there’s a green cheese moon
high above a flat earth…cows
and cats with fiddles
~kat
For Haiku Horizons Weekly Challenge, Prompt Word Moon.
Category Archives: Challenges and Writing Prompts
Twittering Tale #71 – 13 February 2018 – It’s a Sign
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 #70 – The Roundup
Photo by PIRO4D at Pixabay.com
Starting us off…
The Race
Jon and Sue were first to find the final clue: a riddle.
It has a mouth but never speaks, a bed but never sleeps…
“Think Sue,’ Jon pleaded. “the others are coming!”
“The river!” Sue exclaimed, “It’s the river!”
At river’s edge, they claimed their prize…freedom from the island.
(279 Characters)
From Reena at ReInventions:
Misleading Clues
Six kids were reported to be missing from a school excursion. Alex led the police to the forest.
He had seen the note on the bench, which appeared to be a clue for Treasure Hunt. He had learnt from his detective mother that criminals often place misleading signs in the path.
(275 characters)
From Martin at Martin Cororan:
Fall at the First Hurdle
Knowing that time was short he traded his vast estate for a lump of Orwellium, the rarest metal on earth, so that when his blood-sucking offspring discovered the treasure map they’d discard the seemingly worthless stone that held it in place and set off on a costly and ultimately fruitless quest…
From Leena at Soul Connection:
Forever Together
He Slwly Tk Ot Crumbld Letter n Plcd It Bside Him On Bench.1nce Sun Sets,Lyk Evrytym He Whsprd I Love You B4 Leaving.
Snce 2Yrs He Cmes Alne Wd Ltr Of Blvd Late Wfe n Sits On Sme Bench As Dey Hd Prmsd 2C Evry Sunset 2gtr n Wrote Ltr 2Ech Othr,So Tht If 1Die Anthr Wl Nvr Fl Lonely.
From Jane at Jane Dougherty Writes:
The List
She picked up the crumpled sheet& looked around guiltily before smoothing it out, feeling like a voyeur. How awful, she thought, someone must be going through hell right now, &looked for a stone to hold down the shopping list in case the distraught owner came back looking for it.
From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
The Note
An excited Amit rushed to their usual meeting place at the park. Seema and he were to wed that day much against her parent’s wishes. Instead he found a note from her brother which read,” We have killed Seema for disgracing our family.” Amit froze there with shock and disbelief!
Letter count 278
From Fandango at This, That, and The Other:
The Note
“Where did you get this?” the deli owner asked me.
“I found it sitting under a rock on a bench in the park,” I answered. “It seems to be written in German, so I brought it here. Can you tell me what it says?”
“You need to take this to the police,” he told me. “It’s a suicide note.”
(280 characters)
From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
Their relationship had been rocky, to say the least as of late. She asked him to meet her at the park, at their “bench.” He knew where she meant. He didn’t even bother reading her long diatribe, the wordy bitch. He just kept strolling, mentally packing his belongings.
From Willow at WillowDot21:
The Shock
Running as fast as she could towards the railway. Up and over the style, she was stopped dead in her tracks. There was a note right where her foot had landed on the style. Held down by a stone, a hand written note. Slowly and carefully she picked it up and cautiously read it.
(279 Characters)
From Michael at Morpethroad:
I found a love letter addressed to me.
In a random place by a random person, reaching out, telling me I was ok, beautiful and worthwhile.
It lifted my heart, I felt elated, buzzing within.
I replaced the note, precious stone and all
Hoping the next person would get the thrill I did.
From Kirst at Kirst Writes:
One Last Message
If you find this, please try to understand. I know I said meet me here in a month’s time. But I just can’t. Too much has happened. I’ll never forget you, but this has to be goodbye.
182 characters.
From Jan at Strange Goings on in the Shed:
Highly Restricted
Headed Highly Restricted
It was lifted from locked files and sent to shadowy cliques
This was point of no return, and others had to be warned now
The contents were dire.
How could they unleash this on the world?
Surely It was Marketing gone mad? Why? Ken and Barbie sing show tunes.
(280 characters)
From Isabel at Isabel Caves – Poetry, Fiction & Photography:
From the Log of Major James Whitfell
The portal wasn’t what we thought. We thought to see the marvels of the future, but all we see is destruction and death. Let this log serve as a warning – curiosity killed more than the cat.
(191 characters)
From Hayley at The Story Files:
Bench Love
Sitting on a park bench, I saw a paper pinned by a rock. With a quick glance, I picked up and read what was a love letter. The named addressee seemed familiar and looking I spotted the same name on the bench’s plaque. I returned the letter and left.
(191 characters)
From Rules640 at Life at 17:
A New Page
He touched her hand accidentally and a new page was written about him
“His hands touched my body, penetrated my soul and left an imprint I know I could never erase, even after this moment would be gone, even after he would be gone, a part of him will always remain with me.”
