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.
This week's prompts are:
- Archetype (cliche)
- Clouds
- Rummage
- Weakly
- Shovel
And/or
- Grace
- Blot
- Jackdaw
- Legume
- Poet
Charlotte (MotherOwl) has given us Turquoise Blue as the colour of the month. If you can also incorporate it into your stories she (and I) will be grateful.
Have fun.
Ben always thought of Daphne as the archtype of a jackdaw. She was garrulous and a hoarder of ill considered trifles – not necessarily her own. If you were brave enough to rummage through her handbag as likely as not you would find a collection of pens, ranging in colour from turquoise blue to green, red and black, lipgloss samples, legume snacks which might include chickpeas coated in wasabi, spare socks (unmatched) and a selection of costume jewellery to match her moods. A note pad or two was always part of the haul. ‘A poet NEEDS somewhere to record her inspiration’ she told him. Coins from various countries (some she had never seen) jangled in the bottom.
ReplyDeleteHe blotted his copybook and cast clouds over their continuing relationship when he suggested that she would need a shovel to track down the things she needed in her bag.
When he weakly backtracked and attempted to justify his comments by saying that she did so with grace, he thought he had covered his tracks. He was wrong – but would perhaps be gratified to know that his behavior inspired a whole series of poems. Or perhaps not…
"...and cast clouds over their continuing relationship"
DeleteOh no...
How big is her bag?? And how strong are her shoulders to carry all of that all the time? Ben may want to choose his next words very carefully.
DeleteRiver: I have a shoulder bag that would carry that and more. I suspect it is too late for Ben.
DeleteBen needs to be more careful with his next girlfriend, or choose more wisely.
DeleteThanks EC - this was a great read ... poor Ben - he had his work cut out. Excellent use of archetype - I'm going to struggle with that one ... need to get my brain into gear. Well we need inspiration to write stories, let alone poems - so Ben was probably onto a good thing, as long as Daphne never saw them ...
DeleteHeavy shoulder bag - with a morass of goodies in it - never a good idea ... but we always end up with more than we need.
Fun take on the prompts - thank you ... cheers Hilary
I swear that some women carry their life’s possessions in their handbags that sometimes resemble gunny sacks!
DeleteHaving once resembled David's description, I'm glad to say no longer! But a wonderful use of the prompts, Sue!
DeleteThis was inspired. Loved it.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
LOL! I can only imagine the poems. Good one, EC! :-)
DeleteWhew, now that's a great job with words!! You've got talent (I knew that already). :)
DeleteWell done, Sue!
Deletethecontemplativecat here. Oh so clever. the use of words was unexpected and well done. I love this.
DeleteThe sky outside was full of Clouds, and that reminded Grace of her favorite Poet who used to write a lot about skies.
ReplyDeleteAfter Shovelling the snow, under the eyes of little Jackdow (Archetype of a western bird), she entered the house to rest and enjoy a cup of Weakly made coffee. Next, she Rummaged through the pile of veggies on the kitchen table, threw away the Legume with the Blot on it, and started to make the daily salad.
DUTA: This is lovely - and a poet who writes about skies is definitely onto a good thing.
Delete😊
DeleteYou've written up a nice little slice of life.
DeleteThanks DUTA - lovely take on the words ... cheers Hilary
DeleteNicely done!
DeleteDuta, I echo Cindi. Nicely done.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Hilary rummaged around for more of the damp mist, then weakly shoveled the clouds into place. It was a bit of a cliche to be standing on a cloud making a cloud. More, more, more. There was some kind of storm on the Earth and the Heaven people were hard at work. Jack Daw was handling the rain, dropping large blots of it here and there, while accidentally dropping a bit of his lunch along with them, legumes of course. That was going to be hard to explain. "Watch out, Jack!" Charlotte shouted, but every word in Heaven is poetry and it came out sing-song with zero urgency. As grace would have it, Jack's haphazard rain blots had a fascinating effect. After the rain cleared the sky was a magnificent turquoise blue. Everyone was impressed.
ReplyDeleteVery nice.
DeleteSandi: This is gorgeous. Thank you.
DeleteYou painted a lovely scene!
DeleteHi Sandi - thanks for including me in the story - appreciate that. What a fun take on the prompts ... definitely deserving more stories of a similar ilk. Clever - thank you - Hilary
DeleteExcellent job, Sandi.
DeleteThis was so wonderful!!!
Deletethecontemplativecat here. Jack Daw!! so clever. Fun use of the words!
