Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wednesday 31 May 2023

Words For Wednesday 31/5/2023

 




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.  And huge thanks to those of you who come back, sometimes time after time to cheer other contributors on.
 
The prompts will be here this month, but they are being provided by David M. Gascoigne. An additional prompt from Charlotte (MotherOwl) is to include May Green in your take on the prompts.
 
This week's prompts are:
 
  • Lions
  • Resources
  • Choice
  • Course
  • Systematically
  • Predator

and/or

  • Occasionally
  • Firestorm
  • Land
  • Sight
  • Reproducing
  • Humans
 
This is David's last week of prompts and I thank him for challenging us all. Next month the prompts will be here too, but they are being provided by Hilary Melton-Butcher
 
Have fun.
 

93 comments:

  1. If only LIONS could talk. What might they say? How would they view their two-legged PREDATOR? Occasionally the tables are turned of COURSE, with the lions becoming predator, and what a FIRESTORM that unleashes. Do you think the lions might say, “These HUMANS, these supposedly wise beings, keep on REPRODUCING with out any end in SIGHT and continue to occupy more and more of our LAND. Not only that, they set about to SYSTEMATICALLY kill all of the other creatures we need to SURVIVE. Bush meat, they call it. We have fewer and fewer RESOURCES left and nowhere to live. So OCCASIONALLY we kill one or two of them, but we eat them, don’t we? It’s not out of CHOICE, they don’t even taste good. But there is such a hue and cry and no effort is spared to exterminate the poor lion, who after all was merely satisfying his hunger. That’s deemed unacceptable, while rich people from North America fly in for the sole purpose of killing us so that they can hang our head on their wall. Something is wrong with this picture.”

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    1. David M. Gascoigne: Something is very wrong with this picture - as it is with so many of the pictures that humans paint.

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    2. thecontemplativecat here. Excellent, unexpected. I really appreciated it.

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    3. Well done, David. Something is very wrong with this picture.
      Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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    4. Good prompts. Good thoughts. Good reads.
      Wish I had found leisure these days / this month to contribute.
      The peace of the night.

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    5. Sean Jeating: It is lovely to see you here, even if you don't have time to participate. I was just about to send you an email to check up on you.

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    6. Yes, and yes, and yes again.

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    7. Very well said and done!

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    8. Good use of those difficult prompts :)

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    9. Hi David - I wonder what a pride of lions would say - your serious pondering thoughts are so right - we, humans, do so much damage without thought for beast or animal, even life itself ... thanks for your take. Cheers Hilary

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  2. David was a single minded predator. He systematically set a course to destroy his rivals. They had a choice of course. They could do things his way, or face the firestorm that disagreeing with him would produce.
    Occasionally someone would challenge him. They lost. Quickly and decisively. He always took the lions’ share of the profits but in those cases he took everything, and moved on. Out of sight, out of mind.
    ‘He is not human’ one of his rivals said. He took my money, my assets and my land, leaving me with nothing. While I struggle to survive his resources and his wealth are reproducing faster than rabbits.
    ‘So what does he spend his money on?’
    ’ The environment. Repairing the damage done, protecting what remains, encouraging bio diversity and giving hope to upcoming generations. If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, perhaps his actions will ensure a place in the heaven he doesn’t believe in.’

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    1. Sue, you are nothing if not brilliant. The way you have crafted this story is simply terrific.

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    2. A wonderful use of the prompts! Mine will post at 2a tomorrow on my blog, I'll come back and add a link when it does.

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    3. I love the twist at the end!

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    4. Wery well done indeed. I like David.

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    5. Hi Sue - I thought you were going to launch into a tale of David and Goliath ... but this was very different - a great take ... cheers Hilary

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  3. I can see right away these words aren't going to fit my current story. I like David's story very much.

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    1. River: I look forward to seeing where David's words take you. Interestingly I could see ways that they could be included in your current story...

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    2. I also found those words a tough nut. But I see that you found a way to use them anyhow :D

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  4. David is a staunch environmentalist! Good work.

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    1. Jenn Jilks: Both Davids are indeed staunch environmentalists.

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  5. Resources and funds had been systematically stripped from the sanctuary where injured and endangered lions were housed. One by one smaller, less popular species had been moved to other sanctuaries and zoos, till only the big predators were left. It had about broke the old man's heart.
    He straightened his narrow shoulders. The way he saw it, he had no other choice. Somebody had to do something and it was damn sure no one else was going to. Maybe if all the bloated, blowhard politicians saw one of their own caged next to his lions they'd loosen their purse strings. He grabbed a dart gun and with determined strides headed into the night.
    Sandra Cox sandracox.blogspot.com

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    1. Well done, Sandra. I hope their aim is true and straight!

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    2. Sandra Cox: Like David I hope his aim is true. Or that the lions get him...

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    3. Some things take extreme solutions.

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    4. Very well done! I used to go to a big cat "rescue" in Florida not far from where I lived. I think they should have been rescued from the rescue as the pens they were kept in did not give them much room to really roam.

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    5. I like this idea of caging one of the "fatcats".

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    6. thecontemplativecat here. I love this.

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    7. Uh oh. What an enticing story. I hope it works out.

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    8. Hi Sandra - great idea ... only usually done by cartoonists - I wonder if the Romans had done something like this in the past ... interesting thought - cheers Hilary

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  6. EC, Nice twist at the end. Good on David!
    Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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  7. I'll be about it and be back.

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    1. messymimi: As always I am looking forward to seeing where the prompts take you.

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    2. messymimi: I have read your story - and applauded.

