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Category: Writing Prompts
I found some topics on Pinterest grouped monthly. Thought I’d give it a whirl.
Greetings on this second day of January. Monday it was tropical, today it was frigid. Whatever. I work inside, what do I have to complain about? Besides coming out of spin class and the sweat at my hairline forming ice crystals, that’s all. Other than that, though, all is well. On this second challenge, I flipped a little further into the book. Seems I ruffled some feathers yesterday with not telling the whole story. Hey, the choice wasn’t mine!! Think about yours truly over here, wanting to tell about the rest of the gruesome night and I had to stop. This is why I don’t play by the rules. Rules generally suck. You’ll be soothed by today’s. Instead of typing it all out, I’m just gonna show you what it says. Wicked fun, right? Since Beth was the first to give me feedback on yesterday’s, she got to choose the letters. She didn’t know what she was choosing letters for, and I obviously didn’t tell her what they stood for. This was my version of pulling them out of a hat. Now I have to write quickly because it’s my bedtime. Spin took a lot out of me. Leave your worries and cares on the bike! Hey, I went almost ten miles in 45 minutes. But this, this is my passion. BSATD {Or, as they are known here: hubcap, hair…
Happy New Year!!! 2019. Hmm. I’m challenging myself to write more this year. Last year I set a goal of reading more, which I achieved, but not the number of books I wanted to read (75, I only got to 63). I took up a digital farming game back in the summer and unfortunately my reading fell by the wayside. Anyway, a couple of years ago, I got a Kindle book: 1,000 Awesome Writing Prompts. I was skimming through it recently and found out they are, indeed, awesome. I’m starting haphazardly at the 9% mark and will be flitting around to wherever suits me. Or I might get all brave and do a blind selection. Anyway, this particular prompt that piqued my interest is in the Flash Fiction section. I didn’t even know there was such a thing, so I’m learning already! Flash fiction is either a word count maximum or a maximum time you’re allowed to write on the subject. Or I guess both! It sounds truly challenging for me, as I tend to get carried away, but perfect for the first day of the year when we’re all laying around after foundering on shrimp & cheese grits, cornbread, and collard greens. I still have all my decorations to put away. Except the big tree. It was dead as a hammer so I took care of it Sunday. So hopefully this will get me back in…
January Writing Challenge, Day 1 Unopened. There lies one present under my tree. It is unopened. It belongs to my cousin, and since I don’t see her very often it will probably remain unopened until next year. Does that make me sound cheap? I’ll probably find something else between now and then that I will be unable to resist buying, so no worries. I also had to open one of Johnny’s presents today-an audio book i bought by accident instead of the paperback he wanted. But it’s ok, he was still really excited about it. Even after we realized I had bought book 2. I mean, how bad can I screw up a simple gift, I ask you? Evidently pretty badly, because it was an MP3 that won’t even play in a CD player so now I have to burn it onto my laptop to put over on a CD. Did I mention it came after Christmas, to beat all? Christmas presents sure can be a lot of trouble. I also ordered him part one today. So he’s got another present on the way to open. Last year I got my mermaid phone cover after Christmas, and it’s been one of those enduring gifts that make me smile every time I see it. Strangers really like it, too. She’s fabulous. Anyway. Unopened. I guess that’…
December Writing Challenge Day 8 (Day 38) Teams. My teams are The University of Tennessee Volunteers (I’ll claim all of them, but I only watch football) and the Knoxville Ice Bears. I suppose I should still claim the Seymour Eagles even though I’ve been to exactly one game since I graduated. And I would still root for the Denver Broncos if pressed because Peyton. I never did care for group work. I was too bashful as a child to contribute much…and then as an adult other teammates would sit back while one or two did all the work and they took equal credit. I much preferred to work alone. Do all the work, reap all the praise. Fly alone. Solo. But in 2012, after much consideration, I became part of a team. We’re a team in that I don’t have to face this world alone. We’re a team in that we’re unfailingly on each other’s side. We’re a team when we cook dinner or unite to dislike the way certain people behave. It’s not easy and sometimes we have to agree to disagree. But there’s nobody I’d rather have in my corner. Because every day is game day. It never fails, something is going to go wrong or I’m just going to need help. I need someone I can count on. So we’…
December Writing Challenge Day 10 (Day 40) Sticky tape. =something I lose more than scissors when wrapping gifts. There is a drinking game based on this very thing. I played it one year and was sloshed in less than two hours. I buy the big packs at Sam’s and just lay a roll on every surface. That helps quite a bit. But what would we do without it? What would we do without a lot of things? I used to be an expert tape peeler in my younger days. But mom was on to me and began double wrapping stuff in different boxes. I wasn’t brave enough to unwrap it all the way, just a corner to see what was in there. I don’t know why I couldn’t wait. I’m a little better now. I haven’t went snooping in years. Have you ever thought that sticky tape would be highly incriminating if people could figure out how to lift your fingerprint from it? I think about that every time I mail something at work, because I am not about to lick a nasty envelope. Shoo. Who even does that these days? Well. I guess this exhausts my thoughts on tape. Thanks for reading my mundane ramblings. There are better articles here, I assure you. …
