Friday 11 August 2023

Normal service not quite yet

 It's been a tricky week with technology. culminating with the collection of a fully  set-up new laptop which was the wrong model, so I've resurrected my Chrome book (my clogged old laptop also having died on me) and sincerely hope normal service will be restored shortly, at least for a little while (I'm off to the Netherlands on the 23rd, for a week) Thank you for all the entertaining posts last week.

Words for the coming week:  educate juice mirror

 Entries by midnight Thursday August 17th, new words and winners Friday 18th

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.

17 comments:

  1. Good luck sorting out the laptop, Sandra, and enjoy your Netherlands holiday.

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  2. have a wonderful time, Sandra, you are a truly devoted writer and we all benefit for it. Just enjoy the new technology for a while...

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  3. "I said, get your worthless ass out of bed and get ready for school!"

    "I'm too tired to go to school!"

    "By God, you WILL go to school, or I'll educate you myself, and you damn sure won't like THAT!"

    "I hate you! I want some orange juice and cereal!"

    You little brat, I am making bacon and eggs for you! Now go wash your face and come it it!"

    Nose to nose, the combatents stared at each other, daring the other to blink first.

    A mirror makes the best, and the worst opponent.

    Especially if the reflection wasn't you

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    1. Skilled switch from easily-recognised breakfast domestic to something infinitely more alien and firghtening.

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  4. Juice Extraction

    His smile was mesmerizing, ‘Let me educate you in the finer points of juice extraction.’
    His graceful finger pointed as he spoke ‘there the flavour is more mellow while here garners a more youthful zing. Of course it does take practice to get consistent results ‘

    I watched the steady drip, drip, as the bowl began to fill.

    With a satisfied sigh, he glided with skillful elegance to stand in front of the looking glass where he made a show of flicking an imaginary speck of dust from his shoulder.

    The mirror held no reflection.

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    Replies
    1. My mind is fighting hard not to let my imagination take over.

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    2. James Edward Deegan17 August 2023 at 17:38

      This fellow obviously knows what he's doing. As always, such vivid language from you, Terrie.

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  5. Silly me: in my innocence, I never saw the potential for frightening in a mirror. Should have known better, since you and David have managed it in spades.

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  6. Antonia - still battlig my dementia but - might actually get there. Cat sat at my feet asking for food in the most pathtic sound imaginable, ignor9ing the two bowls of biscuits...I think the mirror showed up well considering the stories were being dragged into reality wth juice an d then without, fizzy electric or otherwise. Jst take extra dare of the workers, paws or otherwise,,, ha ha, or is that too droll for words?

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  7. The Mirror Never Lies?

    It was an education watching her in the mirror, slowly sipping her tomato juice, hungrily eyeing the bar’s cliental as she searched for her next victim.
    They say that vampires do not have reflections. But that is a myth. A mirror exposes them for what they truly are. Ancient, decayed and monstrous.
    He'd been committed to an institution for the criminally insane for acting on what he observed in mirrors. They called him a serial killer. But locked doors could not hold him. Now his stake was sharpened and ready to plunge once more.

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    Replies
    1. It has to be tomato juice, doesn't it!

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    2. James Edward Deegan17 August 2023 at 17:29

      Vampires take heed! Nice idea about vampires and mirrors.

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  8. Excerpt from 'Drink with a dead man'

    From the bed, trickles of post-coital juices stiffening, like egg-white, on his thighs, Delaunay Prendergast watched the triple mirrored reflection of fragmented breasts, belly and navel of his wife as she rummaged in a drawer of her dressing table.
    Testing, 'Time for another, darling, if we're quick.'
    He shouldn't have insisted on the first: friend Simon, a friend and, apparently, a doctor, had phoned last night to warn him, 'Felicity might not remember to say, but, post abortion, best to wait a few days.' Only way he could think to educate her not to keep secrets.

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    1. Clever use of the prompt words ,Sandra, gives a clear message of feelings and mood in this excerpt. Definitely not a healthy relationship for either character going on here .

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    2. James Edward Deegan17 August 2023 at 17:26

      Quite the interesting and entertaining entry, Sandra. That first paragraph really grabbed me. Well done!

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  9. James Edward Deegan16 August 2023 at 23:23

    LEFT-HANDED COMPLIMENTS?

    I should have educated myself earlier in your multitude of physical attributes, because, until now, I never realized how enchanting you are. And seeing you like this creates an entirely new meaning for ‘beautiful.’

    Your eyes, bright as polished mirrors, reveal an ineffable loveliness, and your lips, moist and juicy as plump cherries, have humbled me in adoration. The rest of you – a flesh and blood monument to elegance and grace.

    Sorry for the cliched adulations, sweetheart, but they are so apropos while looking at you.

    Too bad death was the only way to keep you from cheating on me.

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  10. Lots of silver-tongued husbands and cheating wives this week.

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