Archive

Author Archive

FF – Dedication to Duty

July 1, 2021 44 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by Russell Gayer.

I couldn’t really think of a story but I didn’t want to miss a week.

Copyright Russell Gayer

“Send in the report, Haversham.”

“But there’s nothing to report, Sarge. Can’t we go home?”

“We were told to conduct surveillance on this area, Haversham. That’s what we’ll do.”

“It seems like we’ve been here forever. I’m sure there used to be more cars and people and less forest outside when we started.”

“Ours not to reason why.”

“I never used to be this old. And look at Ken. He’s all skin and bone. Well, mostly bone. I think they’ve forgotten we’re here.”

“We do our duty, Haversham. We’ve got movement. ‘Squirrel in tree 90 metres north of location.’ Note it down, man, note it down!”

Sharing My World 21-06-2021

June 27, 2021 9 comments

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What’s one question you wish more people asked you?
“Would you like to become Lord-Master of the World? The job comes with a huge mansion in every country, a shed-load of cash and no obligation to do any work whatsoever.”

Do you like eggs? What’s your favourite way to have them served? (Optional obviously, I know there are egg dislikers in the crowd).
Mmm, eggs. I generally fry them, make an omelette or scramble them. If they get close (or over) their use-by date (and provided they pass the float test) I hard boil them.

You can’t go wrong with a nice egg.

Thoughts on scary movies? (not horror necessarily, but suspense or action/thrillers)
I’m not so keen on suspense, but action/thrillers are cool. And the more gore, blood and exploding heads the better. If a film is gory enough, it becomes unreal and is just hilariously funny instead.

Do you believe in Karma?
No. How many nasty people are there running around the place experiencing no consequences whatsoever? And no matter how hard I try to help karma along by concentrating really hard, their heads stubbornly refuse to explode.

Categories: About draliman Tags:

FF – One to Doomsday

June 23, 2021 49 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by Brenda Cox.

Copyright Brenda Cox

It happened overnight.

There was no wind. No storm. No vandalism.

Two of the three trees simply fell down. Ripped out by the roots.

Once upon a time (as all good fairy tales begin) they called these ‘The Peace Trees’.

‘As long as the three stand, the future is assured,’ so the story goes. Or words to that effect.

Two down, one to go.

One minute to doomsday?

But the old stories are gone and no-one even suspects. Except maybe old Granny Wilkins. She has “the sight”, they say.

But no-one ever believes her.

Until it’s too late.

Sharing My World 14-06-2021

June 20, 2021 18 comments

Here is my post for Share Your World, hosted by Melanie.

What did you learn the hard way?
Not to learn things the hard way. I like to learn things the easy way. The hard way’s too hard.

Which activities make you lose track of time?
The frantic activity of looking for my watch after I’ve somehow misplaced it. I have no idea what the time is.

Why do we seem to think of others the most after they’re gone?
‘Cos that’s when you realise they owed you a tenner. And you spend the next five years contesting the will trying to get your beer money back.

Is it possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
Of course! Not. Or maybe. Possibly.

Yes.

No.

I can’t decide.

Categories: About draliman Tags:

FF – Cabin of DEATH!

June 16, 2021 52 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by Alicia Jamtaas.

Copyright Alicia Jamtaas

Welcome back to ‘Forest Cabins of Horror’. It’s quiet… too quiet? What will we find? A strangled hobo? A mutilated college student? The castrated corpse of a cheating husband? Let’s open the door…

Creeeeak

…and we find… nothing! It’s empty. Well, this is a real ratings killer. Fred, come here!”

“Coming, Bob, what do you need? What are you doing with that knife? No… no… aaaargh!”

“Jeez, Bob, you killed him! You… bleurgh!

“Jeff, stop vomiting and pick up the camera. Action! …and inside we find the fresh body of a young male. He appears to have been stabbed only moments ago…

Sharing My World 07-06-2021

June 13, 2021 15 comments

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What’s the worst commercial you’ve seen (or heard)? Why was it so bad?
It has been so long since I saw an advert I can hardly remember any. I watch mainly streaming services, or programmes on the BBC, which has no adverts. If I want to watch something broadcast on one of the commercial channels, I never ever watch it “live”. I record it so I can fast-forward the adverts.

I’ve searched my memory but I’m drawing a complete blank on this one.

