Welcome to September’s photo prompt. Hopefully, you’ll like the very short piece I wrote for the above image. It was literally the first idea that popped into my head so I went with it.
Dark clouds hung low as a haze blanketed the area. Crumbling buildings and abandoned cars were all she could see. She wasn’t sure what had caused the devastation, but she knew she wasn’t safe. She eased out from the shattered window of a diner and searched the area. They were coming. She knew that. They always came and when they did she would run. Damn, she was so sick of running. Over and over. Maybe this time everything would be right then she could rest. She hoped so.
Seeing movement, she darted from her hiding place and ran down the dust strewn street. They were coming and they were fast. Hideous shambling caricatures of people who should be dead, but weren’t. They never were, not in this place.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw one gaining and screamed. And screaming she began to weep.
“Please, please,” she yelled as she tripped over nothing.
She rolled to her back as the first zombie was on her. She kicked out, just catching him on the shin. Instead of staggering back, he screamed and clutched his leg, falling to the ground.
What the fuck!
“Cut!” a voice yelled out.
Kelly rolled her eyes, as the director rushed across the fake street, in the fake burned out city.
“What the hell is your problem?” he yelled at the zombie.
“She kicked me.”
“I didn’t kick him that hard,” she said, scrambling up off the ground. “Fuck, I barely touched him. He acts like I broke his leg.”
“Reset,” the director yelled then turned to the sobbing zombie. “We’re on take fifteen and you can’t even run down the street. What is your problem.”
As the two began to argue, Kelly moved to the side and grabbed a water. It was going to be a very long day.
Now go see how Bronwyn, Jessica, Siobhan, and Kris handled the picture.
First, can you believe August is almost over?? I know! Crazy, right? Anyway, as always, with these lists they are in no particular order BUT #1 is my #1 place. If you’ve been here before you all know where and what it is.
1 Hadrian’s Wall!! Yes!!
2 Chalice Well and the Tor in Glastonbury
3 The Grand Canyon – I’ve flown over it, which was amazing, but I want to see it up close.
4 Scotland – as much as I can anyway. Since, you know, it’s really big
5 The Outer Banks – a place I’m fairly close to, but have never been. Sis and I keep talking about it, but we never make it
6 Niagara Falls – another place we talk about going. Oh and they have tons of wineries around the area. Win Win!
7 Ireland – Sis has gone, but I’d love to see Giants Causeway and Blarney Castle and the billion others sites there
8 Stonehenge – so basically I want to go to England and travel around
9 All the Smithsonian museums. I’ve been to a few and had to run through those since I was under a time crunch. I want to spend days wandering through the museums and looking at all the exhibits
10 Japan – I’ve wanted to go here for a while, but especially after I saw the Samurai exhibit at the museum I worked at. It was utterly amazing. And, since I worked in the education department, we all had to do a lot of research to get ready for it. That’s what hooked me
Go see where Bronwyn, Jessica, Kris, and Siobhan wish to visit.
Wow, what an intense question, right? To pick the one single best book I read this summer. To say I read a lot, is putting it mildly. And I read a lot of different genres, including quite a bit of nonfiction. So, to have to pick just one book . . . yeah . . . here goes. And, really, I’m going to TRY to keep it to just one book. *snicker* NOT!
One of my favorite authors ever, Nalini Singh, published Ocean Light. The next book in her Psy/Changeling series. I love this series so much. I’ve read it a bunch and can’t even tell you how many times I’ve listened to it. I love the characters and how each story fits together, like a puzzle. She’s amazing at plotting huge arcs.
If you’ve never read any of her books you are so missing out. I’d suggest you run out right now and start this series as well as her Archangel series. So much awesome.
The next book, I told you I couldn’t pick one, is Shelly Laurenston’s newest Hot and Badgered. I love her Pride series and, like Nalini’s books, I’ve read and listened to them over and over. This book, just as her others, is so funny and has many of the characters from her Pride Series, so win win.
I’ve read a ton of other books, but these are the two that really stick out for me. Now, go and see what book(s) Bronwyn, Jessica and Paige chose.
