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 #90 – Pick A Card – The Roundup

Photo by AlbanyColley at Pixabay.com

Starting us off…

The cards never failed the seekers who came to her for the Oracle’s message. Tonight, she needed a sign. But each card she turned bore the same ominous message. Frustrated, she tossed all the cards on the table. There he was glaring at her once more. Death coming to call.
(272 Characters)

From Michael at Morpethroad:
Pick A Card
With apprehension, I entered the fortune tellers booth.
She was shuffling the cards as I sat down.
Card one: death, card two destruction, card three chaos, card four disease.
She laid them in front of me
her eyes surveyed the four
shaking her head, she said
‘You’re in for a rough day.’
(280 characters)

From Reena at ReInventions:
Confidence
“Pick up any 3 cards to reveal your future.”
“I see my future lying in a heap there, as disorganized as your cards are. Each card sends a negative message. I refuse to accept it.”
“Some are positive. You need to try.”
“I will let them follow me into the future. They will choose me.”
(280 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
Mumbo-Jumbo
“I don’t believe in this crap,” he told the woman. “It’s mumbo jumbo.”
“It doesn’t matter what you believe. The cards help you to understand your situation and to take action based on what is known and what the cards show.”
She flipped a card and turned pale.
“What? What!” he asked.
(280 characters)

From Amritha at Igniting Hope:
Epiphany
Exploring old treasures, the twins stumbled upon a pack of cards in their ancestral home. The curious two pulled it towards each other in excitement. In this struggle of ownership, the tarot cards scattered on the table in a seamless pattern – indeed an epiphanic moment!
Character Count: 279

From Deepa at Sync With Deep:
Devil’s Due
Jack was a Goodwill Ambassador by dawn and Gambler by dusk.
One night devil invited him for High Card Wins game in his dream.
Riches for winning and soul for losing was the betting.
Gambler drew an ace and devil drew a jack.
Jack celebrated his victory but devil was all smiles.
Jack lost as playing with a devil is unpardonable.
(269 characters)

From Teresa at The Haunted Wordsmith:
Predictions
Keli knew they were nothing more than pictures printed on paper, but her crazy Aunt from the old country believed tarot cards predicted the future. That morning Aunt Olga cried because they predicted death. “Tornado Watch #271 in effect until 2 AM,” the weather radio announced.
278 Characters

From Kirst at Kirst Writes:
Wheel of Fortune
No, not like that. Handle them carefully. Don’t disturb the cosmic vibrations!
Oh come on, you don’t seriously believe…
Yes. Now concentrate. Which card are you drawn to?
This one… I guess?
Ah, the Wheel of Fortune. It signifies…
That I should go on a TV game show?
Ok, we’re done.
(277 characters)

From Piyali at Piyali’s Blogs:
Promise of a Soulmate
Aha, you drew out Two of Hearts! You’ll meet your soulmate soon.
How soon?
Um maybe in next 2-3 months.
She smiled, paid the gypsy woman, and left. Chemo isn’t working anymore, you don’t have much time left, her doctor had said. Nonetheless, the reading made her happy, momentarily.
280 Characters exact

From Indhu at Always:
The Murder
The Chief walked past the yellow tapes of the crime scene. This is the 3rd murder in 45 days.
“What’s the time of death?”, he asked. “Around 11 PM” said the coroner.
His eyes looked at the table tossed with tarot cards.
The Tarot Card killer!
He cursed the serial killer on loose.
<280 characters>

From Jan at Strange Goings On in the Shed:
Pick A Card
Which one do I choose?
Death: I can’t advise you, like I said, pick a card, soon.
I was never good at making choices. Used to drive my parents mad when they were alive.
Death: I know, they told me. (Rolls eyes).
That one.
Death: It’s Death.
Is that bad?
Death: It is for me.
(269 characters)

From Leena at Soul Connection:
Grown Up Kid
“Cm In My Child”
Follwng Voice She Wlkd 2wrds Table Wr Cards Ws Scattered
“Dis Is Ur Lyf.U Gng To Rule World”
She Smiled Bt Seeing No One Wlkd 2wrds Door
“WAIT.Bt Its Psbl Only If U R Almghty”
Cnfusd She TurnAround n Saw Her”Whn Wl U Behve Lyk Grwn Up MOM”
Lghng”Lyf Is To Njy.So NEVER”
(280 Characters)

From Hayley at The Story Files:
In The Cards
I shuffled the tarot cards, they would reveal my future but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Taking the first ones, I made a cross shape then placed three on the right. I turned over all the cards and read what they meant. Seems the cards had read my mind; they told me nothing.

