Tag Archives: Challenge

Twittering Tales #16 – 7 February 2017

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About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a prompt photo, and your mission is to tell a story based on that prompt in 140 characters or less.

If you accept the challenge, 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 us a new prompt.  Have Fun!

Here is the roundup of last week’s creative twittering tales based on the photo below. If I missed your story, please let me know so I can add it to the line-up.

pexels-photo-trainwindow

Photo from Pexels.com

Gayl from her blog of Words, Photos and Art started us off with three wistful tales bring us full circle.

Leaving Home
With a lump in his throat he took one last look.

Saying goodbye was hard. Determined, he turned away.
He’d do his best and make them proud.
(137 characters)

The Big City
Big city awaits
Scary for this country boy
A new place and job

Her letters charmed him
For the first time they would meet
Would they hit it off?
(139 characters)

Coming Back Home
Would anyone recognize him? 16 years had passed!

Still, it was home. At least his mom would welcome him with a hug.
He was nervous but happy.
(139 characters)

Pat from BlackCatAlley wrote about rites of passage.

Look left at what’s left behind.
Right holds no purchase yet
A shadowed place of regret
Black ashes fill your mouth
Rite of passage will out.
(character count: 138)

Michael at Morpethroad wrote a tale that really tugged at the old heartstrings with a cliffhanger! Grab a tissue.

Will he be there?
What will I do if he’s not?
I’ve nowhere to go.
He said he’d be there.
I can’t turn around now.
Please be there.
I love you.
(136 Characters)

Kathryn at AnotherFoodieBlogger gave us a cautionary tale about what happens when one does not pay attention. I have to admit she got me. I completely misread the ending!

With his Beats on full blast, he didn’t hear the “assume crash position” command in the final minute before touchdown. All survived but one.

Lady Lee Manila penned a tale of pondering and acceptance in her twitter poem.

Endured the pain
Summer came
Was there a flicker of hope?
Did I overcome the storm?
When the flame died down
I had to accept

No place like home
(137 Characters)

Di at Pensivity101 wrote about the high price of overcoming a phobia.

She wondered if it was worth it.
Ten thousand bucks to look out of a window.
That was the cost of addressing her flying anxiety.
(126 characters)

Joy at Poetry Joy shared three poetic tales tucked into a lovely essay about home.

He feels a tug to look back
calling him homeward
His eyes realize how vast
the universe can be
He aches to stay as he
breaks the cord to leave
(139 characters)

A window seat is a way
to see more clearly, get
a fresh perspective, because
home is anywhere at all
No more or less than
a place to lay his head
(140 characters)

“Are you ready for this?

He nods, gulps back tears, turns to take another look outside, where home shrinks small while he faces new horizons.
(140 characters)

Peter at Peter’s Ponderings wrote a chilling, dark tale that I’m guessing did not have a happy ending!

For maximum casualties from the full load of fuel, the bomb would explode as the plane reached 100 feet. 

Just time for one final prayer!
(136 characters)

Willow at WillowDot21 took us on a whirlwind tale of regret that ended in relief! Whew!

Had he done wrong?Too late now!It had seemed an innocent request. Panicking he open the bag, it was just a scarf the label said.Love to Mum.
{139 Characters}

Sonali at Howling with the Wolf was moved by the gray tones in this week’s prompt, giving us a sad tale.

Weren’t your friends supposed to be on this trip? 
She smiled forlornly.

“They couldn’t make it.”

Abandonment was a bitter pill to digest. 
(137 characters)

Lorraine at her FrillyFreudianSlip took a whimsical look at the mind of a worry-wart.

did I  water the fichus?
did I turn off the stove?
did I unplug the heater?
did I lock the door?
did I leave my keys in the door?
did I . . .
(136 Characters)

Nicola from SometimesStellarStoryteller gave us a futuristic view of a world unraveled by a political ideology. I do hope it’s not a premonition!

I often rode the train to gaze on history, aching for a return to the life replayed here in grayscale, before Trump cremated the surface.
(137 Characters)

Newcomer this week, Paul at LifeAt17 took us on a liberating journey of letting go and hope for the future.

“Finally, I am venturing forth into a new journey away from the shackles of past, away from toxic people and situations sucking me dry.”
(108 Characters)

Irena at Books and Hot Tea wrote about starting over and new beginnings.

Window introduces me to my new home. Leaving was hard, though I had nothing to leave. Arriving is harder, with everything to win or lose.
(137 Characters)

Leara, another newbie to the challenge, of LearaWritesAndTakesPics also told us a tale about new beginnings.

