Monthly Archives: February 2022

Simply 6 Minutes – Demented

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#simply6minutes; #flashfiction

Photo prompt for Simply 6 Minutes

They’re always captured by my eyes.

The first thing they notice. How alive. How human.

The pathos.

Then they notice that I’m some sort of hybrid zebra-dog.

I want to say to them ‘pay attention’. I am in here.

Let me out!

Oh, you beautiful girl, they say. Oh, let me get a look at you. You beautiful thing, you.

She looks so sad, someone will add. Smoothing my head and stroking my ears.

I am sad! I’m screaming at you to please help me.

Trapped by a witch’s curse. Tormented by worry.

How are my children. Do they think I’ve left them?

How will I ever return.

One day I’ll bite. And they’ll be all, oh no. She needs to be put down.

And so, I remain patient, passive. I can’t afford to lose it.

But each day passing, means another day without my loved ones.

And them without me. Their mother. Their wife.

Oh, look. I think she’s crying, one says. Do dogs cry?

This one does. Every single lonely day.

And I have to shit on newspaper and eat disgusting crap from a tin.

And communicate with whines and barks.

The witch said, if your husband repairs his way, you will be freed.

I don’t know what he’s done. I don’t know if he will repent.

But if I ever see him again, he is done for!

He thought I nagged before.

He’ll wish I’d never returned. [240 words – 6 minutes]

 

Simply 6 Minutes Challenge Note

https://christinebialczak.com/2020/07/14/simply-6-minutes-writing-challenge

  • 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 #Simply6Minutes or include your link in the comments section. Pingbacks are enabled.

Slow Suicide

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Shoot me now.

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By Trish. Prickly, alone.

He gets a laugh, the famous comic.

No topic is taboo.

Mixed colours with whites.

Stayed out all night.

Played poker with the boys.

Made too much noise.

See this manly rotund tum? Beat a bass line on that drum.

Get grief there too.

You’re getting fat.

I don’t love you looking like that.

She says.

Shoot. Me. Now.

I sit. I listen. Take it all in.

Heart and soul alerted.

I hear my laugh. My face, it smiles.

My secret self, inverted.

We’re all dying, the comic calls.

It. Is. The curse of living. 

Enjoy that beer, that glass of wine.

A second bowl of pudding.

So, you get fat. Can’t leave the couch.

Feed blocks of chocolate through your mouth.

Your girl might leave. She’s hard to please. 

Your dog will stay. His love’s for free.

You’re gonna die. You gotta live.

It’s your choice on how that is. 

Shoot. Me. Now.

Tears find a trail down to my chin.

Drop to a lap that isn’t slim.

I graze and nibble treats, all day.

Pure sugar, carbs, all have their way.

My loathsome lack of self-control.

The need. The want. They hijack thoughts.

Disease, the doctor says. Of course.

Permission now to stay this course.

Surrender. Submit.

Obesity’s shit.

Constantly eat. Feed cancerous cells.

That kind of living does not end well.

I laugh out loud.

Shoot. Me Now.

Friday Fictioneers – Travel Bug

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#fridayfictioneers #flashfiction #rochellewisofffields

Photo prompt by Roger Bultot

I dreamed when I was young of exploring the world. Top of the list was the Trans-Siberian Railway.

I’d imagine being a brave young woman travelling the Far East in the late 1800s or 1920s.

I love to travel, but in the end I’m not that adventurous.

I long for the escape, breathe deep (and perhaps cough) exotic air, touch gently the people and places entrenched in ancient cultures, who smile with grace but wish I’d leave.

Fat wallet in hand, and friendly guide.

Dream in clean sheets at the end of the day. [94 words]

 

Thank you Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for continuing to set this 100 word or less challenge. It is certainly a commitment appreciated by many. Other 100 word stories can be read here.

Simply 6 Minutes – Hear me roar

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#simply6minutes #stinewriting #flashfiction

Shattered. In mind, body and soul.

Struggling to find the strength to carry on.

It feels like I’ve been in a car crash.

No warning. The joint accounts are wiped. My BFF turned on our 20 years of friendship, for a man. Mine.

To top things off, he left his grotty skateboard on the front steps of our apartment, which I tripped over as I left for work this morning.

Fuck it all!

I need to find the strength of a lion, my inner tigress.

I weakened in the gaze of a man, enfolded in his virile, very masculine strength. I forgot that I am woman, and I can roar, stomped down on my voice, waved off concerned friends, placated worried family.

As I wait in the emergency ward, sitting on a bed, sewn up and drugged for the pain, I ponder. And reach the conclusion that I gave up, caved. And I need my power back.

Through the observation window, I contemplate the busy corridor and see looking back at me the powerful gaze of a beautiful woman. Clear, hazel eyes.

Shattered parts come together fashioned in the stripes of a tiger. And jump as I realise. That is me.

I draw shoulders back and breathe, deeply. Pick up my phone and text, “You’ve done me the biggest favour. I wish you’d gone years ago. Thank you and goodbye.’

It takes all stripes. And mine are golden, feline. [239 words, 6 minutes]

***

https://christinebialczak.com/simply6minutes

  • 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 #Simply6Minutes or include your link in the comments section. Pingbacks are enabled.

Friday Fictioneers – Darkness

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#rochellewisofffields #flashfiction #fridayfictioneers

Photo prompt from Na’ama Yehuda

Oppression

desperation

claustrophobic disintegration.

I look up and see blue

flossy, puppy clouds

sunny side up

In the glass, reflected back

a total darkness

the oily snake of depression

The world is bleak

people hate-speak

children closet-weep

Darkness speaks.

walls bleed

they weep.

Inside my head

I wail

I flail, dispirited. (51 words)

Thank you Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for continuing to set this 100 word or less challenge. It is certainly a commitment appreciated by many. Other 100 word stories can be read here.