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.
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.
I love the challenge of learning a new word and then using it creatively. And this one was a challenge. So I digressed to a darker time in my life. Not to garner sympathy. I’ve recently finished a novel with the working title “Last Dance with Annie” based on my own experience with an eating disorder. Much of it is fiction, but a lot of it isn’t. So, without further exposition, this is where the muse took me this morning.
She walked the line
Between brilliance and insanity
Writing
Drawing
Obsessive Compulsive.
Drowning in the river
Denial
Chipping away at the megalith
She couldn’t climb.
Her mirror lied
Demons dined
Until she made a decision.
No looking back.
The boulder crushed to powder,
She writes, paints and
Celebrates life.
*Below are three of the many sketches I did as art therapy during the dark times. If you look closely you can see they’re dated 1992. A different place. A different person.
Yes. It’s me again. Double dipping. It seems my first story is only understood by a few. So I decided, by divine right of flash fiction queens, I’d write another. Thank you for understanding. 😉
AUTUMN HOUSE CLEANING
“I’m not a hoarder. I’m sentimental, that’s all.”
True to her words, Carolyn kept a clean, albeit, cluttered house.
“You could eat off my floors.”
“If we could find it.” Megan rolled her eyes as she rummaged through her mother’s kitchen cabinets. “Maybe. But baby bottles? What do you need with these?”
“Mama?” The towheaded toddler in the high chair reached out his arms and whimpered. “Ba-Ba”
Carolyn patted his hand. “Aaron. You’re too big for a bottle. Megan get your baby brother his sippy cup.”
“Mom. Stop!” Megan’s tearful voice startled Carolyn. “Aaron died fifty years ago.”
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.
“I was a baby when Mr. Roach hired me,” says George McFarland. “They still call me Spanky.”
Ernie grins. “I was one of the first back in the days before talkies. Sunshine Sammy, that was me.”
“I was Butch. The bully in the gang.” Tommy Bond adds with a twinkle in his eye, “Guess I had the scowl for it.”
Matthew Beard strokes his bald head, looking very much like little Stymie. “We was just kids. We went to school and played together. Black or white didn’t matter. Hal Roach loved kids.”
“Great times,” says Ernie. “I’d do it again.”
***
Ernest “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison
Matthew “Stymie” Beard
Tommy “Butch” Bond
Hal Roach
*Some may remember the “Our Gang Comedy” or, as it later became known in syndication “The Little Rascals.” Some may not. For a bit of a lengthy history CLICK HERE.
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.
This seems to be a recurring theme for me. In fourth grade my teacher nicknamed me “Messy Bessy.” My mother kept my bedroom door shut. I envy those neat-nicks who have a place for everything and everything in its place.
For the most part, 2020 art fairs, concerts and festivals around town, large and small, have been cancelled. These cancellations include a few I’d planned to participate in. Heavy sigh. Potential for sales out the window.
However, 2019 wasn’t exactly a great year for us and outdoor fairs. In June, at Corks and Canvas, it took an hour to set up in intermittent rain. Happily the rain stopped. Unhappily it gave way to stifling heat and humidity, coupled by high winds. I spent a lot of time chasing my note cards across the pavement.
Corks & Canvas June 2019
Corks & Canvas June 2019
In September there were two fairs. The first one was Independence Uncorked. One would think my wine glass pictures would go well there, right? Not so much. People seemed more interested in wine than art. To be fair (hee) I did fairly well at that one. The wine note cards were my best sellers.
The next September fair was the annual UNPlaza fair, not to be confused with the Plaza Art Fair held the same weekend. Torrential rains washed out our hopes for decent sales.
This year, You-Know-What washed out hopes for this year’s UNPlaza renamed PeaceWorks KC Local Art Fair. However, the wonderful board of directors at PeaceWorks decided to try something new. A virtual fair! Each artist will have an online booth. There will be video chat rooms to speak with each artist. Artists’ web pages will give attendees an opportunity to shop in the comfort of their own home.
I am excited and nervous at the prospect. Save David Bayard, who’s heading the planning, none of us really knows what to expect. At any rate, it is an opportunity for a broader audience. You don’t have to live in Kansas City to come, browse and buy. 😉
While you’re in the neighborhood click my art tab at the top of the page. Thank you.
The fair goes live Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27
Click to Join! 
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 