Friday 26 August 2016

Dictionaries of different ages and sizes

Zaiure’s use of ‘sabulous’, and my search for its meaning reminded me of the dictionary game we played in Alabama last month – inventing plausible definitions of words such as ‘shypoo’, ‘megass’ and ’kipsie’. A two volume Oxford dictionary (supplied by Gita) had an abundance of unusual words to play with.

As with words (but even more so this week, so much the standard continues to rise) the choice of winner is a tricky one and I’ve had to declare a tie, between Gita’s ‘Cobalt Blue’ and Patricia’s ‘At a convent in Brittany’, but Antonia and Zaiure, William and Rosie posted almost equally wonderful pieces - all a joy to read. The other strength of this site is the comments, not so much for the praise as acknowledgement that we’ve been read – what every writer craves.

Words for next week  are: alpha, convulse, refulgent

Entries by midnight Thursday 1st September, new words and winners posted on Friday 2nd

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.

53 comments:

  1. Change of focus [196]

    Waiting until the dust had properly settled, and wearing gloves and a mask, DS Ben Brickwood lifted down the first of Edith Edgewater’s secret jars and held it up to the light.
    Impressed, DC Henry Moth exclaimed, ‘Blimey, that golden colour – proper refulgent! D’you suppose, that fishy symbol means it’s bottled Christianity?’
    Ben (who’d learnt to have the OED on speed-dial) convulsed with laughter. ‘No, you gullible ignoramus! It’s an alpha. Greek letter ‘A’. Means the jars are in alphabetical order. I wouldn’t recommend you eat it, anyway –‘
    ‘Not ‘A’ for aphrodisiac, then?’
    ‘More likely the opposite, knowing her!’

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    Replies
    1. episode 196 and still going strong... the Captain will have to keep going to be a match for Change of Focus! Meantime, this is a superb instalment and a very good way of starting the new week of Challenges.

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    2. I loved this installment. Such clever use of the prompt words and the interactive dialogue as stunning as ever. I'm going to have to remember "gullible ignoramus." It could apply to quite a few of my acquaintances.

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    3. Fun, clever dialogue that drives the story along.

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  2. Congratulations Gita and Patricia!
    Sandra, you are so right, it is knowing the words are being read more than anything else. I wish more people would take part in exercises to cut down their writing... one of my usually reliable authors just sent me a 4800 word story which had me bored senseless by the end of page 2 and had a classically bad line in page 4,
    the mobile communication device reached me.
    At that point I decided the story was not worth salvaging. He should be here, learning to write within a strict limit!

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  3. Congrats Gita and Patricia! Definitely love being read and knowing someone finds my ideas interesting. :)

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  4. Well done Gita & Patricia!
    I love the word refulgent...it reminds be of a word invented by Gene Wolfe - "fuligin" - which is a colour darker than black!

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  5. here goes this week's other miracle - the Captain arrived early.
    The first miracle is my selling a very thin very old paperback book on Amazon from the shop floor. We have a couple of hundred books on the shop floor but I went straight to it where it took me three walks round the stock to find the hefty hardback I sold in the week!! OK, that makes 2 miracles, waiting on the third - with luck that will be getting my Fiesta back, I am tired of the courtesy car... (it's been a week... worried about the garage bill...)

    OK, here goes!

    Infinity 162.
    The gale died, as they all do, but not afore it tore the mainsail. More repairs. The Infinity might need a new set ere long. It occurred to me that they would be refulgent; these are tired and soiled. Then the Infinity would be the alpha pirate ship on the high seas, would it not? I mentioned it to First Mate, who convulsed with laughter but then stopped and said, ‘Cap, you be right.’ That be a first, for sure. He not be a giving man, that First Mate. But he’s loyal and a cap’n don’t ask more than that.

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    Replies
    1. Thank goodness for loyalty! And a lovely image of the Infinity sailing bright across the ocean waves.

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    2. Lovely lighthearted tone to this, given the darker installments of late. I have a feeling that Infinity might just be the alpha pirate ship on the high seas regardless of the state its mainsail might be in.

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    3. The Captain is definitely lucky to still have the loyalty of his first mate! Love the idea of refulgent sails.

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  6. Kursaal (Episode Thirty Five) -- "Daisy The Top Dog"

    Governed by Cancer, Daisy was subject to lunar influences. At full phase, as always, she heeded the convulsive baying of her adoptive pack, joining them in the nearby woodlands where even the alpha male deferred to her superiority.

    Beneath refulgent moonbeams, the horde scrabbled at a shallow grave and unearthed the remains of a little girl. She held a posy of wilting bluebells in one hand and clutched a fake rubber nose in the other.

    The shriveled flowers held no allure, but Daisy was very interested in the red ball.

