This
meme was started by Delores a long time ago. Computer issues and then life issues led her
to bow out. 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. And huge thanks to those of you who come back, sometimes time after time to cheer other contributors on.
This
week's prompts are:
- Hope
- Joie de vivre
- Devotion
- Forgiveness
- Rescue
And/or
- Brioche
- Pie
- Pi
- Duty
- Honor
And/or
She has been very generous hasn't she?
I am going to add a further challenge to the mix. Charlotte(MotherOwl) has assigned a colour to each month of the year. This month it is pine green and if you can include it in your Words for Wednesday contribution each week in January she and I would be very grateful.
Have fun.
Hi EC and Charlotte, and all readers ... this is pretty horrid - but we've been reading about diaries ... and so this odd entry popped into my mind?!
ReplyDelete"In my diary … Pi denotes pine-green, Grotty Green Pie … and even worse Gunky Boogies … Sadly it's my duty to Honour my Great- Aunt's ghastly food so, as I have to guzzle I do … by coding my diaries – I can hide the truth of the grotesqueness of my situation … "
No doubt in due time ... the truth will out! Happy New Year everyone!!!! Cheers Hilary
Hilary Melton-Butcher: I am smiling, but feeling for poor Sandi. I am sure this is not the use of her prompts that she considered. I am also surprised that you left the 'greasy, grimy gopher guts' my brothers use to sing to me...
DeleteHi - yes I should have made a much gloopier globule of a post couldn't I? I'd never heard of the song "Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts" and now you've reminded me of Rudyard Kipling's Elephant's Child stories ... "Then Kolokolo Bird said, with a mournful cry, 'Go to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, and find out.' ... I should have remembered that! Cheers Hilary
DeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: I grew up with the Just So stories and can still recite great slabs from them.
Deletethanks for the imaging Hilary! And the song EC and Rudyard (great name for a dog, isn't it?) Kipling would approve.
DeleteXO
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I enjoyed reading the story and feel kind of sorry for the bad food, lol but I also enjoyed the discussion between Hilary and EC... My kids used to sing that song years ago and it brought a smile on my face.
DeleteJulia
Hilary - you excel as always. Your take on this is going to be hard to beat!
DeleteStill grinning ...
DeleteI'm smiling and remembering some of those childhood songs. Such food is the stuff of nightmares.
DeleteI have never heard of that song and I think I don't want to know more. I never heard of the Just So stories either until I came across EC's blog. I don't think I have read anything at all by Rudyard Kipling.
DeleteYuck but fun! Thanks.
DeleteI am not even going to ask what a Gunky Boogie is! 😂
DeleteFun! And you got pine-green in there;)
DeleteJane could only hope that her sister would extend the mercy of forgiveness to her. Delia found her joie de vivre in seeing and being seen, in swanking (clad in pine green velvet no less) at first nights listening to stunning renditions of the Moonlight Sonata.
ReplyDeleteShe said that it was a question of duty. That they owed it to their parents to honour their upbringing as people with culture and taste. Jane thought that devotion to duty could only go so far.
She would rather calculate Pi down to its umpteenth percentage than attend another such evening. Desperately searching for something to rescue her from public tedium she claimed a prior engagement, and settled down in front of the television with a rich and decadent brioche. She had taste and she WAS cultured. If she wasn’t, a pie would have sufficed…
The Moonlight Sonata has the potential to make any circumstance a joy. I think in the past six weeks or so I have listened to every great pianist who has a video on You Tube. Well done with these prompts, Sue, the kind of creative magic we have come to expect from you. Tomorrow morning I will give it a go.
DeleteHahaha!! Wonderful! Brioche is *so* much more cultured than pie. ;-) Great use of the prompts, as always.
DeleteDekadence at its best.
DeleteThe rest you know, Sue: corners of my mouth, ear-lobes, expedition ... ;-)
Some people (and i am one) can only take so many of those nights, and then staying home is a must.
DeleteJane gave it her best shot. sometimes being politically polite is a waste of time.
