Friday 28 August 2015

Trailing and sailing


Within a couple of hours I’ll be heading north, as far as Inverness tonight, and on Saturday, following the crossing of the Pentland Firth, to Stromness in Orkney. I’ll be in the cottage from which the watercolour used as a background to this blog was painted.  Just a detail of it used here, much enlarged – the original barely six inches by three – but such concentration has thrown up an entirely different scene. As I know each of you, concentrating on just three words, will come up with an entirely different piece of writing.
Last week it was Mashie’s speedy ‘Closed doors’ Punch and Judy response which most excited me, and continued to do so each time I read it, so I’ve no hesitation in declaring him the outright winner, but the crime scenes of Pinkbelt and Kai deserve very honourable mentions as do Michael Brown’s toast and celery - nice to begin the day with a giggle.

Next week’s words are: board, elevate, piquant

Entries by midnight Thursday September 3rd , new words and winners posted on Friday 4th


Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir. Serialized fiction is, as always, welcome. All variants and use of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever social media best pleases you and, if you like, remind your friends that we are open to new and returning writers.

27 comments:

  1. Thank you for the honorable mention and congratulations to Mashie. Great piece! Also, really enjoyed Pinkbelt's and Michael's stories. Well done.

    Now to work. Have to figure out how to use these three challenging words in my next installment. ;)

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  2. Ooh thanks from deepest Sicily....

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  3. Thanks for the mention. I enjoyed everybody's stories. Look forward to reading future offerings.

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  4. ‘Your son is dead.’ [Threshold 79]

    A fierce shaft of emotion – horror that he might’ve suffered (but surely Ravenscar’s face would tell me if it’d been that dreadful?); atavistic loss of a status which had elevated me - unwillingly and temporarily – to a plane of maturity (a theory which Ravenscar would be the first to decry) and a shaming but undoubtedly piquant relief at finally severing the link with his big cock, minute-brained progenitor.
    Even so, my voice inadvertently screeching, like chalk on board, ‘How? Why did you let him die?’
    ‘Toad intended branding him. Smothering was kinder.’
    ‘Better dead than with your loathsome brother.’

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    1. This gets more interesting with every instalment, Some gorgeous sentences here!

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  5. Change of focus [142]

    Although a queue of women seeking sex might once have been a teenage dream, their desperation for impregnation had to remove the piquancy of a simple, sun-ripe shag. Pettinger didn’t envy Prince, elevated by birth to blue-blood stud.
    Reassuring, ‘I doubt Vladlina will name or blame a brat on you. For above-board inheritance it need be fathered by Teodor –‘
    ‘Teodor Petzincek?’ Prince further paled, ‘You know him?’
    Tact jousted with a need for privacy. ‘Slightly,’ which was not far from the truth.
    ‘By the Bloody Tower, he had me two weeks ago!’
    Sympathy evaporated. ‘He’s unlikely to’ve impregnated you.’

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    1. Both pieces have verbal stabs at characters as if these people were using your words like stilettos. I wouldn't say swords because it's as if they pierce and twist as only sharp little knives can do. If I could only say I appreciated one, I'd pick CoF[142] but fortunately, I am not so limited. Both have bang up finishing sentences. At about 100 words per, you must be closing in on 15,000 words if you've written all of it here. My word, you are a busy writer!

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    2. agree with Michael here, they are like stilettos, so sharp, so precise and so cleverly used.

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  6. Toast

    On board the shattered Positana, Marianti sucked in the rich vapours of the 2067 Sant Dario, this their last bottle. He raised his glass to the three skeletons around the mandarin table.

    'Come on. You were going to die anyway,' he drawled. 'As am I. It's been a blast.'

    He laughed. The port-hole framed the stump where the gyro-elevator should be.

    'Anyway, shame to waste such liquid piquancy. Proust, Djalienski! Salud, Diego! Cheers, old boy!'

    He let the last fragrant mouthful slip down. 'Exquisite. To orbits, lost and found.'

    The skulls stared back at him.

    'Never mind. A private joke.'

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    1. This gets more chilling with each reading. And cleverer.

