Friday 16 September 2016

Reward and challenges

Last week began with a mingling with four hundred fellow writers (and, for me, a lovely validation by one professional and a much-needed pointing out where I was going wrong by another) only to be upended by the vituperation surrounding Lionel Shriver’s speech in Melbourne warning of  the challenge to fiction writers posed by those brandishing the ‘cultural appropriation’ banner.
So good to come here and see the eagerness and skill with which we face the weekly challenge. Patricia managed to quell her doubts and produce three excellent pieces, Jk’s vengeance was a powerfully-written gut-kick and Antonia’s Captain awaits his new sails.
Rosie has yet to face the challenge of commenting, but I have no hesitation in declaring ‘A Poor Choice of Cargo’ this week’s winner.

Words for next week  are: chafe French voyage

Entries by midnight Thursday 22nd September, new words and winners posted Friday 23rd

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. Serialised 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.


49 comments:

  1. Such evil thoughts [Threshold 132]

    Irish wolfhound she might be, but as fickle as a Frenchwoman when it came to loyalty, switching her affection to Ravenscar at first sight. He, half-laughing, lust mutinied and fled, like luck on the Titanic’s maiden voyage, helped me to my feet and, eyes guilt-shifty, regarded me as I chafed my arm where it had scraped against a tree.
    ‘Doesn’t know her own strength.’
    Frustrated, angry, catching sight of his ring, I muttered ‘Since you’re so determined not to have me, to stop the Alpha Breeding Scheme hounding you,‘ (inward grin at unintended pun) ‘perhaps you should breed with Cathra.’

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    Replies
    1. oh, love 'guilt-shifty'! another Sandra classic. Says everything. Great instalment.

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    2. Powerful as always. I love the idea of luck fleeing from the Titanic's maiden voyage. How perfect of an analogy is that? Magnificent installment...but then I expect nothing less!

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    3. Alas have to get back to work in a minute so short appraisals this week.
      My Favourite line "Lust Mutinied Fled", The final line caused me to inhale my Earl grey.

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    4. Ain't nothin' but a hound dog. Humor aside, the emotions in these episodes are so raw that they're sometimes painful to read, and no exception here.

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  2. Change of focus [200]

    But, Valdeta.
    Despite all attempts to prevent her lingering, in heart, in head, in loins – such as bedding a dozen French students during the Mediterranean voyage home (a last-minute decision, thanks to the offer of a temporary job) – she had chafed a groove around his heart. He could not begin to imagine how she came to be in Cherriman’s grasp.
    Nor knew where to begin in asking Aleks, who took the decision out of his hands.
    ‘She said I was not to tell you. Said he did not mean it. Said she didn’t want to see you. But she lied.’

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    Replies
    1. and this one's classic, too, I had a job to find the prompts!

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    2. This one is an imagination tickler. So many things left unsaid. Will we be fortunate enough to get answers? I hope so, but then again, it never hurts to be left hanging in such circumstances. Only makes you eager for more.

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    3. "Chafed a groove around his heart" not just words I can feel that pain.

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  3. Congratulations to Rosie for a fine win. I sometimes wish she would add a few comments to the other entries so we could get a sense of who this fine author might be and get to know her a little better.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I will attempt to comment next week, I've run out of time for this one.

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  4. Kursaal (Episode Thirty Eight) -- "Frenchie"

    Frenchie, so called due to her surname and no association to the country, operated one of the park's souvenir booths, each offering unique wares. Frenchie sold personalized tee-shirts of finest pima cotton. No inferior synthetic to chafe the skin or quickly lose its shape for Frenchie!

    She took photographs with an antique box camera in her family for decades. She was proud of the sharp images created on the finished product.

    Frenchie believed each picture also captured a sliver of the soul.

    She stored her collection in an ivory and lapis lockbox purchased during a voyage to the Venetian Lagoon.


    --------------------------------------------------------
    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. Frenchie is intriguing, what else is in the box, and why?

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    2. What an intriguing, multi-faceted character. Prompts so smoothly hidden I forgot I ought to be checking them. I'm hoping she'll make more appearances.

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    3. So much shaded tones of darkness in this, loved it.

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    4. Accumulate enough slivers in the lockbox and she'll have an entire soul, of something? Perhaps she intends to trade in her collection for something even more valuable, once it's done...

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  5. For Antonia and Rosie: via FB I've learnt that today(Monday 19th) is 'Talk like a pirate day' ... am now awaiting the Detective one. :-)

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  6. Tempus Fugit

    I think of things I intended to accomplish.
    Learn a foreign language. French or Russian, perhaps. Finish "Voyage Of The Dawn Treader," started years ago. Watch "Gone With The Wind."
    Too late now.
    My usually accurate internal clock indicates 60 minutes remain. So, I'm surprised to find myself no longer alone. I chafe my hands, upper arms. Skin cold. Clammy.
    "You're early," I say.
    "Not yet 8 o'clock," I say.
    And then realize it is daylight savings time.
    Spring forward...fall back.
    "Any last requests?"
    I shake my head. Only entitled to my lost hour.
    They are unable to give me that.

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    Replies
    1. How very clever and twisted = a high-calibre response indeed.