DeleteThe last line made me laugh out loud - not very cultured. Indeed brioche is the cultured choice.
DeleteThanks for promoting my Colour of the Month!
Elephant's Child: I think I prefer to be cultured and not. Pies are tasty too.
DeleteHave a lovely day.
Great set of words and your story gives them life. Good job.
DeleteTeresa from T. Powell Coltrin Writes
¡Henhorabuena! me gustó tu relato.
DeleteUn saludo.
😄💕
DeleteLoved it, EC. Made me grin. Hope your holidays were happy.
DeleteThat first batch is really hopeful.
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: Hopeful stories are yet to emerge.
DeleteI'm with Jane, my kids have actually taken pictures of my bored face in the past at such events and have been known to snatch a book and lock myself in the bathroom.
DeleteXO
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A 28 inch 4K monitor and LEGS!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMike: It took me a while (face palm) to see where your contribution came from...
Delete😄
DeleteI don't get it, sorry.
DeleteCharlotte (MotherOwl): Mike is focusing on the legs of the pianist - to the exclusion of the words, the music and the other prompts.
DeleteClever EC - much more sociable than mine ... but also I note she was very sensibly settling quietly down for some peace - and yes she was cultured ... she'd be happy with a pie occasionally. Cheers Hilary
ReplyDelete"a pie occasionally"
DeleteI like that!
Though I haven't been joining in lately - brain does not seem to want to think right now - I thoroughly enjoy reading these. Thank you so much for sharing such a fun meme.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: I am glad that you enjoy the meme, and hope you will feel up to joining us again soon.
DeleteThis is all a basically true story. Using all words and music.
ReplyDelete--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She was dragged into my house one October night twenty years ago. The air had that crisp autumnal feel to it.
She had the fanciest leach and dog collar I’d ever seen, a faux leopard skin set with pine green brioche jewels.
You’re our only hope, the fellow half snarled at me. I had passed him in the village, usually a 24 tucked under his arm.
I knew they were in trouble. The town had ordered him to surrender the dogs to the rescue centre. He wasn’t taking care of them. Everyone had lost count of the notices and the puppies. Council were having all the animals picked up tomorrow as they had to be rescued. Underneath the matting was a terrified border collie, her head hanging low.
Jaysus, I thought, I’m now the rescue centre? I had put down my Lhaso Apso six months before at the ripe old age of seventeen and was enjoying my pet free status and freedom.
You can have my best leash for nuttin, he said, and she eats sweet pies only, and slammed the door on the way out.
The dog turned her back on me, still shaking, with her face stuck in the corner of the couch and her bum hanging over the edge, I played some soft music, Moonlight Sonata, and left her there with some leftover dinner and water on the floor beside her. There was absolutely no hope in this situation. For me or for her.
Forgiveness, I reasoned, would be impossible to attain and any devotion I could summon would certainly not be returned.
I knew she was brokenhearted and there was nothing I could do now. Having trained dogs in the past I left her to her own devices. Her honorable duty was her loyalty to that dreadful man. And well, to be fair, he kind of deserved it for he had saved her life.
The following night, I heard her paws clicking on the stairs and I pretended not to notice as she slid gently on to my bed, her back towards me.
OK then, I whispered, to the vet tomorrow my girl, and you’ll have to tell me your name. A new one for a new life.
Over the next two years, I weaned her off sweet pies and introduced dog food and trained her so that her vocabulary and responses were incredible. One could explain the concept of pi and she would have understood. Everyone adored her.
I have never known a dog with more joie de vivre and we became inseparable for the next 14 years.
I am still brokenhearted.
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Wisewebwoman: Such an unpromising start to a great love story - for you both. And yes, some animals leave a humungous hole in our hearts when they leave.
DeleteWhat a wonderful memory, beautifully told!
DeleteLeaking eyes here. I'm glad she had a good life with you.
DeleteThat man must have seen something in you to know you were the right person for this dog.
DeleteThat is some story. But cultural gap here and google is of no help. What is a 24?
