Hunter and Prey
It’s Mondays Finish the Story time. Because its Monday!
This challenge is hosted by Barbara Beecham and involves writing 100 to 150 words in response to a photo. To help us along we also get the starting sentence (which is not part of the word count). Something a bit different this week from me. The supplied starting sentence is in bold in my story below.
To see this week’s other contributions, click on the little blue froggy.
She was unaware that she was being watched.
But everything and everyone is watched. All the time.
The worm, as it goes about its business, is unaware of the bird watching it hungrily, which in turn is oblivious to the hawk above.
The deer has not seen the wolf, stalking it on silent paws. The wolf, intent on its prey, has not seen the hunter staring through the sights of his rifle, already counting the money the wolf’s pelt will bring.
The snow turns red and the hunter claims his prize.
High above, secreted within his cloaked scout ship, Ka’N’Kath watches the hunter through his ship’s optical scanning matrix.
Designation Oltrix 427, local name “Earth”, primitive weapons, multiple natural resources, recommend conquest.
Ka’N’Kath sends the message to High Command, turning his ship towards home, a home he will never again see. For he, in his turn, is being watched.
There is always a bigger fish.
Sharing My World 2015 Week 3
It’s (the end of) week 3 on Cee’s Share Your World challenge. So I’ll jump straight in!
Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
Anyone? Anyone at all? One sec while I type “supermodels” into Google…
No, seriously I reckon I’d like to meet Ade Edmondson. I first knew him as “Vyvyan”, the punk rocker in “The Young Ones“, the programme I consider to be the first in the “alternative comedy” revolution in the early 80’s. He’s done TV, stage (Rocky Horror Show in the West End), music, all sorts. He’s multi-talented and I’ve also seen him on an art program where celebrities are asked about their favourite art or whatever it was. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and very clever.
Plus he’s married to Jennifer Saunders so I’d get two comedic geniuses for the price of one!
When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?
Probably yesterday in the car, though I sometimes quietly sing bits and bobs during the day without really realising it. I only really sing in the car because the music drowns me out. Otherwise my lack of singing ability annoys me.
I tend to “burst into whistle” a lot more often. My pitch is pretty good, whistle-wise.
I won’t do either within earshot of anyone else.
If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
I really have no idea.
Flying sounds cool. Or the ability to channel the energy of the universe and bend it to my will I SHALL RULE THE WORLD AND ALL SHALL BOW BEFORE ME bwahahahaha.
Oh dear. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea after all. Maybe I’ll go for more confidence instead. That sounds safer.
What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?
More things than I can list here. Poverty, racism, The Holocaust and similar atrocities, the list goes on.
See you again next week!
Evidence
Here is my contribution for this week’s Friday Fictioneers, a weekly flash challenge hosted by Rochelle where we write a 100-ish word story based on a photo. This week’s photo was contributed by Georgia Koch.
For this week’s other contributions, click on the little blue froggy. You can also use this link to add your own story to the mix!
Copyright Georgia Koch
Never one for altruism, Franco’s friends (if it could be said that he had friends) were astonished when he joined “Save Our Barges”. An ex-mobster, charity was never his thing.
He chatted to the great and good, raised funds, worked tirelessly until at last he made it onto the charity’s board… until at last he was granted access to the Betty May.
The charity’s latest restoration project, the Betty May was locked away in dry dock, awaiting much-needed love and a tender touch.
That night the Betty May burnt to charcoal. Some of Franco’s secrets were best left buried.
The Great Escape
It’s Mondays Finish the Story time here on draliman’s blog. This is hosted by Barbara Beacham in which we get a photo and a starting sentence and have to write a 100-150 word story (not counting the starting sentence).
Click on the little blue froggy to see all this week’s contributions. The supplied starting sentence is in bold in my story. It’s a little bit o’ dialogue this week.
They finally made their escape. Unfortunately, they were now stuck in a ditch.
“Moron!” yelled Teddy.
“Idiot!” yelled Brian.
They sat in silence for a moment.
“What now?” asked Teddy. “They’ll catch us for sure.”
“Try it again,” said Brian.
Teddy pushed the pedal. The wheels spun. The truck didn’t move.
“We’re dead,” moaned Brian. “They’ll catch us, then they’ll kill us.”
“Or they’ll lock us away forever,” added Teddy.
They stared at each other.
“Maybe if you got out and pushed?”
“You get out and push!” yelled Brian.
More silence.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Teddy finally.
“Too late,” said Brian, looking behind them.
