Weekend Writing Prompt #36 – Begin

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Michael

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He sat at the dinner table New Year’s Day listening to them talk about the resolutions they were making. “Work harder, be better wife/husband, work for that promotion, teach their youngest better manners…” the list went on and on and he couldn’t help but feel there was a futility about what he was hearing.

He knew perfectly well they wouldn’t achieve half of what they aimed for.

He didn’t see any point in making promises to himself he knew were unachievable. So he sat and listened knowing he wasn’t included in the conversation and was only there because he was the host’s brother.

He had enough trouble coping day to day without making it any harder by looking weeks even months ahead.

His social ineptness was a feature of his personality and the reason he was never included in the table chat. So it was easier to listen and evaluate their promises rather than voice an opinion. But he did have an answer when asked his plans for the year, “Be me, as best I can. Take it or d.”

 

Written for: https://sammiscribbles.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/weekend-writing-prompt-36-begin/

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Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – January 5, 2018

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Michael

Down through the tomato plants which have given me a more than abundant yield this year and I must harvest again this morning.

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My morning harvest: Not wishing to boast or anything, but this will be my fourth harvest. Its been a good season.

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For: https://ceenphotography.com/2018/01/05/cees-which-way-photo-challenge-january-5-2018/

 

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Saturday Mix – Opposing Forces, 6 January 2018

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Michael

Our words this week are:

– absence and presence

security and danger

His absence made his presence all the more noteworthy. He was charismatic, he drew his audience in around him and even though his presence in itself presented a danger to us all there was an overwhelming sense of security in his being there.

We felt confident in his ability to protect us, such that we put our personal security aside just to sit in his presence. For when he was absent, we felt exposed, vulnerable to the evil he protected us from.

So this morning from our respective pews we basked in his presence well aware his next period of absence may well place our security at risk of unimagined danger.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/saturday-mix-opposing-forces-6-january-2018/

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#SoCS & #JusJoJan Daily Prompt, Jan. 6th, 2018 – eco-nut

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Michael

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It was hard to say what it was that tipped him over the edge. You know that spot and time when chaos ceases to exit and madness does.

We noticed it as we walked past his place. The once trimmed front hedge was going crazy, growing over the footpath, the lawns usually manicured within an inch of their lives were running amok and even he was showing the signs of change, his hair was uncut, his beard unshaven and his demeanour nothing like it used to be.

“I’ve decided to let nature be itself,” he said as a way of explaining. “We try to control it to its detriment. So now I’m learning to live with it not have it live with me. And I love it. Don’t you think it’s magnificent?”

I had to admit his back yard was looking different; the jungle it was becoming was not what I’d call magnificent.

He surveyed everything, beaming in his appreciation of what nature was giving him. He had become an eco-nut there was no doubt but despite my reactions, my opinions and what ever else I was feeling I was in the presence of a man content and happy as he ran his hand over the vine growing through his kitchen window.

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Written for: https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/05/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-daily-prompt-jan-6th-2018/

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First Line Friday – January 5th, 2018 – The Sigil

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Michael

The sigil left in his place made no sense.

Not until you went too close and felt its power. It wasn’t like a burning or anything but more like a wall of invisible force that kept you at bay.

It was a curiosity to say the least. Why it was there was a mystery. It was one of those occasions where we were all left to wonder until the humming began.

The sigil started to hum at 12.30pm. At first it was a gentle and almost inaudible hum but once it was noticed and attracted a crowd the hum increased in intensity until people had to move away sheltering their ears.

We reasoned it was its way of keeping our curiosity at bay. Once the Government men arrived and began shielding us from it, it was clear their intentions were to dismantle it if not blow it up.

“All for the public good.” I could hear them saying but the sigil wasn’t going to let them get close enough to try.

They tried shooting it, fired off missiles, sent in jet fighters which was a shame as the jets once close enough were dissolved and fragments showered down like confetti.

By lunchtime on the second day the humming was so intense there was a two-kilometre zone placed around it.

There was a standoff, heads were bowed in earnest conversation, plans were made, discussed and remade.

