STARTING OVER

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

Week of 08-25-2015 through 08-31-2015

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Dawn M. Miller. Thank you Dawn for our lovely photo prompt!

 Bernie said, “good morning sunshine, breakfast is ready.”

Sadie loved it when he called her that.  She said, “sunshine just can not eat another peanut butter and jelly sandwich!”

“Oh! But I have a surprise for you, we have your favorite cereal with cold milk, ” he said.

“But how?” she replied.

“I went to the store real early this morning,” he said.

Sadie and Bernie fell in love with the area.  The view of the bridge and surrounding area was spectacular.

After losing his job with the car manufacturing business, having excessive medical bills, their house foreclosed on and cars repossessed, they moved south.

They lived among the elements outside, worked small jobs and spent as little money as possible.

Now, they had enough money to afford moving into a small rented room.  They would continue to seek full-time employment, save their money, and one day have a house and start a family.

Words (150)

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

 

WORDLE #75

Wordle #75  August 24, 2015

 

1. Orpheus (Greek Legend. a poet and musician, a son of Calliope, who followedhisdead wife, Eurydice, to the underworld. By charming Hades, he obtained permissionto lead her away, provided he did not look back at her until they returned to earth. But atthe last moment he looked, and she was lost to him forever.)

2. Follow

3. Meantime

4. Bleary

5. Considerate

6. Deafening

7. Proximate

8. Faculty

9. Simulacrum (a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance)

10. Preserve

11. Rice

12. Charcoal

Use at least 10 of the words to create a story or poem

The words can appear in an alternate form

Use the words in any order that you like.

Tag: Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie and Wordle

THE PARTY

Liam put the charcoal in the truck and followed his son, Barron back in the house.

Leanne said, “did you remember to buy the rice I need to make the rice pudding?”

Liam reached behind her, picked up the bag of rice and grinned as he said, “you mean this stuff?”

Smiling, Leanne took the rice and replied, “yes, thank you for being so considerate.  I completely forgot all about agreeing to cook the pudding for the party tonight.”

Liam said, “I will get the rest of the supplies we need and put them in the truck, but in the meantime,  please call Orpheus and let him know that we believe the entire faculty will be there tonight.”

Liam, Leanne, and Barron arrived at the school and drove around to the back of the bleachers.  There was at least seventy people there.

Suddenly, while everyone was eating, there was a huge explosion under the bleachers. The sound of the blast and people screaming was deafening.  The bleachers turned into large splinters of wood and the blast was the proximate cause of them catching fire.  Everyone was running and trying to get to safety.

Liam rushed toward Leanne and Barron, grabbed their hand,  and ran toward the parking lot.  They could hear the sirens of the fire engines in the distance.

Barron looked at his parents through bleary eyes and held on them tight. They managed to escape unharmed, but there were others who were not so fortunate.

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

PROJECT 543.75

Sunday Photo Fiction – August 23rd 2015

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Sunday Fiction

Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly writing challenge where a photo is used as a prompt for a piece of fiction using around 200 words. The piece doesn’t have to centre around exactly what the photo is, it can be just used as a basis for a story. This week’s photo is an intricate looking wristwatch, so you can use the image in any way you feel you want to.

Project 543.75

Seiko was scanning the area, but didn’t see Invicta.  He saw Timex and said, “do you think Invicta will come to work on this project?”

“He’s always reliable, so it’s just a matter of time before he gets here,” replied Timex.

Invicta walked in just as Timex was finishing his sentence.

Bulova was putting the spring in place and noticed Timex was not working on his part. He said, “hey, do you need a hand?”

Timex yelled, “No! I need two hands!”

Bulova said, “alright, but give me a second.”

Timex mumbled to himself, “Bulova is really ticking me off!  He is always too slow or too fast and he knows how precise everything  needs to  be.  We need to band together and get this project working.”

Invicta, the CPA, was an expert in arranging numbers, so he started placing them in the proper order.

Everyone knew that the project will be visible through the crystal face, therefore, making it priceless.

They looked up in time to watch Battery walk in and spoke in unison, “well, look at how powerful he is!  This project sure will be a gift to society.”

 Words (191)

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

LIEBSTER AWARD

I’m pleased to say….This is my 100th post!

I give my thanks to everyone that has followed my blog and the comments given. I appreciate your support and thoughtfullness.

I’d like to thank Yinglan https://yzhengblog.wordpress.com/    at A Simple Life for nominating me for the Liebster Award. This would put me at Liebster x2!

I am familiar with the rules but my nominees probably aren’t. So I’ll put them anyway.

The rules are…

• Answer the questions that your nominator posted for his/her nominees.
• Share 11 random facts about yourself.
• Make up 11 new fun questions for your nominees.
• Give some love back to your nominator and link back to his/her post.
• You must nominate 5-11 bloggers.