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    2. Love the way this plays out - drinking spirits with skeletons. Very clever, indeed. You work terrifically in a venue like this with your ability to infuse such brief pieces with a sense of humor and a chill. I don't know whether to smile or be awed. A little bit of both, I guess.

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    3. this certainly is chilling, bringing great images to mind. Keep it going!

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  7. THE TANNIS ROOT
    “Been up to your old tricks again? Thought you dropped that business a long time ago.”
    Twisting the filigree pendant suspended from a fine chain around her neck made it appear she was casting for a powerful spell. The sharp unpleasant odor of tannis overrode the piquant jalapeño flavor Brandt had been savoring since lunchtime.
    “The board is waiting for your decision.”
    “They’ll wait,” Vienna said, “I can be very persuasive.”
    Elevating from the settee before rising to her feet, convinced him how little need she had for charms. She was ravishing. That in itself would sway five old men.

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    1. Delicious! Definitely delicious, Michael. And sharper than your usual writing too.

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    2. this is crafted so precisely and sharply it's impressive.

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  8. The Immortal 6

    “Samuel. Do you remember the first time you came to me?”

    Memories of old, I thought I had boarded up, came back in a rush. Gunshots, fire, shouting and pain. So much pain. I thought I had forgotten the meaning of that word, but the memories of my first death reminded me all too well.

    I nodded and Death rattled on. “At first, I thought you were like so many others. Arrogant, cruel, an utter waste of life. I was wrong. There was a piquancy about you. Something special. Different. I decided to elevate your station for better observation.”

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    1. Really smooth insertion of the prompt words Kai, and an excellent continuation of Samuel's tale.

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    2. this is proving to be a most interesting serial, looking forward to more.

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    3. I thought this was a terrific piece, and unfortunately I didn't get back here in time to cast a vote on how much I liked it. I see what's happening now and it has me under its spell. This is right up my alley.
      Will try to be more attentive next week.

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  9. Infinity 112.
    Making good progress, so we are, strong winds, full sails, the crew seeming to catch the mood of the moment from their cap’n, for I sense an ending of our problems. Please God I be right. I can’t bear the thing on board a moment longer than I have to. Made Second Mate First Mate, needing to elevate someone to that position. He seemed pleased.
    There be a scent on the wind which turned from nor’nor-east, sort of piquant in a way, making me think of home. Be damned if I like it. Home be far away and gone.

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    1. Yet another demonstration of your ability to use prompts as if they'd been especially gifted to you, and the final twist of the Captain's mood a painful reminder.

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    2. The subjunctive is alive and well in your prose. This is a whole 'nother thing and I love taking it in in bite-size chunks. The tale be a grand thing to be following.

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  10. Congrats to all for last week's great reads. The Captain stopped by tonight so we could keep the serial going, I am out tomorrow night (his usual visiting hours) at a trance evening (wouldn't miss it for the world, always fascinating) and needed to get the instalment written and posted in good time.

    Keep writing, guys, I need my weekly fix of blood and guts!

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    1. A trance evening! I'd give anything to witness that. Hope you had a great time.

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  11. these trance evenings are like gathering with old friends, Leslie Flint, Mickey (Leslie Flint's guide when he was here) Leslie's aunt Nellie, Salvation Army lady, sometimes a fourth but last Thursday it was those three and more confirmation that after 15 years my cardinal (full name given by the guide) has returned to work with me. We laughed and we saw fantastic transfiguration too. There's another on the 17th and then my friend plans on 1 a month. Magic!

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  12. The board of directors’ decision was final. Program 17 was to be cancelled immediately. Nobody questioned their motives – that meant termination in the real sense. But just as a philosophical exercise, Crobin tried to justify their choice.
    ‘They want to elevate the company to a new level and program 17 was holding them back. Now they can focus on extraction – there’s more profit in extraction. Then they get the community back on its feet. Restart the economy. That way, in a few tears there’ll be work for everyone again.’
    ‘A most piquant point of view,’ said his executioner.

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  13. Been away for a bit. Some of you know why. Just a quick revisit now I've got a spare mo.

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