Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wednesday 8 December 2021

Words for Wednesday 8/12/2021

 


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, and mixing and matching is encouraged.

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.  Huge thanks to all those who offered to provide the prompts next year.  We have all of the year covered and I will put up a post soon to tell you where to find them.

This week's prompts are:

  1. Pounded
  2. Pearl
  3. Secret
  4. Tense
  5. Challenge
  6. Human

And/or

  1. Middle
  2. Taken
  3. Button
  4. Rare
  5. Intelligence
  6. Praise

Have fun.  I will be out for a lot of tomorrow, but look forward to reading your takes on the prompts when I return - and before I head out for yet another medical appointment.

93 comments:

  1. Humans like to categorise things (and people). Sometimes those categories are right on the button, and they don’t. A challenge to fit into OR to rebel against.

    Pearl was a middle child. She had taken the words about her and people like her with a healthy grain of salt. She had moved out of home first, but not because she felt overshadowed or unwanted. She was fun loving (a youngest child’s characteristic) and her siblings and her parents cramped her style. Her eldest (and definitely responsible) brother pounded the books. He was a high achiever and the air around him was so tense you could cut it with a knife. Fine. All praise to him, but that was a game she didn’t want to play.

    Her sort of intelligence led her down different paths. Rarer paths. For the moment her chosen career was her secret. Less appreciated perhaps, but paths that were right for her. They would all learn what she had chosen soon enough. She was an attention seeker (that youngest child thing again) and needed to be in the spotlight. Acting seemed to fit the bill.
    Categories, shmategories, she was herself, and had her own destiny to work towards…

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    Replies
    1. When your style gets cramped, it's time to move on.

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    2. Sometimes you just gotta fly.

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    3. Brava Pearl, you show 'em kiddo!

      XO
      WWW

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    4. Good onya Pearl, live life your way.

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    5. Hi EC - so good to see someone stretch out their lives and live the way they want to, rather than comply and conform ... excellent story for the words. Cheers Hilary

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    6. Good writing EC, And yes Children should be allowed to choose their own way, even if a different one!

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    7. Love it! An excellent use of the words, and a lesson in living as well. :-)

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    8. Yep, sounds like me...a youngest. LOL Great story EC.

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  2. Her mother-in-law had given her a necklace of PEARLS. As all who knew her could attest, “Hoity-toity” was her mother-in-law’s MIDDLE name! Joanna disliked pearls and felt TENSE each time she wore them, feeling absolutely pretentious. She preferred nothing at all around her neck, or something bold that CHALLENGED everyone to look at it, and offer a few words of PRAISE and admiration. Her absolute favourite was an ornate spider, the size of a silver dollar. When she wore that she was not averse to leaving a couple of BUTTONs open so that it nestled in the cleft of her stunning, and ample, blue-veined alabaster bosom. It was no SECRET that she was a bit of a flirt, and it was RARE that she did not welcome the occasion to flaunt her charms. Men were TAKEN with her; even their wives respected her INTELLIGENCE, though resenting her magnetism. When they saw their menfolk edging nearer to get a better look – and not at the spider, they would willingly have POUNDED their husbands’ heads. They were only HUMAN, after all.

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    Replies
    1. David M. Gascoigne: Brilliant. As usual.

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    2. Heh. 'Pounded their husbands' heads.' I like it;)

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    3. I found some interesting sites that mentioned blue veined alabaster.

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    4. Blue veined alabaster, there's an image! Well done.

      XO
      WWW

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    5. Spiders are interesting. Undoubtedly I'd run the risk to also get my head pounded. ;-)

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    6. Fun David - a great post ... so true to life - love it ... cheers Hilary

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    7. Aww a spider neclace. Me want! Well written.

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    8. The men were not looking at the spider!!! LOL Good job David as always.

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  3. The human pounded his fist on the desk. "Look what you've done to my slipper." He waved the torn house-shoe in the air, his body tense, his jowls quivering, irritation stamped on his florid features. Pearl the poodle, rose on her hind legs, her stubby tail waving madly and licked her human's cheek. Even dogs knew the secret to any successful relationship was love. Though, humans could be a challenge.
    Mollified, he patted her head. "Who needs a pair of old slippers anyway." He sank back into his comfortable chair, his hand resting on his dog, his dog's chin resting on his leg, at peace with the world.

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    Replies
    1. Sandra Cox: Love it. Though Jazz has destroyed more than one valued possession, he is loved. And, when it suits, loving.

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    2. Cats ... ahem ... dogs as dog can.
      The peace of the night!

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    3. Yes, the dogs can always bring us around, no matter what they destroy.

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    4. Love this. We can one dog Toby who managed to get all our shoes. but we adored him.

      XO
      WWW

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    5. Love it Sandra - a fun happy read ... cheers Hilary

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    6. Well written, with a glint in your eye, love it.

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    7. A reenactment of so many times with my pups. Good job.

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  4. The middle child, with the cute button nose, had taken the rare opportunity to praise the intelligence of her older sister.

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    1. She sounds like a born peacemaker.

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    2. Ha! One word less than Mike! Congratulations.

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    3. Marie Smith: I am the youngest in my family, and my nose was various called either a button nose or a slippery dip nose. They couldn't make up their minds. I love your take - and thank you for joining us again.

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    4. Excellent Marie - good take on the cute button nose. Cheers Hilary

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  5. It was a tense challenge for the girl, Pearl, to keep her secret as the less than human guy, Pete, pounded her.

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    1. How awful, a tale too often told.

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    2. Mike: Dare I hope that someone (preferably another inmate in jail) pounded Pete. Showing him the mercy he showed Pearl?