Racing up the road came Mr Jenkins in his tracksuit. Much further back was Mr Hawkins, huffing and puffing and clutching his chest.
“Idiot children!” yelled Mr Jenkins. “You could’ve been killed! We’re calling your parents, then it’s detention FOR LIFE!”
“Said so,” mumbled Teddy sadly. “Locked up forever.”
Sharing My World 2015 Week 2
Here is my Sharing My World, hosted by Cee over at her photography blog.
Are you a hugger or a non-hugger?
I like hugs but I never initiate them, because I don’t know if the other person would want a hug from me. Of course, they may be thinking the same thing, so everybody goes hugless. It’s a hugastrophe :-(.
What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour?
This question looks familiar and I’m trying to remember what I said last time, for whatever challenge it was. Nobody’s checking, right?
I guess if I’m not sure then it’s hard to pick a favourite anyway. Vanilla always works. Chocolate is good when I’m in a chocolate mood, or mint choc chip. I also like stuff like black cherry.
Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?
I prefer to exercise neither my mind nor my body. For preference it would be my mind.
I’m stuck exercising my mind when I’m at work. I can’t do my job if I act like a dimwit. As for exercising my body, I go for the occasional walk. I did the vacuuming last week, does that count?
Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? Why?
Cat person all the way! I should mention at this point that I’ve never had a dog.
I know that dogs are loyal and all the rest of it, but I’m quite lazy and dogs are much higher maintenance than cats. Cats pretty much take care of themselves. Just bung them some food and water, change their kitty litter and give them hugs when they want one. That’s the sort of pet I could handle.
Lost Friends
It’s Friday Fictioneers time hosted by Rochelle, and the photo this week was contributed by Jan Wayne Fields. We need to write a 100-ish word story based on this photo.
I’ve pretty much written nothing but comedies for my challenges recently, but this photo made me feel a bit gloomy for some reason. I nearly renamed this “There in Spirit”. But that sounded a bit corny :-).
Click on the blue guy to read this week’s other stories, or even contribute your own!
Copyright Jan Wayne Fields
Jared stared out of the window. The table behind him was set for four as it always was on this day, a memorial to the four friends who had sat here together every year to celebrate life.
Inseparable since childhood, three years ago death had intervened. A New Year’s party, several drinks too many, a car, a corner, a tree.
Jared’s heart felt heavy as he thought of the three companions he would never again share good times with, help through the bad times.
The door opened and the three friends sombrely entered. Jared took a last look and faded back into their memories.
Close Call
It’s time for Mondays Finish the Story, a weekly challenge hosted by Barbara Beacham in which we get both a photograph and an opening sentence.
The goal is to finish the story in 100-150 words not including the opening sentence, which is fortunate as the opening sentence is quite long this week!
Click on the little blue guy to see the other stories for this week. The supplied opening sentence is in bold in my story.
Racing down into the atmosphere, the unidentified object crashed, leaving behind one heck of a huge crater and a plume of smoke that could be seen from miles around.
Jake and Betty stared in astonishment – at the sky, having been blown off their feet by the blast. Jake reached for his phone.
The police arrived, then the onlookers and finally General Herbert, accompanied by a single tank, his entire arsenal.
A small grey-green figure emerged from the crater, waving all six of his arms enthusiastically. He held up a satchel of some sort.
“Invasion!” yelled Herbert. “Open fire!”
The little figure exploded in a shower of alien guts, sheaves of paper flying from his satchel. Herbert retrieved one.
InterGalactic Pizza™ now operating on your planet. Call today!
“No!” yelled Herbert. “What have I done? A pizza delivery alien. Harmless, innocent, nooooo!”
On the ground was a small device. A radio? He pushed the button.
“Hello? Is anyone there? I’m so sorry…”
“Yes?” said a voice.
“Oh, thank God. We’ll have five quattro formaggi and a side of coleslaw.”
It’s Unicorn Appreciation Day!
It’s January 11th, and we all know what that means, don’t we?
Yes, it’s Unicorn Appreciation Day (UAD)! We will be celebrating here with pictures, poems and fun facts. So, let’s begin with a picture of the magnificent beast.
The unicorn, in all its magnificence
Hmm, I don’t think the DraliDoodle team has quite captured its full majesty. Apparently they “don’t do horsies”. Never mind, let’s have the first of our poems. This one’s from the DraliDoodle team.
Tablet ready
Stylus in hand, sketching, colouring
pointy horn.
Well, that was an epic fail, both words and picture.
FUN FACT! After being hunted almost to extinction, unicorns numbers are increasing as they are a protected species. They are only hunted by the residents of a certain populous island, and only for “research purposes”.
