What do you see- Prompt # 1 – Leo the Dragon

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Michael

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It came as a surprise at first.

A rustling in the corner.

Sounds of paper being pushed around.

Then a head appeared, and we thought what a cute little lizard.

But it was more than cute.

It had a curiosity and a very definite personality.

It cocked its head, stared at us,

It was puzzled I am sure by our staring back.

Then it coughed and a small puff of smoke

Came from its tiny mouth.

As if embarrassed, it shied away

Reversed back into the corner.

Did we see the impossible we asked?

The next morning it was there again

Only now it was slightly larger.

What does it eat?

Where can it stay?

It became part of our lives.

It came out at night and sat with us as we watched TV.

When we laughed, it shook, its breath was gaseous,

Foul-smelling but it was part of our family

We accepted it, warts and all.

Leo, we called him,

Our own fire breathing dragon

Affectionate and very loving,

Though you had to be careful if a plane flew overhead

As the noise freaked him out

Your hair could receive a scorching you weren’t anticipating.

Thankfully Leo didn’t grow to a monstrous size,

We were happy to have him as our pint-sized monster.

 

Written for: https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2019/10/28/what-do-you-see-prompt-1/

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Crimson’s Creative Challenge #50 – Crisp and the Secret Door

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Michael

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The stately home of Wilfred and Mabel Fortescue-Smyth was having an open day, and Crisp my aged companion had applied as it was listed as an invitation-only affair.

We set off on the day in question even though no reply had been received to her application as Crisp believed it would be a matter of course.

We arrived at the gate and joined the queue. A very officious man looked down his nose as Crisp announced our arrival.

“I’m sorry madam, but your name is not upon my list,” he declared.

“What?” exclaimed Crisp, “it must be, please look again. Crisp and friend.”

“No Crisp, no friend. Sorry, but you’ll have to leave.”

“This is outrageous,” stated Crisp.

She then grabbed my hand and made off around the corner of the estate. “Start looking for a secret door. These places always have secret doors. Secret gardens, that sort of thing.”

Needless to say, my day was spent with a seething Crisp as there was no secret way in.

 

Written for: https://crispinakemp.com/2019/10/23/crimsons-creative-challenge-50/

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Tale Weaver # 246 – Eternity – October 24 – Jim’s Soul

Posted on October 24, 2019 by Michael

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Wayne and Greg were sitting Kell’s Kitchen as was their want on a Thursday afternoon.

Wayne was munching on a ham sandwich Greg had bought for him, and Greg was sucking all the goodness he could from the delicious sushi Wayne had ordered for him. Everyone knew that Hell’s Kitchen served the nest sushi in eternity and the upstairs domain Greg came from was where the most mouth-watering ham sandwiches could be acquired.

Wayne and Greg were soul gatherers, Wayne from downstairs and Greg from upstairs. It was they who made the determinations as to whether or not a soul went up or down.

It had been a quiet day, and both were enjoying their respective meals when the soul alarm went off.

“Bugger,” said Wayne.

“Drats,” said Greg.

“Just as I was beginning to enjoy this sandwich,” grumbled Wayne.

“You can guarantee it,” replied Greg wiping sushi off his chin.

“It’s a suicide,” announced Wayne. ”Best be off then. Hopefully, the poor sod won’t take up too much of our time.”

The soul in question once belonged to one Jim Susend, a forty-six-year-old.

By the time Wayne and Greg arrived, the soul was standing around looking very bewildered, as if it hadn’t intended meeting anyone in the next life.

“So, Jim, what’s brought you here then?” asked Wayne whose attitude to suicides was to get straight to the point.

“Well I was unhappy, no one gave me any thought, and I thought I might attract some sympathy. I didn’t realise it would all turn out so fatal.”

Jim was forlorn, to say the least, and his soul looked down at the ground obviously embarrassed he now found himself in this predicament.

“I guess it means the fires of hell for me, doesn’t it. That’s what I was taught in Sunday School. Any chance of divine mercy and all that?”

“Doesn’t work like that,” replied Greg, “You’ve upset the balance of things by taking your life into your own hands. You’re supposed to hang in there for the duration, whatever that might be.”

“The bosses don’t like it even though they do recognise there are times when life can get way too much. He did create psychologists for that purpose, but in these modern times there seems to be far more needing help than can give it,” added Wayne.

“The best thing is to get used to waiting around,” said Greg with an air of sympathy.

“When you think about it there’s not a lot else you can do is there? After all, there’s all eternity ahead of you,” said Wayne trying to sound slightly sympathetic.