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    3. I watch "Law and Order SVU" a lot.

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    4. Hi Mike - sad, but often true ... well crafted - Hilary

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  6. Okay, i'm off to consult the words and see who wants them. (Yes, my brain works in weird ways.)

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  7. It can't be taken for granted, he thought, that in a tense situation this or that Mr President would not pound the very button, the more as certain highly praised secret services rarely have anything to do with middle-rate intelligence.
    His challenge was a different one (he grinned): not to cast pearls. There would no swine write the last chapter of human history, anyway.

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    Replies
    1. Sean Jeating: Very clever - and yes I did worry about a certain President's access to that button.

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    2. Urgh - too realistic. But well written.

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    3. Very scary simply because it's so possible.

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  8. Here's mine, all words used.
    -----------------------------------------------------
    “You have a rare intelligence,” Sister Francine our French teacher, said, wagging her finger at me, “but your challenge is, it’s not being put to good use.”
    I had written a critical essay of the nunnery life. I was sixteen. She always took me down even for minor infractions: I was missing a button from my uniform, I needed to be pounded for my defiance, it was no secret to the entire convent that my devotion to the Virgin Mary was sadly lacking and was not the pearl of faith that it should be, what kind of human was I anyway, why couldn’t I walk in the middle of the path like everyone else?
    I was always tense listening to her, holding my tongue as she reamed off my indiscretions. You might think her questions rhetorical which was a mistake I made earlier on.
    It only served to increase the tension between us.
    “But I’m going to become one of you!” I exclaimed now in that bewildered astonishment I had perfected, “I’m going to become a bride of Christ and sing his praises all day with you!”
    After the long pause in which she looked at me in puzzlement, I put the icing on the cake.
    “I can hardly wait!” I said.
    “Quelle horreur!” I heard her mutter, as she walked away.
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    XO
    WWW

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    Replies
    1. Wisewebwoman: Love it - and I ma not surprised that Sister Francine is worried...

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    2. Oh, I see why sr. Francine is worried, as she should be. But well writen, I did not see the words.

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    3. You'd be surprised how many actually do make that turn.

      An excellent story!

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  9. I'm having one of those "ache all over" days so my brain is fuzz right now. Tomorrow I will work on the words.

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    1. River: I hope you are feeling MUCH better today.

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    2. Definitely better, walking without flinching, I need to be more careful when pushing chests of drawers back into place.
      My story is done and scheduled for tomorrow, that's Friday 10th.

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    3. River: I am glad to hear you are better - and look forward to reading your story.

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  10. Hi EC - I'll be back to read and I do hope the appointment went as you expected ... this is from the first lot:

    Her human heart pounded, a little box appeared – he intimated for her to look inside the secret – he looked tense, an interesting challenge, his heart pounded too … would she be content with his choice of a pearl choker … he wanted them to be happy as their first child was due soon. Hope was on their side …

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. Sweet tale, and I hope with them.

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    2. Hilary Melton-Butcher: I love it - and hope that she loves the choker as much as she does him.
      My appointment was for an MRI. I hate, loathe and despise them but it is done.

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    3. Beautiful. If she's the woman i hope she is, she'll love it because it was given with love, even if a choker is not her first choice of style.

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    4. Now this verges on uplifting, Hilary.

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  11. Replies
    1. Charlotte (MotherOwl): I have read it this morning and as usual I long to read more.

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  12. Dear EC, this is a prompt-story, simply a confession: along with not blogging for several months, I've done a lousy job of following the blogs of those bloggers--like you--who have crept into my mind and heart and entwined themselves there.

    In looking back, I see I've missed so much of what has been your life since I tuned out in July. I hope your health is good and that you are finding life good also. Challenging, yes, but promising also. I just finished reading Fannie Flagg's book "Standing in the Rainbow," and she so lifted my spirits while helping me embrace what being human truly means for all of us. Peace.

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    1. Dee: Never, ever apologise when life gets in your way. We ALL understand and wish you nothing but well. I am glad that your spirits were lifted - and hope that they stay that way. Hugs.

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  13. Hope your appointment goes well. I enjoyed your story.
    Here's mine :)

    Her head pounded! As she twisted her pearls the secret she held made her even more tense. It was a challenge to keep her head and things were getting to her. After all she was only human. In the middle of all of this, she was tempted to press the 'button'. It was very rare for her to make a stand, but in the end her intelligence dictated her conscience. Her colleagues gave her a lot of praise for doing the right thing.

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    Replies
    1. DeniseinVA: Thank you. On both counts. I really enjoyed your story and suspect that there is a backstory (and a continuing tale) to be told as well.

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    2. Good job DeniseinVA. After all she was only human. Loved it.

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  14. My story is posted on my page. I have seen your nice comment EC. Thanks.

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  15. Sue, I wish you well with those medical appointments. Have the best holiday season in Canberra. Thank you for your support in 2021. Hope you can participate in some of our music prompts next year!

    Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

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    1. Denise Covey: Thank you so much. I hope to participate in some of the WEP challenges next year - but music is not central to my life so my offerings may be tone deaf.
      All the very best for the season - and here's to a much better year to come. For the world.

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  16. How are you doing EC hope you are well and getting better, have been busy and out from blog post a while. In addition to your wonderful meme and prompts i will like to share words of encouragement and advice i learnt from one of webinars i attended - Do not be afraid of doing what you have never done, be confident not arrogant. Wishing you and all your followers a great day!

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    1. Steve: Thank you. Confidence is often a step too far for me - a work in progress. I hope that you too have a great day, and enjoy the festive season.

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  17. How did you know that pounded pearl is my secret?!

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