Friday 4 May 2018

By the pricking of my thumbs ...


... and because it was me supplied the wherewithal to deliver, I’ve only myself to blame for the fact that choosing one from this week’s imaginative deployment of syringes and celery is going to be difficult in the extreme, because without exception every one of them delivered a unique and entertaining enjoyment and deserved to be named ‘winner’. Nevertheless, I am sure you’ll agree Joe’s ‘A Killer Princess’ well merits a top place this week. (Do check out the last-minute entries of Bill and Rosie Owens). 
As ever, too, thank you for commenting – it’s what keeps us coming back for more.

Words for next week: orphan record tongue

Entries by midnight Thursday 10th May winners* and words posted Friday 11th
* words for sure, winners might be delayed

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.

95 comments:

  1. Orphan

    "Just for the record, this was your idea."

    I looked at Orphan and bit my tongue. Orphan was my, for lack of a better word, companion. A state of the art android. Looks so human you could never tell the difference. I'm sort of a "everything-phobe" and tended to keep myself isolated in my family home.

    Orphan was my way to go out into and interact with the world without leaving my house. I could see through her eyes and live through her.

    Until Orphan ended up trapped in an alley with a rapist.

    What Orphan did to that rapist...

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    1. Ow. Now I know why I avoid reading other's posts until I've done my own. This has it all: intriguing protagonist, gorgeous writing and masterful kick in the tail.

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    2. I really like this RJ. Each line is executed into well-honed, sentences that reveal so much: And what a clever hook to finish with.

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    3. This is so original, and great use of the prompts. Well done.

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    4. clever story making images we can identify with all the way through.

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    5. A very interesting idea, RJ, and you skillfully developed it into a splendid story. Nicely done!

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    6. I'll add to the well deserved accolades for this story, RJ. This is one you read and say to yourself, hmm, this is really good, not just good, but great. Well done.

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    7. What an imagination to have come up with this. Magnificently done and I love the crafted visuals.

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  2. The Secret Armadillo Soldier (SAS) Diaries - Entry 3 – Change of Plan

    Off record missions were always Armi’s tasks because he was expendable; but he didn’t give a squirrels nut-sack. He always had a plan.
    Detouring through rat-bottom gully, he stashed the outlawed powder and returned to the trail, but nothing could hide the whiff of high-grade stalk clinging to the rucksack.
    Adjusting his S.A.S tool belt, he donned the feather boa and slipped the crown onto his tail. He left the rucksack hanging on a buddleia bush: A few slacked-tongued, narcotically challenged, butterflies wouldn’t raise suspicion.
    He smiled, wickedly, then, like an orphan in the dark, he vanished into the undergrowth.

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    Replies
    1. Is it wrong to be in love with this story? Oh well, as fate wills it. Good work

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    2. intriguing is the word best to describe this one, keep it going!

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    3. "slacked-tongued, narcotically challenged, butterflies" - just one example of your lovely phrasing, Terri. Am much enjoying this.

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    4. Love Armi. Wonderful use of the prompts. Your descriptive words are just wonderful.

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    5. Very enjoyable, Terrie. I liked how Armi always draws the off-record assignments.

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    6. Squirrel's nut sack...gotta love it, Terri. You always come up with splendid images. Nicely done!

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    7. So glad the "adventures of Armi" are continuing. Such an intriguing little character. I look forward to much more.

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  3. Many congratulations on your fine win, Joe. It's always a magnificent accomplishment to take top honours among such a talented group. Well deserved!!!!!

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    1. Thank you so much. I am honored to be recognized in a group of such wonderful writers. For once in my life, I am speechless.

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    2. well worth the top spot, Joe, congratulations!

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  4. Bad Blood

    The Sprague orphans stood before the bound woman. One of them ran the toe of his boot through the pooling blood and kicked at her severed tongue.

    “Let the record show,” said the oldest boy to a sparse crowd. “As of today, the Sprague’s are no longer motherless.”

    The woman, tears flowing, pleaded with her eyes as the youngest boy drove a rusted stiletto into her throat. The crowd gasped and a bedraggled girl yelped in pleasure. They all watched until the woman stopped twitching.

    “I stand corrected,” the oldest boy said.

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    1. How do you get what feel a like so much into so few words? Masterful.

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    2. As RJ says, so few lines...but so much action and imagery contained within. Skilfully done John.

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    3. savage story with an even more savage kick at the end. Good one, John!

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    4. Gaggingly horrible - well done John!

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    5. Well done, John. You set the scene so well that I felt part of the gasping crowd.

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    6. Wow! What a brutal, gut-wrenching tale, John. Contains a series of marvelous, well-crafted images. Beautiful writing.