Questions Time:

1. If you can be any superhero, who would you be?   Wonder Woman…she is smart, strong, independently liberated- icon for people who do not feel perfect, showing them just being a better person is all that matters. 
2. If you are given a magic seed, you can throw it in the ground and it will grow whatever you want, what would it be?   A fruit that could cure all the illness and diseases in the world. 
3. If you can go anywhere, where would you go?  I would choose a place in each of the United States and spend a week there. 
4. What is one thing you have been meaning to do but haven’t seem to find the time?   Learn how to swim. 
5. What’s one word you always second-guess yourself when spelling it out?  The word affect/effect.
6. If you can change the name of a food, what would it be?  Ice Cream would be named Best Dessert!
7. If you can time travel to any destination in time, what year would it be?  Year 1950…when all I had to worry about was eating, sleeping and playing! 
8. What is an ideal day?  Waking up feeling good, having a relaxing breakfast in the fresh morning air while I watch the birds fly around  the lush trees, having lunch with friends, buying something special, and going to dinner and a play or movie with my husband. 
9. If you can wake up to any sound, what would it be?  The sound of rain…somewhere between a sprinkle and a down-pour. 
10. If a stranger hands you a hundred dollar (pound, euro, whatever your currency), what would you spend it on?   I would stretch it out over a period of time and let it be my pocket change for small items and food and drink.
11. Fill in the blank:  In a perfect world,  P E A C E   would be Everywhere!   

ELEVEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT MYSELF: 

1. I’m enjoying no longer working in an office or being self-employed. Retirement suits me just fine!
2. I love to take various classes on art and am looking forward to the baton class which I will be taking in a couple of weeks.
3. I’m so glad I finally started to blog. I have always written long letters….the old fashion way (before computers, laptops, ipads, texting and charges for long distance phone calls!) and now I get to make up stories and share them with others and also read theirs.
4. I enjoy watching sports that are fast like…football, basketball, (mostly at the game and not on TV) and I love to line dance to all kinds of music.
5. I once played on a “Powder Puff” football team, wearing the helmet, shoulder pads and jersey,  jeans, and tennis shoes. I was a guard against someone twice my size! (it wasn’t a pretty sight!) Our team lost by six points right at the end of the game.
6. My favorite dessert is ICE CREAM! I rarely eat it now because I am alergic  to dairy products. (sad)
7. The day I gave birth to each of our children …I just happened to have a doctors appointment that day and was sent from the doctor’s office straight to the hospital…I drove myself with the first two times and my husband was with me with the third , so he took me there. Each child was born within two hours after I arrived at the hospital. The real strange part of this was the fact that I did not know I was in labor! (it didn’t take long to find out though!!!)
8. I had ruptured appendix when I was five years old and came close to dieing. I remember having a mask put over my face and being asked it it smelled like my mothers flowers.  I promptly told them that my mother didn’t have any flowers!
9. I took typing when I was in high school and I can still type 70 words a minute. (I let my fingers do the walking … 🙂
10. I’m an introvert, but not as bad as I use to be. Life has a way of changing you over the years.
11. I love to take pictures of all kinds and also look at the ones other people have taken. Some of the really awesome ones with fantastic views, makes me feel like stepping right into the photo.

NOW FOR MY 11 QUESTIONS FOR THE NOMINEES:

1. What is the most important 3 things in your life?
2. What are your pet peeves?
3. If you could travel on a month’s vacation (FREE) where would you go and who- if any- would you take with you?
4. If you had to relive part of your life, what age would you choose and why?
5. If you could change one major thing in this world what would it be?
6. What motivates you?
7. What has been the most disappointing thing in your life.?
8. What freaks you out?
9. What according to you is the most treasured possession you own?
10. What is the best book you have read so far?
11. What is your favorite type of vehicle?

NOMINATIONS:

https://littlesprinkelofme.wordpress.com/

https://etolbagam.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/creativebusynesslogo2.png?w=444

http://petalandmortar.com/https://thefeatheredsleep.wordpress.com/https://wingedwind.wordpress.com/

http://dancingechoes.com/

http://ajourneywithyou.com/

QUICK ACTION

Guide for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

1. A prompt photo will be provided each Tuesday to be used as a base to your story. Please include photo prompt with your story.

2. Linking for this challenge begins on Tuesday and runs to the following Tuesday.

3. Please credit photo to photographer

4. The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit.

This week’s photo prompt is provided by pixabay.com

Truman called Deena on his cell phone. He said, “do you see me?”

Deena looked around and spotted him saying, “yes, you are the goofy guy trying to buy a child’s balloon, right?”

“No, I’m the strikingly handsome guy standing out in the crowd,” he replied.

“Oh! Alright Mr. Handsome, I’ll meet you inside the Lover’s Lane,” she softly replied.

“Wonderful, because I have your heart,” he said.

Truman thought he arrived there first because there was no sign of Deena, so he sat on a bench near the entrance to the Lover’s Lane to wait for her.

He was wondering why it was taking her so long to get there when he heard an ambulance and saw a crowd gathered quite a distance from him. He immediately ran toward the crowd in fear that Deena could be involved.

