Weekend Writing Prompt – Abysmal

Published February 22, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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

Once more the word prompt took me to a personal place. I’ve used this very word to describe the following story. 93 words, not counting the title. Dedicated to a very dear friend who had a hand in my being alive to write this story.

HIS SUCCESS STORY

One would think a book signing at Barnes and Noble would be a guaranteed success. Right? Of course, right!

Or not.

Few patrons stopped to chat. I signed some of my three-hundred-page masterpieces with “Shalom, Rochelle.”

Then my former therapist, who saw me through my darkest days, showed up.

I threw my arms around him. “Wayne, you came!”

He beamed like a proud father. “How could I not?”

Four months later I learned of his passing.

In a single moment, my perception of that Saturday evening went from “abysmal failure” to “cherished memory”.

Wayne’s the one in the Hawaiian shirt.

21 February 2020

Published February 19, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Dawn Miller

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

February is National Black History Month in the States. There are so many amazing people, history ignored. I enjoy meeting people I should’ve learned about in school.

QUEEN BESSIE

Bessie surveyed the Waxahachie, Texas Fairground. She never dreamed she’d be performing in her childhood town. Shielding her eyes, she gazed up into the sky. The only place she could truly be free.

The entrance to the park read, “Whites Only.”

Head held high, pounding with indignation, she stormed through the gate and barged into the manager’s office.

“I didn’t go all the way to France to earn my license for this. Am I not the first colored pilot in America?”

“Yes, Miss Coleman, but—”

“If my people aren’t treated with respect, there’ll be no show. Understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

*Note: I call this fiction because, while I know the incident is fact, I don’t know the exact words Miss Coleman used to get her point across. 😉

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WEEKEND WRITING PROMPT -SCULPTURE

Published February 15, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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.

DAUGHTER-IN-LOVE

Art nights. Sometimes the boys and I painted with melted crayons. Other times we’d make things out of modeling clay you harden in the oven.

One of my attempts remained intact until my youngest son brought home his fiancé to meet us. Despite her profuse apologies for knocking him off a shelf, I assured her it was nothing to lose her head over.

I rather like him this way, don’t you?

WEEKEND WRITING PROMPT – ELYSIAN

Published February 8, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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.

Thank you, Sammi, for introducing me to a new word. When I learned it’s meaning, the muse took me to my ultimate happy spot. Those who know me well, can guess where I’m going with this. 😉

NUDIBRANCH

Some meditate to achieve absolute peace.

Controlled breathing.

Bio feedback.

For this radiolarian

Tranquility comes in liquid form

Buoying me up to watery heights

Singing an elysian song.

I am a Spanish Dancer,

A sea creature

Blissfully navigating

Waves of purple fan coral

Schools of phthalo-blue tangs

Sunlight beams through the crystalline surface.

Serenity is mine.

*

“When we’re in the water, we’re not of this world.”
……Gertrude Ederle

LIVING LEGACY

Published February 6, 2020 by rochellewisoff

There’s nothing more brutal than helplessly watching a loved one deteriorate in the throes of such diseases as ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, or the cancer known as Alzheimer’s. Somewhere between midnight and morning, January 24, 2020 my mother-in-law, Mary Lee Meek shuffled off her mortal coil. However, we’ve been grieving her loss for the past seven years as Alzheimer’s slowly robbed us of the woman we knew and loved. In her memory I’d like to share a flash fiction I wrote for my husband, Jan in 2013.

LIVING LEGACY

“A-one and a-two…” said the man on television.

“I hate Lawrence Welk.” I stamped my foot.

Mom’s brown eyes flashed as she jumped from her chair to turn up the volume. I grabbed her around the waist and we fell to the floor where she tickled me into submission.

A tower of strength, she always won.

Somewhere along the line, between responsibilities and business-as-usual, without my notice, the tower crumbled.

In semi-darkness, she stares at a blank screen. I search her listless eyes but the spark is gone.

“Mom? I miss Lawrence Welk.”

Her brow crinkles. “Do I know you?”

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7 February 2020

Published February 5, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Ulrika Undén

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Genre: Nothing but the Truth

Word Count: 100

THE LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA

Growing up during the Great Depression, did Maurine Kornfeld figure she’d have already climbed the stairway to Heaven by the year 2020?

Like many Americans she retired at age 65. Although she never cared for swimming as a youngster, she joined a Masters Swim group at the YMCA to stay fit. Setting her first record at age 90, she was recently inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame.

When asked her secret, she replied, eyes twinkling. “If you can’t outswim them, outlive them.”

“Mighty Mo” is my new hero. I want to be her when I grow up.

*

CLICK HERE to meet Mighty Mo

WEEKEND WRITING PROMPT – LOOKING-GLASS

Published February 2, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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 Sammi’s Comment Section.

This prompt is one that has me reflecting. 😉 64 words, not including title.

LIKE FINE WINE

TV shows I loved as a kid are retro footage on YouTube. My favorite toys are displayed in antique malls.

I still adore listening to the Beatles. To this day, Paul McCartney’s brown eyes or Man from U.N.C.L.E., David McCallum’s baby blues make my heart flutter.

Somewhere along the line I stepped through Alice’s looking-glass. I’m a child stranded in an older woman’s body.

31 January 2020

Published January 29, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

In the Talmud it is written, “To save the life of one man is to save the world.”

TO SAVE ONE LIFE

Pain seared through the fifteen-year-old’s leg. “I’m so clumsy.”

“The snow is slippery. Needless to say, you won’t be dancing for a while, ma chérie.” The doctor’s kind eyes brimmed. “It’s a severe break. You need to be in hospital.”

“No, the SS—”

“Without medical care, one leg will end up shorter than the other.”

“Better to limp than be dead.” Huguette moaned.

“Then you’ll stay here—in my chalet.”

Today, Huguette is petitioning Yad V’Shem to recognize Dr. Frédéric Pétri of Val d’Isère as one of the Righteous among the Nations. Ken Y’hi Ratzon. May it be so.

To read more CLICK HERE. Thank you, Dale for sharing this with me.

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WEEKEND WRITING PROMPT – IMPERIOUS

Published January 25, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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.

TASKMASTER

Gazing out the window, she remembers the carefree days before her indenturing. Soft bed. Fresh linens. Stylish clothes.

The twinkling stars mock her and the man in the moon laughs in her face.

“I’m a slave to an imperious, self-centered, bald tyrant. He owns me. His every wish is my command. His every need is my assignment.”

She falls wearily into bed, hoping for a few hours of unfettered slumber. Drifting off, she dreams of parties, plays and concerts until a shrill demand shatters her peace.

“Coming master.”

She settles into a rocking chair and bundles her ten-pound taskmaster to her breast. Before latching, he flashes his first smile. Her pulse races “You own me, my son and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

*

24 January 2020

Published January 22, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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Click Frog and Enjoy!

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

TRIBUTE IN CHOCOLATE, VANILLA AND COFFEE

“Rose, try my new flavor. It’ll be a sensation!” Reuben Mattus scooped a white dollop into a bowl. “How fortuitous that my injection pump should malfunction.”

“Nu?” His wife looked up from her ledger. “It’s vanilla ice cream. You’ve been making it for over forty years.”

“Not like this.”

The dense confection sent shivers of delight through her. “Oy, you’re right.”

“What do you think of Häagen-Dazs for a name?”

“What’s it mean?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. But it sounds Danish.”

“Why Danish?”

“To thank Denmark for its kind protection of our people from that mamzer who called himself the Führer.”