A
small celebration for me because I finally declared the three novels in the
detective series I’ve been working on since 2011 both finished and something to
be pleased with. Relief too, because I can finally get on with finishing book
4, stalled for several months until an early morning train of thought unwound the
knots in the plot and set it firing again.
But,
enough about me – though it was me who enjoyed another superb week of tiny Prediction
tales (most offering a novel’s worth of impact) and I have no hesitation in declaring
Antonia this week’s winner, for the enviable
smoothness of her ‘Stop the Week’ series - number 43 already.
Some
more challenging words this week - the first I have to thank my son for.
Words for next
week: callipygian vacillate yesterday
Entries
by midnight (GMT) Thursday 25th April, words
posted Friday 26th
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 uses 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.
Thank you, Sandra, that does help my recovery! (See comment on last week's challenge... back off to bed now...)
ReplyDeleteSO well deserved, Antonia. Your little snippets every week are such a joy to read, to say nothing of the constant encouragement you provide to the rest of us. And I do hope you feel much better soon.
DeleteA well-deserved honor for you, Antonio. I love all your entries!
DeleteAntonia, a well deserved accolade for an excellent series about living.
DeleteSandra, congrats of finishing your 4th book and much success for it.
DeleteWell done Antonia, a well deserved top spot. Long may we read 'stop the week'. I really enjoy it .
ReplyDeleteI do hope the migraine goes soon.
The Secret Armadillo Soldier (SAS) Diaries - entry 59
ReplyDeleteYesterday, Sarg had selected soldiers to accompany Nigel, Tosca and the Pangonel to the rendezvous point. They numbered less than she had intended but were skilled operatives and were waiting a few minutes down the trail. ‘Right,’ she said, ‘no vacillation, no ditherin’ no hesitishun; the Pangolins an’ Varks should already be movin’ so you gotta get yer tails on the trail.’ She stamped her paw impatiently and looked at Tosca. ‘You, go get yer damn camouflage crap, on the double soldier.’
Tosca grinned and scurried off.
Nigel heard him lustfully muttering something about Sarg’s ‘callipygian’ rear as he went.
Nice to see Sarg has an admirer. It's hard to fathom a shapely armadillo rear. Loved 'get your tails on the trail.'
DeleteImagination working overtime on this - great stuff and, as ever, lovely use of verbs.
DeleteI'm with John on this, a lovely written episode but when I remembered that they're armadillo's and not people, which is your fault because of how well you write.
DeleteYour 'dillos always come complete with such humanistic qualities and they ooze cuteness to boot. I'm wondering how Sarg will react to an admirer. Hope we find out. It's sure to be a most interesting revelation.
Deletecreating living characters is difficult no matter whether they're human or animal. You're doing SO well with this!
DeleteWay to go, Antonia. Get better soon.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Sandra, on the success of completing your novels. When do you think they will be available to read?
DeleteThanks John, fingers crossed, a month or so. Self-published but hopefully on Amazon. I finished the covers to my satisfaction this morning so have to upload, check final copy then select Blurb's 'Please sell my book' Don't yet know how that works.
DeleteWe will all be notified when they are available I trust?
DeleteOh yes!
Delete:-)
The Mobster’s Daughter
ReplyDeleteMorgan walked between the gape mouthed men surrounding her father. She wore her favorite ripped hot pants and gauzy halter.
“Daddy, Caesar insulted me.”
“He’s a dead man. What did he say?”
“He said my quest for the callipygian ideal has succeeded.”
“That son of a bitch.” He turned to henchman one, who vacillated and shrugged.
He turned to henchman two. “That’s bad, right?” No response.
“I don’t care what it means. Take care of it.”
“When and where?” said henchman one, averting his eyes from Morgan as she stretched.
“Make it look like an accident. And do it yesterday.”
Totally loved this John, 100% entertaining.
DeleteI agree Sandra, wonderful use of the prompts, great dialogue made me feel like a chuckling fly on the wall. A brilliantly executed piece - which I assume that's what Caesar will also be when the henchmen catch up with him....poor chap.