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  8. Lions are Resources!
    Countries this week where they roam are changing Course from hunting and instead are Systematically inviting visitors to their countries by protecting this apex Predator. Now let's see artificial intelligence do that! Thank you my elephant time friend. I love you

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    1. Cloudia: Lions are a precious resource, and I hope we haven't left protecting them too late. Thank you for joining us again. Hugs.

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    2. Yes, lions are precious and i hope such a plan works.

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    3. thecontemplativecat here. AI has a way to go.

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    4. Hi Cloudia - congratulations on your entry - cheers Hilary

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  9. The resources were abundant at Lion's Choice as I systematically picked out course after course like the actual predator could.

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    1. Well done! It sounds like a place my Brother-in-law, whose appetite is legendary, would love.

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    2. Mike: One of my brothers would love that place. And would probably spend the afternoon sleeping it off - again like a predator.

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    3. short and sweetly done!

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    4. thecontemplativecat here. Good job, you predator, you.

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    5. Clever Mike ... interesting thought - cheers Hilary

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  10. Lovely stories. Still thinking.

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    1. Margaret D: Thanks for reading - and I hope that your thoughts take you somewhere and you come back and share.

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  11. He leído esas historias que se han publicado, ahora solamente hago el comentario como lectora. Buena inventiva han tenido las historias que ke leído.
    Un abrazo

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    1. VENTANA DE FOTO: said 'I have read those stories that have been published, now I only comment as a reader. Good inventiveness have had the stories that I read.
      A hug;'
      Thank you so much. Have a great day.

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  12. Humans are Systemically damaging, by Choice, the Resources of Land and Reproduction; thus making the Sight of Lions and other Predators at work, a mild one , in comparison.
    Of Course, we are only Occasionally able to control the Firestorms following the above damage.

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    1. DUTA: How I wish you were wrong.

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    2. Good job, Duta!
      Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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    3. A (sad) story for our times.

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    4. thecontemplativecat here. Good use of words.

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    5. Another short, short story. Good.

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    6. Hi DUTA - rarely do we manage to control the firestorms we've experienced - cheers Hilary

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  13. Thanks EC and David ... I'm sitting here with a blistering headache and full of cold - so feeling 'frot' - I'll be back ... cheers H xo

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    1. Hilary Melton-Butcher: Poor, poor you. I hope you get better quickly. Full of cold is a truly awful feeling.

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    2. thecontemplativecat here. Headaches are the worst, they are sneaky. Hope you are better.

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  14. Replies
    1. Cindi: I have already read and marvelled at your continuing story.

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  15. Thanks for excellent prompts, David.
    'Lo,EC:)
    Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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  16. Hi EC and David - thanks feeling easier today - so hope by tomorrow it's essentially gone. First set:

    Oh! the choice for predators surveying the grasslands … lions are an apex carnivore, but their range over time has been systematically reduced. The way we, as humans, live and allow others to live has most certainly changed – humans are, sadly, self-interested ...

    Cheers - Hilary

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    1. Thumbs up, Hils. Glad you are feeling better.
      Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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    2. Hilary Melton-Butcher: Like Sandra I am very glad you are starting to feel better.
      Your take on these prompts is sadly, painfully true.

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    3. We take so much more than we actually need.

      I'm glad you are feeling better.

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    4. Good that you're feeling better, and good use of the prompts too.

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    5. Thanks for your comments ... David has given us words to make us think ... cheers Hilary

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  17. Occassionally, a firestorm hits all land within sight. I simply and humbly request that the most dim-witted of survivors don't take to reproducing more humans. Enough already! Oy.

    Love to you, EC.

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    1. Rawknrobyn: Hear, hear. Too much already.
      Hugs and love to you too.

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    2. Unfortunately, who is to decide which people are too dimwitted to have children?

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    3. Good point. The most dimwitted of all (e.g. Trump) think they're stable geniuses. But in this scenario, I decide. No worries!

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    4. Robyn - such a good thought - we'll nobble ourselves and thus less humans - in fact the Wars are doing some of it for us. Well done - cheers Hilary

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  18. thecontemplativecat here. Fun words!

    “...In the jungle, the mighty jungle…the lion…” Dammit, Leo growled. Bathsheba licked his face, “It is only for this night!” They had looked at the firestorm as it burned south of the Savannah sending a flood of animal fleeing. It had been a delight to see. Being chief predators, Leo and his mate had systematically hunted every antelope leaping.

    With their bellies full, Leo and mate Bathsheba curled up under the Land Rover and watched the humans as they sang that damn song around the fire pit, swilling beer.

    Leo and Bathsheba had a choice to make: Follow the course of nature and cull out those humans or they could set about the business of reproducing.

    They, of course, set about doing what they do best.

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    1. Susan Kane: I find myself hoping that they found the time and energy to do both of those things.

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    2. Nice use of the prompts!

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    3. Hi Susan - wise decision on this apex species' part ... much more enjoyable one presumes, especially as already replete. I hope they move off for this next episode in their live?! Cheers Hilary

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  19. As I write on my blog: "Back almost painfree, magazine sent to the printer, garden weeded, dome almost rebuilt, now almost normal blogging is resumed." And here is my WfW continuing the story of Susan na d the hatching.

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    1. Charlotte (MotherOwl): Welcome back. I am heading right over to read your continuing story now.

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  20. Always enjoy these, even though my brain doesn't want to join in as putting two thoughts together is a challenge right now :) Thank you for hosting, always appreciate reading such interesting stories, yours included. Have a great weekend!

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    1. DeniseinVA: Thank you. I hope that your Covid induced brain fog leaves - and that you regain your sense of taste and smell.

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