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.
Huge thanks to Sean Jeating for providing the prompts last month. The prompts will be here again this month and are provided by Alex J. Cavanaugh.
This week's prompts are:
- pyromaniac
- midnight
- parrot
- frozen
- razor's edge
And/Or
- anguish
- alligator
- taco
- predictable
- staple
Charlotte (MotherOwl) has given us Pearl Opal Green as the colour of the month. If you can also incorporate it into your stories she (and I) will be grateful.
Have fun.
In related news. This year is rapidly drawing to a close and I am seeking people who are happy to provide the prompts (either here or on your own blog) next year. If you are able to do so, please let me know in the comments, stating which month suits and whether you will post here or on your own blog. I hope to be able to post next year's schedule some time next month. Thank you to all those who have volunteered so far - I am still hoping for some more though.
It was another one of those nights when I had worked so late I didn’t feel like preparing a proper meal, and we had FROZEN TACOS for dinner. I heated them in the microwave oven with the frenzy of a PYROMANIAC, and they were popping and spitting in protest. We sunk into the PEARL OPAL GREEN sofa we had picked up for a really good price at the charity shop, and realized as soon as we got it home it looked terrible. MIDNIGHT blue would have been a better choice, but at the time we were on the RAZOR’S EDGE of poverty, and colour choice was not uppermost on our minds, nor did it cause ANGUISH. The upholstery was separating from the frame, but a STAPLE or two worked wonders. It was no surprise that our dumb decisions did not stop there, so it was PREDICTABLE that we came home with a PARROT one day. It was so stressed it pecked out all its feathers and shivered naked on its perch. An ALLIGATOR would have been easier. I think that by now we have made all the bonehead choices one couple could reasonably make, and I am confident that making jewelry out of old beer cans to make an environmental statement is bound to succeed. We’re sure to make our fortune. Oh, and by the way, we voted for Trump.
ReplyDeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: Love it. And we have made the odd bonehead choice or two here as well over the years. Not as bad as that final one though.
DeleteI echo EC. Great job, David.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Funny about the parrot!
DeleteOh well done David, I was brought back to early days in 1st apartment, so young, so full of dreams.
DeleteXO
WWW
When you first marry, your furniture is still what you had in your college apartment, right? That last mistake, though, is a tough one.
DeleteJewellery out of beer cans? I can't see that taking off in fashion circles. This was funny. Except for that last line.
DeleteWell done David - certainly resonated when I'm in town and see the 2nd hand shops ... I can quite believe the oddities of life - I feel for those on the edge. Well you could vote for Mr T ... it wouldn't count would it?! Also an alligator ... you'd have both long gone by now ... the poor parrot was a safer choice - cheers Hilary
DeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: This was fun and creative. You sure know how to use the prompts.
DeleteHave a lovely day.
Hi David - I'm not sure I can compete with this ... but the grey cells might turn pearl opal green - who knows ... just enjoy those frozen tacos! Cheers - my offering will appear sometime soon ... cheers to you and EC - Hilary
ReplyDeleteOliver was nothing if not predictable. Tacos were his staple diet. Anything taco was fine by him. He would even eat alligator taco if it was offered to him.
ReplyDeleteHowever he loved Lily more. She had made it clear that their relationship was on a razor’s edge and that if he didn’t mend his ways it would be deader than John Cleese’s ex parrot.
He was in anguish. She had set a deadline of the following Monday for him to make a grand romantic gesture or he would be frozen out of her life. And he knew that she would stick to her word. He loved her dearly but had never found the words or the courage to tell her.
What to do? What to do? And then it struck him. It would take some organizing and some money but he had it. And his inner pyromaniac would enjoy it too.
He told her to be ready for him and to wear warm and casual clothing. He picked her up at 11.30 on Saturday night and drove her to the park where they met. He wouldn’t tell her anything. Nervously he waited for the church clock to strike. On the final stroke of midnight he told her to look up. Hundreds and hundreds of fireworks lit up the night. The finale? OLIVER LOVES LILY spelt out in huge pearl opal green letters across the sky. All she could say was oh Oliver but her hand crept into his and held it tightly. And when he added quietly ‘more than tacos’ she started to cry and flung herself into his arms.