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    7. What a killer last line and delivered with an ice-cold observation. One of my favourite images is the "bedraggled girl" who "yelped in pleasure." Reminded me of the accounts related to those who used to flock to public executions and make a day of it...and not that long ago either.

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  5. Peace Out

    Domineering women plagued Joseph's life. Murder of an overbearing wife by a browbeaten husband and the ensuing suicidal aftermath left Joseph an orphan at sixteen.

    He managed to survive a dozen or more pathetic relationships but poor choices resulted in partners whose complaining and constant carping were like a broken record. It drove him to extreme measures.

    In the psychiatric hospital, Joseph hoped to finally know serenity...if only those damn tongues that emerged from the ceiling every night would stop wagging.

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    1. This is a cold look at those with mental issues brought on by today's often uncaring world.

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    2. A life of never-ending nightmare for poor Joseph, that final image disturbing in the extreme.

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    3. That ending though. That gets me. Well written

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    4. Patricia, that was awesome. With only a few words you encompass a life of misery and mental illness. Great writing.

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    5. Wow, Joseph is really going through it. Being browbeaten seems to run in the family... or likely, the perception of being browbeaten.

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  6. Hush-Hush

    The preferred post was ministering to the abandoned newborns, but employment terms dictated periodic orphanage rotation. Everyone dreaded transfer to the problematic juvenile division. None more than Winnie. Teenage residents were such undesirables. Disruptive, antagonistic and worse of all (in Winnie's opinion) mouthy.

    Winnie recorded every instance of verbal abuse but authorities simply shrugged and told her to get on with it, which she did.

    When clandestine training (paid out of Winnie's own pocket) resulted in her eventual competence, Winnie happily delivered offending articles into the hands of the ruffians, confident they would now hold their tongues.

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    Replies
    1. and here's someone fighting back against that cold world!

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    2. You are supreme at delivering matter-of-fact then spicing it with a final kick of nastiness.

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    3. Nicely constructed. A,good, unsettling ending that pulls you in and begs for more.

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    4. There's more than one way to get results. Winnie's methods are interesting and I'm dying to know what the offending articles are.

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    5. Hmmm...didn't intend for it to be that obscure. Think about what they're probably holding and (hopefully) bingo...!!!

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  7. Red on white [Threshold 208]

    My tongue but inches from the scarlet blood-bead on my fingertip, it seemed simplest to remove it with a lick, before assisting the half-in, half-out of bed Raven but the visceral horror of his warning stayed me. Awkwardly I rummaged with the wrong hand for a tissue; the sole one left in the packet grey-fluffed and grubby as an orphan (but germ-free not at issue here). I blotted and refolded twice before taking it to the bathroom, flushing it then thoroughly washing my hands.

    Returning, wrenching Raven’s now sweat-slippy body onto the bed, ‘For the record, who’s Carlotta?’
    ‘My widow.’

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    Replies
    1. these descriptions almost merit a 'yuk'. They fit so well into the Threshold saga.

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    2. Wonderful descriptions. Your writing amazes me, makes me shake my head in wonder at how well you set a scene.

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    3. Thank you, Joe - very much appreciate your saying so.

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    4. I liked how she took her time before asking of Carlotta. What a great name, by the way.

      How she can be Raven's widow intrigues me to no end. Did I miss something in past stories about Raven's aliveness?

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    5. The "my widow" statement has me pondering with gaping mouth. What a mysterious episode this turned out to be! That aside, the visuals, as always, are impeccable.

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  8. Change of focus [281]

    ‘So, John, this young lady – age around thirty, under-nourished and five months pregnant – isn’t known to you?’
    Regarding the crudely re-stitched body on the slab, uncomfortable at making the acquaintance of a hitherto unknown relative from inside out – Pettinger passed his tongue around his lips. ‘I’ll ask someone there to check the records –‘

    Simeon had been fascinated by the brutally-orphaned, once-was Yanno Petzincek’s family history. ‘She will have been born there? The tattoo genuine?’
    A sigh. John knew what the pathologist was angling for. ‘Compare it.’
    Then he unbuckled, unzipped and dropped his trousers, growling, ‘Look but don’t touch.’

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    1. Oh my, where does Pettinger go from here???

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    2. Nicely constructed. Look but don't touch. Great final line.

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    3. I think John was hoping for a touch. Very, very nice work, Sandra.

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    4. I knew he was eventually going to have to show his tattoo. Very satisfying.

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    5. And the statement delivered with typical Pettinger authority. The idea of a "crudely re-stitched body" is something that will doubtless haunt me for a few days.

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  9. The Voice of the Orphan

    Torturer General gently set the stylus to the grooves of the record. The song was beautiful. It lifted his mood.

    The accursed orphan had once sung like this to rouse the masses. Now its ravaged tongue hung dripping on a hook, blood crusting on its cherubim chin.