DeleteWhat a brazen hussy you have described in Morgan, John. She certainly is daddy's girl. This was a good read!
DeleteJohn, Such an intriguing setting for this story. Loved her being insulted. and your use of the prompts.
DeleteLove the "He's a dead man" followed quickly by "What did he say?" Typical doting daddy reaction. I believe Henchman #1 best continue to keep his eyes averted in the near future if he doesn't want to suffer the same demise about to befall Caesar.
Deletethis was great fun!
Delete
ReplyDelete(Having a really creative day - must be all the chocolate I've consumed)
The Secret Armadillo Soldier (SAS) Diaries - entry 60
Hiding in deep-cover, Atlas heard low-toned gerbil whisperings: Scenting fear, he guessed they were terrified.
Your kind screwed up, again, yesterday,’ said a menace-filled voice, ‘The Boss gets unhappy when things screw up. If the boss’s unhappy, I’m unhappy, too.
So, no vacillation, move your asses; dig the trench where I told you, or, you won’t leave this shitty valley alive.’
Muffled thuds, terrified squeaks, and the smell of blood punctured the breeze.
A limp body landed almost atop Atlas; its callipygian form torn and bloody.
‘See,’ the voice turned thickly sensual, ‘see what happens when you screw things up.’
And I'm left alongside Atlas, wondering whether this is a Good Thing or a Bad. And if so, what next?
DeleteSo alive your writing ... and I can't fathom, exactly, how you do it.
Thanks for such a lovely comment Sandra. I do have a very fuzzy sort of plan but the stuff kind of just falls out of somewhere and takes shape around the prompt words - The Prediction has been a lifeline for me as I have spent years tinkering with unfinished ideas and writing that I feel has potential but lacks polish and now I am finding my writing is much tighter and sharper - so a double thank you .
DeleteTerrie, having had my own writing similarly sharpened, I'm delighted to pass on the benefit.
DeleteKeep eating the chocolate, Terrie, although your superlative writing skills are evident without it. As always, your submissions grab me and lead me through a wonderful adventure.
DeleteI'm guessing a bad thing. The bosses lieutenant killed a gerbil as a motivational example. Now, just what or who is this lieutenant? Very good writing Terrie.
DeleteI wonder what low-toned gerbil whisperings sound like? I picture Chip-n-Dale voices. That Atlas sure knows how to get into the thick of things.
DeleteThis came with a marvellously ominous possibility. Unhappy bosses are never a good thing. I fear this is no exception.
Deletekeep it going...
DeleteHER BREASTS
ReplyDeleteI love my wife’s breasts. They are beautiful… full and round and soft with a very tight cleavage. In fact, they look more like the callipygian buttocks sculpted by ancient Greek artists than breasts.
Licking them, kissing them, digging my fingers into their exquisitely succulent flesh! I’m telling you that no greater joy exists here or in heaven!
Yesterday, when she told me she was leaving me because of my obsession with her breasts, my emotions vacillated between sorrow and anger.
Anger won out.
My wife is gone, but her breasts are preserved and mounted face-high on my bedroom wall.
Yuck! Well done, ... but yuck.
DeleteWhat an emotive offering. Cleverly drew me along and even though I had guessed there was going to be a killer last line that would aim to make me wince. I still winced and ended by hugging my self quite protectively. Very well written. Brilliant insertion of the prompts, great imagery and solid final line leaves the reader, as Sandra quite rightly says with that overwhelming sense of 'yuck'
DeleteWhat an ending. Puts a much different spin on the term 'Trophy Wife', Well written and nice use of the prompts.
DeleteBreasts can be very powerful... but mounting them on the wall is a bit extreme, hence the perfect insertion into a story. Nice.
DeleteThere are fetishes and then...there are fetishes. Don't think I want to dwell too much on this one. The visual is horrifying. Loved it!
DeleteI see a lot of trophy wives, now I can put a new image on them...