DeleteWill get to it and be back to link up later.
ReplyDeletemessymimi: I look forwarfd to it - as I always do.
DeleteIt will be at this link.
Deletemessymimi: I have read and thoroughly enjoyed your take on the prompts.
DeleteArchetype isn't a word I come across often. I'll have to think on that one.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I look forward to seeing where your thinking takes you - and us.
DeleteHi River - it's one that might defeat me ... I rather think I was trying to be too clever ...? Cheers H
DeleteShe was known for her perfect couture outfits and impeccable taste in all things worldly. She'd had a wonderful legume soup for lunch that afternoon in the finest restaurant found in this resort by the sea. Afterwards she strolled down to the beach with grace and poise in her turquoise swim suit coverup. It was then she noticed a small amount of soup had spilled noticeably on the front of her outfit. She blotted it off surreptitiously, hoping no one would notice. Her intended destination was to meet a most esteemed poet laureate at the central beach pavilion. As she approached the pavilion a huge flock of jackdaws swooped down upon her. It was as if she was in Hitchcock's "The Birds" movie. Much chaos ensued and yet no one could deter the jackdaws from dive bombing her. All the while the exquisite turquoise coverup continued to blow in the sea breeze as if on que. The spectacle continued, seeming to never end, except in the eyes of the cinematic photographer.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: I could just picture this - I am so glad that you have joined us again.
DeleteHi Linda - interesting take on the words ... thank you - I too could see it ... cheers Hilary
DeleteGreat visuals, Linda.
DeleteYou describe it perfectly.
DeleteThere was an old man that did not go out much, he was like a ghost in the clouds, an archetype that was rarely seen. During the winter seasons the city had to come out to shovel weekly in front of the tall building in which he stayed, seeing he was too weak to do so, and in the chimney of that building nested a jackdaw that sometimes swept down to say hello, which was really, the only friend he knew.
ReplyDeleteLon Anderson: A sad story but a lovely one. And a jackdaw would be a lovely friend.
DeleteHi Lon - yes a sad tale ... so many lost souls now - cheers Hilary
DeleteWell done, Lon. I'd be delighted to have a Jackdaw as a friend.
DeleteOh my. This was well done. Heartbreaking, but well done.
DeleteSad and well written, it's hard on so many who are alone in this world.
Deletethecontemplativecat here. So well written. Your words painted a painful story.
DeleteCan't think of anything today, been out doing gardening..EC.
ReplyDeleteNice stories though as I did read them.
Margaret D: I should have been in the garden but wimped out. It was too chilly even for me today. Thanks for reading, and commenting.
DeleteHi everyone - thanks for participating ... I will be around - but it may not be til later on, or even tomorrow ... apologies - I'll be back. Thanks EC for hosting ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteTimings have changed ... now I have to get my head into gear for my 'choice' words! Be back shortly ... Cheers H
DeleteHi EC - here's my first little tale based on the 2nd set:
ReplyDeleteGrace really wanted to be a poet … but her renditions were pretty awful … she garbled, and I'm not sure there was any poetic influence in her poems.
Also there was that other aspect – those legumes gave off a rather odoriferous pong... which other members of the group desperately tried to avoid.
Then those members who were hard of hearing … struggled with the jackdaws which were constantly vocalising their delight with nature, calling often and loudly … their hearing aids needed to be always adjusted …
Still we'll need to shut the windows fairly soon … then of course Grace's flatulence will be more intolerable. What are we to do – the group would ponder … ponder on!
Cheers and now I'll be able to read a few - thanks for joining in - Hilary
I should add in ... there's a sub-species of jackdaw that has some turquoise blue colouring in its feathers - that shines when the light catches them.
DeleteI forgot - Charlotte's colour of the month ... cheers H
First set:
DeleteReally … why do they chose such difficult prompts … 'archetype', archetype … even looking it up in a dictionary .. only really describes me: the original model of me!
Especially at the moment when clouds of fug in my brain mean rummaging for anything sensible to write about is nigh impossible. Even as I weakly shovel my thoughts around – nothing comes into my beloved little grey cells – mind you the original me is still here … perhaps a little befuddled though.
I can't even thank myself for these prompts – can I???
Cheers everyone – it's great you're joining in – and contributing to EC's keeping the meme going … thanks - Hilary
Well done, Hilary. Your PhD in quirkiness is still firing on all cylinders!
Deletehahaha! I love both of your stories!
DeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: Big smiles - on both counts.
DeletePoor Grace!