    Tail wagging, she carried it home to her toy box.

    --------------------------------------------------------
    To read the earlier installments (a suggestion only) which led to this point in the tale, please visit:
    http://www.novareinna.com/kursaal.html
    A link to return to "The Prediction" can be found on the site. Thank you.
    ---------------------------------------------------------

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    Replies
    1. Not sure what happened to my earlier comment, but I was struck with the strength of the visuals, as well as horrified by what was going on.

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    2. Love Daisy's strong, clear personality. There's a certain beauty to this, despite the horror at the end - sad but fascinating. Loved the phrase 'beneath refulgent moonbeams, the horde scrabbled'.

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    3. whoo hoo, gory images here and expressed in such a casual, by the way, sort of style. Loved it.

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  7. "Forgive Me, Father"

    The "Alpha to Omega" tour, his most successful yet, drew upon Christ's appellation of "Beginning and End." His inspirational music promised salvation. Personal redemption, however, was elusive.

    After every show, he visited the nearest church...the closest confessional.

    "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."

    Absolution was fleeting, followed by paranoia. His secret would be revealed. Nobody could be trusted.

    The guitar string wound taut around his convulsing fingers, he waited in the shadows for the priest to emerge into the refulgent of the stained glass window.

    Another town. Another man of the cloth dispatched to meet his maker.

    "Forgive me, Father."

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    Replies
    1. Read this three times to take in the slow-dawning horror. I'm currently reading Manda Scott's 'Into the Fire' - you might enjoy that too!

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    2. Very sinister, and a wonderful story in so few words

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    3. On reflection, I think my use of "refulgent" should really be "refulgence." :(

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    4. oh nice one, so cold, so very very cold which makes it even more effective.

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    5. Dark, cold and enthralling. Loved the phrasing and imagery of 'he waited in the shadows for the priest to emerge into the refulgent of the stained glass window'.

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  8. Gostegodd 004

    Aonghasa, captain of the Knave of Dschubba, swung his feet up onto the refulgent instrument panel and leaned,grinning, far over the back of the chair; it seemed his spine would crack.

    Six more orbits at this end-of-run port, and then back home for Alpha Centauri, and then a break before he hired himself and the ship out to Canopus Cruises for a lucrative but mind numbingly dull jaunt around the local galaxy tourist hotspots.

    He waited for the call from Gearraid, almost convulsed with excitement at the amount of money promised for the guns in the hold.

    (100 words excluding title)
    https://jkdavies-dailywritingpractice.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Gostegodd

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    Replies
    1. Yet another luscious episode teaching me that even genres I think I don't like are absorbing when told with panache and style.

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    2. A total gem of a piece. Adore that the ship will be hired out for celestial cruises. Where do I sign up? Nice little image of a far-leaning back captain. I've done that a time or two in my youth and ended up on the floor for my trouble! Seems Aonghasa has a far better sense of balance.

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    3. good SF has interesting characters and a world that seems normal in the writing. This does both and it's way good.

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    4. Loved the names in this piece and the passionate captain. I'm also intrigued by the 'celestial cruises'.

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  9. Vengeance [Threshold 129]

    The force with which he pulled up caused his horse to dance three steps sideways. Flash of new-emergent sun made refulgent nubs and joints of harness and a silver signet ring on the hand nearest to me. A ring I’d never seen before.
    I steered my mare closer to examine its marking. ‘Alpha?’
    ‘Alpha.’ His stark-eyed stare as he quarter-turned echoed the horror in mine. My throat convulsed. ‘You’ve been... commandeered?‘
    ‘Conscripted.’
    ‘For –‘ I knew.
    For their breeding programme. Vetch must’ve passed it on. While I slept.‘
    ‘And –?‘
    ‘No way.‘
    ‘Why?’ A stupid question.
    ‘My progeny are mine.’

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    Replies
    1. How you keep this standard of brilliance going week after week is beyond me. So much to love about this installment apart from the theme. I took a particular fondness to the "new-emergent sun" and "silver signet ring," together with what THAT implies.

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    2. Thanks Patricia. Have to admit I was more than a bit resistant to this twist, but try as I might I couldn't make it go away.

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    3. if a story turns, it turns and you can't force it back onto the other pathway, nor should you, this could be extremely interesting!

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    4. Endlessly intrigued by the clever turns of this story, and the way you smoothly introduce new facets of this world.

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  10. Cripplegate Junction/Part 60-Violet's Vignette

    Violet's library of Mills & Boon romantic novels was extensive. Within each dog-eared page, females were svelte, desirable, with glossy curls and refulgent (Violet needed the dictionary for that) eyes. The males, (each an alpha, of course, although Violet preferred "dreamboat") were tall, handsome, strong and...Violet blushed at the word...virile.

