FF – The Final Sacrifice
Here’s my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. I’m a bit earlier than usual as I have a day off today! The photo was supplied by Marie Gail Stratford.
To read this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.
Copyright Marie Gail Stratford
The city looked so beautiful, so peaceful from up on the ledge. Harry watched the people, ant-like, scurrying around, busy with their own lives. He felt strangely disconnected.
He had lost the house trying to prop up his failing law firm, the last straw for his long-suffering wife. She’d left with the kids. He had nothing left.
Hearing his law partner approach, pleading with him to come back off the ledge, he shook his head sadly.
“Here’s what you do. This roof has easy access, no locked door and no safety rail. Sue the owners. Save the firm.”
He jumped.
Limerick Challenge – Hope
Here is my Limerick for Mind and Life Matters’ Limerick Poetry Challenge. This week the word is “hope“.
To read the other entries, click on the blue froggy.
There once was a silly old bloke
Who treated his life like a joke
So it was no surprise
In most anyone’s eyes
When his hopes and dreams went up in smoke.
Sharing My World 2016 Week 12
It’s time again to Share My World, courtesy of Cee. Thanks for the questions, Cee!
Wanting something to quench your thirst, what would you drink?
Definitely something cold and fizzy. If it’s not (preferably ice) cold, it doesn’t work. I generally go for something with a good bite to it, like Diet Coke. I also always have a stock of diet lemonade in.
Mmmm. Nearly no calories of tasty refreshment.
What made you feel good this past week?
Hmm, same old same old really. I did go to a great gig in the village hall on Friday. It was a guy with an acoustic guitar and a guy with a violin playing Irish, Cornish and Scottish music. The organiser is one of my best friends (and mother of my godson) and she supplied me with home-made brownies and cupcakes throughout (I got extras after I agreed to babysit tomorrow evening). I also won a big heavy wooden cheeseboard in the raffle!
When you’re alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?
I have quite thick soft carpets so just socks generally (whether I’m alone or not). If I spend significant time in the kitchen when I’m making pizza dough or preparing a big vat of chilli I wear an aged pair of slippers, as the floor in there is wood.
Would you rather live where it is always hot or always cold?
Tricky – I don’t do well in extremes of temperature. Of course one gets used to a certain temperature after a while. A couple of days last week were over 10C which I found quite warm, whereas if we get 15C in mid-summer I find it freezing!
Although I like snuggling up in the cold weather, it gets old after a while (and my electric/gas bill during the winter is many times that in the summer), so I’m going to go with (drum roll….) always hot!
FF – Modern Art
Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by Ted Strutz.
To read the other stories, click on the blue froggy.
Copyright Ted Strutz
“Jeez, mate, what the Hell is that? What a mess!”
Pedro looked the passer-by straight in the eyes. “It’s new, it’s bold, it’s modern, it’s art!”
“Yeah… it’s not though, is it? It’s crap and you’re a hack.”
“Hmm, maybe it could use a little extra something…” mused Pedro, eyes flashing angrily. “Wait right here.”
For days the artwork “Man With Head Smashed In By Sledgehammer Next To Toilet Of Flowers” took the art world by storm. That is, until the sun came out and the “beautifully detailed figure” (Modern Sculpture Magazine), the “utterly lifelike mannequin” (Art Today), started to stink.
Limerick Challenge – Dream
I thought I’d have another go at Mind and Life Matters’ Limerick challenge. This week’s word is “Dream“. I couldn’t get it to scan quite right, but here is my entry :-).
It’s good to have hopes and big dreams
Polish your life till it gleams
And if things go wrong
Try to burst into song
Think of kittens, ice cream and sunbeams!
I hope you enjoyed it! You can read other entries by clicking on the blue froggy.
Sharing My World 2016 Week 11
Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World.
How many siblings do you have? What’s your birth order?
I have one brother. He’s 18 months younger than me and lives about 7 miles away.
In a car would you rather drive or be a passenger?
Mostly I would rather drive. Maybe it’s a control thing. It is nice to be driven around sometimes, but that rarely happens as I live alone, so it’s nice for a change! On a long journey, I’d definitely prefer to drive, though. And I like my car!
When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?
This rarely happens, though by coincidence it did happen a couple of weeks ago during extremely high winds. I like candles but I worry about the house catching fire 🙂 so I go for torches (that’s what we call “flashlights” over here).
I have one in my work bag, one in the car, one in my bedside table and two in the kitchen drawer. One of them is one of those which has different modes and can be hung up or arranged like a lamp – that one was very handy in the blackout for showering and whatnot.
List at least five of your favourite types of animals? (any animal to domestic to wild to marine life)
I like small furry animals the best.
