Present perfect, future more challenging!

‘Present’ being the birthday gift from my husband – the Shorter OED – praises for which he had heard me extolling ever since July; you can be sure 2017 promises more interesting words.

Not that I’m complaining about the lack of interest this week, or even this year! And once again I have a triplet of winners in Kai for Hopeless, which made me laugh, Antonia for Reminiscences of  a serial killer, which made me squirm and William for the optimism of his A Fresh Beginning.

I thank you all for your participation in Prediction and wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful 2017

Words for next week:  beast exacerbate form

and, for those who’d otherwise suffer withdrawal symptoms in the second week:
lode, obliterate, pass

Entries by midnight Thursday 5th January, new words posted on Friday 6th

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.

Late year, long nights, big moons

I’ve one of those unimaginable birthdays coming up next week, which perhaps explains why I’ve been on a Mary Wesley bender, re-reading one novel after another of hers which I so much enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s, revisiting in a small way, a section of my past.

Thank you for your understanding of my dilemma last week! I have tried harder this week to rank them in some order. Each week the criteria shift a little, by process more of osmosis than logic, and this week I found the delivery of initially everyday scenarios which suddenly snap sharp teeth hit the winning spot. Jeffrey’s ‘Two nights before Christmas’, Antonia’s ‘Clean-up Brigade’, and Kai’s ‘Breaking Point all came into this category, but for me Patricia’s ‘A rare breed’ took the top spot.

Words for next week:  miracle spoon still

Entries by midnight Thursday 22nd December, new words posted on 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.

False position, too finely balanced

I don’t know how the live traffic feed at the RH side of this (inherited along with the site) works but it has me flitting between Coventry, Wolverhampton and Launceston, down in Cornwall, all 100 miles or more from my actual location. None of which, thank goodness, prevented a richness of entries this week from newcomer Jeffrey’s heavenly description to RR Kovar - the previous host of The Prediction. And we have had Patricia’s very successful first poem, despite having claimed for months she wouldn’t know where to start. (It’s my belief that good writers are naturally poetic), Zaiure’s suggestion of a new serial, Bill launching into the future, Antonia bamboozling us with pirate logic, complemented by Rosie’s alternative view, and Kai coming over nasty with a sliver of steel.

So, who to choose? Which of these do I like – admire, enjoy – enough of a fraction above the others to declare it winner? And the truth is, this week, I simply cannot say, therefore I have to declare you all winners, for your writing, but would give Antonia and Patricia extra praise for their consistency in commenting. Thank you all.

Words for next week:  paper queue yawn

Entries by midnight Thursday 15th December, new words posted on Friday 16th

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.

December dawns dark

I spent much of this week dovetailing actions, lies and misdirections to fit around a murder. At one point I had murderer and body-to-be standing side by side, contemplating the [beautifully-described] view from a second-floor flat. Then I checked and found the sun would long have set and it would be pitch dark.

And what a week of dark offerings it has been here! Kai’s welcome  return plunged me straight into nightmare, closely followed by Patricia touching on amnesia and  Jeff’s  non-meeting of minds. I touched on the perils of prostitution and William the collapse of a good guy and Bill the aftermath of indoctrination. Only Rosie’s was imbued with innocence. But, as so often, Zaiure’s light touch of fantasy floated her piece to the top. Thank you all for your participation, both posts and comments.

Words for next week:  live inappropriate target

Entries by midnight Thursday 8th December, new words posted on Friday 9th

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.