This meme was started by Delores a long time ago. Computer issues led her to bow out for a while. The meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast.
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, which includes cheering on the other participants. If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.
Last month the Delores provided us with some excellent prompts and challenges. This month the prompts will be posted here.
This week's prompts are:
- thin
- frightened
- scratch
- wealthy
- flowery
- sulky
And/or
- stove
- unwieldy
- fearless
- zoo
- price
- inquisitive
Have fun.
The prompts will be here next month as well, but provided by Margaret Adamson and her friend Sue Fulton. They will include photographs taken by her Margaret's friend Bill.
I love this,, its new to me but I hope to join in!!! I can't wait to read what everyone does with the word list!!
ReplyDeletelaurie: I hope you can join us. I really hope it, but readers are always welcome.
DeleteHi EC - the first lot ...
ReplyDeleteThe scratch frightened her ... would her wealthy mother help ... would those flowery words turn to healing ones ... or would her thin miserable mother stay sulky ... the unknown awaited ... the usual path presumably ... she would suffer.
Not easy words ... cheers Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher: I really like what you did in those few sentences. I can see that pair, and a little of their difficult relationship.
DeleteA whole story in a few words. That's an art form!
DeleteThat is so difficult for a child to live through. Well done!
Deletehow sad for both of them. misery does love company, tho, and I'm sure that the mother loves to share it.
DeleteWell done!
DeleteShe and her wealthy date set out on the lake in a small row boat. The calm air and cloud cover provided the perfect atmosphere to do some serious fishing. Being on the lake frightened her as they got further from the shore. She couldn't help but wonder if she would make it to shore if the boat tipped. Finally they reached his favorite fishing spot and he tossed the anchor. He threw his line back to cast but the hook slid down her arm giving her a nasty scratch. Blood began dripping down and ruining her flowery blouse. Could he blame her for turning immediately sulky.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: Love this. He shouldn't blame her - but he probably will. Fishermen can be a tad obsessional.
DeleteI like that, but now I am worried about her getting an infection from the dirty old fish hook!
DeleteIt does not sound very auspicious for them.
Deletehopefully they are fresh water fishing and not salt water where the scent of her blood in the water would draw sharks.
DeleteThis is excellent!!!
DeleteWith her husband and children having a day at the zoo, she was free to cook to heart's content. She was anxious to try out her new stove. She'd always been fearless in trying new foods. This time her inquisitive nature had her wanting to try cooking fresh lobster, something she'd never done before. The price of live fresh lobster was high but she decided to splurge. The store clerk teased her, telling her the lobster might escape on her drive home and pinch her with their claws. Then the clerk had the audacity to tell her lobster only scream a little at the beginning of their cooking. On the drive home she kept listening for an errant lobster to crawl from behind the seat. As she prepared her ingredients she found the squirming lobster to be slightly unwieldy to handle. Thoughts of screaming lobster coursed through her mind, but her curiosity kept her focused on achieving her goal of a perfectly prepared lobster meal.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: I hope she enjoyed it. The store clerk was a nasty soul...
Delete"...lobster only scream a little at the beginning of their cooking."
Delete:-(
I am a lobster-eating monster myself, but that was horrifying. I could never cook one myself.
This is part of why i am a vegetarian!
DeleteI don't think it is a scream as much as steam escaping from their shell. that's my story and I'm sticking to it since I'm a lobster lover also.
DeleteBeautiful picture of a lake.
ReplyDeleteBob Bushell: Thank you. We do love the lake.
DeleteOne Day
ReplyDeleteAt the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Cheerful boys, sulky boys, frightened boys, thin boys, the fearless, the wealthy and the poor. Huddled around a stove in a dug-out. Scratch them and they all bleed. Boys who became men too fast when they saw friends with bones shattered and their heads stove in. Men who didn't survive the transition to adulthood...
They paid a high price. Flowery speeches will not bring them back.
The unwieldy commemorative events, attended by a media zoo and inquisitive crowds, changes nothing. The families grieve. The survivors grieve. Today and every day. The war to end all wars didn't.
Gaaasp. Elephant's Child, that said the words of an entire world.
Delete"The war to end all wars didn't."
This year marks 100 years since the signing of the Armistice in France. War never ends, it just changes places and faces. "...Boys who became men too fast..." So scary, so tragic.