Last month I wrote a short piece about Shay and Josie. This month I decided to use them again since the prompt is so awesome and totally reminds me of the two women. Hope you enjoy it. Oh and the prompt is in bold in the flash.
Shay limped through the darkened woods as she picked leaves out of her hair. The week had gone from shit to totally fucked up. Check out fake haunted house, no problem. Instead, the home owners hadn’t waited for them to show up and had employed a “ghost hunting” team. Dumb fucks. All of them. The home owners for not waiting and the Ghost Dusters or whatever they called themselves for somehow opening a portal into another dimension. A dimension with demons. Demons who had come right on in, slaughtered everyone in the house, and left.
Fuck. The agency had scrambled the major teams, but Shay knew it wasn’t going to do any good. The demons were strong, far stronger than anything they had faced before. And, now, for some reason, humans were helping the demons. Double fuck.
She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Josie said, “You know you should be a little more thankful. I saved your life back there.”
Shay stopped and stared at her best friend “You pushed me off a cliff.”
“Don’t be a baby. It was just a little cliff.”
She rolled her eyes ad started walking again. Josie jogged to keep up with her.
“Why would humans help those things?”
Shay shrugged. “Why do humans do anything? Most of them are self-centered fuck heads who only care about themselves. They think they’re special. I’m sure the demons promised them all kinds of stuff.”
“Now what? We both know nothing we or anyone else does is going to stop this. We’re just not strong enough.”
“Obviously, since I didn’t fly when you shoved me off a cliff.”
“Oh my gosh, are you going to keep harping on that.”
Shay thought for a long moment. “Yes, I believe I am. Or, at least, until I can shove you off a cliff.”
“Quit being a baby. This is serious.”
“So is me dying from a fall from a cliff.”
The two women walked in silence as the sun began to set. The trees threw odd shadows around them and it took everything in Shay to stop a shiver. There was nothing out there. Both of their senses as well as Josie’s gadgets would have sounded an alarm. Still she was afraid and it wasn’t a feeling she was used to. They’d never come across something they couldn’t handle. This time, though, this time it was so far beyond their pay grade it wasn’t funny.
“We need help,” Shay said.
“Dude, two demons devoured the top team at the agency. We don’t have anyone to call. Unless you know Aquaman and Batman personally. And if you do, I call Jason Momoa.”
“In your dreams, Jason Momoa is mine. You owe me for throwing me off a cliff.”
“I did not throw you, drama queen, I gave you a small push. To save your stupid life. Next time I won’t bother.”
“Yes, you will, you love me, I’m your best friend.”
“So, who’s helping us?” Josie prompted.
“I’m not sure. We need to send out a calling and hope we get an answer.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Shay stopped and stared at the woman who was closer than a sister. They shared everything with each other, everything but Shay’s family.
“I come from an unbroken line of powerful witches. I can trace my ancestors back to the Picts in Scotland.”
Josie stared at her for a long moment and burst into laughter. “Oh my gosh, you almost had me. Powerful witches. Yeah, so who, Samantha Stevens? Can you fly on a broom?”
Shay placed her hands on her hips and stared at her best friend. Stared until Josie stopped laughing. Stared until Josie looked away.
“You’re serious?”
Shay nodded. “And this is why I never told you. There was no point. My family is gone. I’m the last of the line. My mother died before fully training me. But, right now, I can’t think of anything else.”
Josie nodded. “Okay, so what do we do?”
Now go and check out my friend Bronwyn‘s flash.
Welcome to the randomness that is the Wednesday blog. This week is a really awesome top 10 and it’s something that I’ve thought about before. So, here, in no particular order, are the things I’d want/need/require if I were trapped on a deserted island.
First, I’d have to have books. Tons and tons of books. I love to read so what better way to pass the time than reading.
Second, I’d have to have my laptop. I would finally have time to write in quiet so why waste it?
Next, I’d have to have music. I couldn’t survive without it. And have you noticed nowhere on this list is food or a place to sleep. Yeah, a girl has her priorities.
Third, finally, is a comfortable shelter. Like this:
Number 4 a magical kitchen that would just give me food. I can cook, but don’t like to so a kitchen that just makes me food would be a must.
#5 I would want to have my kitten with me. I can’t imagine going anywhere without her.
