About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a prompt, and your mission, if you choose to play along, 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!

Twittering Tale #41 – The Round-Up

From Reena at ReInventions:
He hoped for a “Coffee, tea or me?” moment. Luck favored him, and he spotted a bar on the left. “Let’s stop for a shot of vodka”, said she.
(139 characters)

From Martin at Martin Cororan – Guerrilla Marketing
Greg was a fine father, a great cook and always made the guys on the bowling team howl with glee, but he was also hogging the middle lane, so he was ultimately an asshole!
138 Characters

From Jane at Jane Dougherty Writes a Haibun HERE, and a Twittering Tale:
It felt like November. She kept her distance out of habit not really caring. She was leaving and from now on it would always be November.
137 Characters

From Leena at Through my Heart Web – Soul Connection:
Climate Was Beautiful.Cool Breeze, Soothing Raindrops.Evrythng Pleasent.Still If Mind Is Occupied With Problems Nothing Excites Heart n Eyes.

From Hayley at The Story Files, a nice bit of flash fiction you can read HERE.

From Irena at Books and Hot Tea:
“Damned rain!”
“I think it’s beautiful.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely. It washes away the stench, the rot, the bad. It feels like starting anew.”
(135 characters)

From Sandi at Flip Flops Every Day (Follow the Link to find a link to the song that inspired Sandi’s Tweet:
There are times when a song just says it best!
Those windshield wipers slappin’ out a tempo,
Keepin’ perfect rhythm with the song on the radio
140 Characters

From Bobby at BobFairfield:
Well! the only good thing I can say for this downpour is, it should start to wash away the radiation before news of the leak gets out.
134 characters.

From Di at Pensitivity101:
Idiot.
Going too fast in bad conditions.
Hanging back, she watched as the lorry shredded a tyre and started to skid.
(114 characters)

From Sight11 at Journey, a Senryu:
Travellers explore
Transitory rests, Convene
Subsequently… Death. 

From Crow at Words and Feathers:
The storm slowed traffic to a crawl, making it easy to tail the rig hauling stolen corpses.
But when the doors opened from the inside…

From Michael at Morpethroad:
Hate driving in rain.
Trucks, cars, spray, visibility limited.
Keep left, don’t stray,
puddles I might drown in if not careful.
Barriers? Help!

From Tricia at Oh God, Now What?! – Click the link to listen to the drum beats that inspired Tricia’s tale:
Stacatto
Percussion on the shield
Wind crashed drops
Smashing on the high-hat
Slap tap on tires round
Skin on conga
Passing storm
Sheila E.

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:
The rain was pouring sheets, she could hardly see the traffic ahead. In an instant, blinding light and blue skies. “Welcome, new angel.”

From Fandango at This, That, and the Other:
Rain, rain go away
Come again another day
When I don’t have to drive all day
On the freakin’ freeway!

From Kitty at Kitty’s Verses:
Shine or rain,
There is no gain,
Albeit some pain,
Moving on in thy game,
Brings deserved fame,
In the echelons of history etched be your name.
138 characters

From Lorraine at In 25 Words More or Less:
Always same nightmare. 
Driving through rainstorm on freeway. 
Sudden realization. 
Don’t know how to drive . . .   
(120 characters)

From Willow at WillowDot21:
Splish, splosh, swish swash, windscreen wipers dance from side to side. Rain pouring blades scoring clearing the driver’s view. Drip a drop.

From Rules640 at Life at 17:
“Why don’t you stop the car? It’s raining cats and dogs, I guess one lesson wasn’t enough for you….”  
He looked at her, “That’s the whole point, right, we can’t die twice…”
(126 characters)

From Barbara at Teleporting Weena:
Emergency!
This urgent notice from Toyland Central…
Child has turned water hose onto toy cars!
Evacuate immediately!
character count = 115

From Kirst at Kirst Writes:
It had taken years, but I was ready to go back. A watery shaft of sunlight brightened the sky. The clouds were clearing. Better days ahead.
(139 characters)

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflections:
For once he was thankful for the heavy rain and the traffic snarl. It meant spending more time with his girlfriend during the drive!
Letter count : 133

From Stacy at Warning the Stars:
Mid-summer solstice spun her anger, in a whiplash of sky-tears and tree leaves, across city highway buildings and windshields hot of road grit.  
(144 characters)

From Edwin at Edwin’s Journal:
“Damn, this storm’s getting heavy!”
“Drive carefully, mommy”
“Hope we reach our destination than be like in ‘The Final Destination’”
“MOM!”

From Sangbad at Thoughts of Words:
The life in front is hazed like the glass…wipers are not helping…but, we need to move on…have to just drive on…just to move on…
(137 Characters)

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings:
The swish of the blades, vision that fades,
relentless and squeaky, makes me feel peaky
braking and curses. 
Smash, crash.
Thank God for nurses!
(140 characters)

From Kalpana at Gemini in the Sky:
The sign ahead read,”reach in one piece, not in pieces”.
My family’s smiling photo on dashboard stared at me.
I slowed down.
124 characters.

And…starting us off, my tweet:
“Hi…I’m gonna be late…traffic…and this damn storm…”
“They’re here. Got ’em some coffee…and…”
“Good. Tell them I’m…oh shit!”
(135 Characters)

What a great variety of twittering tales we had this week! Twisted nursery rhymes, several music-inspired offerings, accidents, ghosts, zombies, nightmares, and on the other end of the spectrum, inspiration, romance, portraits in human nature and a reference to Mother Nature herself! Thank you so much for playing along this week!

A side note about the challenge and the Round-up. For space’s sake, I re-post everyone’s twitter-sized tale in full each week, but some of you are inspired by the photo, expanding your offering into a longer piece (longer than 140 characters). I love reading your poetry and prose and will post a link here so everyone else can read it too. So if your pen urges you to write on, please follow your muse. The most important thing is that you are writing and having fun!

Now, I must admit some of your darker tales inspired me. For this week’s prompt I’ve rustled up a photo I took while visiting Savannah, GA. Savannah’s popular attractions include a variety of “Haunted Savannah” tours. Of course, I had to check it out! It was great fun, and I believe I might have captured a few other-worldly spirits with my camera. Along the tour we passed by “The Marshall House“. Today it is a luxury hotel with well-appointed rooms, but during the Civil War it was used as a hospital. In fact, during its renovation, human remains were found in the basement. The Marshall House is said to be the most haunted hotel in the United States. Ghost sightings, poltergeist activity, rattling doors and strange sounds are among the amenities of this historic place, along with complimentary wine and cheese in the library, free wi-fi, the use of two robes, private-label toiletries and bottled water for guests during their stay. Your typical 4-star hotel. But would you, if you could, stay a night here? Many people do…and they have stories to tell! See if you can conjure up a story of your own. And I’ll see you next week at the roundup! Have fun!

Twittering Tales #42 – 25 July 2017

The Marshall House in Savannah, Georgia – Photo by Kat Myrman

She is brick and mortar,
lavish and luxurious,
host to travelers
young and old,
but in her belly
growls a legion,
lost dark souls
forever bound.

~kat
(137 Characters)