DeleteWisewebwoman: What a sweet story. Dogs are such good companions.
DeleteHave a lovely day.
Charlotte: I'm also curious what 24 in this instance meant.
DeleteHave a lovely day.
"24" in Canada is an abbreviation for a 24 can case of beer :D
DeleteXO
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Aww...
Deleteso very sorry for your loss, and I can very much relate to the pain of it. I am still heartbroken as well...
DeleteA wonderful story, made even more appealing knowing that it is basically true.
ReplyDeleteFinally home and able to work on something, back soon with a link.
ReplyDeletemessymimi: As always I look forward to seeing where the prompts take you.
DeleteMy story will be over here.
Deletemessymimi: I loved it.
Delete'Operation Moonlight Sonata'. How perverted must brains be to choose a wonderful piece of music like Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 [sic!] as a code word for the nightly bombing of a city? This is what happened on 14 November 1940 during the so-called Coventry Blitz, when more than 500 German bombers turned the city into a sea of flames.
ReplyDeleteVery likely the pilots felt honoured to be allowed to do their patriotic duty with devotion.
Who among them, if he survived, probably hoped for forgiveness after the end of the war?
Oh my, what associations a few harmless prompts can awaken. I hope a voodoo pie with pine green food colouring will save my joie de vivre.
The brioche I leave to my friend at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI).
Replace save with rescue.
DeleteWell told. You're right, that's a twisted use for a beautiful piece of music.
DeleteWell done. Forgiveness after a brutal war is often hard to get.
DeleteMaking an association between rippling music with death and destruction? Definitely perverted.
DeleteI have a friend who works in quantum computing at the Perimeter Institute here. She would appreciate your brioche.
DeleteConnecting factor might be simply the moonlight. The nazis were not known for being cultured. I hope for fogivenes anyways. The soldiers only do their duty, the leaders and liers are to blame.
DeleteExcellent!
DeleteOh my. I did not know that horrible story. It's true, though, isn't it?
DeleteI wrote a comment, but it doesn't seem to have gone through. I wanted to say it's horrible about the use of that song. I did not know that.
DeleteSean what a brilliant take on the prompts. I used to play the Moonlight back in my piano playing days. Always loved the piece but not aware the Germans used it as code.
ReplyDeleteXO
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I shall do what I can to include this month's colour. I couldn't watch that music clip, the girl looked way too uncomfortable to me, sitting so far away from the piano.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I look forward to seeing what you create. You might not have watched the clip, but you know the music...
DeleteThe piano duet was exquisite. Thanks for that gift. Here is my peculiar take on your words.
ReplyDeleteRuby dumped the yeast roll dough onto the wooden table. Brioche? Were they serious? Brioche takes 24 hours to prove. An hour or so of kneading and the dough was thrown into the proving drawer. I hate making brioche.
Next was the apple cranberry crumble pie. Ruby, peeling apples and cranberries were nothing. In an hour, the pie was pulled all bubbling from the oven. I love apple pie!
All was well until the word PI popped up. PI ?
Everyone knows 43⋅(π(5)3) Sheesh.
Timer rang, and Ruby felt her duty for the honor of St. Catherine's Women Auxiliary was met. Cleaning and wiping baking materials, Ruby was done.
Susan Kane: Not my prompts but Sandi's. I hope that St Catherine's Women's Auxiliary appreciates Ruby's work.
DeleteNew knowledge about brioches. well done.
DeleteVery clever. I wondered where you were going to fit in "Pi."
DeleteAh, Ruby, apple pie with whipped cream ... a dream ...
DeletePie is the dessert for Pi Day.
DeleteNice story!
Loved the story and her reluctant commitment.
DeleteXO
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"Ruby was done."
DeleteI felt that! Whew.
I had no idea brioche took that long. Worth it, though.
Now I used Sandi's words. A small story of Susan and Knud in Italy.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte (MotherOwl): As always I delighted in another snippet from your continuing story.