Six, a hunky man to do all the heavy lifting and such. Oh and to keep the above pool clean. Ummmm, someone like
Huh, is it getting hot in here? *fanning* Anyway, what number am I on???
Seven, I’m on seven. I would want my crafting projects. Especially my knitting and cross stitch. After I’ve written and read, and done whatever with Jason I would love to spend a quiet evening doing cross stitch. And yes, that’s what we all call it.
#8 – A cell phone to call my friends.
Nine is wine! I would want to have yummy wine on my island of pleasure.
And finally, number ten a huge boat so I could bring my sister and friends in to visit.
Welcome once again to the randomness that is Wednesday. This week the questions is really something I had to think about. I mean, there’s a lot of ways to think about indulgence without consequence. Eating chocolate. Drinking. Not going to work. The possibilities were endless.
So, after much thought, I decided that if money were no object, which to me is indulging without consequence, then I would travel. And if you know anything about me, you know the very first place I’d head would be Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland.
There’s just something about it. I can’t explain it, but I need to touch it.
Another place I’d visit is Chalice Well in Britain
Garden, thought to be Avalon, magic. What’s not to love. And, it’s right near the Glastonbury To. Hello! Convergence of magical energy. I want to be there.
The next place I’d go is The Alhambra in Spain. This was another place I discovered as a kid. I found a book at the library and have wanted to go here. It’s not as big a draw as Hadrian’s Wall, but the place is gorgeous.
If I ever get the chance to have a “money is no object” life, I’ll post tons of pics when I go traveling. Until then, I’ll just keep dreaming and writing.
Welcome to July’s promptly penned. The prompt is in bold in the flash below. Hope you enjoy!
Shay cross her arms as Jeffery carefully explained their assignment. Yeah, her team was new, but no matter how many ten dollars words Jeffery tossed around the whole thing sounded like scutwork.
“So, let me get this straight,” Shay interrupted, “the upper level’s big thought on this is ‘the best of the best weren’t available . . . so we got the best of the mediocre.’ The mediocre being us?”
“No, no, no,” Jeffery said.
“There were one too many no’s in there,” Shay replied.
“Look, this came down from the director . . .”
Shay almost rolled her eyes. Yep, first he tried to placate then jumped directly to an attempt at being assertive. Too bad it never worked, especially with her.
“I’m out of here.”
Shay shoved off the desk and moved to the door. Bless his heart, Jeffery jumped in front of her and held one hand out like he was a cop directing traffic. He blinked rapidly behind his glasses as she fixed her gaze on him and began to stare. And stare. And stare. He looked away and she had to stop herself from smirking. Yes, she was a bitch sometimes, but she liked it that way.
“Just check it out,” Jeffery pleaded, holding a piece of paper out to her. “Please.”
Shay snatched the paper out of his hand and left the office. Yes, it was scutwork, but she’d take it. Better than the alternative. If they found out about her power surge . . . better not to think about it. They won’t find out, she promised herself. She knew what happened to people with gifts. They were used up until they were nothing but shattered people who sat and screamed and screamed. That was not going to be her.
Shay motioned for Josie to follow her as she left the building. The two women crossed the parking lot and climbed into the vehicle. Josie pulled a device from her pocket and switched it on. Red lights flashed briefly before going green. They were clear.
“What’s going on?” Josie asked, tucking the scanner away in a pocket. If surveillance was in place, it wasn’t any longer. The device Josie created made sure of it.
“Jeffery wants us to check out this house over on Collins. The owners said they heard noises.”
“Noises?”
“Yeah, you know rustling in the walls.”
“Oh, you mean mice?”
Shay laughed. “Either that or something is majorly wrong with the electrical. Mice or electrical doesn’t matter.”
“How did it come in?”
“Some friend of the director bought a house and heard noises. Ergo, the house is haunted.”
Josie shook her head. “And we were given the assignment because . . .?”
“We’re the best of the mediocre.”
“I can live with that. Live. See what I did there? Better to visit the fake haunts and collect a paycheck than roll with the big units.”
