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.
The prompts will be here this month.
This week's prompts are:
- enclosing
- purpose
- care
- patch
- jamming
- shame
And/or
- bent
- organic
- mangle
- textbook
- gravity
- excuse
Have fun.
I am also on the scrounge. River will provide the prompts next month, but after that the field is wide open. Delores has said she will provide two months as has Margaret Adamson (though they haven't specified which months.
If you are willing and able to provide the prompts and challenge us please let me know in the comments specifying which month(s) would suit you best. Ideally, I would like to map out the next year or so.
I see some mangled textbooks ahead...
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: Perhaps...
DeleteYou are a good egg Child. Donna@gather
ReplyDeleteDonna@gather: And like the curate's egg 'good in parts...'
DeleteHave fun everyone!
ReplyDeleteCloudia: I hope so.
DeleteI want time to play along. Maybe in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteAnne in the kitchen: I do hope so. You are very, very busy at the moment though.
DeleteOh the shame in having attempted to unilaterally patch a sinking iceberg by jamming my ballot into the envelope, enclosing it with care and purpose, only to receive it today back because I forgot to stamp the darn thing. Just kidding, I voted - blue wave all the way!
ReplyDeleteRawknrobyn: I hope that blue wave reaches tsunami proportions. Hugs.
DeleteThank you for doing your civic duty, taking advantage of your privilege, and turning it all into a fun paragraph!
DeleteHi Robyn - great use of the words in today's climate. Cheers Hilary
DeleteYou are all very kind. Thank you, EC, MessyMimi, and Hilary.
DeleteIt wasn't quite a tsunami, but blue waves have brought much to smile about.
:) Blue wave that's a new one, a much wanted new word here.
DeleteRawknrobyn.blogspot. Clever Lady.
Deletenicely done!
DeleteWell done!
DeleteI haven't been particiapting this month due to NaNoWriMo, but I would be willing to hosting WFW in January, February, any month really.
ReplyDeletehave a lovely day.
lissa: Thank you. As things unfold I will prepare a list of where the words will be.
DeleteEnclosing (jamming would be a better term) 'organic' material into an envelope and posting it to her least favourite teacher would result in a suspension at best. Flaunting a patch on her school blazer that promoted 'Rainbow Love' was a sacking offence.
ReplyDeletePetra didn't understand the gravity of the situation. She felt no shame and no guilt. She simply didn't care.
'He asked for it' was her only excuse.
'He said that John and David were bent, and that God would punish them.' He is a textbook homophobe and I hate, hate, hate the way he is prepared to mangle the scriptures to meet his own purpose.
'Any school which supports him is no place for me... '
Very nicely done, a great way to get the message across.
DeleteWell told. While i may not agree with how someone choses to live his or her life, i have no excuse to hate the person for it. No one does.
Deletemessymimi: Truth. Hate the sin, not the sinner.
DeleteI don't hate easily. Usually hate arises when I think someone has offended one my family member's.
DeleteHi EC - an excellent use of the selected words ... just so difficult sometimes - we are quick to judge ... and adapt things to our own way of thinking ... cheers Hilary
DeleteWow. Excellent, EC. You drilled down into diverse ideologies and how people react to them.
DeleteWell done - powerful message.
DeleteXO
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Sins vary according to taste.
Deleteto the pointed climate!
DeleteI love this, EC!
DeleteExcellent EC!
DeleteAt physical therapy today I had a wee cry as the PT dude was showing me a great deal of compassion. In Sept., I developed a condition called capsulitis as a result of repeatedly jamming my toe while out walking. I felt a bit of shame re: the tears, but he had a box of tissues handy, so I suspect I'm not the only one to well up at the physical therapy facility. (Two words used from the first set. :D )
ReplyDeleteBea: Compassion has often made me cry. So has physical therapy (with or without compassion). Thank you for joining us.
DeleteSo sorry about the need for PT. You worked the words in well.
DeleteYou're welcome, EC. Thank you, Messymimi.
DeleteKindness expressed can be so moving.
DeleteXO
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ouch! it sounds painful!
DeleteI can do the same months I did this year, so that takes care of February, August and December 2019. It would be nice to see more people join in with providing words, and I'm willing to give up a month if someone else wants it.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I hope that enough people do join in so only two months are necessary. With two from you, Delores, Margaret et al, and me and one from Lissa we have nine months covered already. Which is wonderful.
DeleteLet me know which months are mine once it's all sorted.
DeleteThis does look like fun!
ReplyDeletelaurie: It is. Some week I hope you will join us.
DeleteThe critical reason for voting in the election was enclosing around each voter. With care each one had a purpose in their resolve. Many tried to shame opponents as if jamming their ideas down their throats. All were hoping after the results were in that family and friends would patch things up. Little hope was mustered since none had done so in previous elections.
