… and 'dead heat' perhaps an appropriate description of the orange-skied frost seen from my window.
Two very different pieces, each appealing to different parts of wherever it is appreciation for such things resonate – NOT in all honesty, a problem – but try as I might I cannot place one above another so am this week declaring a dead heat between Patricia for the clever and tight-writ 'Winging it', and Perry for his blissful version of 'The Auld Triangle', and can assure you that the rest of you were very close behind.
New words for the coming week are: barrel
provoke Scot
Entries by midnight Thursday 4th
March, new words posted Friday 5th
Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or
poetry using all 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.
Congrats Patricia and Perry! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat choices, Sandra, with Patricia and Perry. Two great stories among many.
DeleteThank you - there is nothing more buoyant to a writer than having great writers wanting more of what they have to offer.
DeleteThank you, Sandra. I'm constantly surprised to even be mentioned among such an elite group of writers as those who post on The Prediction.
DeleteCongrats to Perry and Holly, who entered superb tales!
DeleteWHOOPS! I meant to congratulate Patricia; ergo, I shall do it here: Congrats, Patricia!
DeletePatricia and Perry, congrats! consistently high standard from both of you.
DeleteHot Heads
ReplyDeleteThe bereaved Scotsman scraped the bottom of the barrel, literally, to get out the last of the gore. He added the contents to the roaring fire, but now, what was he to do with the soiled vessel?
Thoroughly provoked by his friend, Paddy, the Scotsman now regretted the outcome of the spat. Sadly, he began scrubbing the barrel with a long-handled brush.
“Put out that fire, McGill!” said his neighbor. “It reeks to high heaven.”
McGill twitched and his hands shook. He quit scrubbing. No need to tidy up just yet.
You made it very clear, John, that McGill is a Scot one shouldn't cross! A clear, tight example of writing. Well done!
DeleteThere's good neighbours ... and good neighbours. Not always a good thing.
Deleteoh my, what a back story is revealed in that short piece!
DeleteNEED YER HEED CAVED?
ReplyDeleteBathe in barrel? I think not,
for nothing so provokes a Scot
as scrubbing off your daily phage
in cask where whisky is to age.
It was the stills they used in Orkney for the troops to bath in ... (but I assume they washed them out after)
DeleteI agree with the Scots.
Deleteimages...
DeleteCripplegate Junction/Part 258 - Premium Passage
ReplyDeleteAs a dense and dappled mist descended, everything beyond the boundaries of the Junction, both tactile and incorporeal, became swallowed...slowly but inexorably...by the brume and gradually withered away.
In a storage area at the rear of the abandoned Crossing Canteen, barrel-aged vanilla extract used in the making of tea cakes evaporated while dry goods disintegrated into nothingness.
Safe and sound inside a First Class Carriage, snoozing comfy and cozy on Poppy's lap, Marmalade's dreams provoked ear jiggles, nose twitches and tummy-rumbling purrs, as the feline fancied himself riding in grand style aboard the famous Class A1 Flying Scotsman.
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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.
----------------------------------------------------------
Ten out of ten for including, as hoped, the Flying Scotsman, plus applause for the 'dense and dappled mist' .
DeleteHave you ever tried vanilla extract strait up? A little goes a long way but it surely has a delicious aroma.
DeleteI was wondering when Marmalade would feature again. It's fitting Marmalade is safe and sound as the world around him crumbles away. So good, Patricia.
Lovely wistful vignette - and I learned a new word "brume". Yay twice.
DeleteWhat a life this lucky Marmalade has! Quite the fat cat!
Deletespecial cat, Marmalade, and what a special place is the Cripplegate Junction. I was knocked out by the dense and dappled mist, too!
DeleteAnswerable
ReplyDelete"You killed her? Didn't have to kill her, did you? Why didn't you just tell her you were leaving? Didn't we have plans to simply run off? You know, you can't get away with this, right? Nowhere we can go where they won't track us down. Ever stop to think I might be implicated as an accessory? Did you imagine you'd get off scot-free? You've put us over a barrel, do you realize that? Why did you do it?"
He wiped the blood from the serrated bread knife.
"I was provoked," he said quietly. "She asked too many damn questions."
Time to back-track, methinks. And love that 'quietly'
DeleteI was about ready to kill her myself. Well, maybe not quite to that extreme. But if I were a psychopath I might have.
DeleteLOL - oh yes.
DeleteSomeone better get the message... and quick!
Deletethat's beautifully crafted dialogue if ever there was.
DeletePAYMENT DUE
ReplyDeleteA raucous version of the Beer Barrel Polka blared from the seedy bar frequented by hookers and by athirst men willing to pay for their company. Hesmeth Fent was willing; the girl he approached wasn’t.