Shay nodded. The people with talent collected huge paychecks but didn’t usually last more than five years. Tops. Then they were quietly shuffled off to the care facilities the department kept on the downlow. Once there, if it was determined the person was damaged beyond repair the man or woman went quietly to sleep never to wake again. Not something Shay wanted for herself.
“Okay, so once we check on the mice, we should knock off for the day and go to dinner.” Shay pulled out her phone and began to type. “There’s a new Thai place I wanted to try.”
Shay pulled up in front of a house and checked the paper. Yep, right address. The place was nice. Huge two-story brick with lots of windows and a pretty price tag. She bet it had to run close to a million five easy.
Josie whistled. “Damn this place is nice. Too bad it has an electrical rodent problem. Or the pipes shake or a million other issues the builders skimped on.”
Shay climbed out of the car and the two women moved to the front door. She rang the bell and when that didn’t bring anyone, knocked loudly.
“We came all this way and no one is home?” Josie moved to peek through the small windows flanking the door.
“Jeffery told me the home owners were going to meet us.”
Shay stepped off the porch and moved across the yard to circle the house. Maybe the owners were waiting in the backyard. Glancing over the fence she found it empty.
“Cool,” Josie said, “we can head to dinner now.”
Shay ran her fingers through her hair. She so wanted to agree with her friend, but decided they had to do their due diligence. Opening the gate, she moved to the back door and looked through the window. She could see a gorgeous kitchen, but no movement. Knocking on the door, she waited a moment.
“We’re not leaving, are we?”
“Not yet,” Shay said, “we need to check the house. Then if we don’t find anything we call it in and leave.”
She placed her hand on the door knob and gave a small push with her mind. The door unlocked and she stepped in. The sound of rushing air greeted them. It didn’t sound like an AC unit though, more like an industrial fan cranked up to high. Shay looked over at her friend and found her just as confused.
Cautiously, she exited the kitchen into a huge foyer with stairs that curved up to the right. The noise sounded as though it was coming from a room to the left with doors partially closed. Josie pulled another device from her many pockets and began to scan. Lights flashed like crazy as Josie punched buttons. Finally, she looked up at Shay and mouthed not mice.
Taking a breath, Shay shoved the doors of the room open and stared. Furniture swirled in the air as the whooshing noise got louder. Two people, at least Shay thought it was only two, since they were only body parts, were plastered against the walls that rippled and pulsed. Where the ceiling should be was a huge black hole that reminded Shay of what she thought the inside of a tornado would look like. Yep, this was not mice. Not even close.
The mediocre just became the A team.
Welcome to July! Can you believe the year is half over?? Crazy!! This month I’m going to share all of my craft projects. I love to craft, but, as I tell people, I’m the Jill of all trades, Mistress of none. I make jewelry, my own soap and lotion, embroider, knit, and now I’ve taken up cross stitch. Amid all this, my Sis and I make Halloween and Yule decorations and we create fairy houses. Right now, we’re working on a miniature haunted house. Oh and wreaths . . . don’t get me started on those. Around the holidays I’ll share pics of our . . . 7 or 8 wreaths, maybe more. Anyway, here are some of my craft projects and supplies.
Welcome to June!! The year is half way over already. Jeez louise, it’s crazy how the time is flying by. So, as it is the first Monday of June we have a new flash fiction piece based on a photo. Here’s the photo:
I love this picture so much and, in fact, it reminds me of a friend of mine. I hope that all of you like the flash:
The Photograph
Jenna nervously entered the large gallery space and slowly scanned the crowd. The large crowd. She didn’t understand why so many people were there for a student art show. Her stomach did a flip and she breathed deep trying to calm her nerves. The stress was stupid, really, it wasn’t like her entire livelihood depended on the show. Hell, it was for a class. That was it. And yet she couldn’t convince her stomach of that.
Signing up for the class had really been a spur of the moment decision. The class she wanted to take was filled and she had to have three more credit hours to ensure she graduated in the spring. Tossing caution to the wind, she’d registered for the introduction to photography class. How hard could it be? Take some pictures, go to class, and voilà she’d be closer to graduation. She hadn’t counted on the original professor taking ill and the university bringing in a celebrated artist, Cherie Madison. Even Jenna had known who she was, and she knew nothing about art.
