This week’s words: Solitary Pale Leonine ((adj.) resembling or suggestive of a lion: of or relating to the lion) Ripe Sponge Compact Frumpy Broad Coppice ((n) a thicket of small trees Blinkered ((adj.) narrow-minded and subjective: unwilling to see an alternate view) Restrain Formula

The man wasn’t sure how long he’d been in solitary, but it must have been some time, the light changed, the sense of day and night became fused as if he could no longer determine one from the other.

As it was he had his imagination, he had memory, and he had Leo, the lion who sat on the wall opposite him, the leonine figure was a cause of conversation and reflection.

He saw Leo there, it spoke to him, reminded him of his past, his days when victory was a step away, capture the furthest thing from his mind.

He recalled the frumpy girl, ripe for the taking, who winked at him, beaconed him to follow and with whom he showed little restraint as he took from her not just her womanhood but her life. He had bundled her into the coppice, and blinkered in his intention, soaked up her beauty like a sponge, cared little for her but a lot for his own satisfaction.

His freedom was soon taken from him, the community having no sympathy for the pale, pasty boy who did such a heinous crime.

Their formula in dealing with him was to throw him into a cell, lock the door and let him rot.

They moved him eventually to a more compact cell, just to exacerbate his punishment, and broadly speaking, tried to forget about him. His name no longer mentioned, his jailor his only companion in his solitude.

He remained positive, he decided it was up to he and the lion to make the best of what they had. He sat looking at the leonine on the wall and suggested it was time the lion dealt a new hand of cards.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2018/09/10/wordle-209-2/