She was beautiful, a contemporary Lizabeth Scott, a smoky-voiced vamp from Hollywood’s film-noir era. But she had laughed derisively at his clumsy efforts to charm her before tossing a drink in his face.
Hesmeth Fent was not a man to provoke. Now, garrote in hand, he waited in the alley adjacent to the bar.
Should she appear, she, like others, would pay for her insolence.
Such unprofessional behaviour merits punishment?
DeleteAll this foulness while such a lively tune plays. Hesmeth Fent, what a great name.
DeleteSo that's what you call that? Looked it up and discovered another old favourite from pre-Lobby days ... Liberace. Ah days of innocence and beer.
DeleteOh ... and rejection by beautiful women. ;)
P)erry, I love your comment, innocence and beer...
DeleteJim, another of your tightly written clever pieces. I have just finished editing 65,000 words of SF/fantasy by someone for whom English is not their first language... I'm winding down with friends and sighing with relief it's done. But part 3 is to come...
Dead ahead? [Threshold 338]
ReplyDeleteRaven correctly took my suggestion we leave the ailing acolytes some water as deliberate provocation, expressing his annoyance by barreling ahead, black bulk silhouetted against a gold-to-indigo sky, the light from which illuminated the rocky surface and put me in mind of Scotch marmalade.
I followed in his tracks. The quad bikes – elderly and ill-maintained – were sluggish, plus his greater weight slowed his progress compared to mine. I chose my moment, and a less rocky area, then overtook and sped ahead, not immediately able to decipher the degree to which his shouts were genuine annoyance.
Just noted they grew fainter.
I like how you are moving toward another adventure, with her overtaking Raven on the quad. What was her name again?
DeleteA wonderfully descriptive piece which had me sighing over an early arrival at Stranraer.
DeleteGreat title for this entertaining entry, Sandra.
Deletegood title and compact little instalment, bringing hints of - how much more to come...
DeleteChange of focus [415]
ReplyDeletePettinger, provocation scratching at his temper as once had, he unwillingly recalled, thistles worked their way into a sleeping bag when on a camping trip with some lass he'd fancied enough to take up her suggestion they pursue some Speyside Scottish single-malt whisky trail.
The malt odour, the copper stills, the rows and rows of sherry barrels had impressed near as much as the end-of-tour warming drams of Glenlivet, Glenfarclas and Tamdhu, and she'd been keen enough until, venturing unwillingly out into the black black night for a pee, he'd stepped into a still-liquid cowpat and trekked it back inside.
A Scottish whiskey trail sounds wonderful. Not so the tracking in of cow pat. I re.ly like this one, Sandra. Provocation scratching at his temper... brilliant.
DeleteThere's a sentence to remember and then the cowpat brings us down with a squelchy bump.
DeleteSplendid little tale here, Sandra. Great touch, the cowpats. As a kid, friends and I would use them as bases when playing baseball in fields populated with cows.
Deletevivid images this week - brilliantly crafted.
DeleteWiskey Galore (The Kraken’s Plot)
ReplyDeleteThe Kraken knew what motivated the Scots. When the hull of the merchant vessel passed over she followed to the coastal waters of the Outer Hebrides. There she struck like lightning, shattering the ship from aft to stern.
Seeing barrels of whiskey bobbing on the brine was enough to provoke the islanders into a frenzy.
The Kraken lay in the shallows, patiently biding her time. Soon the beach was like Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday night. And when they were suitably stewed and pickled she plucked them with her multiple tentacles and popped them into her salivating maw.
Horribly vivid image you've drawn here David.
DeleteFishing for Scots with whiskey as the bait. What a great tale, David.
DeleteOh, I wouldn't do that, Kraken. You'll only annoy them.
DeleteOh that men would put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains! Tying one on had a dreadful price here. Well done, David
Deletethat's a perfect little horror story, so it is!
DeleteKursaal (Episode Two Hundred Twenty Seven) - Scotland The Brave
ReplyDeleteThe Caledonians, a non-traditional pipe band, consisted of bagpipes only. No drummers. Regardless, the troupe enjoyed a faithful following among select Kursaal patrons who became firm aficionados of the music.
Each barrel-chested, red-bearded, blue-eyed Scot sported a personal tartan and bristled when asked what lay beneath the kilt. Fiercely loyal to their individual clans and the Thistle Nation in general, they were, as an ensemble, a force to be reckoned with.