ReplyDeleteAnd such behavior seldom results in anyone changing his or her mind, or behavior.
DeleteLinda Starr: I do hope that families and friends CAN remember what is important. Great use of the prompts.
DeleteWell done!
DeleteXO
WWW
One political party will skin you from the toenails up, the others from the ear holes down.
Deletepolitics are always a fierce divider of families and friends. almost as much as college sports teams!
DeleteIt is time for me to stick my neck out an agree to post the words for a month next year. Please not January, i need time to work up some lists (i gather it is probably one of those things that gets easier once you've had practice).
ReplyDeleteToday's words in my mind got jumbled into a bit of nonsense.
messymimi: Thank you so much. And yes, it does get easier with time and practice.
Deletelol - enjoyed your conversation - reminded me of my father!
DeleteNice words to choose from.
ReplyDeleteMargaret-whiteangel: Thank you. I notice they didn't tempt you to join us though.
DeleteSorry, I'm not good with prompts. Glad you're getting back into it.
ReplyDeleteNatalie Aguirre: Not a problem. Prompts are not for everyone.
DeleteShe was bent and broken, an organic mangle, the natural side effects of long life without any seconds wasted. Gravity had exerted its pull too. She was shorter than she used to be and her skin sagged everywhere. Some might call her a textbook case of old age, in fact. At this point, she could gracefully excuse herself from life. And yet there she was, in the park, on a misty day, on the swings, giggling as she pumped herself higher and higher.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: Love this - and hope that she can continue to giggle. Which never goes astray.
DeleteGiggling is so good :)
DeleteXO
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Her motto was , "Never ever give up."
DeleteOh, i want to be her when i grow up.
DeleteI hope that is me one day. Wearing purple and sequins!
DeleteI feel great sympathy for this spunky old lady ;)
DeleteThe word choices this week are easy to work with, so you should have some great entries. (You already do!)
ReplyDeleteSusan: We do, don't we?
Deleteenclosing
ReplyDeleteShe hung her head in shame. The day had gone from bad to worse. The copier was jamming but she continued to stand there pushing the green button with finger as hard as she could. She didn't care anymore. She could feel the patches on her right arm. It wasn't enough to keep her from getting dope sick so she added another fentanyl patch the moment she got to work. Her life had no purpose. She started to pound the keys on the copier. with her fist. Her last memory before she collapsed on the ground, eyes rolling back into her head, foam oozing from her mouth, and before the death rattle of her lungs escaped her lips, was the letter to her mom. She remembered enclosing it an a purple envelope. Her mom's favorite color. Now her lips matched the envelope as her coworkers frantically tried to revive her.
Elsie
Heartfelt Elsie ... not easy to read ... well done - Hilary
DeleteElsie Amata: This went in a direction I didn't expect at all. And how heartbreaking that the letter to her mother and her lips match.
DeleteOh unexpected!
DeleteXO
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False happiness leads to real unhappiness. so sad. . great story ELSIE..
DeleteWell done, very sad and too often accurate.
Deletesad. I hope they can revive her.
DeleteOh, not a happy ending at all. Poor thing.
DeleteI can picture someone so hopeless and frustrated with meaningless life that they would keep punching buttons on a nonworking machine....sort of punctuation on the meaninglessness of a job, too. Well done, could feel the story.
DeleteMy try and LAME. :)
ReplyDeleteHer head bent forward and feeling shame, Jade did not look at the textbook, she cradled with care, until she opened the locker and tilted her head to accommodate the eye without a patch. Then jamming the book inside over mangled homework, she slammed the metal door shut, enclosing it all. Jade knew the gravity of the situation and the purpose of excuses, but what could she do?
“Every organic creature works the way it should until it doesn’t,” her former favorite teacher had fed her. “You have to forgive and forget.”
How could Jade forget? How could she un-see Miss Baker helping herself to another teacher’s purse and money?
Hi Teresa - you're right ... she couldn't forget - but exactly what to do ... the other teacher should know. Excellent - cheers Hilary
DeleteT. Powell Coltrin: NOT lame at all. Yet another heart breaker. And some things need to be brought to the attention of others, which I hope Jade can.
DeleteWow, well done!
DeleteXO
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Oof! Not lame, a huge dilemma for a young person, especially if she likes the teacher who did the taking. It’s not easy to be a whistleblower at any age.
Deleteoh my... well done!
DeleteAnonymous letters is the only solution in this case, I think. Well written.
DeleteHi EC ... the 2nd set ...
ReplyDeleteThe old man was bent as he weeded his tiny allotment … Jim, a newly qualified scientist, has his textbook to hand as he used all the scientific tips he could apply to his plot … even the gravity fed watering system he had set up.
