A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section.
FROM 1956 TO 2007 IN 56 WORDS
My parents bought the single-story house in 1956
By 1984, my folks both gone, we moved in with three growing sons.
At the time it seemed like a good idea.
Thirty-eight years lived within the confines of 950 square feet.
When asked why empty nesters would buy a castle with vaulted ceilings
We reply,
“Breathing room.”
Teenage me in the kitchen. Might I add…tiny kitchen.
The view from right outside my studio.
I couldn’t find any good pictures of the inside of the cracker box. But you can see by the outside, it wasn’t very big.
The Author-Illustrator in her natural habitat.
Three times the size of that little house, to us, this place is a castle. We bought it 13 years ago and I still love it!
The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
This week marks my 8th anniversary as Friday Fictioneers facilitator and my 5th anniversary as a retired sign maker/cake decorator. So I’m taking the liberty of sharing a twofer.
Genre: Hysterical Faction
Word Count: 100
HONCHO DORI
My coworker and best friend was fired for saying, of all things, “Hunky Dory.” Her flippant reply to my “How’s your day going?” at her register. I kid you not. The charge was “sarcasm to a customer and, therefore, misconduct.” Seriously?
The company’s plan to purge the “old folks” put a target on my back, too.
At an emotional low I joined Friday Fictioneers. I tried it. I loved it. By October 24, I inherited the blog challenge.
Eight years later, my friend’s victorious lawsuit is a story we retell with glee. Friday Fictioneers? Yep, I’m still steering the bus.
It’s still hunky dory with us.
YEE-HAW!!!
I ran out words to tell you my friend was fired March 7, 2012 and I joined Friday Fictioneers a month later on April 12.
****
Now for the second go around as promised. 😉 I posted this 24 October 2012, after inheriting Friday Fictioneers from creator Madison Woods. This was the only time I didn’t title my post with the date. I was told by a fictioneer that it was too confusing for me to post my title because it gave the impression that my title was part of the prompt. I complied and never saw her again. Go figure. There are some fictioneers who stuck with me, even though they were here before me. You know who you are. 😉 If I list them I’m bound to leave someone out. At any rate here’s my first story as facilitator. Same photo prompt.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Word Count: 100
OF SIGHT AND SOUND
A stunning contradiction of cropped black hair, bronzed skin and sea foam blue eyes, Aggie McKewen’s face reflected her Inuit and Scottish parentage.
Keith, who worked at his uncle’s café in Seward County, Alaska, longed to speak to her but didn’t know sign language and she was fencepost deaf. Every Saturday he served her grilled salmon in shy silence.
After six weeks of night classes he felt ready to declare himself and asked her out.
With a voiceless giggle she snatched his pen and order pad. There she wrote, “I’d love to but why did you call me a tampon?”
A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section.
LIMPID
The phone chimes at midnight, rousting me from sweet dreams.
The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
Back aching, Mary boxed up a vacuum sweeper. After a lucrative evening she was weary and ready to go home.
She coaxed a smile. “You’re a lovely hostess, Mrs. Spoonemore.”
“Thank you for demonstrating Stanley products, Mrs. Rogers.” Ova handed her a jar with a penciled label. “A token of my appreciation.”
Mary opened it and sniffed. “What’s this?”
“My daddy’s hide-tanning formula. Keeps skin smooth and young-looking.”
Years later, tired of being passed over for promotions, Mary Kay bought the formula from Ova’s family for $500 and struck out on her own. The rest is pink history.
A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section.
GUILTY PLEASURE
I’m a streaming junkie.
I’ve binged on Star Trek from the original series through Deep Space Nine.
Illogical?
Asinine?
Perhaps.
Anxiously I await the next season of Picard.
Fascinating.
Last month I watched both seasons of Shtisel, an Israeli series about a Haredi household.
Currently, I’m gorging my senses on Heaven’s Garden. It’s a Korean family series.
Subtitles.
Oh, my square eyes.
I must confess,
Sometimes I feel like Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
“Seriously, Daddy?” Ariel jabbed her fork into a plateful of fishy-smelling seaweed. “You expect me to eat this?”
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. Full of antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins,” said Louis. “Expertly prepared by Yours Truly. Ever hear of Euell Gibbons?
“Who?”
“Famous 1960’s naturalist. One winter, his family was down to their last egg and a few pinto beans. He went out and picked a knapsack full of puffball mushrooms, piñon nuts, and yellow prickly pear fruits. Kept them from starving.”
Ariel lifted a green strand, sniffed and grimaced. “It looks like something a Klingon would eat.”
Euell Gibbon, who became famous promoting Grape Nuts cereal. He took a lot of ribbing. Here he is taking a poke at himself.
A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s comment section.
Although this isn’t a true story, per se, it’s a reality for too many.
The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
A reminder that the Holocaust did happen. Dare we forget? This is a shortened version of a story I posted almost 4 years ago for What Pegman Saw. (Thank you, Josh and Karen). I feel it’s one that bears repeating.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
PERCHANCE TO DREAM
Bedtime was Eva’s chance to escape. Tonight, she flew close to the dazzling sun. Below water cavorted over glittering shells. A mermaid with gleaming fins sat on a crystal throne in the midst of the waves. Her eyes glowed like candles, beckoning Eva. Sea spray veiled her shining violet hair that cascaded over her shoulders like a silken cape.
She sang an enticing melody. “Eva, sweet Eva, come swim with me.”
***
“Eva, wake up!”
Shira grasped her sister’s narrow shoulders. Grey light through the barrack’s filthy window illuminated Eva’s skeletal face and serene smile.
A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s comment section.
Some of you might know I’m a logophile…a word nerd. I have the old, no longer supported, Scrabble app on my phone and on my iPad. No bells or whistles. No connection to the internet. Just the way I like it. However I do miss the interaction of a rousing game with friends. So I give you a little wishful thinking.
GAME ON
“Z-A-N-Y” Rochelle arranged the tiles on the Scrabble board. “Ha! Thirty points to open the game.”
Dale flashed a smile. “Big deal.”
“Can you do better?”
To Rochelle’s chagrin, Dale played the Q, U and I off the Z for forty-four points on a double word.
Na’ama dumped her tiles back in the box. “I’ve a better idea. Let’s bake some bread.”
***
If you’re in the neighborhood come visit my virtual booth at thePeaceworksKC art fair to day from 11-5 CDT.
The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
As fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors remain in our midst, it seems easier to forget. It’s not taught in schools and increasing numbers of misinformed believe the Holocaust never happened.
INTERVIEW WITH PRISONER A5714
Remember Robert Clary as LeBeau of Stalag 13? Hogan’s shortest hero? The connoisseur of French cuisine.
He reminisces about the rabbi who helped him study for his Bar Mitzvah. “He smelled of schmaltz, herring, onion and garlic.”
“Ah food.”
He shrugs. “In Buchenwald we had little to eat. I sang for the prisoners and sometimes the chef in the kitchen gave me an extra piece of bread.”
“What’s your greatest achievement? Performing?”
“No. I’m most proud to have spent twenty years keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. Warning against man’s inhumanity. While I am living, I have to tell.”
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 