DeleteHe would have liked a tasty chicken pot PIE, but a stale BRIOCHE was all he had, so he had to make do. It did take a little of the JOIE DE VIVRE away, but sometimes you have to deal with it. Not the worst thing that could happen and he HOPED that Julie would come to the RESCUE when he arrived at her place. She had been magnanimous with her FORGIVENESS and it was time to prove his DEVOTION to her in a way she couldn’t possibly doubt. It was all about HONOUR really, not DUTY. He truly was remorseful, but one transgression should not be permitted to forever colour a whole relationship. Good HUMOUR is the key, it always is, and the copy of “Life of Pi” he had tucked into his backpack to give her would surely restore her confidence in him. After all who can resist a fellow with good taste in literature? What’s a little philandering compared to that?
ReplyDeleteI can only wholeheartedly agree with your penultimate sentence. ;-)
DeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: Call me greedy but I want BOTH an excellent taste in literature and a relationship free from philandering. A great take on the prompt (despite me hoping that Julie changes her mind).
DeleteSean is right. That last sentence was golden.
DeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: Life of Pi is good literature? I have to disagree on that. But what woman would want a cheating fellow when she can find someone better?
DeleteHave a lovely day.
One transgression can be forgiven. Serial philandering means there's a deeper problem and a need to cut ties.
DeleteNice use of the prompts, but i do get the feeling this guy is going to be one of those serial philanderers.
Lissa - We all may disagree in what is good literature and many, including my wife and me, would disagree with you. Apart from our opinion, the book won:
Delete2002 Man Booker Prize
2001 Hugh Maclennan Prize
2001 Governor General's Award
2001 - 2003 Asian/Pacific American Award
So obviously panels of distinguished judges also deemed it to be "good literature."
You can rest aisy, David, I loved the Life of Pi. And forgiveness for the fellah? I really don't know. I believe relationships never truly come back from such betrayal. Trust is irretrievably broken.
DeleteXO
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Great use of pi!
DeleteBeautiful recording.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a story for Word for Wednesday, but I love pine green. It is one of my favorite colors.
Olga Godim: Perhaps you will join us again next week. Green, in its myriad of shades, is definitely one of my favourite colours.
Delete😊
DeleteI finally on time. Well, it's already Thursday somewhere. Another fiction: Fiction: A Girl and Her Cyborg
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandi and Charlotte for the prompts.
Have a lovely day.
lissa: I was intrigued by your take on the prompts. And it is definitely Thursday here.
DeleteYou have some very talented friends! These were fun to read. Happy 4th New Day, EC! Hope all your dreams come true this year.
ReplyDeleteJoylene Nowell Butler: Thank you. I do indeed have some VERY talented friends.
DeleteGreat prompts, Sue! Your combination of both prompts in your story was hilarious! I'd settle for goodies while watching tv too. Have you seen "Wednesday?" Alex reviewed it in his post. I definitely recommend watching that! Take care!
ReplyDeleteFundy Blue: Thank you. I saw Alex's review and was tempted. Which says a lot because I am a reader rather than a watcher.
DeleteMy story will be on my blog on Friday, as always.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I am looking forward to seeing it.
DeleteLove this, Sue! Thank you so much for posting my prompts!
ReplyDeleteFunny thing...the link here is a wonderful song by Hauser, but the link I included and that you just sent me in my email is:
https://youtu.be/3AUsZwck0_c
It's Hauser playing the Godfather theme. I don't know if it's a different song because of youtube or a typo. Maybe it's because you are in Australia and I am in the USA? Anyway, can't go wrong with any Hauser song!
I am looking forward to reading all the responses! Thanks, everyone.
Sandi: When you sent me the prompts you sent me the links rather than the song titles. Do you want me to check before I post them that I have the music you intended?
Deletelate as always ... mine is here
ReplyDeleteCindi: I thoroughly enjoyed your take on Sandi's prompts.
DeleteI love the spooky music. Don't get why her butt is so far away from the piano. lol.
ReplyDeleteThe Happy Whisk: Mike would tell you it is to show off her legs.
Delete