Monthly Archives: October 2020

The Monday Peeve: Cheerful People

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Through her The Monday Peeve prompt, Paula Light invites us to vent, to let off some stream, to get something off our chests. This week, my peeve is Cheerful People.

Cheerful People

They’re noisy.
They smile too loudly.
They say irritating things, like “Happy Wednesday”, which is marginally more tolerable than “Happy Friday!”. 
They don’t get why I don’t respond cheerily. Are peeved when I don’t participate.
They’re oblivious to sarcasm.
There should be a special room at work to retreat to, when faced with their sickly saccharine enthusiasm.
They aggravate accidentally, causing me guilt at not enjoying their cheerfulness, giving them something to worry about; marring their cheeriness.
Cheerful people, peeve me.

#TMP #HappyFriday

Lucid – Weekend Writing Prompt

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wk-179-lucid-1

Drunkenly, I wend my way across the dancefloor

Tentatively, I reach for the door; it moves.

Blearily, I tried to decipher what is happening.

And then realise. Ah, a revolving door.

Not supernatural. Not just drunkenness.

A lucid explanation.

Now, to navigate through.

Three Things Challenge #391

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Today’s three things are:

COVER
CHOICE
INSTANT

I forgave her in an instant.

In a long week of travel, there’d been missed texts, lonely hotel rooms, and I was feeling dejected.

The meetings hadn’t gone well. It was hard work pushing the board’s agenda onto unwilling prospects.

I was worried. There’d been no choice. I’d had to rush off to New York when the senior partner became ill.

Sarah cried and declared me a heartless husband as I’d got into the taxi.

It was an important week for her.

The ultrasound scan; our first child. Her 30th birthday party; booked for six months.

I knew that I’d let her down, badly. But I felt unloved and misunderstood.

When I arrived at our front door, suitcase rolling behind, Sarah surprised me. Opening the door before I could use the key.

She laughed and rushed to hug me close.

The smell of delicious cooking wafted behind her. I could see the table was set, with a fancy cloche over the serving plate.

Sarah hurried me inside, helped with my coat, loosened my tie, and herded me to the table.

“Sit. Sit.” She said.

Then lifted the cover off that plate and screamed, “Twins!”

Take Seven: 16th October 2020

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Our words were:
annoy, busker, button, car, crop, cry, elevate, Friday, hunt, hysterics, irritate, movement, pack, pattern, pest, poetry, song, street, swipe, thump, vamp.

Happy Friday! Sang the lipsticked Vamp.

Every week, we suffer her unmusical song.

Swipe right if you’re elevated by this pattern.

Scream in hysterics if the pest annoys you no end.

She presses my buttons.

No street busker could irritate more.

Thump my back, as I cry at the pack.

Drive a car through her obsequiousness.

Take a crop to her poetry movement

Hunt and eradicate her persistence.

Three Things Challenge #386

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Three things are: Street, Busker and Vamp

I plunge into the street, ploughing through the crowd surrounding our local busker.

Adrenaline courses through me as I run for my life, leaving the sanctuary of my apartment, where I’ve spent days hiding.

I wobble, nearly falling on the cobbles, as I desperately look behind for my pursuer.

Screaming agony as my ankle twists, sweat pouring down my back, hair in my face, I continue my desperate struggle through the cruising shoppers.

Suddenly, the Vamp appears before me. I stop dead and stare. He smiles widely, teeth exposed, canines glistening.

He pulls me close, leans into my neck and breathes me in.

Friday Fictioneers – the nightmare

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sandra-crook-seaweed

Photo prompt @ Sandra Cook

I’d slept like an innocent.
Awoken fresh and clear minded.
Even after all that had happened.
My feet hit the floor.
I thought, cold.
Felt, fresh.
Smiled.

A visit to the toilet.
Brush of teeth and hair.
The feeling of rebirth, renewal, soared.
My hair shone; skin glowed.
All was good again.
I walked to the balcony.
Opened the French doors.

The smell hit hard and fast.
As I breathed in, deep.
I gagged.
Mind buckled, followed by knees.
And I collapsed to the deck.
The nightmare wasn’t over.
It had followed me.
Into the light. (96 words)

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a story in response to a photo prompt – in 100 words or less. You can find other stories here.

Three things challenge #373

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https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/three-things-challenge-373/

Your three things today are:
RECORD
HANG
THREAD

Want a challenge? Well, here’s one.

Try and ignore the talking heads that litter our news feeds and fill us with dread.

Pandemic 2020, explosive Lebanon, recession looming, debate debacle.

Record unemployment, hanging by a thread.

One million coronavirus victims officially dead.

Overtly privileged white men vie to lead a country.

They represent an attitude that’s ugly.

How can we ignore the doom and the gloom?

Read a book.

Take a walk.

Call a friend and talk.

Watch a movie – not TV. Don’t want to be distracted from your joie de vivre!

Simply 6 Minutes – Waspish

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6 minute challenge WASP 29Sept

I’ve never seen a wasp so black
Or poking around in holes like that
The kind that I expect to see
Hang out on my verandah

I think they’re called paper wasps
In general, they’re a friendly lot
I’ve always thought if I ignore them
They won’t attack, and we’ll be friends

But then …
One day, I was relaxed, just standing at the door
And felt a stab, the pain expanding
I bounced around, screeching; crying

The plumber who was doing a job
Came running as he heard me sob
And as he tried to calm me down
His buddy yelled ‘I’ve been stung!’

He swore, I moaned, we jumped around
We tried to grab at spots that hurt
The plumber’s mate, just stood and grinned
I yelled at him “Check under my shirt!”
(I was half undressed, by this point)

In my urgent need to be rescued
I’d lost all modesty, middle of the garden; near to naked!
Those wasps are not my friends.
And I’ll never ignore them again. (172 words, 6 minutes)

 

  • Set up a timer or sit near a clock so you can keep track of the six minutes you will be writing.
  • You can either use one of the prompts (photo or written) or you can free-write.
  • Get ready and write for 6 minutes, that is it! Can you write a complete story? Can you think of a new Sonnet? Can you write 400 words? 400? 500? There are no restrictions on what kind of writing you do, but you should try to be actively writing for six minutes.
  • After you are done writing, include your word count and then post back to this page https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/100129212/posts/2939433981 #Simply6Minutes
  • Or include your link in the comments section. Pingbacks are enabled.