    As the music rose to a crescendo he circled the child like a wolf closing on a lamb. Without warning it leapt at him and sank its filthy little teeth into the flesh of his arm.

    He howled holy hell.

    He'd stolen its voice - but it had other weapons!

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    Replies
    1. more images, some really horrific 'pictures' so far on the Challenge, nightmares, anyone?

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    2. Payback can be hell, David. This is very nicely done!

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    3. Holy hell indeed - such vivid, orchestrated imagery

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    4. Wow! The ending startled me. Other weapons, indeed. Well crafted.

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    5. It was really satisfying when Torturer got bit. I hope it heals badly. Very nice, David.

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    6. Now this took me by surprise. There have been some magnificent descriptive pieces this week. "The Voice Of The Orphan" is counted among one of the best in my opinion.

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  10. Dental Work
    'The tongue,' said the dentist, 'is a very strong muscle.' You can't talk with dental nurses poking instruments into your mouth, I wanted to protest, to have it on record that I tried hard to keep the damn tongue still while he set about removing my last orphan tooth. ‘Yes,’ he continued with what was supposed to be a sympathetic smile. ‘It’s best disposed of. Then I can work.’ He cut it out.

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    Replies
    1. No. Definitely no. Dentists is too nightmare a topic for me to cope with.

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    2. Oh, Antonia! You have preyed on the fear of every patient in that damnable chair.chilling.

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    3. Well what else is a dentist to do with and unruly tongue? Very clever, Antonia.

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    4. So matter of fact, so nonchalant. Very subtle and very abrupt at the same time. Nice work.

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    5. Just the mention of dentists sets my teeth on edge (if you'll excuse the reference). Quite horrific and in a minimum of words. Talk about terror in 75 words or less!

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  11. The Mad Italian 54.
    ‘The orphan child’ sits outside Parliament, seeking handouts from those who are well paid (on and off the record) and gets nothing. For those who are supposed to represent us still spend their time voicing their thoughts with vicious tongues. It doesn’t impress. I see the populace of your country as an orphan, for they are deprived of so much, benefits are changed, snatched away, not given in the first place even to the deserving without endless appeals but the Members go home in glitteringly clean cars and eat in expensive restaurants… and give them not a thought.

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    Replies
    1. So true. Those that serve the needs of the people betray them without a thought. Well written

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    2. Oh my. Leonardo has definitely hit the nail squarely on the head with this one. As always, acute observations and perfect choice of words.

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  12. The 'shadow people' Leonardo refers to are the 'workers' behind each famous face. I recall many years ago my ex saying 'ignore the face in the camera, watch those behind him, they're the power brokers.' This is something Leonardo has picked up on. Meantime there's deadlock on the talks for us to leave the EU (any time now, people, any time now if you would be so kind) and arguments over increased crime and the results of the local elections, where no one came out very well (UKIP lost 100 seats...) so there's plenty for the pundits to mull over and pontificate on endlessly.

    Benefits: a friend's son was attacked by 20 youths when he and his brother went out to defend their home from them. One of the sons has brain damage from the attack, he can't work. He has a neurologist's letter to say he will never work again. The benefits people say if he can raise his arms above his head he can work... he has been refused all benefits. What a compassionate society we live in!

    I slid gently from 74 to 75 this past week. So far I don't feel any older, but come winter that may be a different story!!

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    1. I hope you had an utterly marvelous birthday, Antonia!

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    2. Happy Birthday, Antonia. Hope you had a wonderful time. Are you a true Taurus Child?

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  13. Cripplegate Junction/Part 143 - Dream Of Doing

    Marmalade napped, small pink tongue protruding and magnificent tail twitching as he frolicked in feline la-la land.

    On tippy-toes, he stalked Odonata through the Sanitarium's sweet-smelling summer grass. Littermates followed, most on legs yet too wobbly for stealth. From beneath the rhododendron, Mamma Cat kept careful watch over her brood.

    But that was before Violet, a thief in the night, had spirited away his tiny siblings and deprived Marmalade of a mother's devotion. The former Crossing Canteen waitress had made him an orphan.

    And before Marmalade departed Cripplegate, he would set the record straight on that score.

    -------------------------------------------------
    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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    1. As you've set us, salivating, to know more.

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    2. I am a Marmalade fan. I admit it. He'll, I'm proud of it. My favorite story feline. Loved this one.

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    3. Feline la-la land... an intriguing concept. You really write the POV of a cat well. All the senses and memories that would be important to a cat are emphasized nicely. Very enjoyable.

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    4. Ponder the verbs in this piece... superb!

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    5. Marmalade sends purrs and meows to his legion of fans. I believe I may have to go into hiding once "Cripplegate" is over and Marmalade departs the Junction.... And thank you to John for your lovely compliment about the POV of a cat. So nice of you to comment like that since I've never actually owned a cat in my life and Marmalade is based purely on imagination.

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  14. ‘If music be ...’

    The LP – he old enough (or maybe jumping on the vinyl revival bandwagon – had reached its hissing end a while ago. Relief on my part: Hope Sandoval’s wet-eyed orphan voice not, in my opinion, conducive to seduction.
    I lifted my head, murmured, ‘Shall I –?’ to which he answered ‘No,’ then put his hand to the back of my head.

    Suppressing a sigh, I got to work with my tongue. Again.

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    1. It seems it would be bad enough to have to perform that act unwillingly, but to do it with bad music playing really sucks...

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    2. What an incredible way to describe what's taking place without actually describing what's taking place. Now that calls for talent!

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  15. Kursaal (Episode One Hundred Seventeen) - "Cherchez La Femme"

    Born a Calcutta gutter orphan, Manasa worked the streets with secondhand snakes and homemade wooden recorder. She aspired to become famed handler of forked-tongued serpents as well as silver-tongued males and was now consummate manipulator of both.

    Manasa and Maximillian Corviday, Kursaal proprietor, had been friends for decades (some said longer). Manasa desired more but simply wasn't Maximillian's type. Still, even a paragon can be unfathomably flawed and the snake charmer harbored no animosity.

    However, when it came to Maximillian's lady-loves -- Alexis Champagne, for example, who had inexplicably gone missing -- now that was a different story altogether.

    ---------------------------------------------------------
    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: Manasa, Maximillian Corviday and Alexis Champagne have all featured in previous episodes.

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    1. I bet you smiled typing " Calcutta gutter orphan" as much as I did reading it! The whole provides a blurb for a wonderful novel.

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    2. I really like this snake charming episode. And with second hand snakes, no less. Very enjoyable story, Patricia.

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    3. And I bet the different story is just as entertaining as this one. Well done, Patricia!

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  16. The Heretic


    The boy was bound to the stake. Grinning clerics surrounded him.
    “Let the record show that this orphan has been found guilty of heresy, speaking against the Orphanage where he has been graciously cared for. His punishment, as decreed by the Inquisitor, shall be that these iron tongs be heated and used to tear his lying tongue from his mouth. “ The sweating man gestured to the three-foot pliers in the bed of coals. “Have you any last words, Boy?”
    The boy met the cleric’s hungry gaze. “Yes. With no tongue, I will not taste the slop you call food.”

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    1. Touch of optimism there, on the boy's behalf. Despite the horror of it, on many levels.

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    2. Defiant to the end...this certainly is not father Flannigan's Boys' Town. Very enjoyable, Joe!

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    3. After reading your nice comments about my story, and then coming to yours, I'm thinking to myself, 'let it be good, let it be good..." Thank you for taking off the pressure. I really enjoyed this. The cheeky orphan and the cruel clerics... really good.

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    4. No Oliver Twist this orphan. I really like his spunk. Something of a medieval feel to this...perhaps it was the reference to a cleric. In any event, wonderfully composed and delivered. So many superb entries this week...I don't envy Sandra her job of choosing.

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  17. FETISH J.E. Deegan

    I nailed the tongues to the wall opposite my bed so I would see them first and last thing each day. There were seven, and I called the one on the far right orphan because I found no mate for it. I was pleased to see that the chemical I applied to preserve them produced an appealing soft satiny sheen. And I especially loved the different colors and textures my trophies presented.

    I recorded every step I had taken should I decide to repeat this – which I most definitely would.

    Okay…I have a fetish for shoe tongues. Get over it!

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    1. Even a squirm which turns out to be mistaken is uncomfortable in its progress through my brain. Clever stuff!

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    2. That was wonderful. I'm all set for a depraved killer, only to find a wannabe cobbler. Excellent.

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    3. Ok, this was clever. I fell for it. I was thinking about how careful and meticulous he was, and then the reveal...

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    4. Oh yeah. You got me! This was refreshingly different from anything else on offer this week. I've heard of a foot fetish but really....

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  18. The Adventures of Rosebud, Pirate Princess #128
    Future Family


    Zehra burned her tongue five times on the pasta last night. Somehow that’s not a record. She’s surprisingly impatient for a bookkeeper. It’s wonderful to finally introduce all my friends. I get to finish connecting my friend-family, all in one trip! Way too many of them are former orphans. Zehra’s the newest addition to the Christmas invite list, I wonder if she’s ever done a secret gift exchange before.

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  19. Exceedingly smooth incorporation of the prompt words and a lovely little vignette about Rosebud and her "friend-family." I empathize with Zehara. I'm forever burning my tongue (and roof of the mouth) on something!!!!

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