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 month I am providing the prompts
This week's prompts are:
- Memories
- Thanks
- Running
- Grave
- Collected
And/or
- Clover
- Regrets
- Marvellous
- Enchanted
- Clock
Collette’s time clock was no longer edging downhill but was now positively running towards its final stop and the grave. Regrets? Of course she had them. A few regrets for missed opportunities but more for unkindness she had offered, in word and deed. On the final ledger of her life and collected together she her sins were not black, but definitely clay brown at least and they weighed heavily on her.
ReplyDeleteJust the same, while she had never lived in clover, her memories said clearly that she had lived, still lived, an enchanted life. She had good friends, an appreciation for beauty and had loved and been loved. Thanks for the memories she murmured to herself, snuggling into bed, and wondering whether she would wake again…
so beautifully written, poignant and apropos for my stage in life right now. In my comment I forgot about the clay brown; now I know I could have weaved it in, perhaps a new grave being dug in the cemetery.
DeleteWe all have those regrets.
DeleteYes - EC ... snuggling back into bed - thankfully I don't think about not waking up ... but I'm sure we all will get to this point ... delightfully written. Thanks - Hilary
DeleteLoved the memories of her enchanted life. Great story EC.
DeleteVery well done EC, and resonant of how we all feel when uncertainty is the ghost running along beside us.
DeleteXO
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Loved the use of clay brown. A poignant short tale and it touched on regrets we all have. Well done.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Well written, very well indeed. And thanks for including my colour.
DeleteEach day on her morning walk she passed a church. She didn't need a clock because the church bell rang on the hour and half hour. For some reason today she decided to take a stroll through the church grounds. Almost immediately it was as if she had entered an enchanted dream. Flower beds lined brick pathways and flowering trees were in bloom. Every so often sunlight streamed through a break in the trees. Occasionally sparkling colors reflected on leaves caste from the stained glass windows of the church. Benches were strategically placed for optimum views. Oftentimes a statue, gazebo, or a specimen shrub or tree was featured. As she strolled along the clover studded lawns she came upon an old cemetery. Some graves were marked with intricate stones, some carved, some printed with heartfelt messages, and some simple or plain with only a name. So many memories were tied up in the cemetery. She'd heard of folks who visited cemeteries taking etchings of old gravestones. She always wondered about that practice, but now she felt a draw to try an etching one day. As she wandered back to finish her morning walk, she wondered why she had never taken the opportunity to visit the church grounds. She had no regrets but silently she gave thanks for the marvelous visit she'd had today and she knew she'd be back.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: This was lovely. Cemeteries can be such beautiful and healing places.
DeleteI've been on a couple of church grounds like this, they are beautiful places.
DeleteWe visit an old cemetery near us and find the visits healing. Good story Linda.
DeleteI and my family love cemeteries and have spent a lot of time in them speculating on the lives lived and the tragic deaths.
DeleteXO
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Your cemeteris must be different to our "square and regulated" ones. I'd like to visit such an old one some day. Thanks for the nudge.
DeleteMemories … lots to be thankful for … but I was always running, running with my collected concepts – were they right or not … I'll never know – my grave came first – it was clay brown coloured.
ReplyDeleteHi EC – hope you're feeling more cheerful than this?! Cheers Hilary. I'll be back tomorrow for the 2nd set ... xoxo
Hilary Melton-Butcher: Ouch. I hope your next set is more cheerful. Me? I hope to go as gently as Colette seems to be doing.
DeleteWell done, if sad.
DeleteMy goodness Hilary...a clay brown grave???
DeleteA clay brown grave. Hils, are you sure you don't live in the North Carolina. Hehe. Well done.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Echoing my feelings - hopefully now of the past. A bit too suggestively written.
DeleteTHANKS to a jeweler friend, I got myself a four-leaf CLOVER (symbol of luck) pendant, attached to a CLAY BROWN colored necklace. Everyone who sees it is ENCHANTED and asks for his address.
