draliman on life

It’s Monday, and therefore time for Mondays Finish the Story, hosted by Barbara Beacham. We get not only a photo but an opening sentence too! We then write our story in around 150 words (not counting the opening sentence).

The supplied sentence is in bold in my story, and to read this week’s other contributions, click on the little blue froggy guy.

Diamond Jack had his hideout next to the Rattle Snake River.  Secluded, it was in the perfect location. Diamond Jack turned to his partner in crime.

“I think we got away clean.”

“Reckon we did, Jack,” replied Samson. “That was a close thing.”

Jack nodded and grabbed a beer from the cooler. “Cheers, mate.” Samson reached for his own beer, then froze, listening.

“Jack, you hear that?”

“Shit!” growled Jack, hearing the sound of a vehicle drawing closer. “They found us! How’d they find us?” The pair scrambled around.

“Shut the curtains!” yelled Jack.

“What curtains?” shouted Samson.

Footsteps came closer, closer. The guys jumped behind the table. The door flew open.

“Diamond Jack, you mangy cur!” shrieked a formidable-looking woman. “Come out of there!”

Jack crept out from behind the table.

“If you think I’m putting up with your weird family alone, you’ve got another think coming! Home, NOW! And don’t you stand there sniggering, Samson Beatman! Your wife’s right behind me!”

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.

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.”

It’s time for Mondays Finish the Story! This challenge is hosted by Barbara Beacham and gives us 100-150 words to write a little story based on both a photograph and an opening sentence. The opening sentence does not count towards the word count!

This week’s picture features a helicopter. Is it on a rescue or scouting mission, or is it about to rain down fiery death on some unsuspecting person? What could it be? Read on to find out!

The supplied opening sentence is in bold in my story, which is called “Off Mission”.

Silently as the people watched, the black hawk helicopter lifted into the air.

Its pilot Jonas’ orders were clear – guns free, select targets of opportunity. As he flew off, keeping low to avoid radar detection, he knew exactly where he would plant his missiles.

They say “the female of the species is more deadly than the male”, and his chosen target certainly lived up to that. She was vicious, unforgiving, intractable. She destroyed lives, ripped families asunder, ground people into the dirt. Evil had a face, and it was hers.

He began to sweat as his HUD counted down the range – five kilometres, four, three… and there it was, the blacked-out customised SUV containing his nemesis.

She’d even had the nerve, the temerity, to phone him up yesterday to demand – demand! – that he “get up off his fat lazy arse” and sign the papers finalising their divorce.

“Finalise this, bitch!” he screamed as his finger tightened on the trigger.

It’s time for Mondays Finish the Story – a weekly 100-150 word challenge run by Barbara Beacham where we write a story based on both a photograph and an opening sentence (the opening sentence is free, word-count-wise!).

Sorry if it sounds a wee bit clunky, I had to strip 50 words out :-(. And it’s not very Chrismassy, I’m afraid 😦 :-(.

Click on the blue frog to see other contributions for this week.

The supplied opening sentence is in bold in my story, which is beneath the photo.

As the year wound down to a close, they gathered around the table and raised their glasses.

“As is our custom at year’s end, let us welcome a new member. To Simeon!”

Simeon smiled. At last – inducted into the secretive “Order of the Triple Six”!

For years he had made himself useful to the Order. None knew what they did, only that their association made one rich, powerful.

As they toasted his entry, Simeon noticed that the others were sweating, nervous, scared even. As he watched, one of the Order gazed in horror at his drink, then choked, fighting for breath. He fell to the floor, twitching. Blood sprayed from his mouth and he spasmed, face black, eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

Simeon dropped his glass in shock.

“There can be only Six,” intoned one.

“One in, one out,” added another.

“B…b…but why Triple Six?” stammered Simeon, shocked.

“Ah, yes. Triple Six. 666. Why don’t we take you to meet our patron?” smiled a third.

Here is my contribution to Mondays Finish the Story, a prompt challenge which supplies not only a photo but also the first sentence!