From Deb at Twenty Four:
He took down the next batch, laying them out with a swiftness which bespoke of years of experience.
People placed so much reliance in them but they were just cards and he got to proof each pack before they were dispatched.
He picked up the death card – it would be the death of him.
(280 characters)

From Willow at WillowDot21:
Pick A Card
“Who threw those cards down?”Gabriel was on the warpath again. Satan rolled his eyes why is that big galah always shouting? St Peter took in a sharp breath. God stood up and peered down to earth. “Well” he said loudly, “Someone will be playing 78 card pick up any time now”
(274 Characters).

From The Dark Netizen:
Tarot
His gun pointed at her, he emphatically asked her to predict her future.
She tossed the cards. The fool it was. He sniggered. At least her reading skills were true. He pulled the trigger. The gun exploded, sending the bullet through his head.
She smiled. He was the fool, not her.
Character Count: 278

From Peter at Peter’s Pondering:
Pick A Card
The muse had deserted him.
Over two weeks now, and still the creative juices were dry. What would they think of him?
In desperation he decided to visit his Tarot reader.
First – The High Priestess – Inaction – check!
Second – Page – mentally unstable – check!
Third – The Fool – check!
(280 characters)

What a great collection of tales we had this week. There is such diversity in your impressions of the prompt photo. So many stories in the cards. Thank you for participating in this challenge. You are the reason I keep coming back. I know I’ve said it before…it’s true…you all inspire me. Keep tweeting!

For this week we’re going abstract. Your inspiration is this photo by analogicus at pixabay.com of a chain. Now you could write about what is connected on the other end of the chain…or what got away. Or, you could take a philosophical approach. What does the concept of chains mean to you? Or if you really want to have some fun, write a first person account, in the chain’s own words, of what it is like to be a chain, tethering things against their will…okay…maybe that is a little far out there. Whatever you come up with it’s sure to be brilliant! Remember 280 characters or less. Have fun. And I’ll see you next week at the Roundup!

Twittering Tales #91 – Chains – 3 July 2018

Photo by analogicus at pixabay.com

Broken

There was a broken link in the chain. Everyone knew it; knew who it was, but calling him to account seemed an impossible task.

Meanwhile, order was spiraling out of control. Progress had been thwarted. He had friends in low places.

Could they trust the vote, their only hope? TBC.

(280 Characters)

~kat

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.

Before we head into this week’s roundup…a throwback to the previous week. This entry from Kirst at KirstWrites, #20 of her continuing twitter tale saga. There are links to the other installments from this one…Haunted Coast Part XX:

The phone’s rectangle of light burned against my eyes in the darkness. I exhaled slowly. There was nothing in the shadows. I was alone. Maybe that was the scariest thing of all.
I awoke, hours later, to warm sunshine. A dreamcatcher, not there last night, swayed at the window.
(276 characters)

Twittering Tales #89 – The Roundup

Photo by MabelAmber at Pixabay.com

Starting us off…

“What kind of bird do you think it was?”
“Whatever it was, it was huge! Look at the size of that shell. It’s big as a football!”
“Maybe it wasn’t a bird?!”
“Stop!!! You’re creeping me out.”
“Well, don’t look behind us then. I think I just figured out what was inside!”
(268 Characters)

From Reena at ReInventions:
4-D
Mughal miniatures, demon faces, architectural models, eggheads on pillows – he had innovated in every egg he sculpted.
“Dad, why is it lying outside in the grass?”
“This is a step beyond 3D. I await deposits from nature, before I paint a chicken head popping out of the piece.”
(275 characters)

From Leena at Soul Connection:
Was That Real?
Evry1 Studyng Shell In Confusion
“Whch Bird Egg U Think.Its Big To Be Of Tht Bird,No Dats Small,I Think…”
Dscsions Ws In Full Swing Whn Voice Frm Behind Startled Dem,”Excuse Me,Tht Belng 2Me”
Evry1 Turnd Back In Shock
Sml Bird Wlkd Past Dem,Tk Shell n Murmurd,”Need 2Chnge Addrs Nw”

From Michael at Morpethroad:
The hatchling had hatched but was nowhere to be found.
It looked like nature at its cruellest.
The struggle to be born and to survive.
Away on a nearby tree sat a bird looking very satisfied with itself.
I took aim, I fired, I missed, but I took the smug look off its beak.
(269 characters)

From Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
Eggshells
“You scouts police the area and pick up your trash. We don’t want any crap left behind,” the scoutmaster said.
Before leaving the campsite, he looked around and saw an eggshell in the grass. “What’s this?”
“An eggshell,” a scout said.
“I know that. Who left it?”
“The baby bird?”
(175 characters)