This is an ex-parrot! Love it.
DeleteNicely done!
DeleteThat definitely was a grand gesture! Great story.
DeleteBrilliant EC - very clever little romantic tale - loved long may they live happily ever after ... cheers Hilary
DeleteElephant's Child: This is lovely. Quite a grand gesture there.
DeleteHave a lovely day.
Awww. Loved it, EC:)
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Well, if he loves her more than tacos there can be no end to this relationship other than sublime happiness. If you can have tacos AND kisses heaven is a space you inhabit daily.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on the story and again, I am happy to provide the prompts. It can be on my blog or yours, whichever is easiest for you as I know sometimes you need a break, and it can be any month or months.
ReplyDeleteIf I had a vote in this matter (which, of course, I don’t) I would cast it in favour of Sue’s blog. I visit her blog regularly and I tend to not visit the others blogs when the challenge moves there. So - I participate quite regularly on Sue’s blog and almost never on others.
DeleteMy story, when it goes live, will be over here.
DeleteCondering what David M. Gascoigne says, may i suggest the prompts should be here, unless Ms. Sue feels the need for a blog break, at which point I will be glad to post them myself. She can let me know even up to the day before, if needed.
David M. Gascoigne & messymimi: Thank you. It looks as if Words for Wednesday will often be here next year, but I don't really want it to be based here permanently. We will see what others think. I am already considering a blog break for February (the hottest time of our year). And, as always, I look forward to seeing what messymimi creates.
DeleteNow I realise why so many don't visit my blog when I provide the words there. I do it so Sue doesn't get overloaded and will continue thusly.
DeleteRiver: Thank you.
DeleteSue - I'll do February for you ... but I have to say I don't want to take over WWW ... I'll be a-thinking ... cheers for now - Hilary
DeleteEqually thinking about it a while later ... I'd be happy to do a few months ... and share WWW with a AN other (or perhaps 2) ... and you ... helping through the year ... a thought ... cheers H xo
DeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: I will schedule February for someone (perhaps River) who is happy to post the prompts on her blog. And thank you.
DeleteMy first instinct is correct, then, and I will post on my blog. Again, any month or months.
DeleteAll words and colour used. Lots of fun.
ReplyDelete-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was midnight as she sat on the curb edge of her father’s grave watching the old family homestead burn to the ground down below in the valley. The razor thin marble bit into her behind. She clapped her frozen hands together, mentally parroting the lines in her head. “The pyromaniac done this, he done the barns around, he done some cars….”
Her anguish had her by the throat at all she had done to erase the monster lying beneath her. How could she go on living in that house of horror with its predictable nightly ghosts slithering like slimy green alligators all around her?
She kissed her mother’s ring, an opal surrounded by little pearls. The suffering in that house was the daily staple of their lives.
It took a bit of planning, all those other fires she had lit over a few months, surreptitiously at night, to mask the eventual conflagration down below.
She pulled out the taco from her knapsack and chewed slowly watching the two firetrucks screech into her driveway, much too late to do anything. The insurance money would give her a fresh start in Montreal.
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Now to read all of yours!
XO
WWW
Sometimes just getting rid of the place and moving isn't enough, but I hope she gets help with her new start.
DeleteWisewebwoman: I hope she has killed the ghosts of her/their past and that she gets her new start. Dark as it is, it is a reality for too many and I really enjoyed it.
DeleteVengeance or revenge? I hope her new start works out well.
DeleteHi WWW - sounds a troubled soul ... I hope Montreal can cope! Very Hitchcockese ... not a good thought ... well done - cheers Hilary
DeleteAn amazing well-crafted story. Very dark and I hope the earlier fires she set did not cause death or injuries to others. If she makes it to Montreal I wish her well.
ReplyDelete2034? My nap was longer than I thought! Do we have flying cars yet?
ReplyDeleteSandi: Thanks for alerting me. We have now returned to what is left of 2024.
DeleteOk, but I brought my flying car with me!
DeleteSandi: Lucky you. What does it use for fuel? Tacos perhaps?
DeleteI'll dig out my thinking cap and have something on my blog on Friday.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I am looking forward to it. As I do every week.
Deletepyromaniac parrot
ReplyDeleteOn the razor's edge at midnight.