The Tracks
Watching the past pass away with its lights and shadows, I leave it all behind. I leave them all behind. Down these tracks, a new life waits.
(141 Characters)

The Bag Lady carried the new beginnings theme home with a tale of leaving.

Joanne looked out and silently said goodbye to her past. She had to look only forward now. A new life, new job, new destination, success.
(137 Characters)

And starting you all off, here is my tale about going back home…

Home
It had been years. Everything had changed, new buildings and faces. But one thing remained. Home was there, smaller than he remembered.
(135 Characters)

_________________________________________

I just have to say, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! What a great group of twitter tales this week! I love that each one is unique. Even if the theme is similar, it is so interesting to hear your unique voices adding to the narrative. And Bravo y’all. You are masters of brevity, telling your stories, one and all, in 140 characters or less!

Are you ready for this week’s prompt photo? Here you go. Have FUN! 🙂

pexelscatphoto

Photo from Pexels.com

Morty

Morty roamed the halls of Shady Grove growling at anyone who got too close. But it was well-known if he liked you, your days were numbered.
(139 Characters)

-kat – 7 February 2017


Twittering Tales #15 – 31 January 2017

1476833681824

About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a prompt photo, and your mission is to tell a story based on that prompt in 140 characters or less.

If you accept the challenge, 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 us a new prompt.  Have Fun!

Here is the roundup of last week’s creative twittering tales based on the photo below. If I missed your story, please let me know so I can add it to the line up.

sheepalapexels

Photo from Pexels.com

From Michael at Morpethroad a sassy sheep tale:

You lookin’ at me?
you ain’t pulling no wool over my eyes
This is the face of a thousand fleeces.
You better believe it.
So read my lips.
Baa!
(137 Words)

From Di at Pensitivity101 a true tale:

Hello? Where’s my dinner.
You’re not my usual driver.
Come to think of it, maybe this isn’t the right van.
(104 characters)

From Nicola Auckland at Sometimes Stellar Storyteller – New here, with two tales to tell! 

#1
“What is it?”
“I don’t know”
“Poke it”
“I did”
“And?”
“And nothing”
“Can we eat it?”
“It’s blue. No food is blue. Don’t touch it….Bob?”
(128 Characters)

#2
“Stay very still. It might not see us.”
“It’s looking at me.”
“Is the beast from Blefuscu?”
“I know not, pass me an egg and we shall test it.”
(139 Characters)

From Lorraine’s Frilly Freudian Slip a cautionary guess what’s for dinner tale:

Dolly is invited to the McGregor’s for supper. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know what the recipe for haggis contains.
(109 characters)

From Joy at Poetry Joy who had two tales to tell:

1-
Thick swirled tight curls
encase this woolly jumper,
this white night-leaper through
my head, as I finally seek a
decent sleep within this bed
(140 characters)

2-
Feeling sheepish?” she smirked.

“Just a bit”, he huffed and puffed beneath weighty flank of sheep, ‘I didn’t expect her to sit on my chest!”
(140 characters)

From Pat at Black Cat Alley, “asheep” on the job:

Hey you!
Little Bo Peep. 
What kind of shepherdess are you? Asleep on the job.
Damn it to fleece that Ba-dooray doesn’t work on humans.
(133 Characters)

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger and other-worldly tale:

The aliens were very small beings and chose a most unfortunate landing area. Imagine their surprise when they opened the space capsule top!
(139 Characters)

Peter from Peter’s Ponderings joined us for the first time this week with a tale about a nightmarish flight:

The gas is fast escaping and it smells awful!

I really think we’ve been fleeced.

Why the hell did I agree to this airsheep flight anyway?
(136 characters)

Irena from Books and Hot Tea wrote about a “rude awakening”:

Hazy-eyed, he awoke to see a sheep looking down on him. He never truly looked into its eyes before. He saw wisdom now. Emotion. Rebellion.
(138 characters)

And finally, I started the round off with two tales. I really love this photo!