DeleteChange of focus 325
ReplyDeleteAs his translator settled herself beside him, in a flounce of turquoise skirt, Pettinger caught her scent: a flowery smokiness he’d once followed down every bump and hollow of her spine to the cleft between her – he’d nor known the word then but it was perfect – callipygian (and equally perfect) – bum, remembered like it’d been yesterday.
Today, caution required. Already vacillating between conviction his interrogators understood English as well as he Khakbethian, or were entirely ignorant, he hauled his mind back to defence.
Face serious, pen in hand, interrogator’s opening question answered that. ‘Your donkey* need somewhere to stay tonight?’
[ For those not paying attention last week, this refers to her Virichamocho nickname for Pettinger.]
What a great phrase ' flounce of turquoise skirt '. Wonderfully described images too. The prompt words blended in perfectly. Loved the final line . Looks like Pettinger's luck is with him...or is it ….
DeleteI too liked 'flounce of a turquoise skirt.' I always enjoy your use of the prompts.
DeleteHave you named the translator yet? (I'm paying attention, I promise, but i can't recall). Something tells me she improvised a bit with her translation. Really intriguing and tastefully sexy.
DeleteTranslator is Vladlina Petzincek. A half sister, regardless of which she and Yanno had a sexy. more tempestuous than tasteful incestuous relationship. She also slept with a Royal Prince (requiring Pettinger to cover up the scandal [episodes ~127-130]
DeleteI'm beginning to think I need a companion list to keep up with all of Pettinger's conquests. That interrogator obviously has more on her mind than simply taking notes. Not so sure that the "flounce of turquoise skirt" wasn't a carefully planned device.
Deletegot to agree with Patricia, certainly could be a carefully planned device which everyone needs to be aware of...
DeleteSelf-Help
ReplyDeleteTim's ideal woman possessed Betty Grable gams, Dolly Parton hooters and the callipygian rear end of J-Lo. With her flat chest, chubby thighs and pancake derrière, Vera was bewildered to find herself Tim's wife but grateful for the honour.
She knew he enjoyed dishing out humiliation. She didn't mind. Small price to pay. Tim was her soul mate and she yearned to live up to his expectations. Professional remodeling was too expensive, but tire sealant, rubber cement and superglue worked wonders...or so she'd heard.
No time to vacillate with embarrassment destined to be yesterday's news.
Vera picked up the syringe.
Oh, if I've interpreted this correctly, this is so tragically sad.
Delete... But something tells me, maybe not all is as it seems and it is vengeance Vera seeks ... ?
I have to agree with Sandra, I'm not sure which way this is going. It's so tightly written the final 'hook' line just entices the reader to want to know about Vera and Tim and if its sad gratitude, or revenge, on the menu. Skilfully done.
DeleteWhen you know what you want, go for it. Patricia, another interesting macabre story. Liked how you used the prompts.
DeleteWhen it comes to injecting self-help products into ones body... what could go wrong? If she's going for the Dolly Parton look, I hope she has a lot of rubber cement. This tale drips with cleverness and originality. Never before, have I envisioned such an act.
DeleteWhat some won't do for the illusion of love, eh? I loved the references to Betty, Dolly and J-Lo. Very clever, Patricia!
Deletethis is extremely well done, and that says a lot when it's a Patricia story!! They all excel, making me wish I could retune the brain to stand alones again.
DeleteShifting perceptions [Threshold 245]
ReplyDeleteTorc-man barely paused before walking slowly round me. Said, from behind, with what sounded like appreciation, ‘Positively callipygian!’
Raven took this amiss. Opened his eyes. Snarled, uncomplimentary, ‘She’s too old for you!’ His voice alerted Wishbone whose whicker of relief brought Tosca’s vacillations to an end. She barged past, near-trod on Raven and thrust herself against the stallion’s hindquarters.
Swiftly, Torc-man shouldered her aside, helped Raven rise. With a courtesy at odds with his earlier injunction to Lolita, ‘I heard yesterday you’d left the Norsemen. I wondered whether, an alliance –?‘
‘Then why shoot us?’