Frozen and desiring another conflagration
Cloudia: Poor, poor parrot. I hope he can stay warm. Without burning down the neighbourhood.
DeleteWell done Cloudia - short and very appropriate ... cheers Hilary
DeleteNicely done!
DeleteHere's mine ... all words ...
ReplyDeleteIt was Christmas – the season of excruciating advertising … this year there's this ANGUISHED ALLIGATOR, as it has a PYROMANIACAL tryst with the PARROT, at the moment he's a pretty ornament … with PEARL OPAL GREEN feathers … but soon on top of the Christmas pudding he'll be burnt to a frazzle if the kids haven't FROZEN the matches.
Kids love this time of year … but wait on a RAZOR'S EDGE to see which TACO they'll be offered … we are in un-PREDICTABLE times after all … no turkeys available … they're banned …
But lots of greens – kids love greens … green Brussels Sprouts … delish!! … even if there's a sheen of opalescent pearl on them.
Why are they advertising a Stapler … oh Christmas ads are so peculiar … but of course … we'd need a STAPLE or two to make sure those last minute decorations remain in place as the MIDNIGHT hour approaches … better order during the Black Friday offers …
Anxious all agonise it's nearly that time …
Cheers to Alex and EC and all commenters - Hilary
Love how you re-use and re-mean some of the words, Hilary. Very clever!
DeleteXO
WWW
Hilary Melton-Butcher: Love it. And am smiling. A stapler would not be a welcome gift here - like the iron I received many years ago.
DeleteNicely done! Some kids do like green, but mostly it's the green of money here.
DeleteWell done to all, good stories.
ReplyDeleteMargaret D: Thank you.
DeleteWell done, Hilary. I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas tacos! Swearing off turkeys would be okay with me.
ReplyDeleteHi David ... I enjoy turkey but when in a big family ... so most eaten and then I can make soup etc ... so once or twice a year is ok ... I deboned and stuffed one once for a wedding ... that was fun?! Cheers H
DeleteI cannot wait to read all your stories tonight or tomorrow but my plate is full today. My story is simply posted on my blog...a poem I wrote from 2017 WFW. I might try another poem with the words one day soon.
ReplyDeleteGrannie Annie: I enjoyed your poem from W4W years ago. I hope your busy time isn't too stressful.
DeleteMe encantan las historias que he leído.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo.
VENTANA DE FOTO: Thank you. Hug received and reciprocated.
DeleteAnguish.........I can't get beyond that since the election. I keep trying to keep my mind occupied, and my hands busy; but it's not helping. I figured it would be close, but I really hope The American people would come through. I honestly thought as a country we were better. It turns out, we're not. With each passing day I feel it even more as I follow the horrible unqualified racists people he's chosen for some of his cabinet members. The bourbon helps, at least in the short term. How are you and yours feeling about all of this? It's going to affect the world, not just us here on this side of the pond.
ReplyDeleteSandy: I was surprised and horrifited. And yes, it will affect the world and not in a positive way. His selections are also horrifying - as is his demand that the Republicans simply rubber stamp them.
DeleteHi Sandy - we're in for an interesting few years ... and I hope the people all over the world can rise up against authoritarianism and all bullies ... with thoughts - Hilary
DeleteThe whole world feels your pain, Sandy.
DeleteThis is awesome. As someone who has been in the cabinet painting industry for a while, I've seen a lot of words and phrases in people's homes. I've grown a fondness for them. I think these are fun prompts. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteN-Hance of Northern New Jersey. I rarely see words or phrases in people's home. Perhaps that fashion hasn't reached us.
DeleteI don't know I'll ever be all time but that's fine. The prompts are very helpful. Thank you, Alex J. Cavanaugh.
ReplyDeleteMy take on the prompts is here: Fiction: The Honest Obituary Writer
Have a lovely day.
"Words for Wednesday is such a wonderful way to spark creativity and connect with fellow writers. I love how versatile the prompts are, and the community aspect makes it even more special. Thank you for keeping this tradition alive and encouraging us all to keep writing.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy weekend: read my new post
Just dropping by to say that I hope you're taking good care of yourself, staying safe and as well as can be expected.
ReplyDeleteWarm hugs.