What she thought of as an easy grade, had become work. Hard work. She’d actually considered dropping but knew she couldn’t. She wouldn’t get her money back and she wouldn’t graduate. So, she’d stuck it out and found that she actually enjoyed it. Oh, she had no misguided thoughts that the class made her any kind of professional, but she learned that taking a picture was harder than anyone imagined.
Their final project had been a self-portrait. How easy. People took selfies all the time. Not Jenna. She hated having her picture taken. In fact, once she’d been out of elementary school, she’d refused to have any more class pictures taken. Her parents had cajoled, threatened, and begged, but Jenna had stood firm. She hated how she looked in or out of pictures and, yet, she had to take one for her final grade.
Cherie had told them the picture must be a reflection of who they really were. The image must show the truth of their soul. Jenna figured the only way she could do that is if she turned in a blurry image since she constantly dodged when a camera came out. She’d gotten extremely good at knowing where the camera was and disappearing. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option for the class.
Jenna slowly made her way into gallery and eased along the wall. The first image she came too made her stomach flip and she felt as if she wanted to hurl. The picture was black and white and showed a girl artfully arranged on the floor. Her hair spread out around her and her nakedness was barely covered with a thin piece of material. Shit, this was so far away from what Jenna had done it wasn’t funny.
Okay, she told herself, no big deal. The girl in the picture imagined herself as some kind of bohemian avant-garde artist. Of course, her picture would be moody and black and white. No big deal. And, yet, the farther Jenna moved into the space the more black and white moody pictures she saw. Her classmates had used filters and photo effects that looked as though they should be in some kind of art book and not hanging in a student art exhibit.
By the time, she rounded the corner to her own work, Jenna was close to tears. Her piece was nothing at all like the others. The picture she had turned in was in color. She’d worn her favorite white sundress. The one that she didn’t dare wear out in public, since it was cut pretty low in the front. She’d found a wide brown belt to try to accent her waist and had worn knee high, lace up brown boots. Then she’d gone out to her grandparent’s farm.
There was no weird lighting or effects. Oh, hell no, she’d just set up the camera on a tri-pod and taken shots of herself around the farm. The picture she’d chosen to turn in had been one that she’d taken as a joke. She’d leaned against a fence with one arm outstretched and the other against the back of her neck. She’d thought of it as a goddess pose. Her eyes closed and face turned to the side. She imagined she looked sexy as hell, especially after a few glasses of wine.
Riding high on the feeling, she’d turned that shot in. Now, looking at it stone cold sober she wished she could shrivel up. The girl in the image wasn’t a goddess. She was an overweight girl flopped against a fence. Jenna wanted to turn and run, but her feet stayed rooted to the spot. She now understood how someone could be paralyzed with fear.
A person stepped up next to her and it took effort for her to turn her head. Cherie Madison smiled and put her arm around Jenna’s shoulders.
“I was terrified at my first show too,” the woman said.
Jenna couldn’t answer. She had nothing to say. Not even if someone paid her money could she have formed a coherent sentence.
“I love your piece.”
Jenna stared at her and turned back to the image.
“Why?” she blurted out. “It’s not . . .” she trailed away.
“Like everyone else’s?” Cherie asked. “Jenna who said the photos had to look alike? Who said they had to be arty? I know I didn’t. My request of you all was to take a picture that reflected your true self. You did that. You were the only one who did that.”
“I don’t understand,” Jenna said, finally able to come up with a coherent sentence.
“I highly doubt the images your classmates turned in reflected anything about themselves. It may show how they want to be seen. Or how they imagine they are. But not who they really are. This picture is you. It’s beautiful and fun and vibrant.”
Jenna turned back to the picture and really looked at it. She forced herself to forget how much she hated having her own picture taken. She shoved aside the constant thoughts that entered her head every time she looked at herself in the mirror. Instead, she concentrated on what had made her turn the photo in to begin with.
“Do you see?” Cherie asked.
Jenna slowly nodded her head and whispered. “I imagined myself as a goddess.”
“I can see it. You did an amazing job.”
For the first time that evening, Jenna smiled. “Yeah, I did.”
Gwen Cease 