This
meme was started by Delores a long time ago. Week after week she
provided us with challenging prompts. Computer issues led her to bow
out for a while and I took
over. When Delores' absence looked like being more permanent I begged
and cajoled for other volunteers to share providing the prompts, and
Words for
Wednesday became a movable feast. Delores discontinued her blog for a while, but she has returned. Her new blog can be found here.
Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore... We can use some or all of the prompts.
Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog. I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme. If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.
This month the prompts were to be provided by Jacqueline aka The Cranky on her blog. Sadly Jacqueline has had a stroke and is unable to participate. Even sadder, it now seems unlikely she will be able to rejoin us. My heart aches for her and for those who love her. It seems so unfair that she was hit with this just when she was turning her life around.
So I am providing this month's prompts here.
This weeks prompts are:
Have fun.
Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore... We can use some or all of the prompts.
Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog. I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme. If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.
This month the prompts were to be provided by Jacqueline aka The Cranky on her blog. Sadly Jacqueline has had a stroke and is unable to participate. Even sadder, it now seems unlikely she will be able to rejoin us. My heart aches for her and for those who love her. It seems so unfair that she was hit with this just when she was turning her life around.
So I am providing this month's prompts here.
This weeks prompts are:
- prank
- arms
- regret
- light
- hostility
- crime
and/or
- astronaut
- wolf
- prophesy
- guillotine
- bootlegger
- adorable
Have fun.
Astronaut and guillotine are an interesting combination, EC. Across time for sure! A great challenge!
ReplyDeleteMarie Smith: Goodness only knows where that combination came from. And interestingly I found it easier to play with than the first set, which are still brewing. Slowly.
DeleteMy, what words you have tossed our way! Must give them a think.
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: I look forward to seeing where the words take you.
DeleteI like bootlegger and prophecy. Did you now in the US they are still (no pun intended) making moonshine? I love prophecy because of things that have happened and come to me from somewhere out there.
ReplyDeletedonna baker: I did know that moonshine was still being made. And suspect that most countries have or had their version of it. Prophecy is something which always makes me a tad uncomfortable...
DeleteWhat a odd mixture of words.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a astronaut and his pet wolf went to see a man who gave a prophesy that a bootlegger would try to kill him on a guillotine but the wolf won the show everyone thought he was adorable.
Merle........
Merlesworld: Your bootlegger isn't a nice person. And of course the wolf was adorable. Sadly maligned critters - in fairy tales and elsewhere.
DeleteWell done Merle!
DeleteGood job Merle. Fun tale. Mine is posted at my blog.
DeleteAn astronaut and a wolf walk up to a guillotine together... Wow, someone is going to have fun with those words.
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: I hope LOTS of people have fun with them.
DeleteWell I certainly did with mine. I managed to use all 12. Was the wolf holding hands with the astronaut? Fun image Alex.
DeleteA bit of nonsensical fun for this week's words...
ReplyDelete"In the LIGHT of her harmless, innocent PRANK the HOSTILITY directed towards her was a surprise. Anyone would think she’d committed the CRIME of the century. Almost the whole population of the village were waving their ARMS in the air, carrying on like a mob of pork chops! One was even howling like a WOLF, trying to urge the crowd on further, demanding she be run out of town.
She didn’t REGRET what she’d done. If the townsfolk had no sense of humour that was their problem not hers.
They’d proven their small-mindedness previously when she first arrived as a newcomer to the tight community. When asked what she did for a living she told everyone in jest she’d been an ASTRONAUT, but was now retired.
Just because she’d set up a stand and sold a huge number of original recordings of a concert by “The Rolling Pebbles” but had inadvertently printed “The Rolling Stones” on the covers didn’t make her a BOOTLEGGER! They had to prove she changed the name on purpose! It was her word against theirs. Her intentions had always been to donate the money she received to charity to help a local family in need.
Out for her blood, they’d not given her a chance to explain.
The way they were carrying on one would think the road to the GUILLOTINE was her PROPHESY.
Once they calmed down a bit she was sure she’d be able to convince the rabble there was nothing evil in her actions.
She did have an ADORABLE, winsome way about her; one that was difficult for most to ignore. Soon they’d once again be putty in her hands...she hoped!
Lee: She sounds like a prime (and dangerous) manipulator. I hope the putty doesn't soften too far.
DeleteHa, ha, ha. Plagiarism of Pebbles to Stones. Definitely criminal. You sure put together a great story.
DeleteHow can she be so bad, EC....she was donating all monies she received to a deserved charity? :)
DeleteLee: I would want to see the receipts. I am not sure that her word is her bond.
DeleteClever use of the words! I especially like the "Rolling Pebbles."
DeleteHappy Writing to all.
ReplyDeleteThe Spooky Whisk: Some day you will join us.