What takes a lot of time but is totally worth it?
I’m not really into things that take a lot of time. I’m lazy like that. I like lots of different things that take short amounts of time.

Have you ever smiled at a stranger and then wished you hadn’t? Why or why not?
Probably, though I can’t remember the last time. It would have been like the usual “awkward wave” moment. The one where someone is waving, and you think “who’s that?”, but you don’t have a good memory for faces, it could be someone you know, and you wave back. Then you realise your horrible mistake when someone else waves back and you try to awkwardly turn the wave into a head scratch or arm stretch and you make it worse…

What do you think is the nastiest tasting food?
For me, I reckon that’s celery. I even tried some recently because I didn’t believe it could be as bad as I remembered. It was.

Categories: About draliman Tags:

FF – Not the Best Idea

June 9, 2021 65 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by Dale Rogerson. The image is copyright Dale Rogerson – for some reason it’s not letting me add a caption 😦

“We’re here to speak with local business owner, Jimmy Nutjob. Mr Nutjob, tell us about this huge sphere.”

“It generates the electricity for my snack stall.”

“Why so big?”

“It’s the smallest size it comes in, according to ‘Nuclear R Us’.”

“Nuclear? Is that cost-effective?”

“Well… it generates six million times more electricity that I need. And it cost two billion pounds. Not sure how I’ll ever pay off the loan, to be honest.”

“And that red flashing light?”

“Dunno, never read the manual. One sec… ‘meltdown imminent, evacuate area’. What’s that mean? Hello? Hello? Hey, come back, we’re not finished!”

Bang

Sharing My World 31-05-2021

June 6, 2021 17 comments

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What activity instantly calms you?
Falling asleep. That’s pretty calming.

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done lately?
Spontaneous? Spontaneous? What is this word which you speak to me?

You mean, do something without meticulous planning, every detail examined and triple-checked?

Craziness.

If people receive a purple heart for bravery, what would other colour hearts represent?
There’s the “Taupe Heart for Mediocreness”.

There’s also one which is a sort of dark dirty red colour, streaked with black, which is the Broken Heart, of course. It is inscribed on the back:

They broke your heart
It wasn’t fun
You fell apart
And now you’re done.

Some versions have this inscribed on the back instead:

You messed it up
And now you’re chucked
They threw you out
And now you’re… well I expect you can see where this one’s going…

What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done or witnessed someone else do?
A little while ago I saw someone fly their fighter down into a trench, ignoring shots from below and fighters from behind and hold his nerve until he could fire his torpedoes down a shaft to blow up a huge deadly space station.

No, wait.

That was Star Wars.

Sorry.

Still pretty brave, though.

Categories: About draliman Tags:

FF – Substandard

June 2, 2021 59 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by Liz Young.

Copyright Liz Young

“Gears to neutral, handbrake on, engine off, and… we’ve arrived!”

“Jesus.”

“So… did I pass?”

Did you pass?

“Uh-huh.”

“No. No, you didn’t pass.”

“Aw, man! That’s the seventeenth time I’ve failed. What was it? Was it the roundabout? I should have waited, right? It was the roundabout, wasn’t it?”

“No. It wasn’t the roundabout.”

“The junction, then. I was a bit late with the indicators. Was it the junction?”

“No. It wasn’t the junction.”

“So what was it then?”

“The wall.”

“The wall? What wall?”

And your eyesight, apparently. This wall. Right here. Good day.”

Sharing My World 24-05-2021

May 30, 2021 18 comments

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What are you most proud of in the last year?
I felt proud of making the decision to keep my current car due to low mileage rather than swapping for a new one (I use PCP finance so it’s generally a straight swap with a smallish deposit).

I felt less proud when the car dealership phoned me up about getting a new car and I immediately caved 😮

If you see a puddle on the ground, do you walk around it or give in to the child within and splash about?
Confucius say “he who jump in puddles didn’t have to spend all day making money to pay for shoes”.

Do you feel free? Why or why not?
Yep, I’m totally free. Form an orderly queue, ladies, no charge!

What life skills are rarely taught but are extremely useful?
I don’t know what’s taught these days. I don’t remember being taught any life skills whatsoever back in the 70s/80s, apart from maths perhaps.

A bit more “how to budget and manage your money” and a bit less “Henry the Eighth” and “types of glacier” might have been useful.

Categories: About draliman Tags: