As I said last week, sometimes it’s just a choice of
words, and I’m sure it will come as no surprise that John’s ‘Proxy doxy’ in his
‘The Dalliance’ propelled him into first place.
Thank you one and all for a feast of richness this week.
Words for next
week: caustic erase scroll
Entries by
midnight Thursday 15th February winners and words
posted 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 you prefer.
Job Description
ReplyDeleteFake news.
The work of the devil.
My job is to ensure what is reported conforms to the correct world view. I scroll down the texts, highlighting every caustic remark. I accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. I erase and the replace uncomfortable words and opinions. I rectify and airbrush photographs depicting alternative facts.
I compile reports on journalists and bloggers who deviate from the accepted construction of official versions. I recommend either re-education or elimination.
The truth is not out there. Do not go searching for fakery. I prepare and present it. No deviation. Accept.
This fake news guy stays pretty busy. It's a tough job promoting ones agenda. A great story of current issues and chilling possibilities.
DeleteSci-fi (perhaps) with a touch of reality? I like it.
Deletenewspeak - we were discussing this lunch time, how Orwell was scorned for his 'visionary' book. We got there, didn't we? This clever short piece encapsulates all we were talking about.
DeleteI read this soon after you posted. Thought it the definitive use of the prompt words and very clever. So I didn't read anyone else's (until I'd done mine) for fear of being further intimidated. Well done David.
DeleteMarvellous shades of "1984." Love the matter-of-fact delivery and magnificent employment of the prompt words.
DeleteGreat, David! A very original approach! Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteVERY nicely done, John. There really was no beating "proxy doxy." Many congratulations.
ReplyDeletecongrats, John, you're writing powerful stuff these days.
DeleteModus Operandi
ReplyDeleteTattoos. Numerous reasons for getting them. Just as many for removal. Erasure presents a problem. Many techniques (such as the chemical approach) often result in caustic scarring. Puckered. Discoloured. Undesirable to the psyche as the embellishment itself. Epic fail in terms of obliteration.
My method is vastly superior. Rather than eradicate, I elaborate. Proficient with a scrollsaw, I transform the distasteful into the delightful. The base into the beautiful. Looping. Curving. Spiraling. The original, once healed, now unrecognizable.
I collect no fee for my services until after the procedure is complete.
Assuming the client survives.
I like this tattoo remover's MO. Seems pretty effective to me. You seem pretty knowledgeable about tattooing and the removal of such...are you sporting a little ink?
Deletejut LOVE that last line!
DeleteOh - a scroll saw!! Wonderful procedure, beautifully written and a knockout last line.
DeleteNo tattoos personally, John. However, my grandfather had a fascinating one on his back....a ship which appeared to be sinking when he contracted his shoulder blades. I've always thought about getting "inked" but could never decide upon a definitive design.
DeleteTHE CLOUD J.E. Deegan
ReplyDeleteA warming sun looked down as I,
Scrolled my eyes across the sky.
Up there a broad and boundless blue,
Erased the clouds that spoil the view.
Feeling pleased, I walked a trail,
Meandering through a wooded dale.
The friendly sun had brought to light,
Myriad flowers, gloriously bright.
But suddenly the sun turned grim,
Its light grew dusky, dark and dim.
I looked aloft upon a cloud,
Suspended like a somber shroud.
The cloud was huge and very black,
I stared at it and it stared back.
“Why,” asked I, “despoil this spot?”
The caustic cloud replied, “Why not?”
A beauty J.E.
DeleteThis read so effortlessly. It seems you're no stranger to poetry.
it flows well, with a moral for us all, no matter what we do, someone will always come along and spoil it...
DeleteLove the idea of a cloud staring back, and the near completeness of this.
DeleteAlways delighted to see a poetic contribution to this forum, especially one which flows as elegantly as this does. The idea of an contrary cloud is most enjoyable. I can almost see the puffing out of cheeks and snooty upturned nose.
DeleteNo Place Like Home
ReplyDeleteThe Viewer scrolls from porthole to porthole. An impassive search. No personal loss or gain to be had from its findings. Just as well since nothing important is observed.
The Navigator erases current coordinates. It has limited data to plot a new direction but does its best. No personal regret at a changed course. Final destination is of little consequence.
The Sentinel reverses preset programming. The aperture hisses a caustic protest at being resealed but there is no personal disappointment. Mission accomplished, it suspends procedures until called upon to reactivate again.
And within the pressurized chamber, uninterrupted slumber continues.
This is so interesting. I picture some entity viewing the chambers leisurely, without hurry. I wonder if the viewer, the navigator and the sentinel are the same entity or if there is a team of them. It seems the slumbering beings are on an infinite course to nowhere. Very well done, Patricia.
Deletea story open to many interpretations, the best kind.
DeleteChillingly impersonal. Thoroughly enjoyable.
DeleteDefective Imaging
ReplyDeleteHer touch, pleasing but caustic on my skin remained and my mind scrolled through scenario after scenario. It seemed she’d been erased from actuality.
But not from my memory.
Nothing added up. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Was she dead? Did she ever exist? Could I get her back?
The questions reeled through my mind like a slide show out of control. I pictured her sensuous movement and beckoning fingers.
Until the lights went out.
I wanted her back but was relieved she was gone. Never again would I get involved with a hologram during a thunder storm.
oh, brilliant!
DeleteOh - what a knockout final line. So fitting for what came before.
DeleteImpressive! The ending is perfect!
DeleteNow that was one "kick in the gut" ending. I did not see THAT coming...although I don't know why that should surprise me, given the source!!! As always, such a unique way to include the prompts within the fabric of a fascinating story.
DeleteAgenda
ReplyDeleteMiss Saunders left Felicity in charge for a few minutes. It was an unpopular choice. The other kids didn't like Felicity and she didn't like them. The door had barely closed before they hurled scathing remarks and caustic slurs in her direction.
She noted the offenders on WordPad. The list grew exponentially. No surprise there and Miss Saunders would not be pleased with the miscreants. Felicity considered if she really wanted to add "snitch" to her already wretched repertoire. It would only alienate her further.
Scrolling meticulously, she deleted names...erased from the screen until the classroom was empty.
That's some WordPad... how handy that would be. I liked how the prompt words finally appeared at the end. Great story.
DeleteGreat sentence structure pulled me very comfortably through this tale. How nice to understand and enjoy without having to work. Well done!
DeleteI can go with that, debate after debate on the writers site (now closed down) saying we should put words in that challenge the reader, to send them to the dictionary. They're more likely to ditch the book. We read for pleasure, surely.
DeleteThis little story is one to read for pleasure.
Goodness Patricia - you really are on a roll this week, aren't you? I can think of places where that particular model of WordPad would be very useful.
DeleteIf I could get as many ideas (whether good or not) for my two serializations this week as I seem to be getting for any stand-alones, I might be in relatively good shape!!!
ReplyDeleteI like your stand-alones.
ReplyDeleteAaawwwww. Thank you. :)
DeleteCripplegate Junction/Part 132 - Action Stations
ReplyDeleteSmoke belched from the engine's chimney. Poppy choked on caustic fumes, crimson-faced with streaming eyes. When the dense fog cleared, the aged lavender figure no longer tip-tapped along the platform, apparently erased from existence by the billows.
The disappearance wasn't particularly bothersome. Many Cripplegate inhabitants had vanished lately. She hadn't seen the Conductor or the Station Master in ages. Far more disturbing was the missing Marmalade. Poppy scrolled through her memory, trying to recollect the last time she'd seen him. It was an elusive search, much like the feline himself.
Perhaps if she opened a tempting tin of Kit-E-Kat...?
--------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------
Kit-E-Kat? probably not. My two turn their noses up at anything which isn't Felix...
DeleteSo, just where are these missing characters hiding, and where is Marmalade getting his daily ration of food? I sense mysteries galore.
This'll cause some bother and no mistake!
DeleteJudgement day
ReplyDeleteAs with every man she’d ever slept with he, naked and post orgasm, was vulnerable. It was for the contrast of their daily professional selves she’d begun to go for uniforms; authority erased along with their removal. Worked her way from constable to chief commander, from acned rating to admiral. In order of ascendancy.
This man – body in better nick than anticipated, ditto his performance – did not quite come into this category, but the contrast between last night’s pleading for mercy (having forgotten the stop word) and the scroll-bewigged high court judge, caustically berating her character too delicious to forgo.
lots of undertones here that make it an intriguing entry. Like this a lot.
DeleteAh...the confessions of a dominatrix methinks? I had to chuckle as the body being "in better nick than anticipated" and then again at "ditto his performance." You certainly have a way with words, Ms. Davies.
DeleteChange of focus [268]
ReplyDeleteAdding water to caustic soda produces heat.
No water in this dingy, breeze-block room beyond that in glasses set on a table surface-scarred by a decade or more of scratches and graffiti, only partly erased by the application of industrial-quality paint.
And Pettinger’s boss’s caustic scouring of Pettinger’s moral probity caused heat enough. Just as well it was sex he’d heard about, not incest.