I’ve decided not to slaughter everything in sight this week and go for a more thoughtful piece. So let’s see how that works out 🙂

We have 100-150 words not including the first sentence, which I have highlighted in bold in my story. Click on the blue froggy to see this week’s other contributions!

“They say that life is a game of chess…”

“Chess, Grandfather?”

“Yes lad. You see, everybody has a different way of doing things. Take the bishop.”

The boy picked up a piece. “This one, Grandfather?”

“That’s the one, lad. He’s sneaky – diagonal mover. Just like knights, popping in all of a sudden. Then you have your rooks. They’re straight-movers.”

“So, straightforward and sneaky people, Grandfather?”

“That’s it lad. Your pawns, they’re the workforce, but if they apply themselves  – reach the other side of the board – they achieve real power. The king is the key, but while he stays at the back, his queen ranges far and wide destroying everything in her path.”

“Cool!”

“And on top of everything, you have to think several moves ahead, plan everything out.”

“Just like in life!”

“Exactly. Now, lad, let’s play.”

“Okay, Grandfather. Hey! One of my pieces is missing. That’s not fair… oh.”

“Now you’re getting it, lad. Just like life.”

It’s time for Mondays Finish the Story! Which will never be on a Monday for me, as I only have an hour and a half free from 0600 until 2300. Mondays are nasty 😦

Fresh from not reading the instructions last week (I thought the supplied first sentence was included in the word count), this week I thought I had 200 words! Nope. So much frantic editing was done.

We get a photo prompt, the first sentence (which is in bold in my story below), and 150 words to tell our story, and you can see all the stories for this week here.

Donning her fins and snorkel, she headed out into the deep water. She knew she was foolish to dive alone. She knew she shouldn’t have ventured so far from the boat. Now she was tangled helplessly in the discarded net of a careless fisherman, deeper than she had ever been.

If she could only reach her diver’s knife! A few more centimetres…

Bracing herself, she twisted sharply, dislocating her shoulder. Screaming, she found her desperate manoeuvre had worked – she could now reach the blade. Sawing frantically, her air running out, she managed to free herself, pushing towards the surface, her injured arm dangling uselessly.

Her vision grew darker as oxygen starvation set in – only a few more metres. The surface, safety, grew closer, closer…

Their boat suddenly lurching, the startled exclamations of the tourists turned to screams as red blossomed past the glass underside of the boat, followed by a woman’s body as it was drawn inexorably toward the thrashing propellers.

There’s a new(ish) photo flash fiction in blog town! It’s Mondays Finish the Story – not only is there a photo but the first sentence is written too.

We get 100-150 words, not including the starting sentence. Of course, I didn’t read the instructions properly and spent several desperate minutes cutting my story down to under 150 words including the first sentence. So I’ve put some words back in.

The first sentence is in the present tense, so I’ve stayed with that with some past tense in the middle. I hope it works okay.

This challenge uses the little blue froggy, so click on him to see this week’s other stories. I have put the provided sentence in bold in my story.

Sorry about the snow on my blog. I must have switched it on last year and I can’t be bothered to track down the setting right now. Because I’m lazy like that.

In the compound on the hill, lives a man with a dream. He walks up the marble path admiring his creation, already half-built –  domes rising, palm trees providing shelter from the baking sun.

“You’ll never do it!” they’d said.

“You’ve never amounted to anything!” they’d scoffed.

Yet here it was for all to see, rising from the barren sand.

It hadn’t been plain sailing. No-one would back him so he’d had to turn to “less reputable” sources of funding. People had warned him not to get involved with such people, but his dream would not die. Suffering cash-flow problems, he’d shrugged off the threats of his faceless investors. And besides, he would ensure that they would see amazing returns!

One day.

One day soon.

He opens the door, pushing past the pile of final demands on the doormat. Preoccupied with his dream, he doesn’t see the two shadows detach themselves from the wall and follow him silently up the stairs.