by Mayumi-H | Apr 25, 2012 | Short Stories, Songbirds
The prompt for this week’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups (week 39) is, per Julia:
….I’m exhausted. Shut the door behind you….
So, to remind you of the rules you have an additional 100 words to complete your piece making 107 in total. Please make sure it is suitable for a PG certificate and please visit the other entries as that is where we can get ideas as well as support and challenge each other.
Julia always knows just when to remind me that I need to keep these to a PG rating! 😀 That said, I didn’t really have much trouble coming up with a flash fiction to fulfill this week’s prompt. Without further ado, I’ll let my Songbirds speak for themselves:
“These Nights Won’t Last”
Girls Playing Dress Up, by Isabella Kung
http://www.behance.net/isabellakung
It’s the girls’ excited shrieking as they play that makes Sally snap. She loves them, but the noise-! What happened to those lovely nights when they’d cuddle peacefully, dozing off to faery tales?
Sensing her tension, Larry eases her to the bedroom. “You all right?”
Sally sighs. “I’m exhausted. Shut the door behind you, please?” And she settles back, to relax amid the quiet, alone.
But, after a while, she realises: solitude isn’t what she wants. Because these nights won’t last, either. So, rather than waste it, she rises, to find her family snacking on biscuits while puzzling over a jigsaw.
She smiles. “Room for one more?”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pushed one of my girls away, desirous of peace and quiet and just a little bit of alone time…only to then call her back and let her play or cuddle, because my own guilt has gotten the better of me. 🙂
This one feels a bit short, to me, but it does clock in at 107 words, per instructions. Perhaps because, like my Sally, I simply find myself longing for those bygone, tiny baby days…!
They settle down, eventually. 🙂
by Mayumi-H | Apr 18, 2012 | Fearless, Persona 4 Fan Fiction, Short Stories
This week’s prompt for the 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups was to write a sonnet, in recognition of arguably the most famous sonneteer in history, William Shakespeare. The specifics of the prompt are as follows:
Your mission, should you wish to take it up, is a BIG one. We are going to celebrate the Bard by writing sonnets! I can see some frowns! Don’t worry it will stretch your creativity.
- You MUST write 14 lines (this is the minimum)
- You can use 10 syllables per line (choice)
- You could use the following rhythm – a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. (choice)
So, the least you have to do is write 14 lines. Limit is around 100 words. You may need to go over slightly if you choose to do 2 and 3. The topic is of your choice but of course if you fancy including George and that dragon he is supposed to have slayed then feel free!
Writing my Fearless protagonists, I’ve decided that I can’t turn down a challenge when it arises, either. So, here is my offering:
“Daddy and the Dragon”
Image courtesy of the Royal Society of St. George
http://www.royalsocietyofstgeorge.com/stgeorge.htm
Atop the sofa, clad in argent satin,
St. George and sword rise tall and full of might
To face the horrid, furious dragon,
And keep all tiny children safe at night.
One cheers, one gasps, as Mummy tells the tale
Of fabled times and ancient beasts most foul,
While Daddy swings the sword and clashes mail,
To play St. George and make the dragon howl.
But with a whoosh! and whack!, he seems to fall,
And both girls cry for his recovery.
So Mummy urges help, however small,
With clap and laughter, bringing victory.
Then kisses come; the toys are put away.
But George and beast will fight another day.
…So, a poet I’m not. 🙂 Still, this was a fun exercise.
It’s been ages since I’ve tried anything within such a confining structure as iambic pentameter. I did cheat a bit, as you can see, but I wanted to tell a story, rather than just writing a love sonnet. (Besides, no one will ever be as successful at the love sonnet as William Shakespeare. Or Kermit the Frog.)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT1p3KyaW-I&w=420&h=315]
As a lovestruck young woman, I tried to write poetry, of course, as most teenagers do. But it just wasn’t happening. The product of those candlelit writing sessions is the main reason why I long ago gave up on being a poet of any kind.
I went back and forth on what I wanted to write for this subject…but, as usually happens, my initial idea is the one that ended up working best. You may not agree (I didn’t say it was a great effort, just my personal best). But, no one can fault me for being a little bit fearless.
by Mayumi-H | Apr 4, 2012 | Short Stories, Songbirds
Carrying over from last time, is this week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups:
The prompt this week is to go back to last week’s entries. You are to use the last 10 words of the post next to yours and using just 100 words create a story. It may be a follow-on from the previous one or you may like to take it in a different direction. So:
- You find your entry HERE
- You go to the next entry (if you were 6 you go to 7 etc)
(I was #16, so I’m using #17 for my prompt: “An Important Date” by Andrea, the gothcatlady. It is a lovely little ode to Carroll’s original story, and I suggest you read it for yourself, before going on to my take on her prompt!)