I woke up in a field, the sun blocked by two beady eyes, hot green breath on my face. The last thing I remember? An eerie light in my room.
(139 Characters)

So consumed in passion were they, that they didn’t notice the herd of sheep who seemed very interested in the mating ritual of humans.
(134 Characters)

________________________________________________________________

Here is your new prompt photo. Tell me what you see and I will see you next Tuesday at the Round-up! Have a great week! 🙂

Twittering Tales #15 – 31 January 2017

pexels-photo-trainwindow

Photo from Pexels.com

Home

It had been years. Everything had changed, new buildings and faces. But one thing remained. Home was there, smaller than he remembered.
(135 Characters)

~kat – 31 January 2017


Shivoo – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku – 27 January 2017

shivoo.png

Happy Friday and welcome to this week’s installment of Word of the Day Haiku based on dictionary.com’s word of the day. Today we have an Australian slang word to add to our growing vocabulary of obscure and unusual words…Shivoo. It means “a boisterous party or celebration” and showed up in daily discourse in the 19th century. Very little is known about its etymology (origin), which dictionary says is common for slang words and colloquialisms (by the way a colloquialism is a word that is considered colloquial or conversational, informal, referring to types of speech or to usages not on a formal level. Colloquial is often mistakenly used with a connotation of disapproval, as if it mean “vulgar” or “bad” or “incorrect” usage, whereas it is merely a familiar style used in speaking and writing.)

Of course, if you’ve been following my weekly dive into words…beautiful words… you know that I am seldom content to take one dictionary’s meaning at face value. I like to excavate other references when possible.

It did not take me long to find that Shivoo is also listed in baby name books. Its origin is Gujarati, Hindu, Indian. It means “Devotee of Lord Shiva”. My curiosity was peaked now. What is the meaning of Gujarati, I wondered…or more precisely, as I discovered, Gujarati “people”? Wikipedia answered my question with the click of a mouse:

Gujarati people or Gujaratis (Gujarati: ગુજરાતી) are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group of India that traditionally speaks Gujarati, an Indo-Iranian language. Famous Gujaratis include Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Morarji Desai, Sam Bahadur, Vikram Sarabhai, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Shyamji Krishna Varma, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, Freddie Mercury, Azim Premji, Dhirubhai Ambani, Narendra Modi and Jamsetji Tata. Gujaratis are very prominent in industry and key figures played an historic role in the introduction of the doctrine of Swaraj and the decisive victory of the 1947 Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.

…which caused me to wonder about the doctrine of Swaraj.  It is attributed to Gandhi. Here in Gandhi’s own words in 1946, the description of his vision:

“Independence begins at the bottom… A society must be built in which every village has to be self sustained and capable of managing its own affairs… It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without… This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be a free and voluntary play of mutual forces… In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever widening, never ascending circles. Growth will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose center will be the individual. Therefore the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it.”

Though Gandhi never realized this utopian model before he was assassinated, there is a reason he inspires us today. In my country we have our own “utopian” dream. It’s called “we the people”, which we too still struggle to realize in its beautiful fullness.

What was our word of the day again? Ah yes, Shivoo, which most dictionaries claim is an Australian slang word for a huge party. I am afraid I got carried away in google-land, but I hope you took away something you could use. As for me? This weekend poet and storyteller hopes for the day when the world reaches its utopian potential for peace, justice, love and compassion where everyone has a voice and everyone matters. Now that will be one amazing cause for a wild shivoo!

One more little tidbit I’d like to share with you in parting… just in case you think it slipped my attention. Did you happen to notice that Freddie Mercury is listed in the middle of the names of famous Gujaratis? I’ll give you a second to track back to the that section above. I’m not making it up! 🙂 I am suddenly transported into a rousing chorus of “We are the champions…”

And I’ll not apologize if you too are now stricken with this rousing earworm. I am a carrier of such things! 🙂

Peace my friends. ❤

Shivoo – the Haiku

Let the dreamers dream
utopia is a place
it’s one wild shivoo!

~kat – 27 January 2017


Soul-Scape

a tear in the veil
where souls from Elysium
flow from light to gray

©kat – 26 January 2017

For Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge based on the prompt words: flow and tear.


Lost and Found – a Three Line Tale


Lost and Found

They had searched frantically for hours when a member of the team found Emily’s teddy bear hanging vicariously over the murky water from the railing of the shuttered bridge.

The authorities kept her mother far from the site, offering her coffee in an attempt to protect her from the awful truth, while the sergeant called for the aquatic search team.

As onlookers gathered to watch, the mother, clinging to her baby girl’s teddy bear at the perimeter of the horrible spectacle was jolted from her sobbing by a gentle tug on her coat sleeve, “Mommy, you found my Boo Bears…I been lookin’ eberwheres for him.”

kat – 24 January 2017

For Sonya’s Three Line Tale Challenge based on the photo above by Sean Tan via Unsplash.