‘Lolita badly needs the practice.’
Lolita needs the practice, that's a good line, in a good story.
DeleteIt good to know the narrator has a callipygian form. I kind of suspected she did, but the verification is satisfying. Sounds like all are worked up over this situation, even the horses.
DeleteSuch a vivid scene-setting description. Nice to see Raven displaying jealousy at the appreciation expressed by Torc-man. Provides Raven with yet another fascinating aspect to his character although, in truth, I suspected jealousy would be an integral part of him makeup.
Deletesharp cold writing in this episode, a brilliant one as it happens.
DeleteThe Secret Armadillo Soldier (SAS) Diaries - entry 61
ReplyDeleteFeeling the jolt of motion in progress, he managed a weak moan.
Later, hushed voices filtered through the pain. One in particular drew his focus.
He stirred, opening one throbbing eye.
Blurred figures hovered, tending to the fierce agony of his beaten body.
‘I thought I’d lost you, brother, Thank the gods Atlas is not one for vacillation. He told us where to find you. We brought you home yesterday.’
Pink-Fairy’s paw gently touched his and as Armi laid back into the soft bedding; he saw the callipygian backside of Big-Brenda bending to remove a last thorn from his tail.
Phew! Fingers crossed Arni is on the mend. I'm sending grapes.
DeleteThat's three well done episodes this week, Terrie. Glad that Arni is recovering and with Pink-Fairly nursing him.
DeleteTerrie, Thanks for including Pink-Fairy this week. I've noticed from your comments and your writing that you really enjoy this series. Believe me, your enthusiasm spills over to us readers as well. keep it up.
DeleteHow did you manage to use all three prompt words in three very different entries this week? I think this particular one might just be my favourite. So glad that Armi will live to fight another day and, given his observation of Big-Brenda, will likely make a speedy recovery.
Deleteinspiration is just pouring out of you!
DeleteIn the Valley of the Callipygian Hills
ReplyDelete‘What’s your count?’
‘Two thousand thirty and rising,’ replied Rana. ‘It hurts...’
From orbit Malakov zoomed in on the perfectedly rounded Callipygian Hills. The lush valley between them had turned out to be the absolute arsehole of the universe.
Yesterday the landing party had encountered the parasites. They gorged on the flesh beneath the epidermis, rapidly draining their hosts to mummified husks.
Rana was the last. Soon she’d be overwhelmed.
It was time to stop vacillating. Malakov cried as he sent his stark message to the approaching armada.
‘Turn back. For the sake of humanity turn back.’
There is something very powerful in the unanticipated conjunction of Rana's counting and her complaint of hurt. Even more so in the cold-heartedness of her abandonment. Strong stuff David.
DeleteGood tight writing and a nice ending.
DeleteLoved the description of the Callipygian Hills, lush valley and all. A good way to use the prompt. Those parasites certainly mean business. Good call on Malakov's part to abort.
DeleteA science fiction scenario at its very best. Reminds me of Spock's sacrifice in "The Wrath of Khan," except that I'm not sure this was Rana's individual choice. The good of the many...and all that. Nicely done and a refreshingly different tale from anything else yet on offer this week.
Deletedefinitely different and most welcome, too.
DeletePoor Rana, but Malakov didn't have much of a choice. One can feel the pathos in this, David.
DeleteCripplegate Junction/Part 186 - Hobson's Choice
ReplyDeleteSometimes, Hamnet felt it had been yesterday he'd arrived at Cripplegate with a trolley of dairy provisions for the Crossing Canteen. Then again, seemed he'd wandered the Junction's nether regions for...who knew how long...trying to find a way out. Trolley lost into the bargain!
Finally, two exits became available. One appeared to lead to Elsie's Farm, his employer's place of business. In the distance, Guernsey cows (Bessie and Gertie) flicked leisurely tails across callipygian haunches but the mirage faded and Hamnet was left with a solitary choice. Vacillation served no further purpose.
Return to the platform was his only option.
---------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------
This a lovely example of your skill at incorporating prompts and smooth stage management. I think I've added your blog to the list ...
DeleteI do have a blog, Sandra, but it's empty. To be honest, I forgot I even had one until I was investigating ways to post here when they shut down Google+. Apparently, I created it eons ago. I know virtually nothing about how to manage it so am only using it for posting purposes. Maybe one day.... What is listed on the side bar of The Prediction is a link to my website where chapters of "Cripplegate" and "Kursaal" are posted and updated.
DeleteA very telling episode about leaving the Junction, or more accurately, not being able to leave. What a strange, wonderful place.
DeleteHow's that line go, "...You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave." Maybe I missed it but what was his other option that would make returning the best choice? Very worthy continuation.
DeleteHis other option, Jeffrey, was making it to Elsie's Farm but that scenario vanished and with it, one of his two options.
DeleteI don't really think there was a choice, not in reality, it was return or - return. I await the revelations as to why any time you like...
DeleteAnd yet more shifting [Threshold 246]
ReplyDeleteRaven half-hopped backwards to where he could lean against the gig, Hoarsely, ‘Lolita?’
Torc-man understood. ‘Lolita’s daughter.’
Raven’s features creased trying, I assumed, to count the passing years. Similarly reading this, the stranger added, ‘That Lolita died,’ and Raven’s pain as fresh as if it had been yesterday he’d last seen her. Then, as Torc-man stooped to extricate my torn and bloody shift, Raven looked at me. ‘Callipygian?’
Snort of laughter, ‘I lied.’ He shook grass from the shift and, as Raven vacillated between insulted and agreement, gently attempted to wrap it around me.
’But I like my women skinny.’
(Sorry John)
DeleteI'm sure she is appealingly skinny.
DeleteLolita's daughter, nice. You wove the prompts into regular conversation, excellent and a good story.
DeleteWe are definitely being treated to double and triple doses of serialization delight this week. I am totally astounded. I'm having no end of trouble tying to work "callipygian" into anything coherent at all. But then I come here to learn from the best!
Deleteanother fine instalment - keep going - we're all hooked so you have to! anything else would be unfair.
DeleteOooh two thresholds in one week .. really moved the storyline along brilliantly. I only actually 'saw' one of the prompts on the first read so had to go back to 'see' the others.
ReplyDeleteA secret best kept.
ReplyDeleteWondering what, in the quiet stillness of the boggy landscape, drew him to the solitude of the place; the sunbathing gossipers lazed and tittered.
They only knew that, yesterday, and other preceding days, he’d wandered off into the dangerous life sucking landscape of the moors and was gone all day.
He smiled as they whispered behind his back and joking called him ‘spooky’ Stapleton.
He whistled as he strolled; and thoughtfully vacillated about the wonderful choice of callipyian artistry, draped over sun-loungers, he was going to choose from when he selected a companion for his body in the bog.
whoops … spotted a keypad mistake and on a prompt word .. tut tut .. 7 missed out the g should have been callipygian. I must have been reaching for more chocolate.
DeleteSo that's how serial killers choose their victims. So many choices... which one will it be?,,,
Delete"A companion for his body in the bog" is such an apt and threatening promise. "Body in the Bog" would be such an excellent title for a novel. I love the nonchalant enjoyment expressed by "Spooky Stapleton" during his stroll.
DeleteTerrie, This is good. Foreboding and very nonchalant.
Deletethis is seriously good!
DeleteThis created the sort of creepiness which makes me reluctant to read on ... yet I couldn't help myself. Then wished I hadn't. Cleverly done.
DeleteThe First Battle: Baptism
ReplyDeleteThe ambulances of an army battalion passed through our lines late yesterday, the Red Cross on their callipygian asses. We didn’t vacillate in praying for the dead and wounded.
The ground began to tremble. The screaming of artillery was heard.
“INCOMING!”