JOKE! What do you call a unicorn without a horn? A horse! Ha ha ha.
Blogs are expensive to run and “draliman on life” is no exception, so please bear with us while we hear from our sponsor.
Oh no. That wasn’t very appropriate, was it? I do apologise. But we need the money. Let’s move quickly on to the second of our poems, this time contributed by the DraliRomance team.
I dream
of your glossy coat, your liquid eyes, your huge
pointy horn.
The DraliRomance team has only ever had one outing on this blog and now we know why. Back in your box, DraliRomance team! Let’s try one from the DraliHorror team.
Rearing high in dark shadows
Hooves smashing, vicious ripping
pointy horn.
Yeah, that’s more like it!
FUN FACT! Did you know that a baby unicorn is correctly called a “babycorn”?
I wonder how people celebrate UAD? Here’s a picture of UAD celebrations in a typical English town. I bet everyone is having a fun time!
It doesn’t really look like family fun. At least they are all wearing the traditional unicorn headpiece, even if one enterprising chap is using it as a weapon. Let’s hear from the DraliKids team.
Glossy, cuddly
Friend to kids and bunny wabbits, catching rainbows with
pointy horn.
See, that’s more like it. At least they’re getting in the mood.
FUN FACT! Unicorns can be safely approached in the wild, but beware if they have their babycorns with them. Don’t approach during the mating season, as no-one likes to be disturbed while they’re having the rumpy pumpy.
We’ll end our unicorn fun with a poem from the DraliOffice fire marshals.
Burning, hot tongues blazing
Flesh melting, all that’s left
pointy horn.
Yoinks! It appears that all the fire marshals are members of the DraliHorror team.
I hope you all enjoyed our look at that most magical of holidays, Unicorn Appreciation Day!
Sharing My World 2015 Week 1
It’s 2015 and it (was) the first week, which means it’s time for Share Your World 2015 Week 1, hosted by Cee on her wonderful photography blog.
It’s not Sunday, which is my traditional SYW day, but tomorrow has been designated “Unicorn Appreciation Day”, so I shall be busy appreciating unicorns!
How do you get rid of pesky phone calls from telemarketers?
Fortunately I get very few of these now since I registered with the Telephone Preference Service. I used to get so many I stopped answering the phone.
I wish I could be like my dad, who is quite rude to telemarketers, but I can’t bring myself to be nasty which is actually worse for them as they’re forced to speak for ages, wasting their own time, before I can get a word in to tell them that I’m not interested. Sometimes they’re quite nasty about it.
I once had one chap who talked for a full 2 minutes with no break whatsoever before I finally managed to say “actually I rent so I’m not interested in water pipe damage insurance, that’s my landlord’s responsibility”. Poor fellow :-(.
What are you a “natural” at doing?
Hmm, umm, I don’t think I’m really a “natural” at doing anything. Unless “slobbing around” counts. I seem to be able to manage that without too much effort!
How often do you get a haircut?
It used to be every 6 weeks, but now it’s every 5. My hair is quite short so it doesn’t take long to start looking messy, curling round my ears and whatnot.
My hairdresser used to be a “walk-in” type so I kept putting it off until my hair got ridiculously messy, but a year or so ago she started out on her own and only does appointments which forces me to go at a pre-arranged time which is a good thing, hair-wise.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fun”?
Hmm, umm, ah. Well, nothing came immediately to mind. That’s a bit depressing, isn’t it?
Cash Cow
It’s time for my entry to Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo prompt is by Jean L. Hays.
I was going to do a dialogue based on all the “no parking” signs but ended up doing some even sillier dialogue concentrating on the banner which sort of says “Unthink”. I know it’s slightly bad form to write “500” rather than “five hundred” but I was having word count issues :-).
Read all the other contributions by clicking on the blue froggy.
Copyright Jean L. Hays
“UnThink Memory Wipes” – only 500 bucks, and if ever there was a year Bob wanted to forget, this was it.
“One memory wipe,” said the receptionist. “500 dollars, please.”
Presently Bob emerged looking confused, the last year erased.
“One memory wipe – 500 dollars please, sir.”
Bob paid up (again) and left.
“Heh heh!” smirked the receptionist. “Great scam.” He turned to the technician. “You want your cut?”
“Cut of what?”
“You stood too close to the machine again, huh?” asked the receptionist.
“What machine?” asked the technician.
“Uhhhh… never mind. One memory wipe – that’ll be 500 dollars please, sir. Heh heh.”
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