Jim wasn’t going to mangle his vegetable patch … there could be no excuse for failure … though now watching the old man potter he wondered why he hadn’t gone the organic route … and asked for some advice …
Cheers Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher: Love it. And would tend to trust the organic route over scientific theories.
DeleteWell done!
DeleteXO
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Thumbs up, Hilary. Made me smile.
DeleteHilary.Your story reminds me of yours truly who still aches when he lovingly attends to the vege patch.
DeleteAge and experience over youth and education. Yes, indeed.
Deletewhy is it men can sometimes let pride get in the way of asking for advice?
Deleteasking wiser people for advice is always a good idea. Why is it so hard? Nice tale.
DeleteJoshua bent over his organic chemistry textbook. He'd vowed not to cram for another text, but here he was doing just that. He had an excuse, but it wasn't one he liked to think about. The gravity of his situation made him ill. He hadn't set out to mangle his last victim,but when the man came at him with a knife, Joshua had no choice but to shove him into the blades of that industrial shredder.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, might be a story in there, Lee:)
Deletecleemckenzie: Yet another one which headed in an unexpected direction. And I am glad that dinner is some hours away because my tummy lurched at the thought of that industrial shredder.
DeleteOh yuck Lee ... just finished some fruit - not a good read!! Excellent tale though ...
DeleteThere’s a lot more to this story, “his last victim”? What had happened to previous victims? Student by day, robber by night, perhaps? This could lead to lots of places, including a great “will they catch him before he strikes again” story.
Deleteoh... messy messy!
DeleteGruesome and dreadful and near to the agony of being keel hauled.
DeleteAww. Studying organic chemistry to better dispose of his victims maybe. Bad egg that one, but a good story.
DeleteWow! You really did a great job, Lee. I wasn't expecting the ending. :)
Delete~Jess
These are a tough combination!
ReplyDeleteMarie Smith: I am sorry. I hope next week is better for you (but can't guarantee it).
DeleteWow! The entries so far are all so great :)
ReplyDeleteI've had a late start with mine, but managed to get something written in between dinner and coffee.
River: You did indeed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do love that the same prompts leads people in such different directions.
DeleteThese are so good...wow, so much literary talent here - a great showcase!
ReplyDeleteAs soon as my round of medical appointments are over, I will attempt to join in again!
Thank you so much for these...I really enjoy them!😊😊
Ygraine: I hope your round of medical appointments goes really, really well and look forward to you joining us when you are ready.
DeleteI was able to use all the words in my story. Thanks for these prompts, EC. https://wisewebwoman.blogspot.com/2018/11/words-for-wednesday-on-thursday.html
ReplyDeleteXO
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Wisewebwoman: Love it - and am pretty sure that there are quite a number of Letitias in this world.
Deletevery well done!
DeleteAlso, yes, I'd love to host a month. Just let me know what's available.
ReplyDeleteXO
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Wisewebwoman: Thank you so much. I will settle down later and work out potential dates.
DeleteI have no excuse for not updating my blog these days(lol). Hugs and Happy Day! RO
ReplyDeleteRO: You need no excuse. Your blog, your rules. Defy gravity if it suits... Hugs.
Deletecan't help with providing prompts. It would not go well.
ReplyDeleteI will be back later to post my take on the words. PLEASE go back to my post to see the elusive photos!
Susan Kane: You have me intrigued. Why wouldn't your prompts go well?
DeleteAnd I am looking forward to your take.
Lots of wordsmiths here, EC:)
ReplyDeleteSandra Cox: There are. Which is lovely.
DeleteWORDS ON WEDNESDAY
ReplyDeleteThe words this week are Enclosing. Purpose. Care. Patch. Jamming. and Shame.
THE MUTINY.
The year was 1759. The ex Brigantine Swordfish minus most of its heavy guns, commanded by Captain Flogger Turnbull had left Jamaica with a cargo of Rum it's destination Bristol England.
Most of the crew who were suffering from scurvy had not left the ship for months whilst in Jamaica. when the ship was in the CARE of the local Govt authorities and was being stored and loaded by local slaves, the PURPOSE of this being that the crew were prone to desertion and had been incarcerated by ENCLOSING them in the bilges of the ship and JAMMING all exits.
On leaving Jamaica the crew were released and finally after their recovery mutined and seized the ship and dealt out the most severe of all maritime punishments. to its officers with one exception the navigator who was spared through necessity.
No maritime punishment has ever exceeded or is a PATCH on a good flogging and finally being Keel Hauled. The SHAME of being stripped naked and flogged and finally being Keel Hauled, meaning being pulled under the bottom of the ship from one side to the other against the resident barnacles usually skinning alive the victim who is then customarily thrown to the sharks to end his miserable life.