Easily provoked (particularly after a wee dram of Johnny Walker Black), they were known to engage in bare-knuckle brawls with any who besmirched the legitimacy of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
--------------------------------------------------------
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: The Caledonians bagpipe band has featured in previous episodes.
Neat but noisy. We were astonished to witness a pipe band passing our hotel on our first morning in Christchurch, NZ. Turned out to be a mass-gathering competition.
DeleteI want this lot in my local after Covid.
Deletenow there's a thought...
DeleteNice little piece here, Patricia, big on images...
OVER AND OUT
ReplyDelete“Kirk to Enterprise! Kirk to Enterprise!”
“Scott here. Go ahead.”
“I’m alone on this bloody hunk of rock, Scottie! Spock has disappeared along with the entire scouting party! What’s more, I’ve lost my phaser! Hurrry! The Klingons are closing in!”
“Just what do you suggest?”
“Suggest? Damn it, Scottie! Have you been listening!? I’m over a barrel down here and about out of time! For crying out loud, beam me up! Scottie!”
Scottie looks quickly to Spock, sitting in the Captain’s chair. Spock shakes his head.
“Scott to Kirk. Sorry, but you shouldn’t have provoked the Klingons. Over and out.”
Hmmm, now abandoning Wesley Crusher I could see.
DeleteMy husband would better appreciate this, Jim. A tidy solution!
Deleteneatly wrapped up - where once they took an hour of drama to get there...
DeleteCLASSY
ReplyDeleteRed-faced and half-buttoned, Colm and Sally eventually emerged from the old car to an audience.
“So,” Declan drawled, “back to the present, eh?”
Caolin tutted at him, prodding the corroded chassis here and there. “That was a Delorean, this is an Argyll Turbo – the failed Scottish project. Did you know–?”
“His wee man is saying hello,” Dooney giggled, waving at Colm’s crotch.
Colm flared like a beacon and pulled at his zipper.
“Wee Sally,” Joanie quipped when she could take her eyes off Colm’s barrel chest long enough to sneer at Sally’s.
“You really want to provoke me, kid?”
I'm really enjoying this serial.
DeleteHolding one's tongue may be a good idea in this entertaining episode, Perry.
Deletethere's so much potential here for a lovely long ongoing story!
DeleteTrue story
ReplyDeleteI ran away from school when I was nine; provoked beyond endurance by a bigger girl named Hazel whose skin was so covered with freckles I assumed her parents named her as a result. She sat behind me and constantly finger-poked me with greater force (if not necessarily menace) than I imagined the barrel of a gun might feel.
Trouble was, I lived in a bungalow directly opposite the school. Mr Scot came after me, rampaged round, red-faced and shouting into every window.
Eventually I emerged. He made the entire school sit in silence, hands on heads, for fifteen minutes.
that I like! I was just saying last week in my mailing that digging into our lives and finding real memories makes for richer writing...
DeleteThe Joys of Mediumship no 44
ReplyDeleteIf everyone demanded a drink for their part in my books, I would need a series of barrels... especially for people such as the person who came to talk about King Arthur…that will provoke some interest, for sure. And that canny Scot William Wallace has booked a page. Alfred confessed to actually burning the food… Mary Queen of Scots gave me a wonderful slogan:
Healing the hearts of the past
And talked openly of her feelings. This has brought Elizabeth in… and so it gets better every day. There is a sense of relief from so many.
Stop The Week; I Want To Get Off (139)
ReplyDeleteIt seems someone has provoked the insurance company into making a start on our claim; we have a preliminary payout on the way. We can shift the damaged stock without paying for the removal. We will clean up, check the damage… can we live with some of it. Shaun’s Irish, not Scottish, but he has all the Scottish tenacity when it comes to money! Now for some barrels full of stock…Meantime I have a book to ‘proof read‘ – it’s become an editing job,.. if I have to edit book 3 I want a head start on it with the author…
Fingers crossed for you that things continue to get better.
DeleteThe Mad Italian (192)
ReplyDeleteToday what you call the Budget is put before Parliament. It is really stepping stones into the future. There will be questions from ‘the man who would be king but has he a chance…‘and MPs asking provoking too questions. To me it seems a sensible plan provided the MPs allow it to work. Meantime the Scottish leader has her problems, with the outcome very much in the balance. And barrels full of tar for those who do not contribute to the ‘recovery’ which will be a long time coming. Trust me, it will come.
Big plus was the jobs boost for Teesside - both Treasury and Freeport.
DeleteBroken arm...right, of course. Will be AWOL for a while.
ReplyDeleteMend soon and rightly.
DeleteMend soon and rightly.
DeleteOh Patricia!!! Get mended soon!
ReplyDelete