    Violet knew such a man. The Station Master. Tall, handsome, strong and...Violet blushed at the thought...virile. She relished his visits to the Canteen and erupted into convulsive giggles, resulting in embarrassing hiccups, whenever he called her "Liebchen."

    (She couldn't find that in the dictionary but it sounded delightfully amorous.)

    --------------------------------------------------------
    To read the earlier installments (a suggestion only) which led to this point in the tale please visit: http://www.novareinna.com/cripplegate.html
    A link to return to "The Prediction" can be found on the site. Thank you.
    ---------------------------------------------------------

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    Replies
    1. Ooh ... a shift from Ladybird territory. How deliciously ... heart-fluttering. ('Throbbing' a step too far for Violet.) Await the next instalment with bated breath.

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    2. And already this is episode 60!! How time flies.

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    3. To be honest, Sandra, I think I drifted off the Ladybird territory track a while ago. It seemed to slip through my fingers somehow and I lost the essential atmosphere. Hopefully, I can work on its return.

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    4. the repetition here works so well to build the mood - really nicely done!

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    5. A fun look into Violet's favorite pastime. :) Loved the enclosed thoughts about words she had to look up.

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  11. Need [5]

    Reigniting old memories, Arshad eyed Olivare with an unwelcome familiarity that brought both pleasant heat and an uncomfortable tightness to her chest. She bared her teeth, an alpha reminding dominance. When he smiled, lips twisting smugly, Olivare tightened her grip on the unstrung bow, and struck him, hard, across the face.

    Blood sprayed as Arshad convulsed sideways, nearly toppling the chair. His anger flared visibly, but quickly vanished into the controlled refulgence of his gold eyes. “I would have left you alone.”

    “And yet?”

    “The Tantaira have opened the Bore.”

    Olivare hissed, fingers curling unbidden into a ward against evil.

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    Replies
    1. "an alpha reminding dominance" - wonderful phrase, and a superb episode. I've just finished reading Glen Duncan's Werewolf trilogy - if you haven't done so (and can scrape the time from somewhere!) I think you'd enjoy his writing.

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    2. yes, truly wonderful phrase that fits this so well.

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    3. This was a magnificent continuation. Sandra has already zoned in on the outstanding phrase to be found here though, if truth be told, there were many to choose from.

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    4. Thank you everyone! And thanks for the recommendation Sandra. Will add to my read list. :)

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  12. Choir practice

    ‘Alpha, beta, gamma, delta
    lift her skirt, she’ll know I’ve felt ’er
    Epsilon, zeta, eta. theta –‘

    ‘Say that again, I’ll certainly beat yer!’ I wasn‘t joking.
    Although, at the sight of their intent little faces, convulsed and scarlet from a blend of guilt, daring and fear of demonstrating ignorance, it was hard to maintain sternness. Especially given the contrasting snow-white purity of their ruff-necked choir-boy garb, their well-scrubbed faces, naked necks and damped-down hair.

    As I examined them, sun burst through high stained-glass windows, rendering them rainbow and refulgent.

    No, I wasn‘t joking. But so hard to choose.

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    Replies
    1. one of those 'shock' last lines again, saying everything without saying it. Takes talent to do that.

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    2. Thanks, Antonia - I'm trying to learn from Patricia.

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    3. Yeah...like I could teach you anything when it comes to the art of writing, Sandra!

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    4. I love little scenarios where it is left to the imagination as to what might transpire next. This is an outstanding example. "But so hard to choose"...how ominous is that? There are so many innocent images here that you can't help but let your mind wander over to the dark side with this protagonist's pondering. The timing of this piece is impeccable.

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    5. Patricia said it well - love when a piece says just enough to create a scene, but allows the reader's own imagination to fill in what's left unsaid. Loved the vivid imagery of 'As I examined them, sun burst through high stained-glass windows, rendering them rainbow and refulgent.'

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  13. I finally remembered to continue Rosebud #37.

    The Adventures of Rosebud, Pirate Princess #40
    An Enemy of a Friend is an Enemy


    Natasha spun in place, rising to the treetops just as the packet boat convulsed with the recoil of its tiny, but still painful, cannons. The refulgent constellations continued to spotlight our royal blue flag as the packet valiantly failed to capture us. The alpha tribe of this region gives excellent rewards for captured pirates and their ships - and never sends a ransom note.

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    1. There's something particularly appealing in 'valiantly failed', and the final line is lovely - and in good time tonight!

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    2. As always, the unique quality of your voice makes this piece stand out. Nice use of the prompt words...almost invisible, which always bodes of excellence.

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    3. Loved the imagery of 'refulgent constellations continued to spotlight our royal blue flag'. An action-packed, vivid scene.

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