Cats, some of those cute little guys you get in Australia like koalas, quokka (quokkas?) and wombats. Here’s a link to a Daily Mail article with those guys in. I think pandas are cute and also meerkats (why is meerkat not in my spell checker? – it wants to change it to “beermat”). I think raccoons look quite cute too, at least in the picture I got from Goldfish’s online store.
How cute is that?
The End of Days
I thought I would do a story for Sunday Photo Fiction this week, which is hosted by Al Forbes and asks for a story of around 200 words. The photo looked like fun! It’s a smidge over 200 words, sorry. I cut it down as much as I could!
To read the other stories, click on the blue frog.
With a flash of lightning and clap of thunder a dread figure appeared. All the Peoples of the Earth looked up in dismay.
“THIS IS THE END OF THE DAYS OF MAN!” it declaimed. All the Peoples of the Earth wept in fear.
“YOUR TIME AS A RACE HAS COME TO AN END!” it continued. Everyone cowered in terror. “TODAY IS YOUR LAST… huh?”
There was a faint ringing sound. The Peoples watched as the demonic figure tapped its ear.
“I’m a bit busy, can’t this wait?” it said in a more normal tone of voice. “Say what now? You’re kidding me… huh?… No, no, I’m not happy, this is unbelievable. Fire the intern! Bye, bye, goodbye, bye.”
“AHEM. PEOPLES OF THE EARTH, HARKEN! THERE HAS BEEN A SLIGHT COCK-UP IN THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT.” The Peoples of the Earth shivered in confusion.
“ALLOW ME TO START AGAIN.” The figure cleared its throat. “THIS IS THE END OF THE DAYS OF DAN. IS THERE A DAN HERE?”
A small figure hesitantly raised its hand.
“AH, DAN, COME WITH ME, PLEASE. YOU’RE ABOUT TO HAVE A VERY BAD DAY. AS FOR THE REST OF YOU… I GUESS YOU’RE FINE. FOR NOW. FAREWELL!”
With another flash of lightning, both demonic figure and unfortunate Dan disappeared.
FF – Hard Times
Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers. Rochelle is our host and she also provided this week’s photo!
To read this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.
Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Myron contemplated the dilapidated factories across the river. They used to be so busy, he mused. Back when there was money. No longer. Times were tough. With the closure of those factories, days of joy and laughter spent with his wife and son had become a hand-to-mouth existence.
Something had to give. Myron had taken action.
At least now there’s one less mouth to feed, he thought. As if on cue he saw a bundle being swept downriver.
“Samuel!” he yelled angrily. “Your mother’s floating off again. Fetch her back and this time use all your gym equipment to weigh her down!”
Limerick Challenge – Power
Having read some lovely poetic Limericks by my bloggy friend Maria over at Doodles and Scribbles I thought I’d have a go at a Limerick challenge from Mind and Life Matters. The main rule is that for this week the Limerick has to include the word “Power”, or a synonym thereof.
It’s actually a Limerick Poetry challenge, but since I can’t write poetry I’ve gone for a traditional Limerick, i.e. I’ve strung together a bunch of words which rhyme in the correct places and scan properly, and involve no deep thought :-). There’s a link-up for this challenge, so click on the blue froggy for more!
There was an ex-hippy called Flower
Who decided to take a hot shower
But soon she fled screaming
The water was freezing
Laughed husband, “I turned off the power!”
Then when I got home the phrase “ivory tower” popped into my mind which sounded too good not to use (as it rhymes with “power”) so I did another one.
There once was a man name of Gower
Who had all the wealth and the power
But while chasing a buck
All his plans came unstuck
And he fell from his ivory tower.
There you go. My first try and I’ve probably already broken the rules by posting two.
Sharing My World 2016 Week 10
Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World. We’ve reached double week numbers already! A fifth of the way through the year nearly.
What would you ask for if a genie granted you three wishes?
- A long and healthy life
- Tons of cash
- Babes
What experiences are most meaningful to you?
That’s tricky. I don’t really have “experiences” any more. I just shuffle through life. I enjoy sunny days out in “the nature” and family Christmases and whatnot.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a train driver! Every year as a kid we took the train to North Scotland to see my Gran and it seemed like it would be very exciting to drive the train. My brother and I sometimes made a “train” out of the furniture, and we had a Hornby model train set too.
I guess in reality it would quite boring, though.
Complete this sentence: The best day of my life was…
I guess it was the day of my PhD viva. After the questioning I went across the corridor to the high pressure physics lab and wandered around waiting to be called. It was great to go back in and see them all stand, hold out their hands and say “Congratulations, Dr Phillips” :-). Word spread quickly – by the time we’d finished up and I’d gone back down to the office I shared with some other postgrads and postdocs, someone had already taped a piece of paper with “Dr” on over the “Mr”!
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