The ground churned and mauve smoke crept from the dirt.
“Seal all suits, gas attack,”
The ‘pings’ on our armor let us know the enemy was close.
Then hell came to us. Two meters tall, almost as long, and a puke green colored carapace. Those are their good points. Two hours later hell retreated, laughing at us.
Nice incorporation of the prompt words, which cannot have been easy given the basic concept of your serial. Nicely done with a good sense of urgency.
DeleteHell indeed, Jeffrey. Your marvelous use of language created such vivid pictures of this engagement. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteI wondered how you would incorporate callipygian into this story. Well done. I'm dying to find out what this two meter x two meter thing is.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Antonia!
ReplyDeletethank you!
Deletenow I need some strength to keep up with you guys, I mean, 3 instalments from some of you???
Pick a door, any door
ReplyDeleteMarvin contemplated the sign over door one.
Yesterday
He’d seen it all before so he went to door two.
Vacillation
As much as he tried, he couldn’t decide, so he went to door three.
Callipygian
What the heck? He flagged down a kid walking nearby. The kid whispered the meaning in his ear. This was definitely the one. Yes sir, this was it.
He entered.
An hour later, they wheeled him out on a gurney.
“His head exploded,” an elderly man said to his companion.
“You don’t say.”
“Derrière overload.”
“One tochus too many, huh?”
“Third one today.”
funny! good funny, cleverly done.
DeleteClever, and ultimately chilling.
DeleteLoved the writing, loved the game show atmosphere, very good prompt use but I read it and read it, doubled checked the definition and I just didn't get it. To me the guy was the third one today.
DeleteShades of "Who Wants To Make A Deal" I think, although I'm not really up to snuff on game show concepts. Regardless, Marvin should have plumped for a different door, but on the other hand, I'm sure he wouldn't have had it any other way and how he must have wallowed in his final moments. Once again, a clever and funny tale which has your unique stamp all over it. Oh...forget to mention that it's also quite chilling (to echo Sandra's observation).
DeleteOblivium
ReplyDeleteI wipe out yesterday. That's my job. I don't vacillate. Don't discriminate. Good memories. Bad memories. I eradicate them all.
Recall a time when you were handsome with an enviable physique and inexhaustible energy? Or beautiful with a curvaceous figure...buxom balcony and callipygian orchestra? All gone.
Recall a time when love was everything? When romance and desire reigned supreme? When happiness lasted forever? All gone.
Recall a time when you were cruel and thoughtless? Or perhaps even evil in your endeavours? All gone.
I don't discriminate.
I wipe out yesterday.
That's my job.
and it happens all too often. Who is this person, can I kill them?
DeleteHm... is that Father Time, the Grim Reaper... or dementia? Regardless, a brutal truth here, Patricia.
DeleteOuch. Brutal indeed.
DeleteNonchalant yet for me it's about alzheimer's. I remember my father-in-law not recognizing me or his daughter in his last months. Nicely written Patricia.
DeleteStop the Week: I Want To Get Off (44)
ReplyDeleteBack to work yesterday after five days of illness/recovery and starvation, everything is beginning to feel good and the dream of callipygian – tis best left there. Much work, no sales, Shaun having a heart flutter and cancelling a car boot sale but goes there and buys instead, me negotiating coffee and salt free lunches (no crisps) and sleeping all night instead of five bathroom visits, our schedules come and go, collide, unwind and still the shop ticks on. No time to vacillate, we need to work to come out on top. Shaun’s ready, so am I.
Glad to hear you're on the mend, but feel obliged to say "Don't over-do it"
DeleteGreat news that you're recovering and that Shaun's by your side. A question derived from the Mad Italian, how would/will Brexit affect your shoppe?