DeleteWow. so heart-rending EC, so much emotion in one short piece.
Deletehi EC - that was really powerful ... and yes those memories invoked by the camera footage available .. poor kids. Very well done ... Hilary
DeleteSuccinct and so true. Well done.
DeleteOh, yes. So true. War is awful.
DeleteThank you all.
DeletePowerful words and emotions. For all wars. I still cannot even look at pictures of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall without crying. I visited once, thought I could walk by and look at names, but was just so overcome with the emotions of everyone there and the power of all the names that I couldn't even approach it. There are times when being empathic is such a weight to bear.
DeleteCindi Summerlin: Thank you. Empathy has sharp teeth doesn't it?
DeleteThis is so emotional and powerful!!!
DeleteWhen I was younger I thought wars had to be fought, that there was always a reason or something unavoidable. But now I think differently. Most wars, perhaps every one, don't need to be fought at all. We are fools.
DeleteSandi: My father (a German Jew) told us that war has no winner just losers and bigger losers. And I think he had a point.
DeleteI can't believe it's Wednesday already!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all who participate ...
I like that photograph.
All the best Jan
Lowcarb team member ~Jan: Thank you. It is indeed Wednesday, and I am very fond of that part of the lake.
DeleteWell said, EC. You summed up the underbelly of war.
DeleteKudos.
"A loving mother, with her FLOWERY wrapped around her THIN body. opened the oven door of her wood-burning STOVE. She placed two trays of biscuits into the hot oven.
ReplyDeleteThe biscuits, which would become familiar and legendary in this country, were christened “Anzac Biscuits”. They were made by women’s groups to be sent to soldiers serving abroad during the First World War. The ingredients used in the making of the biscuits caused them not to spoil. They kept well during the lengthy transportation to the troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
INQUISITIVE when she heard a shout in the distance, the woman looked through the open kitchen window.
She saw a SULKY being driven around the edge of the property’s large dam, up through the paddocks that lead to the homestead.
Instantly, she became FRIGHTENED. Her heart felt like an UNWIELDY weight in her chest. Her mood became as grey as the light of the dull early morning.
T
hat was the PRICE she paid every minute of every day while her FEARLESS son was away, overseas, fighting in an out of control ZOO of gunfire and destruction, otherwise known as “The Western Front” – the main theatre of the war.
Wiping her floury hands on her apron, she went out onto the wide verandah.
Perhaps, it’s their WEALTHY neighbour paying a visit, she thought, as she peered into the distance.
But, no...it wasn’t her neighbour.
As the horse-drawn sulky drew closer, someone leapt out of the two-wheeled vehicle...it was her 22 year old son.
He raced into his mother’s embrace.
Finally, she held him at arm’s length, and to her relief, he had not a SCRATCH on him."
Lee: I suspect that every mother hoped for such a happy ending. And still does.
DeleteIt's hard to be at the front, and it's hard in another way to be the parent waiting in anxiety back home. Well told!
DeleteI apologise for my typo...I meant to type
Delete"flowery apron"....
A happy ending I love!
DeleteOh Child, I do like inquisitive. Inquisitive would be my life.
ReplyDeletedonna baker: Snap. Curiosity is, as it always has been, one of my defining characteristics.
DeleteLove the words list this week and the photo is cold and moody. I'll have something up by Friday :)
ReplyDeleteRiver: I am looking forward to seeing where the prompts take you. Though the lake looked cold, it was actually quite warm. And sticky.
DeleteHaving another go this week.
ReplyDeleteWatched the WEALTHY THIN farmer SCRATCH his head in the FLOWERY paddock as he commenced to attach the SULKY to his horse. The horse was rather FRIGHTENED for some reason and I was close enough hiding in the bushes to see that one strap was rather THIN – it appears that someone had been tampering with it!
Margaret-whiteangel: I am so pleased to see you joining us again. And love your story. Dirty work at the crossroads... Perhaps your wealthy farmer had put someone's nose out of joint.
DeleteMy mind runs wild with 'who did it' :)
DeleteMargaret-whiteangel: Perhaps next week's words will reveal all.
DeleteWe should pay attention to our critters, sometimes they know something we don't!
DeleteOh no. Someone is after the farmer's wealth!
Deletea curious mystery!
DeleteLove that picture of the water and the sky ...... peace.