273 characters
Thanks to everyone who helped reveal the mysteries of the letter in last week’s photo prompt. As always, you all took us in many directions with a variety of tales including lost loves, broken hearts, lost inheritances, forgotten lists, mysterious authors, serendipitous messages, love stories and even time travel. What fun. Speaking of many directions, this week’s photo prompt by kbhall17 at Pixabay.com is all about signs to interesting places. You can write about one of the destinations on the signpost…or bundle several of them together in one grand adventure! Remember, you only have 280 characters and a week to explore. Have fun and I’ll see you at the Roundup!
A housekeeping note before I close…I received a note from one of our fellow twittering talers that they had found a large number of nasty spam comments that seemed to be linked to one of their twittering tales under the old 140 character logo (this is my original artwork so I can’t imagine anything being attached to it). I did not see any spam or odd comments directly in my mailboxes, but if anyone else is having an issue, please let me know so I can alert WordPress. I hate that the fun of this challenge is being spoiled by a bunch of trolls. At any rate, I hope no one else is having an issue.
Twittering Tale #71 – 13 February 2018 – It’s a Sign
photo prompt by kbhall17 at Pixabay.com
Oh, I could tell ya’ some stories. I’ve lived here in flat number 1 going on 40 years now. People don’t realize I’m behind this old red-framed door. They’re too busy planning adventures or their next meal. The things I’ve heard! Do you have a minute? I just made tea. Come sit.
(277 Characters)
~kat
Euphoria
If I’m being honest, there are only a handful of times I’ve experienced true euphoria. Meeting my children for the first time ranks right up there.
Certainly it was euphoria erupting in the sterile confines of those clinically-monitored natural events. I recall the sting of ammonia residue burning my nostrils, released in short Lamaze “hee, hee, ho, ho, oh god!” purse-lipped bursts, the push, don’t push groaning pelvic floor implosions, and the excruciating waves of dull, sharp, 9-10-is there an 11? on a scale of how bad is it? pain.
I was drenched in euphoria by the tingling tickle of cool sweat beads popping from my pores under the glare of strobing fluorescent lights, my muscles shaking uncontrollably, the incessant click-clacking of wheels on linoleum, paper-booted feet shuffling, fetal heart monitor lub-dubbing and by the startling smack of cold metal on my bare back on its sticky slide to the edge, my fuzzy-socked feet lodged securely in stirrups cradling my heels, while a dozen excited eyes burned a hole through my gaping crotch.
But oh… that was only foreplay, euphorically speaking. The exquisite climax to this laboring rush came at long last in the hot, wet, rushing sensation of soft alien flesh sliding from my core into the waiting, latex-gloved hands of a masked stranger who uttered the words I had waited nine long, bloated, nauseating, glowing months to hear…maybe even longer, if I’m being honest. “You did it, Mama! Meet your beautiful daughter!” That, my friends was euphoria!
Euphoria is a sliver shy of madness don’t you think? It’s a scientific fact actually, in some cases, you can look it up. But if we are lucky, it consumes us at least once in a lifetime. I have been quadruply blessed, but I fear my heart could not survive a steady dose of it!
even euphoria
an exhilarating experience
has a dark side
it’s sometimes a symptom
of carbon monoxide poisoning, hard drugs or mania…
I’m perfectly content with really, really happy
~kat
A few thoughts and a Cherita on the topic of Euphoria for Mind Love Misery’s Menageries’ Sunday Writing Prompt: Describe a moment in your real or fictional life when you experienced euphoria. Be as vivid as possible, hit all the senses (and I don’t just mean the basic 5).
Night Rain
greying starless nights
cool melancholy musings
raindrops on pavement
~kat
For Haiku Horizons Challenge, prompt word, Star.
A Lovely Obsession
The quote “She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, not up close.”
~Terry Pratchett
A Lovely Obsession
I first met her when I was a child. I spent hours listening to her, drinking in tales of the love’s and lives of people I would never know, but whose dna coursed through my veins.
As I grew older I planned summer and winter breaks to be with her. She had so many stories left to tell and I couldn’t bear the thought of missing a single one.
Eventually, age and time began to take their toll. Her frame had weakened, and the light faded from her face. I moved nearby to be closer to her and continued my daily visits until the dreadful day when her voice was silenced by greedy real estate developers.
They drained her lovely moat and took a wrecking ball to her beautiful face, crumbling centuries of brick and mortar into a heap of dust. I watched, tears flowing down my face, as they loaded her into monstrous trucks, and hauled her away to a quarry, in order to build a resort on her sprawling estate.
They thought they had removed every trace of her, but I knew better. She was rooted in this place.
The hotel had barely opened its doors when rumors of hauntings spread. Patrons stopped coming. Eventually the new owners shuttered the doors of the resort for good.
I was happy to see it fail. Finally, I had her all to myself. Once again, I spent my evenings wrapped in the shadows of her abandoned corridors. After all, she had more stories to tell, and I couldn’t bear the thought of missing a single one.
~kat
A short story for Mind Love Misery’s Menagerie Sunday Writing Prompt inspired by the quote and collage above.
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like mercury colliding... 