Deletethis is the oddest question ever for the shop, I think! We sell goods to locals and tourists. We buy from locals to stock the shop. Where in that scenario do trade deals, customs and the Irish backstop do we feature? We are so small we don't even pay rates on the premises we rent, we're under their 'ceiling'. If we were as big as Amazon, who are busy bombarding me with deal-no-deal Brexit emails, it would matter. My only interest in leaving the EU is because I want to live my normal every day life without their interference. It would be difficult to list everything they stick their noses into which affects me, but be sure it does, outside of the fact that every single word spoken in the so-called parliament over there has to be translated and printed in every single language used in the EU. Now there's a huge saving for a start when we pull out! Or, simply demand the whole damn bunch speak and write English. No English, no entry.
DeleteMeantime, bring down your visions of what we are. We are one tiny shop in one ordinary town on one very small island off the south coast of England. Nothing more. The ONLY thing we're celebrating in June is being 6 years old, in the face of the opposition of the local businesses, who said they gave us 6 months.I've ordered a huge gold blow up 6 balloon.
Sounds like you're improving healthwise but I'm with Sandra. Please don't overdo it. In the meantime, yet another delightful peek into your retail world there in the Isle of Wight.
DeleteThe Mad Italian 103
ReplyDeleteIt might have been amusing to dwell on the callypgian aspect of the ladies in politics and I might have done so had it not been for the senseless killing of the journalist. A lady of high principles, no hint of vacillating. Are we into another time of ‘yesterday XXX was killed’ again? All this while the state visit of the American president is being discussed, to the hatred and consternation of many politicians who know well he is not welcome here. And so politics goes into stupor and the gunmen rule supreme. This cannot be allowed to go on.
'politics goes into a stupor'... sadly, that phrase could be applied to virtually every nation on earth, Antonia. You make us sit up and take notice.
DeleteWe over here are just as surprised at the invitation of the state visit.
DeleteLeonardo is as insightful as always, but I do have one request...when Trump shows up, could you guys do something to just keep him over there? Those of us over here would greatly appreciate it.
DeleteI really can't see the Queen letting him stay very long at the Palace, she likes peace and quiet...
DeletePersonal opinion, he's been invited over here to keep him out of the way while another 22 candidates file for the next election without having his nasty sarky anti- comments everywhere. Did you see what he wrote to Joe Biden????
I should probably go look but to be honest, I get sick to my stomach just reading anything that spews from his mouth. I do know in reference to impeachment, he said he'd go to the Supreme Court first, which has no say whatsoever in anything to do with impeachment. The man is a star player in a Brian Rix farce, if anyone knows of or remembers those!
DeleteKursaal (Episode One Hundred Sixty) - "Double Vision"
ReplyDeleteA body would have to be born yesterday to be unaware of the curious connection between the equine fillies of the Pony Ride and human fillies of the Hoochie Coochie Tent. Both attractions were owned by Eli Cornelius and the two performing troupes were never seen in the same place at the same time.
Aside from similarity in costuming...purple feathers, sequined tassels and such...the tantalizing shimmy of each callipygian rump was a sight to behold, regardless of species.
Jewel, ultimate Burlesque Queen, never vacilated in her desire to display the most alluring strut and neither did Bijou, the Star Pony.
---------------------------------------------------------
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: Eli Cornelius, his attractions and performers, have all featured in previous episodes.
"vacilated" should, of course, been spelled "vacillated." Didn't think it was worth deleting and reposting for just a silly spelling mistake though. So please overlook my error. Thank you.
DeleteYes, I think I remember these confusing ponies. Somewhat worrying.
DeletePatricia, you'd never have to worry about a spelling slip affecting the quality or comments of one of your stories. This episode is no exception. Enjoyed the descriptions of those that gave rides to their visitors.
DeleteThe Adventures of Rosebud, Pirate Princess #176
ReplyDeleteTraitorous Villainy
Yesterday I completed Plan Z, today my thoughts vacillate between my wondrous evil plans and the incredible stench of this callipygian horse. I must be seen as a poor trader or I would disembowel this loathsome creature.
Oh, drat. Guards. And I’m in view of the castle so I can’t just snap their necks.
“Sirs, what’s that?”
And I’m in the castle.