ReplyDeleteHaddock: Thank you. It doesn't matter what time of the day or the year we visit the lake peace is exactly what we get from it. Peace and beauty.
DeleteLooking out at the water always calms me. So peaceful. :)
Delete~Jess
DMS ~Jess: Me too. If ever I come into oodles of money I would love to live by the water.
DeleteVery challenging words. Brain not functioning well right now. will come back later and attempt :)
ReplyDeleteSmall Kucing: Whenever you are ready. And I hear you on the tired brain front.
DeleteHere is my story. I only used one set of words, and I didn't use the picture.
ReplyDelete================
Aradia lifted the pot from the STOVE and turned off the heat. The potion was ready. She could rest for a few minutes. She had been up all night brewing the potion. She had an hour until the people from the ZOO came to collect it. She sank into an armchair.
“What is it?” tinkled a voice above her head. “It stinks.” Her partner aka tormentor Cocoly, the INQUISITIVE and FEARLESS cactus fairy, flew in from the open window and settled on the windowsill. Cocoly huffed at the strong odor still lingering in the kitchen, even though the potion was cooling.
“A fertility potion,” Aradia replied absently and closed her eyes. “For a hippo. The people from the zoo asked me to make one. They paid a good PRICE too. They’ve had a pair of hippos for four years, and no offspring so far. They want to ensure that the next mating would be fruitful. I don’t know how such UNWIELDY beasts mate at all, but apparently they do.”
“It stinks,” Cocoly repeated, and her wings whirred. If Aradia wasn’t so tired, she could’ve guessed what was going to happen next and maybe even prevented it. She should’ve been faster to open her eyes. To get to her feet. But she was tired, and she opened her eyes just a second too late, when most of the sweet fairy dust was already absorbed into the potion. The remaining grains of dust sparkled over the pot, and the kitchen now smelled wonderfully.
“That’s better,” Cocoly said smugly and dived into her cactus outside the kitchen window. “I’m off to sleep.”
Aradia groaned. “Oh, no!” The fairy air freshener had a side effect. It acted as a miniaturizer. If the hippos drank her potion now, they would be fertile all right. In due time, they would produce a litter of mini hippos, probably with wings. She glanced at the clock. The zoo people would be here in twenty minutes. And she had already spent most of the money they had paid for the potion. She couldn’t make a new one now. She would have to give them what she had and hope for the best. Maybe she should move to Sweden before the mini hippos were born. There were no cacti in Sweden.
“You, puny, beetle-headed, inconsiderate cactus worm,” she muttered without heat. Cocoly couldn’t hear her inside her cactus anyway.
Olga Godim: Yet again I love your story. And would perhaps have had stronger words for Cocoly. Those poor hippos.
DeleteOh, dear. Sometimes fairy interference is a huge nusiance, rather like Kilroy!
DeleteA wonderful story! Rotten fairy though!
DeleteTrying to match up my story to the A to Z letter of the day.
ReplyDeletemessymimi: I am amazed you can keep up with all your memes AND do the A-Z.
Deletebusy busy busy but fun fun fun story
DeleteAlways love these, and it's a reminder to DVR Zoo on television which shows me new new about animals. Hugs...and Happy Wednesday! RO
ReplyDeleteRO: I am glad. And hope you will join in some week.
DeleteGreat selection.....I shall apply myself.
ReplyDeleteI have it up on my blog now.
Deleteonly slightly confused: I will be over very shortly.
Deletea wonderful story!
DeleteWhy are so many thin, frightened
ReplyDeletescratching out a bare existence while the
wealthy live a
flowery life
and are sulky besides?
Cloudia: I am really, really pleased you joined us - and love your take on the prompts.
DeleteI love this! Well said!
DeleteI've played catch-up and posted on my blog.
ReplyDeleteCindi Summerlin: I will be over very shortly.
DeleteI'm in!
ReplyDeletehttp://jannghi.blogspot.com/2018/04/words-for-wednesday_25.html
Jamie Ghione: Looking forward to your take.
DeleteLet me give a try later...
ReplyDeleteWeekend-Windup: Whenever you are ready. And there will be different prompts to play with next week.
DeleteRosy, the cream and marmalade kitten had been missing for a week when I heard the sound of caterwauling at 2 am. It came from the not-easily-accessible back lane. She'd dashed out of the front door as I argued with the wealthy neighbour in her flowery smock dress.
