coffee:
The hapless workers and Martha were at a stalemate.
“You have 30 seconds!” shouted the foreman.
“Do your worst,” she screamed, “I dare you!”

And I started us all off with a cliffhanger…
“There it is! Come on.”
“Nope. I’m fine down here.”
“Suit yourself. Have to see if it’s still there.”
“What’s so important?”
“This!”
“Is tha…”
(140 Characters…exactly)

Some of you were quite clever this week. As always you touched on every genre imaginable…mystery, mayhem, melancholia and murder. And some of you followed my example with cliffhangers of your own. To give those of us in that latter category an opportunity to make amends I am offering everyone the chance to extend their twitter tale from last week using this week’s photo prompt from StockSnap at Pixabay.com…a view from the inside. Of course if you’d rather leave us hanging, that is okay too. Finally, if you finished your story last week, you are invited to write a totally new tale based on the prompt. I’m looking forward to seeing what you all come up with! Most of all, have fun! 🙂

Twittering Tale #54 – 17 October 2017

house-2616494_1280

Photo by StockSnap @ Pixabay.com

Part 2…

“It’s my Captain Midnight’s Secret Decoder Ring!”
“You dragged me here for a stupid kid’s ring?”
“I did.” He knelt on one knee, “marry me?”

(139 Characters)

~kat

(p.s. I can’t leave you hanging this week…she said yes. 🙂


Magnetic Poetry Monday

season of deep
color, forest paths
lightly covered
it is dark dusky
quiet…wander with me
my love, through
the rustling leaves

~kat

Magnetic Poetry – Nature Kit


Leaf – a Haiku

consider the leaf
trunk to stem, veins to branches
trees in miniature

~kat

For Haiku Horizons Challenge, prompt word, Leaf.


Battle of the Bands

“…And…we’re back! Welcome to the 13th Annual Greater Suburbia Battle of the Bands! I’m your host, Martin Blaylock, WXRK, and I’m joined this afternoon by critic extraordinaire, Louis Axlerod, from Music Today Magazine. Tell me Louis, what do you think of this year’s battle line-up?”

“Thanks Martin. I’ll tell you, this is the first year we’re seeing all-original tunes. It raised the bar, I think, when we added that requirement to the mix.”

“I’ll say! This is one creative bunch!”

“Right. I caught a few of them at rehearsal. We’re in for a show tonight!”

“If you had to pick a favorite going in?”

“No question, I’m impressed by Abstract Evil Barbie and their track, “Ken You Hear me”. Those girls can rock! But they’ll have some fierce competition from the Squirrel Nut Zippers. They’re bringing a rap mash-up to the table in “Ball n Chains” that’s sure to raise the roof! And we can’t rule out newcomers GoGo Penguins and their new tune, “Iced”.

“I’ve been following The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time since they first came on the scene. They’re upping the ante with “Sweet Zombie”. And I heard that Reign of Frogs got a new lead singer.”

“The Pineapples are a solid group. No question. I’m looking forward to hearing Brent Barlow with the Frogs. He’s a decent songwriter too. We’ll hear that first hand with his track, “Lily Popped”. And I wouldn’t count out LoudMouthKitten’s “Scratched”. Judd Lowell, their lead, is a powerhouse! But the sleeper this year is Bimbo Toolshed. They’re promising a show-stopping solo by drummer, Liz Rayne on vocals singing her new song, “Hammered”.”

“I don’t believe she’s ever taken the mike! And she writes too!?”

“Exactly. This year’s battle is epic! In a word, EPIC!”

“No doubt, Louis. no doubt! If you’re just joining us, I’m Martin Blaylock here with Louis Axlerod, hosting the 13th Annual Greater Suburbia Battle of the Bands! First to the stage from Craigstown, is Kissyfoot, with their tune “Toe Jam”, followed by Stop Calling Me Frank, “Who Am I?” and then, from Hell’s Kitchen, Devil with Cheese, blasting their latest tune, “Cut it”. Hold on to your knickers kids! You’re about to be blown away!”

~kat

For MindLoveMisery’sMenagerie Sunday writing Prompt prompted by this list of actual Band Names:

Squirrel Nut Zippers

GoGo Penguins

Abstract Evil Barbie

Bimbo Toolshed

The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time

Reign of Frogs

Devil with Cheese

Stop Calling Me Frank

Loudmouthkitten

Kissyfoot


Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 15 October 2017

If there is one thing you can expect from me, dear reader, it is raw honesty. The good, the bad and the ugly. At least from my perspective. Because that is all any of us has. We see the world through our own personal lenses. Some of us take the time and make the effort to inform our opinions with fact. And some of us let others do the work for us, gravitating to the truth that feels good to us.

Welcome to modern day America where news is fake, opinions are truth, there is us and them, and fear trumps love and reason. I saw it coming. This hotbed of extremes we find ourselves in. I tried to warn those closest to me that their support and vote for evil would not end well. I hate being right.

There is no satisfaction in having my greatest fears come true. There is only heartache compounded by the battle scars that I’ve sustained in the aftermath. My adult children, their spouses and extended families all voted for Trump.

Was I wrong to be angry? Was I wrong to feel betrayed? Was I wrong for being sad to realize the truth about those closest to me? I can tell you it makes me feel like a total failure as a parent. Though, with middle-aged children, when does the responsibility for their actions cease to be my fault? Mothers are too easily blamed.

And so I find myself in a new reality. A casualty of these divided states of America. Because I have refused to remain silent in the face of the injustice and the assaults on freedom, democracy and liberty for all, my own universe has imploded. My punishment for being other is to be outcast, separated from my beloved grandchildren, and disowned by everyone but my partner…and my dogs who still love me unconditionally. No more birthdays, mother’s days, grandparent’s days, thanksgivings or christmases to look forward to. Living death in the face of everything I held dear because I could not bury my emotions from those I had always considered safe.

Honesty, reality, truth, compassion, empathy, love. They still mean something to me. I have paid a dear price for these things. It is all I have left of the me as I struggle to find my way in this new reality. My heart grieves everyday. Being dead while living is not for the faint of heart. But I still believe in truth and honesty…and love. Even when it hurts.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 15 October 2017

left to wither alone
warm flush reducing me to ash / over the edge, swirling shards of bone
What’s so important
troubling my heart…
no one wants to know
phantoms in the mist
Oh my god! What happened?!”
That day the world felt too big.
I never believed in signs.
the moribund harbingers
it was never love
on the wind take flight
there’s a battle
power to change
it is now
to be forgotten

~kat

A shi sai or ReVerse poem is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the shi sai features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.