Deletethecontemplativecat here . Excellent story! You used those words so very well.
DeleteVengo ahora a leer las buenas historias de los participantes. No siempre se dispone de tiempo, para escribir una historia.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo
VENTANA DE FOTO: Thank you. There are some brilliant takes on Hilary's difficult prompts aren't there? I hope you will have time to join us next week.
DeleteYou will no doubt get the impression, as do I, that Hilary sets out to be the ARCHETYPAL provocateur who comes up with a set of words to challenge even the best among us (Sue) and befuddle duffers like me. Her head is high in the CLOUDS and we all strive to float through the TURQUOISE BLUE sky to reside up there with her. I hear a JACKDAW calling; perhaps we need to hitch a ride on his back to gain these lofty heights. The birds flies with such GRACE it would be a shame to impede its progress, however. Instead, I shall have to be content to remain earthbound, to RUMMAGE through the neurons of my enfeebled brain to come up with bons mots and rise to the challenge of being a POET in a pedestrian world. I have eaten my legumes, so perhaps that will help. I offer this rationale WEAKLY, but I will do my best, waiting for another SHOVEL-load of words from Hilary to baffle us all again next week. I am quite sure her fiendish mind is working on it as we speak.
ReplyDeleteLove this!!!
DeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: I struggled with these prompts too - and thoroughly enjoyed your take on them. I have next week's prompts already but have not yet looked at them.
DeleteExcellent!
DeleteHi David - thanks for the positive comment ... I had to laugh at the antics of it all ... made for delightful reading (for me anyway!) ... my words are already delivered to the said hostess Sue (EC) ... I guess she could shuffle them a bit - but only one week left for my offerings - I do enjoy doing them and for crafting little stories around everyone's offerings. Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: It is a fun meme. When I have the prompts in advance I don't look at them until I am preparing the post - and often have my determination tested.
DeleteHi EC - I know you don't peek ... so I'm happy to send my month's worth in advance ... it was the time there were 5 weeks - that nearly threw me ... a year or two ago! Cheers H = happy weekend... xo
DeleteI absolutely love seeing all the contributions here!!! Mine is published here!
ReplyDeleteCindi: I have read and thoroughly enjoyed your continuing story.
DeleteI loved reading through all the instalments.
ReplyDeleteRomance Reader: There are so great takes on the prompts aren't there? They are all so different too.
DeleteGrace Blot Jackdaw:
ReplyDeleteLegume Poetess!
Her poem "Peas" is my favorite!
Cloudia: A fun take - thank you.
DeleteWell done Cloudia ... cheers Hilary
DeleteWith grace, the Jackdaw left a processed legume blot like a windshield poet.
ReplyDeleteMike: I am glad you can access W4W again and grinning at your contribution.
DeleteHi Mike - excellent ... so many of those around at the moment ... with grace they're delivered earth bound! Cheers Hilary
DeleteAfter digesting a certain legume, the archetype of a jackdaw rose into the sky, and before it was swallowed by the clouds, it left a final turquoise lue blot on the poet's head, who was busy weakly rummaging with his shovel to unearth the grace of his readers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: I love it, and hope the poet was successful.
DeleteAnonymous "thanks" to google's IQ is but Sean.
ReplyDeleteObviously, artificial intelligence is not that far advanced (yet).
I might try to comment alle other entries somewhen later, though. The peace of the night.
Ha ha ha. And here we go. Anyway, time to put my head on a pillow. Good night.
ReplyDeleteSean Jeating: Welcome back. You have been missed. Sleep well.
DeleteI'm continually amazed at the stories people come up with, Sue! I thought David's prompts this week were challenging. Good fun, as always!
ReplyDeleteFundy Blue: They are Hilary's prompts this month, and yes, they are challenging.
Deletethecontemplativecat here. Interesting words!
ReplyDeleteLady Grace was a respected poet in the local library with her latest “Legumes in Rain” published in the community gazette. An admired archetype of the community, Grace led an unknown life.
She wrote romance novels. She typed weakly on her ancient typewriter (purchased at a rummage sale) on “Clouds of Love.” This would be the 30th novel published.
At that moment, a jackdaw crashed through the window. Glass flew through the kitchen and nicked Lady Grace’s hands. She wiped it with a turquoise blue dishtowel. Inspiration struck.
Giggling, Lady Grace typed about a jackdaw and love. “A jackdaw broke up their first kiss, cawing as it flew away."
Thanks ... you've made a clever story from the words - love the giggling about the break up ... fun to read - thank you ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDelete