Tag: 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 59

Posted on Posted in Creative writing, WritingTagged , , , 16 Comments

Julia has chosen this picture for her challenge this week. A photo I have seen before and wondered, whatever would make someone walk to the edge, never mind sit there? How would you get back up again?

So I think it would have to be a very desperate reason.

Long Drop

That morning he’d found her cowering in the barn, her face turned eggplant purple, and an ugly gash to the back of her head. His brother-in-law had stirred when Ray took the gun from his belt, and pulled a blade, as he used the hay bales to push himself up. He crumpled instantly, blood sprayed from his mouth, it took just one of his own bullets, shot from Ray’s steady hand.

He listened until he had heard both a heavy thud and an empty metallic clatter. That’s taken care of it. I’ve covered my tracks and she’ll come to no harm again. 

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 58

Posted on Posted in flash fiction, Gardens, WritingTagged , , , , , 22 Comments

I’ve missed a couple of weeks lately but I made it this time and early too. Julia’s prompt is ‘As the apple fell’ and I’m hoping she won’t mind that I’m adding a photo.

 

Repair Job

‘And this is our newest sculpture, perfect placing eh? We were lucky to get lottery funding,’ he said, puffed with pride, to the journalist who squinted as someone dashed towards them.

‘Ah, here comes the artist now.’

‘It’s striking,’ the woman from Gardeners Globe said, ‘I like the way the Raku makes it look, uh, well a bit rotten.’

‘Raku, I don’t make Raku, what the . . .?

‘Jim?’

‘I tried to glue it’

‘Jim?’

‘Thought I’d caught it but ‘twas wet see? Wet clay soil and I slipped as the apple fell off me wheelbarrow.’

The artist and gardener were equally flushed.

I’m a blogging failure, will you forgive me?

Posted on Posted in Working world, WritingTagged , , 75 Comments

I want to share with you a little of what’s been happening in my life recently. It’s been quite stressful for some time and all to do with work. I joined my organisation on a year’s fixed term contract in August 2010 after leaping from a job I hated. My contract was renewed a year later, for a further six months, and then three more renewals that took me up to yesterday. A couple of months ago I had to apply for the job I’ve been doing all this time, and I didn’t get it! I was invited to re-apply when it was advertised again and this time around, just in the nick of time I was successful. So here I am with a permanent contract, you wouldn’t believe the relief this has brought me. I’m single, have to support myself and despite paying tax and national insurance for forty years the state would have only given me around £72 per week to exist on if I joined the ranks of the unemployed. Even working I am still poor but my needs are few and my blessings are many, so this isn’t a sob story.

It is a tale of my failure though. My writing has suffered. I’m behind with my blogging. I’m behind with replying to comments. I’m hoping that you won’t all give up on me because I haven’t been present, you’re such lovely, and supportive people that I feel it will be okay. I can never catch up, it would take a week of solid work, so I’m just going to apologise and now that this huge anxiety has lifted I will refocus. I hope I haven’t totally lost my writing mojo because I begin a new writing course soon and need to be able to pull stories out of the bag. Talking of stories, I’ve failed with Madison Woods Friday Fictioneers challenges, missing the last two. Julia’s 100 word challenge for grown ups I might just manage because we have two weeks this time. I’m most sad because I really wanted to support Maggie Elizabeth, with her brand new weekly prompt Maybe some of you will join in with that one; you are all such good writers.

I have a lot of followers, many of you I haven’t said hi to – how rude am I? I can’t stand rudeness and I am ashamed of myself. I wish I could follow you all as well but at present I’m only just managing to visit everyone I do follow.

For the last few weeks a great contest has been going around, Travel Supermarket’s Capture the Colour and I have been invited to join by Blueberrie, and Elisa, and the closing date was yesterday. Guess what I missed it. Actually, time wise I could probably have made this one but after sending an hour trying and failing to choose the photos I gave up. Sorry girls and I really loved your entries.

Anyway, enough of what I haven’t done, enough beating myself up. How do all of you manage to find time to be a polite blogger, thank your followers and reply to the terrific comments as well as posting, working and living your lives? I LOVE to visit you, I’ve learnt so much and had real peoples views of so many wonderful places and insights into lives so different from mine. I get cross and feel I’ve missed out if I don’t visit. What’s your secret? Please share your time management skills!

Last of all, a big THANK YOU – I hope you’re still here 🙂

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 55

Posted on Posted in Cats, WritingTagged , , , , 19 Comments

Julia has been plotting this one for weeks, threatening a really tough challenge and even cackling about it. So we have to write the words that go with this picture!

A Cat in Need

Meow,

Dear human lady person who cooks chicken and salmon for me, please come back straight away. It seems I need you after all, because the beer person keeps throwing dry brown things into my bowl, instead of the gourmet delights you so sweetly prepare for me. And now he has done something to my head, because he’s too lazy to pamper me with the silver hairbrush, I have a scarf that smells like rabbit and something from a Christmas cracker over my eyes. He keeps talking about a Cats Protection League and looking at me strangely. Come immediately.

Meow.

