I’ve said before, there’s no cast in concrete rule, rhyme nor reason as to what prompts me to declare a winner from the weekly selection of Prediction entries, and I am confident you will forgive me this week for choosing Jim’s ‘A long wait’, specifically for the delight of his first sentence and the inspiration of his naming a place ‘Muleshoe’.
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.
Thanks loads for the honor. By the way, Muleshoe exists - it is a town in Texas where my father worked in the 1940's.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!!
ReplyDelete[Threshold 438]
ReplyDeleteI watched Indigo Eyes register the increasing volume of the chorus’ muttering. Saw the astonishing blueness of his irises splinter, as youthful pride in his temporary possession of the quadbike was undermined by their condemnation. Suddenly fearful he might weep I stepped forward. Put my arm around him and kissed him, in what I intended to be read as cousinly fashion. Others misinterpreted. The silence changed. Indigo Eyes dropped the duster, lifted his hands to me. Raven’s growled, his ‘Desdemona’ more challenge than was merited. I had to trust he was merely playacting.
I would be ultra areful about trusting to playacting... it could be more than was bargained for...
DeleteAn especially gruesome end for this second cousin!
DeleteChange of focus [516]
ReplyDelete8 a.m. Pettinger addressed his team. ‘Having established Tuesday’s torso no more closely related to me than second cousin, albeit one whose youthful activities I only occasionally shared, we now need to deploy full-grown police methods to find what happened to him. Ben, What evidence?’
‘We’ve fibres from splinters of the fence where he was slid in, identified as a patterned lining from a fleece; a short-run batch issued to those officiating at the recent Tees Festival. I’ve asked for a list of names.’
‘And the button?’
‘Likely a woman’s blouse. Still checking. Also for where the limbs were lopped.’
how gloriously offhand 'where the limbs were lopped - I do wonder how some people sleep at night...
DeleteI meant to put my 'gruesome-end' comment here, Sandra. Again... what a gruesome end for this second cousin!
DeleteA Fairy’s Tale
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time, in my youth, I used to frequent a ramshackle cafe. The benches were full of splinters. The Formica was faded. On the day I met Liza, My Perfect Cousin by the Undertones was playing on the Juke Box. Her eyes were green. Her hair was pink. She smelled of the forest.
“Clap your hands if you believe in fairies,” she said, weaving her enchantment. I knew there would be no happy ever after. But I didn't realise how deeply I would dragged into the dark loam of that other realm.
Lovely evocation of time, place and teenage emotions.
DeleteSo clear and vivid... a lovely picture with words.
Deleteclever use of the prompts through music,coupled with faded Formica .. a treasure of reminiscences
ReplyDeletePAYBACK
ReplyDeleteMy cousin Anna is two years older than I, and she constantly abuses me, mentally and physically. She calls me “pig breath” and boxes my ears just to be cruel. One day I decided I’d had enough of her tormenting me.
One wouldn’t think a simple splinter could do much damage, but still trapped in youth, I wasn’t aware of everything yet. I snuck up behind her and plunged a long splinter of wood into her neck. She screamed as blood squirted from the wound.
I just meant to scare her, but she died on the spot.
I’m not sorry.
That final line bodes ill for his (? making assumptions here) future.
Deletethere is such a defiant determined tone to this vivid Payback story!!!
ReplyDelete