As he edged his way into the crowd he saw Deena crouched down on the ground. She was administering CPR on an elderly woman. The woman was responding by the time the medics arrived.

Words (138)

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

 

GRAVE

This week’s cue for Six Sentence Stories is:      GRAVE

Grave

Mason met her eyes with grave emotion and barely choked out, “I’m so sorry, Meg.”

Her gaze dropped reverently to the grave of her young child as she knelt beside the tombstone, placed the flowers, then rose and turned away with wet swollen eyes that had a hollow expression.

That moment in Mason’s life, would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he would never be able to forgive himself for the grave mistake of persuading her to let her son participate in the annual boxcar race.

Meg had always been very protective of her son from the day she brought him home from the hospital after he recovered from an automobile accident that occurred while visiting his father.

Mason knew how Meg felt about children at such a young age participating in the race, after all, her son was only eight years old, and very small for his age.

He was so excited that day, bubbling with pride and joy after coming in 2nd place, however, that joy silenced when the car of the 3rd runner-up slammed into the back of his car causing him to be thrown out and  incurring  grave injuries.

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

 

WORDLE #74

Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie    

Wordle #74,  August 17, 2015

Madness, Fertile, Scorn, Listen, Crinoline, Exaggerate, Petrous, Needle, Lily, Fragile, Ornament, Twenty-Three (it’s the meaning of everything having to do with chaos)

Use at least 10 of the words to create a story or poem.The words can appear in an alternate form. Use the words in any order that you like,.

Joe and Kara

Joe entered the room just as Kara was removing her crinoline and skirt.  He knew she was angry with him and a woman’s scorn was the last thing he felt like dealing with.  He knew her feelings were very fragile  so he was careful with his words.

She tossed the skirt across the room causing the lily vase to spill over and break on the petrous floor.  Turning to face him she said, “it would be like looking for a needle in a hay-stack, Joe!”

He sighed, saying, “listen to me Kara.  I know you think it sounds like complete madness, but we have to go back to look for the gun.  I’m sure it was thrown out the window when everyone began to scatter before the police got there.”

Kara said, “you know it was a real twenty-three situation and we don’t need to get mixed up in it.  Let the police look for the gun.  It’s not our problem.”

Joe said, “I wasn’t exaggerating when I said Connor would get me in serious trouble one day.  I made the mistake of letting him borrow my gun this morning to see if he liked how it handled. “

Kara swung around to look at him and said, “get the flashlights, let’s go!”

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

 

DOVES TALE

Sunday Photo Fiction – August 16th 2015

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Sunday Fiction

Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly writing challenge where a photo is used as a prompt for a piece of fiction using around 200 words. The piece doesn’t have to centre around exactly what the photo is, it can be just used as a basis for a story. This week’s photo is a pair of loved up doves, so you can use the image in any way you feel you want to.

HOUSTON AND JOLENE

“Come on Jolene,  give me a break!”  Houston chirped.

Turning her head around to look Houston in the eyes she replied, “so you think just because you come flying back into my life, I would be lovey dovey and pretend that everything is hunky dory?”

Houston moved closer to her and gave her a quick peck on her bill and said, “I never knew what love was until I met you, then when distance pulled us apart, I found what true love is.”

She flapped her wings in anger and moved a good distance from him. She said, “distance did not pull us apart Houston.  Your desire to satisfy your need to fly from city to city pulled us apart!  I know now that I can not trust you.”

Houston’s feathers puffed up as he said, “why can’t you trust me Jolene?”

She simply replied, “because you, Houston, are a flight risk.”

Words (154)

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

MONDAY FINISH THE STORY

Mondays Finish the Story – Aug.  17th, 2015

Finish the story using 100-150 words, not including the sentence provided. Don’t forget to use the opening sentence… This challenge runs from Monday to Sunday!

OPERATION

I see absolutely everything!

Yes, I know everyone thinks I am under sedation and my eyelids  are mostly closed, but I am unresponsive. Therefore, they began with the operation.

My heart pounds in my ears louder than a ten piece drum set. I desperately struggle to open my mouth, move my legs, arms, hands, anything to get their attention! My fight to alert them is completely useless.

The doctor stands there with the surgical tool in his hand while the others silently stand by waiting to assist him with the operation.

I feel I am about to die from horrific fear and the most agonizing pain imaginable.

Wait! I see,  through blurred eyes, one of them pointing out the flood of tears washing down my face!

Words (122)

Copyright © 2015 Written by Jessie Cross ~ All rights reserved

 

SIX WORD STORY

SIX WORD STORY….August 16, 2015

The theme for this week’s submission is LOSS. You can interpret that however you want.  Feel free to include images if you feel they help the story, but I’ll be grading on the words alone so don’t feel obliged to. Looking forward to reading lots of great stories, as I say, please do share with anyone you think might be interested!

https://bencnicholson.wordpress.com/

LOSS

My heart aches for your loss.