Nevertheless, John Pettinger could not help but mourn, mind scrolling back to that first coming together; her green eyes matching his in ecstasy, despite cistern constriction and urine-streaked floor.
And also she’d been family: his aunt.
Oh, family secrets being explored... with what consequences?
DeleteIntrigue after intrigue when it comes to Pettinger. It's a great talent how you are able to breathe life into this character week after week and continue to delivery the surprises.
DeleteThe System
ReplyDeleteJerry Gaither
His tone was caustic. She could almost feel the Teacher’s words burning into her. She had grown used to him always being so critical, so cold. She looked down at the scroll in her hand. The System had taken her after her parents were gone. The System had erased her memories. They had trained her to cling to nothing. To be cold. Merciless.
In this scroll lay all the secrets of her past. With one look she could unlock the void within her and see what they had taken. See who she really was.
To finally know her real name.
Chilling and foreboding methinks.
Deletea stark comment on what may come, for it seems as if we are heading in that direction.
DeleteAs Sandra commented, a most foreboding piece. Is this the beginning of a journey for the protagonist? I'd really like to know more. This would make for a magnificent serialization.
DeleteI'm just over half way through an editing job sent in by someone we call the Comma Queen, he uses that many... so the creative side is stifled at the moment. Leonardo has been waiting impatiently, so here is his contribution at least! Oh and I fell heavily last night here in my office, wouldn't have been too much of a problem if a metal office chair hadn't broken my fall...
ReplyDeleteThe Mad Italian 42.
42.
It’s hard to understand why your MPs think spending time on caustic comments about the opposing party – their leader or otherwise – is of benefit to the nation as a whole. Sometimes they seek to erase their words but fail, because your world is one of paranoia and suspicions. Watch anyone scrolling through their messages and see how many are incidental if not downright unnecessary. Reputations made and broken by the wrong words sent out at the wrong time. It is called one-upmanship and is played by every one of them to the detriment of those they are supposed to serve.
Words as weapons ... and sorry to hear about your fall. Antonia. Hope not too much bruising.
DeleteInteresting picture...that of Leonardo watching the modern populace scrolling through messages. I can see him shaking his head and rolling his eyes. As always, there is so much truth in his observations. And sorry to see you fell, Antonia. Not too much damage done, I hope?
DeleteA woman’s work ... [Threshold 197]
ReplyDeleteLightning momentarily erased the gloom of the room; thunder obliterating the hiss of his pissing. Providing a shoulder for him to lean on I gazed across the chequered floor – caustic would remove Raven’s scarlet bloodspots as well as the spinach green of Lant’s expectorations; the scrolled and curlicued feet supporting the bath would need a brush to remove the grime.
He finished.
‘Back to bed?’ The sheets would benefit from changing.
‘Only if you come too.’
How speedily and easily did I ditch housewifery for whore (not that I wanted payment).
In similar amount of time he fell feverishly asleep.
Leaves me wondering if that trip to the bedroom was fruitful or if sleep overtook prior to consummation. Perhaps it's better to wonder. I love the eager abandonment of "housewifery" for more pleasurable pursuits. This serialization never fails to deliver.
DeleteGreat opening - gloom - room, hiss - pissing. Pulled me eagerly into the rest of the story.
DeleteKursaal (Episode One Hundred Seven) - "The Course Of True Love?"
ReplyDeleteKeaton Harrier taught Gawain, her prized raptor, a new maneuver. She invited management and staff to a private demonstration.
Donning her best elk gauntlet embossed with medieval scrollwork that matched Gawain's jess, the falconer placed a ruby rose into the hooked beak and the bird took flight, winging toward the intended target as though everything else in its path were erased.
A diminutive figure extended his hand (the one missing two fingers) and caught the flower. He blew a kiss at Keaton. The gesture was returned.
From the stands, members of the Scorned Sisterhood gave a caustic hiss of indignation.
---------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Keaton Harrier, Gawain and the Scorned Sisterhood have all featured in previous episodes.
The Adventures of Rosebud, Pirate Princess #116
ReplyDeleteWarning: Your World Will Burn
I got Teddy’s letter last night, an hour out from the castle. Luckily Georgiana and Cleopatra are getting along. I need their help mixing up something caustic for that forest fire. Teddy and Elle were friends with me and Cecily before their parents went to This Land. I wish Cecily were here. She’d be delighted to erase those people from existence. Oh well. I guess I’ll make do with one of Cleopatra’s threat-scrolls and that fire. It doesn’t really matter as long as Elle is safe.