December Writing Challenge Day 7 Really Day 37 I hate Christmas. Well, there are three words I never thought I’d write. Because I don’t. At all. Oh sure, it’s hard to find the real meaning in the hordes of shoppers at the mall, or while being cut off in traffic on your way to the company Christmas party. But you just have to put a little extra love in your heart and assume that these people making you crazy have had a hard life and weren’t shown the Lord’s way. And dontcha know the people who seem determined to chip away at your faith and drag you down in their misery are the people without Jesus. They’re jealous that Christians have eternal hope. They don’t know it’s okay for us to be imperfect, a Saviour was sent for that purpose. So we just have to press on and try to set an example by being our very best selves. That’s what Christmas is about. And carrying it in our hearts all the year long. …
December Writing Challenge Day 6 (Day 36) The mystery gift. We’ve all been given something we didn’t ask for. Usually in my case it’s advice. In Chevy Chase’s Christmas, it was Aunt Edna’s jell-o mold, complete with cat food. The Secret Santa game has become wildly popular in recent years, and my favorite is always gag gifts for several reasons. #1) you don’t have to put a lot of thought into it. Just buy something fun. #2) you don’t have to worry about buying something everyone will like-that’s not the point! #3) I like to laugh. The harder the better. Preferably until my sides hurt and I’m crying. I have never been involved with the Secret Sisters group that circulates this time of year. I need no added stress in my life. I’m anxious enough without wondering if my gift was well received. Or shopping for something without going over budget. It’s agonizing enough trying to find the perfect gift for family and friends. Don’t make a mystery gift. It stresses people out. Wrap up some homemade peanut butter cookies and clearly label them. It need not be fancy. A zip lock bag inside a plain brown paper one will be as appreciated as anything I know. …
December Writing Challenge Day 5 (Day 35) The remote’s gone. We thought the remote had taken a dive this weekend. It’s only about 20 years old, the one I’m talking about. It goes with the surround sound system. All the words are worn off so I just use the buttons on the device. The remote has a bazillion more that I don’t know what in the world it could possibly be controlling, so it’s just safer all the way around if I avoid it at all costs. But it was fine, the batteries had just corroded. Isn’t that strange that it was still working fine until the last few days? Scenario 2: My uncle has a sometimes ghost. He hasn’t been bothered by the ghost since moving to the cabin, but at the old house the ghost was as much as an inhabitant as him or Aunt Bren. He frequently stole/ moved several objects, including the remote. So to hear things like, “The remote’s gone,” and the prompt response of “the ghost has got it,” was not in the least unusual in their house. No worries, he frequently returned whatever he took the day you stopped looking for it. But they’ve moved out on the ghost, and he now haunts The Puerto Rican on a Stick. …
December Writing Challenge Day 4 (Day 34) Star. Neil Gaimon writes in Stardust that a star is a person until it falls to Earth. His take is very interesting, and I strongly persuade you to read it. I say stars are magical celestial beings and we all get to be one for a little while. I think they’re shaped like giant kidney stones made of solid diamond, that’s why they sparkle so. I think stars are our hopes and dreams that were fulfilled before we lost our belief in magic. I think stars are the people we lost and missed and they decided to suspend themselves for a few minutes while we look. I think stars are beautiful no matter what they are and it wouldn’t hurt us at all to look towards them more often. …
December Writing Challenge Day 3 (Day 33) Suicide. Geez. What a topic. I like to make light of things but there’s not a light side to this. So I plan to tread carefully, and let me apologize ahead of time if I inadvertently step wrong with my words. I am rarely eloquent. I am always sincere when it comes to something serious. Suicide will touch most of us at one time or another. I got a little practice while working as a dispatcher. As much as you can, in any case. We had these books, a protocol of questions to ask your caller for pretty much any life or death situation. But the callers always wanted to ask us the questions. And it was always the same: “WHY???” The short answer was we didn’t know, and it wasn’t for us to know. The long answer is as follows: Debt and gambling problems. People think they are worth more dead than they are alive and that their loved ones would be better off without them. So they take matters into their own hands and we’re left holding the pieces. Pain. I once knew a mighty fine man. When he was younger, he played professional baseball. He hurt his back. He was never the same. Time went by, he became successful at his career. He married and raised children. The pain never left him. So, at the brink of retirement…