Then Leo returned, walked past the barricades, ignored the threats from the military and walked up to the sigil and the humming stopped.

There was a collective drawing in of breath as we awaited the next chapter. Leo looked about took the sigil in his hand and placed it in his pocket. This astounded us, as we were sure the sigil was bigger than an object one placed in one’s pocket.

Then he again walked past the military and the barricades, winked at me as he passed and said meet me in the café in twenty. Behind him was confusion and fear. As he wandered off through the crowd I thought, for a wizard, he was such a character and a latte would be so nice right now.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/first-line-friday-january-5th-2018/

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Lyrical Fiction Friday Reveal: “Empty Rooms and Broken Glass” #lyricalfictionfriday

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Michael

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“…I’m living in an empty room, with all the windows smashed…

Apart from the draught all I want is for you to come

To the window any window

Look through and see me

Waiting and wondering where you might be.

 

Some nights the draft is so cold

I wonder how I might survive

Should you decide to give up on me

Leave me to the elements to freeze or fry.

 

Yesterday there was a moment when I left you near

The air moved and I’m sure it was your spirit

The sensation of your caress upon my neck

Set my heart aflutter, can you stop by and do it again?

 

Written for: https://marquessamatthews.com/2018/01/04/lyrical-fiction-friday-reveal-em

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#JusJoJan Daily Prompt – January 5th, 2018 – Memories

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Michael

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Memories

They are all around us aren’t they. The past is such a major part of our lives, we find ourselves in conversation saying such things as, “You remember when?”

Our memories are great conversation starters and at times conversation killers. It’s easy to bore the person beside you with tales of your life, what and where you did this that and the other.

But some we do treasure for they are dear to our hearts, some we want to nurture so that we create a trove of memory for the day when we sit together and recall the good, the bad and the downright scary days of what is our life together.

 

Written for: https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/05/jusjojan-daily-prompt-january-5th-2018/

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January 4: Flash Fiction Challenge – Copper Country

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Michael

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January 4, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about Copper Country. It can be any place, fictional, historical, or on another planet. Go where the copper leads.

There was great excitement as the date for the Annual Lenten Ball to be held in the White Rose Ballroom of the Copper Country School of Arts.

Everyone dressed up, there was much polishing of boots, ironing and starching of shirts and collars, hairdressing appointments and new dresses ordered and adjusted.

Copper Country and its tiny hall was all that was left of a once bustling town at one time boasting six pubs.

All that remained now of those days was the hall and us, the locals from all around, dressing up and having a night of homemade fun.

 

Written for: https://carrotranch.com/2018/01/05/january-4-flash-fiction-challenge/

 

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Thursday photo prompt – Window #writephoto

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Michael

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Through the front window I can see a fairy in the garden. She’s out there among the nasturtiums.

She doesn’t know I can see her but the window allows me to see what others cannot.

I’m watching her as she moves below the flowers, a bag is slung across her shoulder and she’s gathering something from under each flower and stuffing it in her bag.

Every now and then she looks around as if expecting company, hesitates a second before carrying on her task. I wonder what it is she is collecting and I speculate its use.

I think she’s all but finished now as she is skipping between the remaining blooms as if making sure what she has come for has been collected.

I blink and she’s gone. The garden is back to its peaceful self, the flowers wave as a soft breeze drifts by and I wonder where she has gone and if she’ll be back.

 

Written for: https://scvincent.com/2018/01/04/thursday-photo-prompt-window-writephoto/

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#JusJoJan 2018, the 4th – Passionate

Posted on January 5, 2018 by Michael

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Even though things didn’t always go her way her life had had its moments where it was clear to her shit happened in a variety of ways, however, despite all that she was the most passionate woman I knew.

Her capacity to reach out to others has always held me in awe.

It was through her writing though that I came to see the good she was capable of.

Her story, a brave and passionate account of her life not only became something she was proud of but also inspired others to write their stories.

To me she epitomised the value of writing with passion, and being there to aid others as they struggled with their own tales.

 

Written for: https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/04/jusjojan-2018-the-4th-passionate/

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