ReplyDeleteRecently, however, he has found jewelery to be too time consumming, and decided to move to 'CLOCK and Watch' business in the same old shop. He gets more money and work time is RUNNING smoothly and easily.
Many (me included ) have deep REGRETS about his move.
His father (rip) was also a skilful jeweler and especially a MARVELLOUS human being. At the memorial held at his GRAVE, a year after his death, family and friends gathered there to talk about the MEMORIES COLLECTED with him and about him during his lifetime.
DUTA: Yet again I get the feeling this delightful snippet is based on people you have known. I love it - though horology is also a skilled and creative craft.
DeleteI've known jewelers who also did watch repair, it doesn't have to be either/or.
DeleteThis is a lovely story.
Hi Duta - life changes doesn't it ... but I love that they collected at their father's grave-side one year on - for memories and tales of life. Cheers Hilary
DeleteThank you Duta for this story.
DeleteLovely story, took me right in.
DeleteXO
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Those persons seem like real ones even from this small snippet. Well done.
DeleteThis was splendid, DUTA. I truly enjoyed it.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
The young woman knelt at the freshly turned grave and placed an armful of long-running or as some would say long-blooming cheery yellow roses, she collected from the garden, on the stark black earth beneath the modest headstone of her mother. "Thanks for a host of lovely memories. Not a day will go by I won't think of you. I love you now and always." She put her fingers to her lips, then placed them on the grave stone and with tears streaming down her face turned and trudged away barely aware of the cold drizzle that the gray heavens deemed to spit down on her.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Sandra Cox: Love it. And hope those precious memories bring her comfort in the days to come.
DeleteYou painted a beautiful and sad word picture.
DeleteHi Sandra - very sad and lonely ... I hope she found some comfort during the rest of her life ... cheers Hilary
DeleteGreat use of the prompts Sandra.
DeleteGreat and poignant story of loss and renewal.
DeleteXO
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The sorrow drips through the words and lines here. Well done.
DeleteExcellent stories above me here. My story will be on my blog on Friday.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I look forward to it - as I always do.
DeleteWell doggone, I posted a comment earlier and it isn't here.
ReplyDeleteMy story will be over here.
messymimi: It didn't go to spam either. I loved your take on the prompts. Thank you.
DeleteI was initially enchanted, but now have many regrets about using Clover as the clock ran out on our marvellous business stuck in the brown clay of life.
ReplyDeleteMike: This is intriguing. I know it is anathema to you but I would like to see this expanded.
DeleteHi Mike - I agree with EC ... also I want to know more about Clover ... cheers Hilary
DeleteSue, did you have the Pope put a curse on me! 😱
Deletehttps://www.clover.com/ - credit card company.
https://www.cloverhealth.com/
https://www.cloverfoodlab.com/
https://clover-usa.com/ - needle craft
https://shopcloverkidsrva.com/ - secondhand clothing boutique
https://kubiti.org/hairstyles/?q=salon+clover
https://cloverandmoon.com/
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It's not easy when a business goes under. Succinct and full of regret.
DeleteShort, but maybe a bit too intriguing.
DeleteHi EC - slightly happier - I hope.
ReplyDeleteThey remembered the times they rolled about in the clover – and how marvellous it was – there were no regrets. Their son was born … and his father was able to write an enchanted fairy tale about the cuckoo clock … which the family have to this day.
Cheers EC - thanks for bringing us your words at the start of yet another year! Whoever thought ... sent with hugs and care from up above theoretically on the planet earth - in the time of that era British Empire! Hilary xo
Love this completion of the prompts Hilary.
DeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: I love this. And remember rolling in clover myself. And searching for four leafed clover.
DeleteThere was a song about rolling in the clover, my mother would sing it. Did some rolling myself. Beyond rolling now though, lol.
