100 Word Challenge - Silence

SILENCE

Frost traces a frigid fern on the window pane.  Outside, the snow wafts down, glinting bright in the moonlight, dancing on the occasional air current.

Across the room she lays with her back to me, a barrier as resolute as Hadrian's wall.

Still awake, I can tell from her breathing, as she ignores me.

Outside the snow continue its graceful mocking ballet.

So quiet.

So cold.

[66 words]

100 Word Challenge

100 WCGU -- Week 84

Amazing -- first draft weighs in at EXACTLY 105 words!

Picture found here

My father, never a fearful man, was terrified that I’d get some girl “in trouble.”

Shy, socially awkward me – what a joke.

There was a girl I had my eye on, Jenny: slender, dark-haired, cute, but not the type other guys would notice.

But she was shy, too.

Not so Sheila.  I don’t know what drew her to me.  Maybe it was the challenge.

She took me for a walk in the woods, a quiet place where we were utterly alone.

She knew what to do and how to do it, and as the line was crossed, I knew I’d never be quite the same.

 ~~~\|/~~~

100 Word Challenge – Week#84

100 WCGU # 81

 100 WCGU challenge:  "…the unseasonal weather meant …"

~ : ~

BLOSSOMS

It's just a bit above freezing today, with snow coming down, not too heavy.   Last year there was no winter, to speak of.  The cherry trees bloomed a full month early, only to be nipped after a few weeks by a late frost.  A year ago today it was like high summer. We had dinner on the patio, some drinks, and after dusk made love in the moonlight. 

She asked what the unseasonal weather meant, and could ask it again had she stayed.  She should have stayed.  Michigan – at least its weather - is just like her.

Tomorrow could be so different from today.

~ : ~

100 WCGU #71

Somehow, I missed the 12/31 prompt until just now.

.  .  .  as midnight struck  .  .  .

I had already recast this FSF MIDNIGHT story as a haiku, but here is another take using the prompt, coming in at a very economical 13 words.

On midsummer's eve
As midnight struck she went out
To find a fairy

Source

100WCGU #69

This week's prompt is the word pair " .  .  . Bah  Humbug!  .  .  ."

I sheepishly offer my response to this challenge, in exactly 99 words.


THE WOLLENSPOOF SONG

To the stables down at Scrooge’s
To the place where Scroogie shears
To the dear Old Time Pole Barn we love so well

Sing the Wollenspoofs assembled
With their hooves all raised on high
And the magic of their bleating casts its spell

Yes, the magic of their bleating of songs Scroogie loves so well
"Shall I foreclose" and "You owe me" and the rest
We will serenade our Scroogie while life and voice shall last
Then we'll we’ll go and become mutton with the rest

We're poor little lambs who have lost our way
Baa, Bah, Humbug!

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Update: If anyone doesn't get the reference, they are to Ebeneezer Scrooge and The Wiffenpoof Song.

What I didn't realize is that what I've done here is a parody of a parody.  Welcome to the parody parade.

100 WCGU #68

This week's prompt is a sentence fragment: ….they worked when I put them away….

Here, in exactly 100 words, is a follow up to Uncle Albert's Desk.

I wanted to explore the desk further, but had no unused words.

Weird Cubby Holes

Marci decided that such a bulky piece of furniture needed to do more than just take up space.  The cubby holes behind the roll top were perfect for storing her transistor radio, tape player, and the watch Rob gave her.

Later, she replaced the batteries in the radio and tape player, but neither ever ran again.  She took the watch to a repair shop and paid more than the original purchase price for a new mechanism.  But afterward it always ran unpredictably either fast or slow.

“It’s weird,” she told her friend Amy, “they worked when I put them away.”

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Reduced to a Haiku 

Why did that old desk

Cast aberrations on those

Mechanical things?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

As a six word story

What

Secrets does

That desk hold?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Marci's thread

100WCGU -- #69

This time the prompt is a picture 

DARK CHOCOLATE

Ah what wondrous heavenly delight
That I would place into my eager mouth

You know I know you want to take that last
Smooth (creamy and dark on the outside)

Crunchy (from the almond deep within)
Morsel on your eager tongue as well

But suppose that I would get there first
Place the chocolate lovingly inside

Would you moue your lovely tasty lips
To form a petulant and sulky pout

Or press them up so thoughtfully to mine
Hoping to obtain a lover's share

Of a sweet and co-indulgent treat

 ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

This comes in at 90 words. I had to - with great reluctance - delete what was originally the 2nd couplet, since that took it to 104.  Alas and alack.

Better still with almonds at the core
You will, my dear, most certainly agree

Though, upon further reflection, it does seem unnecessary to the final product.  Still, without it, I never would have put it all together.

100WCGU -- GREY

Following a link in the side bar at shadetheraven, I discovered the 100 word challenge for grown ups at Julia's place.   Julia gives a prompt word, and we accept the challenge with a story of no more than 100 words that is suitable for a PG certificate.  I think what follows qualifies.  If you're visiting from 100WCGU, welcome.  This vignette, from Gil's PoV in exactly 100 words, is part of a developing story, with segments written in response to 4 different flash fiction memes.  The immediate prequel is found here.  Gil's and Marci's threads can be accessed from links at the end of this post or in the right hand frame.

 Source

GREY DAWN

Marci is tall and thin, with a dusky oval face framed by straight dark hair hanging just past her shoulders.

She is reasonably attractive, though not one to turn many heads.

But in the early dawn grey, as she lays with one long leg draped over Gil's thighs and one tiny breast pressed tight against his chest, she is as beautiful as a Greek goddess.

Gil’s joy darkens to grey as he thinks about Cheryl.

Marci, as if reading his mind says,  “Don’t worry.  I don’t want to take you from your wife  -- just borrow you when she’s away.

 ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

 Reduced to a haiku

 In the early grey
dawn, guilt and regret - but he
Can take some comfort

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

I was amazed to find the perfect picture for this entry. Sometimes you're just lucky.

Gil's thread

Marci's thread