DeleteSpooky Whisk, I love your avatar :)
DeleteIs there anything more adorable than small people in 'when I grow up' mode? In less than a day Jack had informed us that he was going to be an astronaut, and walk on the stars, that he was going to guillotine the Big Bad Wolf, and that he was going to be a fire-fighter. I am still pondering his assertion that 'bootleggers are girls' though. Where did that come from? He is going to be busy, whatever he chooses, and I don't need a crystal ball to prophesy that tomorrow (and the day after) he is going to be at least fifteen other things...
ReplyDeleteLove this! Of course there are also people fully grown, retired even, who still can't decide what it is they'd rather be doing.
DeleteWonderful, simply wonderful!
DeleteThanks EC for sharing Jack's amazing plans. So clever of you. Mine is posted on my blog
DeleteLove it! (I'm still waiting to see what I'm gonna be when I grown up...)
DeleteI played a prank on my beloved.
ReplyDeleteBut when her tears touched my arm
I felt regret in the light of my hostility.
I committed a crime
Martin Kloess: If your regret is genuine, she will probably forgive you.
DeleteOh no, pranks should cause laughter not tears Martin. Good job with the words.
DeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteCloudia: Some day we will convince you to join us.
DeleteQuite a dark selection this week, with bootlegger, hostility and guillotine, not to mention regret over a prank or three.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I didn't mean it to be dark. And my first take isn't. It will be interesting to see where the words take people.
DeleteI had fun playing with your selections this Wednesday. I got little snippets for both.
ReplyDeleteWords: prank, arms, regret, light, hostility, crime
Ever since Derek’s ill-conceived PRANK turned into an accidental CRIME, and the duck was utterly lost, HOSTILITY erupted between their two families. His REGRET has been bottomless. What could he do to get his beloved Missy back? How could he ever again hold her in his ARMS? How could he recapture her LIGHT?
Derek sighed and went to see his father. Maybe if his father agreed to buy a new rubber duck for Laura, Laura’s mother would allow him to cuddle with their cat Missy again. He loved Missy so much...
Words: astronaut, wolf, prophesy, guillotine, bootlegger, adorable
The ASTRONAUT slammed the book shut with disgust. A GUILLOTINE, a PROPHESY, and a BOOTLEGGER in the same plot was too much even for him, despite his loneliness on this god-forsaken, snow-bound planet. He would have to amuse himself some other way between the long stretches of time he spent repairing his broken ship. Ever since the crush, he tried repeatedly to fix at least the communication array, but so far, nothing worked. Until it did, even the enormous black WOLF peeking through the porthole from the frozen waste outside seemed ADORABLE. Maybe he could make a pet out of the monster. What would the beast find tasty? Hopefully not humans. Would it like canned beans in tomato sauce?
Olga Godim: I love them both. I suspect that wolf is not going to be happy with beans in tomato sauce though - and I can't blame it.
DeleteTwo tales for the price of one. Great job Olga.
DeleteSome interesting words together here.
ReplyDeleteIt was only meant as a prank. He hadn't intended to bind her arms and legs. It just happened. He did regret it so he had turned out the light. He didn't want to see her that way. She was showing so much hostility toward him. What was wrong with her? You would have thought he'd committed a crime. And why did she have to keep screaming he'd kidnapped her? Sure he'd taken her kicking and screaming from her apartment but in time she'd come to understand he did it for her own good. He was not about to let her fly to Mexico and out of his life for good.
As soon as the astronaut landed on the strange planet he had begun to feel the wolf inside him trying to break free. But then he had known that would happen didn't he. That had been the witch's prophesy. She had foretold his future that night he touched the guillotine in the basement belonging to the bootlegger. He had thought she was adorable then with her raspy voice and hazel eyes. Oh well, guess he could give in and see what it was like to walk on the wild side for a change.
Spooky...Interesting twist Mason.
DeleteMason Canyon: I find the wolf a LOT less scary than the stalker. Brilliant use of both sets of prompts.
DeleteWhat a collection of words..wolves, astronauts and guillotines...whoooeeeee. I'll see what I can do and post tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteonly slightly confused. As always I am really looking forward to your often twisted take on the words.
DeleteThanks...wait......what?
DeleteThe adorable moon wolf nixed the prophesy of The Astronaut Bootlegger by eating him before he got to the guillotine.
ReplyDeleteHa, ha, ha...loved it.
DeletePatt Hatt: Well done that wolf. I hope it doesn't get indigestion.
DeleteI regret that the prank resulted in a crime of hostility where my arms were lightened from my shoulders.
ReplyDeleteNot my best work, but hey, for ten seconds of thought, I'll take it. =)
Amazing 10 seconds!