From Willow at WillowDot21:
“Oh! She has dropped an egg, humm! Look there is some yolk left, must have that. She is not around. Oh! Yum that was really good.”
“Ruby”, where’s that dog. “You’ve eaten that egg in the garden! Yes you did, I know you did . Who’s a bad girl Ruby, well?”
“The cat next door mum? “
(278 Characters)

From The Dark Netizen:
Egg
As it landed, the meteor created a huge shockwave, which leveled an entire town.
The military was dispatched to investigate and help in the rescue of civilians. They disappeared soon after. Their last message:
“The meteor seems like some kind of egg, and it is cracking open…
Character Count: 278

From Jan at Strange Goings On in the Shed:
Scrambled
Egg: I feel a deep sense of alienation, angry at having to answer that damn question all the time.
Analyst: How long have you felt that?
Egg: Since being in…Chicken or egg, egg or chicken? It’s like the Ouroboros, endless, eternal and unknowable. Help me!
(Breaks out of egg)
(278 characters)

From Amritha at Igniting Hope:
THE ACME
The egg-shaped shell, meant for her safety was strong, yet suffocating. She struggled and succeeded in breaking it, thus reborn – ready to rule the world with grace and élan! Life begins when you break your shell and venture beyond your comfort zone.
Character Count: 258

From Hayley at The Story Files:
Egg
The egg shell lay abandoned on the grass. I wondered if the baby bird had survived. I hoped it was and safe in a nest somewhere. The likelihood was that some animal had snatched the egg and eaten it. I walked away, never knowing the answer.

From Piyali at Piyali’s Blogs:
The Predator
The baby broke the shell and slipped out. The tiny mucus-covered body struggled a bit before wriggling towards its mother whose sleek frame was swiftly slithering in a zigzag pattern through the wet grass. Oblivious to the impending danger, a frog was resting by the poolside.
276 Characters

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
What Was It?
I was watching over the egg for many days that I found in my garden. One evening coming back from work, I saw it cracked. I looked around but found no bird. That night I heard some weird sounds coming from my backyard. Now, was it a bird or some other creature?  Sleep eluded me!
Letter count 279

From Francine at Woman Walks Dog:
Housing Expo
Welcome to this futuristic Home Solutions Expo. We think outside the box.
Here’s our latest design – The Egg-Pod. Perfectly engineered, no hard edges, strong yet light.
Unfortunately the designer had to leave suddenly, broke the door as they left!

Danger at Dawn
The sight of the broken giant egg-shell paralyzed me with fear.
I looked left & right, even behind me, but the predator had disappeared.
Sighing in relief, I moved on, when suddenly, he swooped down on me from above and grabbed me.
The early bird had caught the worm yet again.
278 characters

From Deepa at  SyncWithDeep:
A Silent Cry
a brutal act
breaking the egg
that will never see the day
abortion….
a silent cry…

From Deb at Twenty Four:
With a steady hand she pierced the shell and then used the tube to extract the contents, placing the fluid in a jar on her work bench.
Some thought her insane, but they were imbeciles … her cheesecake was phenomenal
What did it matter if she used snake’s eggs instead of chickens.
(280 characters)

From Teresa at the The Haunted Wordsmith:
What Was Inside?
“Mama, I found an egg,” Julie squealed. “What kind of bird is it?” Her mother looked at the egg and surrounding grass for hints. In the tall grass, she found the dead bird covered in ants. “Oh my,” her mother said, hugging Julie. “You found a magic fairy egg!” Julie’s eyes lit up.
279-characters

One thing I learned from your tales this week…an empty egg is a mystery. It encompasses a range of emotions, it can be a forboding omen, it can be a remnant of something innocent or something sinister. As always, everyone met the challenge brilliantly. Thank you so much for joining in last week.

This week, a pile of Tarot cards is your inspiration in this photo by AlbanyColley @ Pixabay.com. I call this challenge Pick a Card. And you can certainly do that. Pick one card and write about it. What is your chosen card telling you? Or did you pick it because you are hoping for something? On the other hand, you could tell the tale of how or why these cards came to be tossed in a pile. Maybe there is a story about the seeker or the seer that needs to be told. Whatever the tale, have fun. Craft your story in 280 characters or less. And we’ll see you at the Roundup next week. It’s in the cards! 🙂

Twittering Tale #90 – Pick a Card

Photo by AlbanyColley at Pixabay.com

The cards never failed the seekers who came to her for the Oracle’s message. Tonight, she needed a sign. But each card she turned bore the same ominous message. Frustrated, she tossed all the cards on the table. There he was glaring at her once more. Death coming to call.

(272 Characters)

~kat