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    2. I felt a pressure at my neck as I read this. A very tragic tale, delicately told

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    3. Ouch. That's one advantage to the traditional "at dawn", I suppose. I'm not sure if, knowing the inevitability, I'd want sooner or later. Hopefully not a decision ever to be considered.

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  7. Infinity 165
    I be anxious to be under way, chafing at the delays, I wants to sail past the Indees and beyond and see what loot we can liberate for ourselves. I wants a long voyage, away from people, especially thems as chatters on in French. The island where we docked for supplies has all we need but so slow in loading I wants to go kick people to make them move. We’re loading sacks, how difficult is it to move a bit faster when it’s only sacks? Damnation, if that were my crew they’d be shorebound in a heartbeat.

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    Replies
    1. The Captain is tetchy once again _ I can picture him pacing and muttering. Excellent episode.

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    2. Uh-oh. The Cap'n be running out of patience. And that's never good for anybody. What a fine character study this personage is. Thank you for such complexity, Antonia. 165 installments. The mind (as they say) boggles!

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    3. I share the Captain's Ire this week. as Patricia said a fine Character Study.

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    4. I imagine that if the Captain is impatient he's not likely to be tapping his foot and making repeated glances at his watch, more inclined towards applying a belaying pin where it will do the most good...

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  8. congratulations, Rosie, do write something for us so we know a little about you!
    Thanks, Sandra, good job I didn't try that in the shop...

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  9. Cripplegate Junction/Part 63-The Cook, The Cat And The Dining Car

    Marmalade often visited the Dining Car, playing cat and mouse with the Head Cook, an irascible curmudgeon who loathed moggies and supervised everything from preparation of French Toast for breakfast to Black Forest Gateaux for special occasions.

    The Dining Car presented a challenging voyage to Marmalade, demanding a skillful cunning necessary for navigation of the carriage while avoiding detection. The feline had perfected such talent. It was a personal triumph.

    Marmalade's afternoons invariably ended atop a tall utensil cupboard. Hidden from sight, curling nose to base of tail, he catnapped in a chafing dish engraved: "Property of the Orient Express."

    --------------------------------------------------------
    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. "irascible curmudgeon" - wonderful! And, oh! - a chafing dish - a word I'd long forgot. Thank you.

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    2. Minded me of the house cat (Rambo) we had when we ran a hotel. He would often find a high place to observe and take advantage. Wonderful study.

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    3. "cat and mouse", hmm. Are cats always playing games with us? Apparently so...

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  10. *Finally* finished something before the deadline...

    Daddy Knows Best

    "Goddam French restaurant? Whaddya eatin', them craps?"

    A tiny, pained smile lifted the corner of his mouth, just visible underneath the bandages. "They're called crepes."

    "Don't matter. You shouldn'a gone without Lorenzo." The meat mountain standing to the side slowly nodded his head, either in agreement or simple recognition of his name.

    Emilio was obviously chafing under the constant watch of his father, and father's soldiers, but rebelling might get him killed. "Doc says you'll be out of here in a couple days. Then I think it's time for a voyage. Sicily is beautiful in the spring, you know."

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    Replies
    1. This reads like an excerpt from a novel I want to read the rest of - what came before and what happens next. As ever, good to see you here, Bill.

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    2. How wonderful to see you return and with that unique slant to your writing still intact, no less. Voyage to Sicily, huh? Think I'll stowaway in the luggage. Nicely done with an abundance of atmosphere.

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    3. Agree with Sandra, a bigger story to be told, but your skill as writer demonstrated in this short form.

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  11. The Adventures of Rosebud, Pirate Princess #43
    Toll Collecting


    Crack! The mainstay parted just as we hit a huge gust of wind, spinning Natasha like a top and nearly sending us tumbling onto the forest below. Our brand new no-chafe blocks ought to have been labelled extra-chafe blocks apparently. Maybe they were, my French has never been stellar. I hate emergency repairs, they always cause more problems later. We’ve only been out for two weeks and already we’ve had to stop in once this voyage. We can’t go home without all the monthly protection payments, so it’s back to France as soon as the wind shifts.

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    Replies
    1. An intriguing instalment, I always look forward to rosebud episodes.

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    2. This moved along very nicely and the prompt words inserted so very smoothly. As always, a unique piece of writing.

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    3. You have the happy knack of writing scenes which set my imagination flying, buzzing round the ceiling, with an overdose of potential images. lovely stuff.

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  12. Bleep Bleep Work and all that. I'd rather submit late this week, than not do it at all.

    Family Ties

    I’ve always been aware of my French ancestry, with a surname like mine, it’s obvious.
    They appeared to travel back and forth across the channel often, which is interesting considering how lowly my family were back in the seventeenth century. One voyage in particular always troubles me, four of my family drowned when the ship they were on was wrecked. They were farm labourers hard working folk. Funny how the slightest manual labour causes my hands to chafe, blister and crack. That was 300 odd years ago, so why do they always stand at the foot of bed every night.

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    1. Well, that ending was a kicker. You lulled me into a false sense of security with that historical rendering, William. There I was, thinking "what an interesting ancestral tale" and then....suffice to say it was a magnificent reveal.

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    2. Can only echo Patricia's words - so strong the history and how hard to contemplate the final line.

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    3. Might indeed say that one voyage in particular always haunts...

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