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 54

Posted on Posted in flash fiction, Games, short story, WritingTagged , , , , 15 Comments

I’m really late for Julia’s challenge this week. The prompt is ‘Legacy’ , the fourth in a series of Olympic themes, but people may have interpreted it in different ways. Check them here,

http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week54/

Oliver’s Legacy

Dear Oliver

You know, I wept every day for six months, I was so lost.

And now I’m angry. If you had had a car accident or even been attacked it would be different, but you had a choice, and you put diving first every time.

You said it was safe, no one died jumping off a high board. So what do you do? Get your Gold and then fool around, one step too far.

I can’t undo what’s happened. Olympia has arrived now; she looks at me with your eyes. Your legacy, but she will be frightened of water.

 

Sophie

100 Word Challenge For Grown Ups Week# 53

Posted on Posted in Creative writing, flash fiction, Gardens, short story, WritingTagged , , , , , , , , , 15 Comments

Julia has given us ‘would seven prove to be too much’ and another hundred words to play with for her challenge this week. Will you join in this time? It’s fun and a good way to see how briefly you can tell a story. Try here, http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-53/  and now for my entry.

Fiacre’s Seven Seeds

‘Will I be able to look after them all?’ Fiacre counted the seeds in his hand.

‘Ah, would seven prove to be too much? That’s the question I asked myself when I was your size’

‘What if they grow too big for my vegetable plot grandfather?

‘Let’s leave your little garden for a moment child, come, look to the east.’ A vast cultivated valley spread a green carpet as far as the boy could see. ‘The great creator gave my grandfathers grandfather seven seeds. Tell me, are these crops too much, too much too feed our people?

‘Grandfather, will seven seeds be enough?’

100 Word Challenge For Grown Ups Week# 52

Posted on Posted in Creative writing, flash fiction, short story, Uncategorized, WritingTagged , , , , 19 Comments

Julia seems to think that the challenge she has set this week is easy, maybe you would like to try it out, it certainly wasn’t easy for me. I couldn’t find words to go before together the flames and I think i have cheated because altogether can only be one word? Anyway here goes.

Flames

On the day before I became a widow, I caught the London train for a weekend with the girls. Oh how we laughed that evening, fuelled with cocktails, sharing the events of the last year. New jobs, new grandchildren, and Stella’s new romance with Paul from Woodleigh comprehensive, he wouldn’t get away this time. Paul’s ex-wife had moved to my village, she could be the one I see walking the schnauzer.

Over breakfast we saw the BBC Devon news.

‘The bodies of a man and woman were found in the bedroom of the middle cottage; all together the flames destroyed three homes.’

Link back to Julia’s Place.to see the other entries.

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 51

Posted on Posted in Poetry, WritingTagged , , , 25 Comments

We have one hundred words plus these  four the line was drawn … for Julia’s challenge over at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week51/ why not give it a go? The prompt is announced every Monday. Here is my attempt for the week, it seems to have turned into one of those poemy things.

Demarcation

Between those that have

and those that have not

between those that can

 and those that cannot

winners and losers

the line was drawn.

Between day and night

earth and sky

desert and ocean

between dark and light

the line was drawn.

Between leisured or laboured

able or challenged

 between freedom and imprisonment

the line was drawn.

Between childhood and cronedom

innocence and guilt

lost and found

joy and sorrow

between crowd or solitude

the line was drawn.

Between having a voice

 or condemned to silence

between discord and harmony

pleasure and pain

between ignorance and knowledge

the line was drawn.

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups# 50

Posted on Posted in Creative writing, Exeter, flash fiction, WritingTagged , , , , , , , 16 Comments

Week 50, but Julia has focussed on the weather instead of a golden anniversary, with her prompt, … the rain turned the road into a river… 

and here is my entry. There will be more over at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-50/  and maybe you would like to join in.

Bridge Memories

It could only be ugly, you only have to see how they built that block of flats over Whipton way. Eight stories high, where do they hang their washing?

‘Come on mum. Let’s join the crowd and walk across for the first time.’ I didn’t want to, horrid concrete.

‘Look Shirley, see how lovely it was, back when I was a girl. Your dad and me did our courting there, fifty years ago.’ 

‘Huh, every year in St Thomas, the rain turned the road into a river’ she said barely looking at my photo, ‘Now there’s the flood channel and this new bridge. I won’t be long then.’

Photo is from http://demolition-exeter.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/edwardian-exe-bridge.html where Wolfpaw has discussed the copyright.

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 49

Posted on Posted in Creative writing, flash fiction, Games, WritingTagged , , , , , 12 Comments

‘This week is another simple prompt but please forgive me for making it topical to us here in the UK.

….Murray was just about to serve for the Championship when…’

says Julia, over at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/ pop across to join in!

Schizoid Match

Murray was just about to serve for the Championship when they arrived. The voices. All three this time and they were arguing like mad.

‘He has to have new tennis shoes; he’s going through the toes of last year’s.’ Tut.

‘I need shin pads, for Saturday, we’re playing Westchester.’ Get out of my head Aidan.

‘Listen, listen, no-one ever needed this stuff, need is about hunger, a roof over our heads.’ Dad shut up.

‘Murray will put the roof over our heads one day, the boy is gifted.’ No pressure then mum.

‘Ha, even he doesn’t believe that.’

The racquet thudded to the ground. You’re right dad I don’t.