- Using the last ten words as the prompt you write your piece. The prompt can be anywhere in the piece but must be complete as it was in the original.
- If you didn’t take part last week, choose any entry to use the last 10 words from.
I was lucky enough to get a very charming prompt – What a wondrous adventure with young Alice that would be – for this week, and I’m delighted that I can even (sort of) continue from my own challenge from last time! So, without further ado, here it is.
Such Wondrous Adventures
With pinafore and ponytails bouncing, Katie bounds across the playground, away from them.
Watching her, Larry sighs. “Seems like yesterday,” he murmurs, “we were pregnant, and I was reading her Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”
Beside him, Sally shrugs. “She’s growing up.”
“Does she have to do?” Larry asks, chuckling.
“What a wondrous adventure with young Alice that would be!” Sally says, and they laugh. But then they quiet, cuddling close.
“I didn’t think it would happen so fast,” Larry laments. He meets her gaze, chuckling anew. “I want another one!”
Sally blinks, then smiles, softly. “Funny, you should mention that….”
I do so love these little challenges, and being able to incorporate them into my own universes, in this case, that of my Songbirds, Sally and Larry. I wish I could share them with more people, too, especially the ones who enjoyed the original Songbirds series of stories. Who knows? Maybe, someday, I can…and will!
I can only hope that Judee, over at write tuit, has as much fun with my prompt as I had with Andrea’s!
by Mayumi-H | Mar 28, 2012 | Short Stories
Per the prompt over at Julia’s Place, for this week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups:
I want you to write a piece with
….‘What was the rabbit late for,’ wondered Alice…..
in it. You have 100 words making a total of 108. However, the last 10 words are going to be used to start a piece by someone else next week!! Good eh! The idea isn’t mine – it came from Winchester House School.
This is quite a tricky prompt! Not only does it require the use of given text, but the writer also has to create a “hook” for the next one to come along! Nevertheless, I couldn’t sit back and let the challenge go unanswered:
Larry paraphrases; he’s barely focused on the text. But Sally doesn’t mind.
She knows he worries, that what he does isn’t “enough.” But she also knows his concern is unnecessary. His touch, his presence, his voice: that’s what’s important. And she tells him as much, when he pauses over the page:
“You’re fine,” she says.
After a moment, he continues. “’What was the rabbit late for, wondered Alice-‘”
A jolt in her belly makes her gasp, softly.
Larry gasps, too. Then, he looks up, his blue eyes wide, astonished. Delighted. “You think… she heard…?”
Sally smiles, and nods. “All she needs is the sound of her daddy’s voice.”
I’m not certain how next week’s prompt will work – if we’ll be choosing our own personal prompt, or if we’ll be assigned someone else’s entry, or if one special entry will serve as the jumping-off point. But I’ve had this story kicking around (if you’ll pardon the pun) for a while, now, and I’m happy that I got to put it to use!
——-
I originally had a completely different entry for this challenge prompt. It was much darker, and played a bit more with the themes of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You can read it here, if you’re so inclined.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 21, 2012 | Short Stories, Songbirds
This week’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups prompt: “…the red box…”
Just like the government, we’re dealing with fiscal budgets at work, right now. So, I veered off from the obvious choice of “the red box” for this week’s prompt, and instead went just a bit to the left:
Eyes twinkling with charmed interest, she pushes him in front of the red box and raises her camera into his face.
“Brilliant,” he mutters at the lens. “Now, we’re tourists.”
She shushes him and clicks. He fidgets, feeling ridiculous as the subject of a photographic cliche.
“Satisfied?” he asks.
She lowers the camera with an elfin smile. “Not just yet.”
She pushes him again, trapping him into the antiquated phone box. Then, she presses up and kisses him: soft, warm, sweet.
He’s dizzy when they part.
“Satisfied?” she echoes, smiling wide again.
Closing the red box around them, he grins. “Not just yet.”
image courtesy Favim.com
Another little Songbirds Series drabble, because the moment I thought about those red phone boxes, I thought that Sally might take a moment to bother with a snapshot…and Larry would probably scoff about it. But even two people who see the world from such different perspectives can find a way to mutually enjoy something so quaint.
The prompt for this week’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups (week 39) is, per Julia:
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