DeleteCrystal Collier: Ten seconds? Wow - and thank you.
DeleteI used all 12 in one poem. It is posted on my blog. It is crazy as usual.
ReplyDeleteGranny Annie: I am looking forward to it. Crazy I doubt, fun I don't.
DeleteLeaving rotten tomatoes all over a porch is a PRANK not a CRIME. I would have gotten away too, if Mr. Jones hadn't slipped in the juice and fell, managing to reach out and wrap those ropy ARMS around my legs in the process.
ReplyDeleteThe porch LIGHT illumed his face. Such HOSTILITY.
"Do you REGRET this," he snarled.
"Heck no, dude. It's Halloween."
Sandra Cox: Love it. Even though I would hate to fall in rotten tomatoes.
DeleteHi EC ...
ReplyDeleteThe adorable irregular galaxy discovered in 1909 by Max Wolf prophesised that the guillotine would be brought down on world order … the bootlegger turned astronaut decided that reaching the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte group was beyond his means … he returned to bootlegging …
Cheers Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher: Bootlegging is at least profitable (or so I understand).
DeleteI think I found something new to look forward to on Wednesdays! I'll have to have a go at this, thanks for the prompts.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin Lane: It is a fun game, and I am endlessly amazed (and delighted) at the different directions the prompts take people in.
DeleteDefinitely a challenge this week, thanks for the prompts!
ReplyDeleteHBF: Looking forward to seeing where they take you.
DeleteAs the guillotine fell on her adorable neck, the prophesy she had herd earlier that morning had come true. Unfortunately, just like the astronaut she thought she had seen two days before, she was afraid to cry wolf. Her head rolling down the stairs, it was picked up by a passing bootlegger.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
A Cuban in London: I think I would like to keep my neck (adorable or not)intact. This is an excellent and creepy take on the prompt. And I don't want to think about what the bootlegger is going to use her head for...
DeleteThat's the second part. I'm working on it. :-)
DeleteGreetings from London.
It all started as a silly (PRANK) which fourteen year old Bob M'Coyle will (REGRET) for ever.
ReplyDeleteBob after breaking the chain which secured the rifle his father kept in the cellar unbeknown to Bob was loaded Although it had been nearly a decade since the (HOSTILITY) with the Clantons had ceased Bob likened himself as a soldier when he shouldered (ARMS) and marched out into the (LIGHT) of day to where his ( ADORABLE) little sister stood and yelled "Stick em up or I'll shoot".
Bob's sister did not respond and the expected 'Click' turned out to be a 'Bang'.
Moral. Guns are quite safe until you forget they are dangerous.
Vest.
--
Vest: As I said on your blog, such a sad story. And even sadder I suspect it is true for far too many.
DeleteOoh good one and excellent moral.
DeleteI've read all of these hoping for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI need a nap, let the subconscious work on the words.
River: I am sorry. I hope inspiration strikes. And naps are always good.
Delete
ReplyDeleteastronaut
wolf
prophesy
guillotine
bootlegger
adorable
It was another cold night on the International Space Station when Astronaut Clemens first saw the wolf. It was just sitting there in the hall like it belonged.
He tried to chase after it but ran around and corner and vanished.
It wasn't until the next night that he heard the prophecy from Astronaut Romanoff. It was said that a bootlegger known as Henry Henrickson set a curse before he lost his head to the guillotine.
It was said that the curse was to all men who refused the call of alcohol, a white wolf would appear before them and lead them away. If the wolf brought you to see its adorable puppies, then you would realize I really have no idea how to finish this story.
Robert Bennett: If the wolf brought you to see its adorable puppies you would be condemned to live inside one of their bodies until the International Space Station produced their first batch of 100 proof vodka?
DeleteI never know how to finish my stories, so they all become "chapter one"
DeleteWhew! it's done :)
ReplyDeleteSo many scenarios in my head to sift through and decide on.
Thanks for the challenge :D
My story is scheduled to appear on Friday 21st at Drifting Through Life.
River: I will be over to read it in a bit.
DeleteGood luck everyone!
ReplyDeleteCloudia: Thank you.
DeleteHostility and pranks goes well together. Den is the worst!! He is always hiding and jumping out at me. He usually gets punched for that after I stop screaming. He's an @$$.
ReplyDeleteLove your Wednesdays!!!!
Sonya Ann: I hope Den understands why you punch him. Too often pranksters don't.
DeleteHi, Sue (Denise Covey says this is your name) - I'm so glad I posted a WEP this month because I get to see you again (thanks for your comment on my blog) and meet some of your very creative followers. I've really enjoyed scrolling through these replies; enjoyed all the clever stories written from your prompts. :)
ReplyDeleteAnn Carbine Best: Welcome and thank you. You are very welcome to come by anytime - and there are some very, very clever uses of the prompts aren't there?