“But what am I waiting around for?” asked Jim’s soul.

“Determination. A decision. One way or the other, ”said Greg, very matter of fact.

“Don’t worry, you’ve all eternity to find out, and it’s not as if there’s anything or anywhere to go now is there?” explained Wayne.

“So where do I wait?” asked Jim’s soul.

“Here’s as good as anywhere, so long as you don’t wander, you should be fine,” said Greg.

“Wander?” questioned Jim’s soul.

“Yes, not a good idea, no telling what you might step in,” added Wayne.

With that, the two divine entities took their leave, glad to be rid of Jim’s soul as it was starting to irritate them and as one knows one should never irritate a divine entity.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/10/24/tale-weaver-246-eternity-october-24/

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Bonus Wordle “Rhymes” Jim Plover

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Michael

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This week’s words: Mither (make a fuss, moan) Dither Wither Slither Scope Rope Hope Cower Tower Flower Scour Far

Jim Plover was no lover, he was, in fact, a ditherer. He hung around the village square, unsure of whether to dither or slither. He was at his best when he mithered. There was no scope or the length of a rope to measure his mithering by.

He wasn’t the sort to wither up and die, but we lived in the hope his dithering and mithering might sour as he climbed the tower of anonymity.

Jim Plover was not the sort to cower, as unaware as he was, that his dithering drove us crazy. One day he went up the towns tower to view the tower flower show but taken aback he scoured the pots with Ajax, which made the plants therein wither.

“Far out,” exclaimed the flower judge, “Jim Plover you mither wherever you go I think it best you slither away, far away, before your dithering causes us the deliver you from the tower in most unceremonious ways.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/10/21/bonus-wordle-rhymes/

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Photo Challenge # 286 – The Meteorite.

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Michael

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Image: Google images

Spectacular

That’s what it was

The night the heavens lit up.

Some claimed it was the end of the world

They fell to their knees

Urging everyone to follow.

Others saw it for what it was

The arrival of a meteorite

It’s entry probably more impressive than it intended.

The whole show lasted a good ten minutes

Plenty of time in which to generate

Fear, apprehension, loathing,

Lots of “I told you so.”

Then it was over and that’s when the speculation began

Would there be another?

Was it the first of many?

What if the next one exploded over the town?

The town sage, in a fit of wisdom only he could generate

Suggested we love one another

And be content with what fate had in store for us.

Seemed like a reasonable idea at the time

As we settled in to await the next arrival.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/10/22/photo-challenge-286/

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Tale Weaver – #245 – 17th October – Shopping – The Shopping Precinct.

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Michael

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On a rare holiday, they arrived in the big city and found their accommodation in the middle of a very prestigious shopping precinct.

The woman was quick to realise the shopping opportunity this afforded her. Her hapless companion was not as equally enthused.

However, at the first chance, she ventured out into the street where every third shop was a fashion store with a sale sign on the window. It was one of those streets that stretched out into the distance, and her hapless companion thought: Don’t tell me I have to endure this to the end of the street, which in his reckoning appeared to have no end.

Quickly it became evident he was not in any way of use. He was slowing her down as she energetically strode from one shop to the next. The bargains reached out to her, the riot of colour in the shop windows urged her to buy, to consider and try it on, it might fit if I squeeze in a little tighter.

With her hapless companion lagging and with the seemingly infinite array of shops to inspect, she left him sitting on the seats in front of the shops. There he observed the flow of traffic, marvelled at the stamina of his companion and wondered if he’d ever see the inside of the rather comfortable apartment they had rented for the weekend.

Eventually, it became obvious to her that her hapless companion was not enjoying the experience, he was, in fact, hindering her progress and putting a real dampener on the whole shopping experience.

As there was still an infinite number of shops to explore, shoes to try on, tops and skirts to speculate over, she decided it was of benefit to both of them if she sent him back to the apartment and she continued on her own, free from the now pained expressions her hapless companion was displaying.

So, she suggested he return to the apartment, and she would continue on and join him later. As he left, he did remind her that whatever she bought it would have to be carted home in their luggage.

With those words of apparent wisdom, he set off down the crowded streets to their apartment where he considered the prospect of an afternoon nap highly desirable.

In the meantime, she set off free to look and explore, knowing she didn’t have to worry about his feelings as she had come to the conclusion he wasn’t one for fashion shopping.

It wasn’t often she had an opportunity such as this, and it was too good to let go. Thinking this, she turned into a small fashion boutique offering a fifty per cent mark down.

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/10/17/tale-weaver-245-17th-october-shopping/

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Crimson’s Creative Challenge #49 – It’s a Big One.