However, like most mutineers, the crews of such ships rarely returned to Britain and turned to piracy for the remainder of their miserable lives.
Vest Daily Gaggle.
Vest: Thank you for posting your piece here as well as on your blog.
Deleteoh, such a graphic description! nightmares tonight!
DeleteI'm running incredibly late...I've not had any phone or internet connection for the past couple of days due to an army of tree-loppers cutting down four large trees that were growing too close and personal to my cabin wall. Thankfully...the work has now been done...the noise has abated and some sense of normality has returned.
ReplyDeleteShama and Remy...my two furry mates are very happy now it's all over, too.
"Hell-BENT on carrying on as usual as if nothing was wrong, he hadn’t understood the GRAVITY of the situation. There was no clear PURPOSE behind his ignorant behaviour. There was no EXCUSE for his thoughtlessness.
If she’d not known better, his actions were a TEXTBOOK case of schizophrenia!
SHAME on him! He wasn’t a PATCH on his father who had lived a simple, ORGANIC lifestyle. Their father had tried to instil in his children, through positive education , a pure, honest approach to life.
Reality was rapidly ENCLOSING in on her younger brother. He was JAMMING his mind with false ideas of grandeur and unreality. He was blinded by his fanciful thinking and behaviour.
He seemed determined to MANGLE his life, and there was nothing she could say or do to change him from continuing on his destructive path.
Did he not CARE?"
Lee: Great use of the prompts. I am thrilled to see you here - I was getting a tad worried about you. And yes, the quiet when tradies leave is bliss.
Deleteterrifying to be trapped in one's mind...
DeleteWhen mental illness is present, how much capacity is there for understanding enough to care? Good story.
DeleteThanks, EC, Cindi and messymimi. :)
DeletePeace reigns supreme here now the tree-loppers have finished their lopping! I thought I might have ended up in one of the mulches! It's been very noisy here these past couple of days.
I couldn't go out because I didn't want to leave Remy and Shama. They were freaking out, too, of course.
But now I am reconnected to the Net...so I feel as if I'm part of the world again! :)
There are far too many similar younger brothers in our world chasing impossible dreams. Or simply put; Brain dead.
DeleteEnjoyed reading them all …
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there may be more to come.
Thanks to all.
All the best Jan
Lowcarb team member ~Jan: There are some beauties aren't there?
DeleteMine is here: gravity
ReplyDeleteCindi Summerlin: I am really impressed at the way you can continue your tale from week to week using very disparate prompts.
DeleteThank you! It really helps with my creative process because I have to think a little harder at times! and yes, put me in for a month or two later in 2019 as we will be packing and moving and all kinds of fun stuff early in the year.
DeleteOne day I had to defeat (gravity), rising above the (mangle) mess I just about got myself into, when I noticed several people were (jamming) in, and (enclosing) all around me. Their minds were so (bent) to the point that they didn't (care), or have any (shame), crowding in and shoving others around them, their only (purpose) was to get to those (organic) vegetables before someone else did, which I feel there's no (excuse) for such behavior. It's hard to (patch) things up with others once you have wronged them, perhaps next time these people need to look in their (textbook) under behavior.
ReplyDeleteLon Anderson: It is indeed hard to patch things up with people who feel wronged. And good manners never go astray.
Deletewhich is why I stay home the day after Thanksgiving instead of subjecting myself to the insanity that has become Black Friday!
DeleteLike last week a guy bumped into me walking up from behind I said "watch it mate" to the guy who stopped and replied "what did you say"An even larger Guy got up from sitting on a bench and told him that I had said "watch it Mate" . The first guy decided to move as fast as his legs would go. I thanked the man on the bench who was very largely proportioned.
ReplyDeleteVest: I am glad that the largely proportioned man was there to protect you.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone, I decided to jump in this week, please drop by and let me know what you think WFW - The gift of caring
ReplyDeleteJimmy: I have read your story, and it is very, very familiar. And true. Well done.
Deletequite enjoyed your story!
DeleteGravity is my enemy.
ReplyDeleteBlue Grumpster: Gravity hasn't been my friend this week either. I blame my face plant on gravity (though clumsiness might have had a part to play as well).
DeleteAnd we have another tale to enjoy too. Uglemor posted her take HERE. Not only did she use all the words, she did so in the order they were given!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Elephant's Child. I'm sure I commented with a link five minutes to midnigth Wednesday. I must have pushed some wrong button, as I said, it was late, and I was tired. Thanks - and thanks for your kind words too.
Deletea great chapter!
DeleteExcellent!
DeleteThanks so much EC! Great read everyone!
ReplyDelete(Just to let you know, I got a very special letter in the post, with a pretty magnet! BIG HUGS!!! Thank you!!!)
Magic Love Crow: I am very, very glad. I was getting worried. Hugs.
Delete