All things nice?

I suspect that even if I offered a trio of sweet innocent words you will all manage to find a gruesome use for them. At least  two from last week were anything but, and given the parameters of this site, the nightmare-evoking  entries were only to be expected.

That said, Patricia's  cliché-heavy 'Mode Of Expression' was a joy, but this week's top place goes to Jim for the too-long-lasting horror of his 'Last Stand.' This week's words come from my credit card statement.

 Words for the coming week:  clear  drake  significant

Entries by midnight Thursday 6th May, new words posted Friday 7th

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.

Dedication and conversation ...

... is what each of you bring to Prediction, week after week, and as I watch other writing sites wither and die, for lack of attention, I am more than ever grateful for the regular posting of prompt-led pieces, the comments and, increasingly, extra asides … In addition I acknowledge that this weekly limbering, and the need to be concise, much aids my current editing. 

This week's top spot goes to David for 'The Assassin’s Apprentice' - the lack of awareness of the would-be assassin so very well caught. 

Words for the coming week: bolt feather mandible 

Entries by midnight Thursday 29th April, new words posted Friday 30th 

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.

"not much movement in the meaning"

As Perry rightfully said of last week's words, so tonight I'm more carefully considering the flexibility of words  while staring at the spines of books in my To Be Read pile.

And while I know exactly what he meant, I detected little constraint in this week's offerings, and Perry's 'Omen' a superb demonstration of how to overcome.

Words for the coming week:  hammer  hide  liar 

Entries by midnight Thursday 22nd April, new words posted Friday 23rd 

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.

'The world's most trusted'

If there's one thing I've learnt over a decade of writing to prompts, it is that there is no single 'right' way of doing so, and that what I used to fear was my boringly predictable offering (because it was me that thought it) is not  – cannot be – any such thing. So, thank you, Terrie for your elegantly-expressed note as to why you didn't; well done all of you who picked up and ran with last week's words, and congratulations to  Jim whose extended finger in  'A glass of milk' reached the winning tape fractionally before the jostling rest. 

This week I've behaved myself and used volume 1 of  the Shorter OED, A-M, to choose:

Words for the coming week,  erudite  holly  meander 

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

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.

A bit of shameless self-promotion

Another week of inspired usage of prompt words to craft sentences and which both entertained and, as usual, tested my ability to rank them. In the end it was John's crumbling of cheap cake in 'Home hospice' that propelled it to the fore. 

As I was for a short spell this week, with my first-ever independent review and interview, which can be read on https://carolmckay.blogspot.com/2021/03/sandra-davies-drink-with-dead-man.html 

 Words for the coming week are: float Michelangelo wild 

 Entries by midnight Thursday 8th April, new words posted Friday 9th 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.