DeleteMy brain won't work well enough for the matter at hand, so I'm giving you a verse on a different theme to give you a grin X;
ReplyDeleteThere was a young gal name of Sally
Who loved an occasional dally.
She sat on the lap
Of a well-endowed chap
Crying, “Gee, Dick, you’re right up my alley!
All Consuming: Definitely grinning.
DeleteGrinning here too :)
DeleteHa!
DeleteSound's like a mystery in the works:)
ReplyDeleteI love your way, wordy bird:)
Thanks for being you,
Jennifer
Jennifer Richardson: Thank you. Words and birds are indeed two of my passions.
DeleteWordy bird...how perfect.
DeleteOkay, I'll give it a quickie shot this month. :)
ReplyDeleteHOSTILITY burned inside of him. Ever since Jacques had been a young boy reading Jules Verne stories, a fervent LIGHT had glowed within him... the dream of one day becoming a world-renown ASTRONAUT. He closed his eyes, prepared to accept his fate, while quivering with the utter unfairness of it all. It was hard to believe, but any minute now, unless he got a last-minute reprieve, his light and dream were going to be extinguished forever.
When France's economy took a deep nosedive, and his parents could no longer afford to pay for school, he became a BOOTLEGGER to help keep the WOLF away from their door, but he never thought of himself as a criminal. In fact, the first batch of fake Chanel No. 5 he made was little more than an innocent PRANK, but what could he do when all of those ADORABLE young women came to him, waving their ARMS, flashing fistfuls of francs, and begging him to make more perfume? Against his will, he let their demands and the easy money suck him deeper and deeper into a life of CRIME, but as more and more money poured in, he realized it could be his ticket back to school, and back to making his dream come true.
Then he got caught, and it turned out the French took their perfumes more seriously than he'd ever imagined. He'd been sentenced to death by GUILLOTINE, and in a few moments, the blade would be dropping.
His biggest REGRET was he hadn't been smart enough to quit bootlegging while he was ahead... and while he still had one. So much for his hopes, his dreams, and his life-long deepest held PROPHESY.
The only part of Jacques that was ever going to launch was... his head.
Susan: Ouch. I am hoping that the Scarlett Pimpernel sees fit to save him.
DeleteSusan; this is every bit as good as I thought it would be. Perhaps he gets a last minute reprieve by all those lovely ladies and sent to work in a perfume factory instead.
DeleteYikes! Great tale.
DeleteI am imagining a mystery/thriller with that last group of word prompts!
ReplyDeleteTerri @ Coloring Outside the Lines: They definitely could go that way.
DeleteAs soon as I saw these words I knew there would be some good stories! :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
DMS ~ Jess: And there are some beauties aren't there?
DeleteGood morning! I hope you can join me in not counting how many days it's been since you posted this, I won't, hehehe life's been hetic, but I'm in, and thankfully with the days I waited to write this it's a much better use of your words (because when I first read them what came to my mind first was to bash Trump) yes indeed those words work well for him! Here's mine
ReplyDeletehttp://twincitiesblather.blogspot.com/2016/10/screens-and-critters.html
Karen S.: I have been, I have seen, I have enjoyed. Thank you.
DeleteThis story is from my friend Sue.
ReplyDeleteNot for the first time as I stretched my ARMS out in front of me and wriggled my fingers to ease out the stiffness I wondered how the original ASTRONAUT, colonel WOLF had coped in a pressure suit that resembled medieval armour.
It was all experiment and exploration in those days, no one thought with REGRET about any damage we could cause, or whether we would meet with HOSTILITY or friendship.
I remember when I was first accepted into the academy to start my training. I was 7, I felt I was quite the man, my Mother said I looked ADORABLE in my uniform and pinched my cheeks and hugged me. I was a mass of embarrassment .
Now I am a man grown, part of the galactic patrol that polices the universe and protects the us all against CRIME. We garner information from planets LIGHT years away. It can be anything from a PRANK, like the time a whole continent was evacuated because a threat posted on social media that a PROPHECY about Armageddon was about to materialise. Or news that a BOOTLEGGER was peddling synthetic drugs to the hopheads on Unima 11V.
We deal very harshly with miscreants, and although it doesn't seem to fit well with our peaceful intent, still have our version of the GUILLOTINE for the offenders that have no hope of rehabilitation.
The universe is for the most part peaceful but I often wonder was it right to reach out, bearing in mind the divisions we seemed unable or unwilling to address on our own beautiful planet, Earth.
As I settle back into my bunk and close my eyes for the journey ahead I thank my Gods that I can be at one with the stars.
Margaret Adamson and Sue: Thank you so much. This is truly thought provoking. And sigh on the issues we don't/can't address...
Delete