ReplyDeleteThere she was now, thin and frightened. When I rushed out, regardless of night dangers, she was waiting silently. I scooped her up into my arms and she neither scratched nor struggled as she often does. Instead of a heartfelt reunion though I had to deal with a terribly sulky cat, as though it was my fault that I hadn't found her for a week.
I used only the first set of words.
Kalpanaa M: I have been sulked at by cats before now. More than once. And did feel it was my fault. I love your use of the prompts.
DeleteDecided to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteHere goes...
On the red hot stove
my unwieldy pan spilled it's contents.
Fearless, I grabbed it and threw it in the sink,
then went to the zoo to unwind.
Oh the entry price was high,
but my inquisitive nature won.
Ha, a feeble first try...but I so enjoyed!😉
Good job. I did enjoy it!
DeleteYgraine: Not feeble at all. Inquisitive natures take us lots of places. And I am glad yours took you here.
DeleteI like this Ygraine!!
DeleteOh thank you all...so much!!
DeleteIt was such fun having a go at this.☺☺
She looked outside the bedroom window and saw the snow had begun to fall. Again. She grabbed her robe off the floor, slipped her feet in the slippers beside it and glanced at the mirror as she passed by. The flowery pattern did nothing to erase the sulky expression from her face.
ReplyDeleteShe had been married for eight years. Eight years as of yesterday. Did he remember? No. Or if he did, he didn't tell her and she didn't tell him. But Facebook had told her. Reminded her with the flashbacks of all the memories and smiles. Smiles that had faded and dimmed.
The knife scratched as it smeared butter across the thinly sliced toasted bread. It was okay that he didn't remember. It made it easier to do what she needed to do to make herself a wealthy woman. She only had to wait five years for the policy to pay out a million dollars. She waited eight. She had nothing to be frightened about.
Elsie
And the moral of this story...guys don't forget your anniversary;) Heh.
DeleteLoved it!
Elsie Amata: It sounds as if his days of mistakes and misjudgements are limited. A woman scorned can be a dangerous beast. Love this.
DeleteEC, The proram I bought online cost £50 and was called Topaz Adjust And was made for a picture like this. The result would have been sensational. Sometimes you need a little help. This was the perfect program.
ReplyDeleteTerry: Thank you. Photo editing is a game I haven't (yet) played. Cropping is about as far as I go. Which could well change.
DeleteYou could do so much with a good program. The program I used was called Topaz Adjust. Food for thought....
DeleteTerry: Some day. Perhaps.
DeleteI enjoyed this and all the comments!
ReplyDeleteNasreen: Thank you. Perhaps some day you will be inspired to join us.
Deletethin
ReplyDeletefrightened
scratch
wealthy
flowery
sulky
Sulky as he tended to be, Louis, could also be quite mature if the occasion arose. One such moment arrived when a very wealthy man, thin girlfriend perched on his hand, arrived in town that evening. Everyone was frightened of Mr Watts but not Louis. He was fed up with Mr Watts' whimsical behaviour and flowery language. The scratch on his left cheek reminded him why. Today was going to be the day. He moved out of the shadow the descending sun had cast and...
Greetings from London.
A Cuban in London: I really like this - and my greedy self wants to know what happens next.
DeleteReally enjoyed reading everyone's posts!!
ReplyDeleteBig Hugs EC!
Magic Love Crow: Thank you. You commenting on everyone's work means a lot. Hugs to you too - and wishes for a wonderful weekend.
DeleteThin, jumped off the page at me. Why? Cause I'm getting less thin each day as I sit with my foot elevated. Or at least it seems that way by the way close are fitting me. I've attempted to weight myself, but the scale doesn't seem to work on one foot? Why, I don't know. So have tried with my boot, but know that's only an estimate. Don't know how much to take off for clothes and my heavy boot. Will be at least another month before I can start moving around again.
ReplyDeleteSandy: I am so sorry to hear that you are still incarcerated in the boot. And without your reason thin escapes me too.
DeleteSandy- Don't try to weigh yourself with the boot on- it weighs something too. Once it is off it will be easier to do what you want. Sorry you are going through the boot issue- I have broken my ankle in the past and know what a challenge it was.
Delete~Jess