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Michael

whitlingham-snorkler

“It’s all a bit phallic,” said Crisp my aged companion.

“You think so?” I asked as once again I was struck by the lucidity of her comment. “I thought it was more about conquest.”

“Well that’s all true, but it’s a very boy thing, don’t you think?”

“I think its about achievement. In one way, the very carving is an example of the artist’s skill. I think taking a piece of wood and fashioning like this is marvellous.”

“I think he was showing off. ‘Look,’ he is saying, ‘I’ve got a big one’.”

“Well, at least the artist has kept his pants on. Plus, I’m not sure what it is he is holding.”

“Looks like an axe,” replied Crisp moving closer to get a better look,

She sighed for some reason and then said: “Let’s head off to the café they have a woman there a big scone.”

 

Written for: https://crispinakemp.com/2019/10/16/crimsons-creative-challenge-49/

 

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Reena’s Exploration Challenge #108 – Known Them All

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Michael

Poetry Week!!

Reena’s task this week – choose any one line out of the seven given here, and use it as the first line for your piece.

“For I have known them all already, known them all:”

From: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

 

I’ve been here before you know.

Strange as it may seem, but we all have. Most of us choose not to remember, but I am blessed or cursed, depending on your point of view.

Our brains are amazing organs. They can pick and choose what to believe, how to act, and what to recall. I vividly recall two past lives. Not everything but enough to make me believe I was once there. They are both caught up in war. In World War One I was in the trenches on the western front, I can still smell the mud, the blood and the fear. The constant exploding of bombs, the cry of terrified men who in their final moments begged for the comfort of their mothers.

Later I was in the jungles of Malaysia fighting the Japanese, and once again the anguish and desperation of men trapped in a zone they knew they couldn’t extract themselves from has stayed with me. I know I died there as well, I can still feel the bullets tearing through me and the blackness descending.

But what good has it done me? Am I any the wiser for having a memory I can draw on?

I find it more frustrating than anything else as I see people doing the same things over and over. We are slow learners, we think we know best when history tells us we are doomed if we think in ways that deny the existent of others.

The same people from my past are still there, in different forms, but the thinking and behaviours are the same. Greed dominates their thinking, and their actions betray the narrowminded approach they take to the value of human life.

Yes, “..I have known them, known them all.”

 

Written for: https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/reenas-exploration-challenge-108/

 

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Crimson’s Creative Challenge #48 – Crisp Takes a Dive.

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Michael

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Crisp, my aged companion, loved old things. I’m sure it was the reason she kept me around. I was reliable, and she felt safe with me.

The arched bridge at CCC48 was one such structure. Her map detailed the history of the bridge going back to medieval times, the arch was a marvellous example of the architecture of the time.

“Just think,” she said “we are standing on a bridge that’s stood here for hundreds of years. Made to last it was.”

Crisp being naturally curious, ventured a step too close to the edge and before we knew it, she’d toppled into the pond.

I rushed to help her, thankfully, the pool was only a foot deep, and she was soon standing looking wet and bedraggled.

She let out a gasp, spat out a mouthful of pond and said:” Well don’t just stand there looking gormless, give me a hand.”

 

Written for: https://crispinakemp.com/2019/10/09/crimsons-creative-challenge-48/

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Tale Weaver – #244 – A Solitary Figure – 10th October.

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Michael

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It wasn’t hard to see the fool on the hill.

The question was why he was deemed a fool?

Many thought his desire to be more than he was assured him of the said status.

Others argued he was always pissing into the wind so what chance did he have.

Either way, he was the source of derision and scorn.

Standing as he did on the hill above the town, on what was known as Lookout Hill, aptly named of course. It was here he could be seen railing against anything he saw as a challenge to his very being.

The wind some days, the sun other days but rarely the rain as it didn’t fall all that often and when it did he was the solitary figure on the hill, arms open to receive every drop that fell his way.

When we were younger, we’d hide near him to listen to his conversations. They were vigorous debates, he would argue back and forward with himself, and we’d be in stitches wondering which of his arguments was going to come out on top.

Now in older age he sits on the hill, someone gave him a seat, he’s deteriorating, his gestures are not as violent as once when we thought it highly possible he’d knock himself out the way he flayed his arms.

He won’t listen a word of advice suggesting he abandon his hilltop vigil, its where he belongs he tells us, it’s on the top of the hill, where silhouetted against the evening sky we see him as our town’s solitary figure.

 

 

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/tale-weaver-244-a-solitary-figure-10th-october/

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