DeleteXO
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It's fun to be in the clover, unless you have a boss who wants you to pull it all up. One person's happy is another person's weeds.
DeleteMore lighthearted this one, still good.
DeleteWhat a fun, uplifting tale.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Karolyn gave us the clock. This friend collected clocks and we were blessed to be the recipient of one. We offered her our thanks often. The day of her death the treasured clock stopped running.
ReplyDeleteWe mourned our friend and visited her grave often. We planted clover to cover her resting place. Our regrets over losing her were many. One very important day I heard her voice clearly. She told me we should stop our sad thoughts and instead rejoice in the life she lived. This truth filled me and I apologized. Returning home we realized the clock was ticking again. We knew then it was enchanted. Our memories of her are forever kept alive by the ticking of this marvelous gift.
Granny Annie: This is beautiful. And celebrating Karolyn's life is a much better way to remember her.
DeleteI like the take on the words and the story of the clock!
DeleteXO
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What a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
The friend was wise! A very lovely story.
DeleteWonderful story. Karolyn is right. Well done.
DeleteAll words and colour used.
ReplyDelete--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She knelt on the marble rim of the grave. Waiting. The plot had gone to rack and ruin. Clover had taken over the clay brown earth.
If only she didn’t live so far away. She collected stray dandelions in a little pile and memories of how Rosie would go running on the back meadow of their small farm flooded her. Blowing the puffy whiteness of the weeds into the air. An enchanted, marvelous time for the three of them, Greg, wee Rosie and herself.
There were no regrets really, even about Greg who had upped sticks without a word one night, three months after Rosie died, followed by a remote email, saying he couldn’t take it anymore. Never qualifying that big word “it”.
She looked up at the clock on the nearby church steeple. The huge hand nudging ever closer to the time one year ago, to the exact minute that Rosie succumbed to the cancer. Barely five years old.
Thanks, baby girl, she whispered, for bringing me such incredible joy in every day you lived, in every breath you took, in every smile you gave. May your memory sustain and inspire me to live each moment like you did.
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Now to read all yours!
XO
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Wisewebwoman: Sad and beautiful. And Greg's departure rings sadly true as well.
DeleteOh gosh. This touches my heart. Our five year old grand has cancer.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Leaky eyes here.
DeleteSad, sad story. Happy memories will sustain her, and hopefully pull Greg back home.
DeleteThere are so many MEMORIES in this area of the Graveyard but I prodded on to look at my parents GRAVE only to find that someone has COLLECTED several little doves and placed them in position near the headstone. If only I knew who that was I could THANK them for their kind deed. After staying and visiting I hurried off to visit a friend, but seeing as I was RUNNING late I decided to phone and let them know time got away from me.
ReplyDeleteMargaret D: This is lovely - and what a kind gesture.
DeleteI can see all those tiny doves in my mind's eyes. They fit so much better there than on the tombstones reading the names of the deceased upside down.
DeleteDoves on graves, so very thoughtful.
DeleteXO
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This flows beautifully! Love the images. :)
DeleteThanks for those words, EC. They were just perfect for continuing my tale of Susan and her co-apprentices.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte (MotherOwl): I am so glad they suited you. I loved this installment of your continuing tale.
DeleteThose are some good word prompts. Even I had a few ideas about some of those words...which as you know is pretty unusual since I am not a writer by a long shot. I can see by the comments people did particularly well with this set of prompts. It's fun to see the creativity, even if I lack that particular talent. Well done folks.
ReplyDeleteSandy: Your creativity takes other forms - forms that I admire and cannot emulate. I am sure you are too hard on yourself on the writing front though. Perhaps you will join us some week.
DeleteAnother fun series of words that some very interesting tales have been woven into a good story. Happy weekend to you all :)
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Thank you. I hope your weekend is lovely too.
DeleteBeautiful blog
ReplyDeleteRajani Rehana: Forgive me if I am wrong but I don't think you read the posts you leave this comment on.
Delete