Things That Make You Cry – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on by | 103 Comments

Good Wednesday morning, my peeps!  The sun is not yet up, the skies are grey and spilling over with rain but hey, we’re here, right?  Well, I am fully present and taking in Jen Pendergast’s lovely image, chosen by our Fictioneer-in-Chief, Rochelle.  Now how will it inspire?  If you wish to play along, or simply desire to read how this picture inspired others, just click on my frog below and you will hop over to the “Hollywood Squares of FF”.  G’head, it’s fun!

Cute Frog Drawing Ideas That Will Leap Off The Page - Glory of the Snow

Click Me!

Louisa looked up at the ceiling, the beautiful arches and colourful stained glass windows and felt her emotions well up inside her, pushing their way to her eyes, filling them with tears that threatened to spill out.  She could fully understand the movie character Georgia, in Last Holiday, when she said to the front desk person at the hotel:  “Doesn’t that ceiling just make you want to cry?”  And like too many people, she never stopped to really look, take in, and appreciate her surroundings.  Why did we (often) need a traumatic experience to open our eyes and appreciate life?

An Engaging Smile

Posted on by | 94 Comments

Monday’s dVerse challenge, hosted by De Jackson, aka WhimsyGizmo, was (is) to write a quadrille (44-word poem) using the word “smile”.  Well now… I know I can do that!

 

At our high school graduation gala

We learned we’d receive a “Marque d’excellence”

for one thing that distinguishes us

Wonder what I will get?

“Athletic prowess”

Says everyone

How wrong were they (and me)?

“For her engaging smile”

Which I cherish to this day

 

Grad pic (beginning of year)
Graduation Gala
With my date Dany (still friends today)
The photo I was searching for! We were the first to be introduced

*Because Miss Dale Rogerson distinguished herself by her engaging smile, the Directors and teachers are delighted to present her with this Mark of Excellence.

Weekend Writing Prompt #450 – Sweet

Posted on by | 58 Comments

As you know, I love me these short ones!  Twelve!  Good golly, Miss Sammi!

Salty and sweet

a lovely treat

Sweet and spicy

Cannot be beat!

Breaking Free – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on by | 109 Comments

Oh my goodness.  Friday already?  And here I am posting so very late in the date, to boot!  No matter.  Later is better than not, right?  Right.

Thank you, always, to Rochelle for hosting, and this week to Sandra for supplying our inspiration!  To read more stories or to add the link to you own, please click my frog below.

©Sandra Crook

210+ Jumping Cartoon Frog Isolated On White Stock Illustrations, Royalty- Free Vector Graphics & Clip Art - iStock

Click to link

By grunts and groans, scrapes and snags; by pushing and pulling, heaving and huffing she freed herself.  Like the snake shedding its skin, so did she shed the doubts and fears, the constraints both real or imagined and, more importantly, that annoying inner voice trying to tell her she couldn’t, shouldn’t, daren’t.

She was ready to burst free like the water from a fountain.  But what if it froze in mid-air?  What would she do then?  She’d wait.  And when the sun came out, she would sparkle, that’s what she would do!

She refused to let anything stop her now.

The Numbers Game 106 – Number 228

Posted on by | 78 Comments

Another week has gone by and my muse is still musty so why not play along to Judy Dykstra-Brown’s Numbers Challenge?  This week, the magic number was 228.  I love how I go down memory lane as I look up where these photos were used and for what posts.  Hope you enjoy!

Streetside Gallant
Lonely pod
Friends gathering to celebrate a late friend
Grandeur at port
Parc La Freyère
Check this out!
Beautiful moss
Walking With Stanley
Trio
Bettering Things
Swimming in the lake
MY couch
Keepsakes from CCC#18
Gratitude for my brother-in-law

The Numbers Game #105 – Number 227

Posted on by | 98 Comments

While waiting for my bread to bake, I’ve been catching up on blogs.  Lisa reminded me that on Monday’s Judy Dykstra-Brown hosts this lovely challenge.

So… here we go!

Carré St-Louis
Outdoor Art Gallery
Sabrevois Creek
Starling
@Ted Strutz – The Choir riseth
Cathy and me – Van Gogh
Comparing Zeke’s paw to Mick’s hand
My kids and me
Arrived at destination
Preparing Lemon and Limecellos
Sun setting down
Fluff on Fire
cat?

Rocks and Splits

Posted on by | 101 Comments

On Monday, Merril hosted dVerse prosery.  I knew exactly where I wanted to go with this one but felt I had to wait until today.  We were to use the following lines:

“The granites and schists
Of my dark and stubborn country.”

from Nan Shepherd’s, “The Hill Burns”
from In the Cairngorms (Edinburgh: The Moray Press, 1934)
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/hill-burns/

We must use the lines of poetry in a non-poetic prose piece of 144 words.  This is where it let me.

Today, this eleventh day of December, is a regular day to most, but for me?  It marks the eleventh anniversary of the day when the world I knew changed.  Forever. Where things suddenly shifted like the granites and schists of my dark and stubborn country, or, to me, my world.  No matter how much your mind can travel to thoughts you have no reason for having, you can never be prepared for the reality when it comes.  I cannot explain the why of my thoughts. Premonition, maybe?  A sense of knowing that things would not be forever, or at the very least, for another thirty years?  Maybe it’s simply self-preservation to expect (or prepare) for the worst, so there are no surprises.  So you can be strong. It worked twenty-nine years ago, to help me not lose my mind.  It could help again.  Right?

Safety – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on by | 86 Comments

It’s Wednesday evening already!  After fussing (not the real word I want to use) around forever on my hacked Instagram account (still can’t resolve it), I’ve given up there and come here and finish this trilogy in four parts (Douglas Adams, anyone?).  One, Two, Three and now thanks to Rochelle for choosing my photo which just so happened to inspire me to bring this thing to an end.  Do click on the link to see what others have come up with and/or how about you play, too!

The Little Frog Who Wanted to Fly | Story.com

Click to play

Charlotte started gathering all the fairies in their boxes.  “Oh, I’ll never get you to safety quickly enough!”

Once again, the elves came in using their special magic, swirled them into the alley behind the store and away from prying eyes.

Now that they were safe, Queen Maeve clapped her hands to gain their attention.

“We must first thank Charlotte and the elves for coming to our rescue.”

“Hear! Hear!” the crowd chorused.

“Where do we go from here?” asked Zephyr

“Look down the alley,” said Charlotte.  “See the wooded area?  It will lead you to a new safe place.”

Weekend Writing Prompt #445 – Wait

Posted on by | 80 Comments

A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend.  How you use the prompt is up to you.  Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like.  Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise.  If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in the comments.

Word Prompt

Wait

What do I wait for?

Who do I wait for?

Why the hell am I waiting?

Random photo that I just liked so…

Trapped! – Friday Fictioneers

Posted on by | 94 Comments

Good Friday morning, my peeps.  It’s taken me three days to get this to work to finish the “trilogy”.   Apologies to those who have just arrived.  It is supposed to stand alone but I fear, it does not.  Part 1, Part 2 – I even went so far as to the first mention of the fairies, way back in July.  My apologies most profuse!  This week, Rochelle has chosen one of her own photos – not an easy one to finish, but hey, one must do what one must!!  Should you like to read the other stories inspired by this photo or play along yourself, just click the frog below and you’ll zip over to the Hollywood Squares of participants where you can peruse and add yours.  Not sure how it’s done?  Just click on Rochelle’s pic and you’ll fly over to her site where all the rules and regs are.  Have a fantabulous Friday and weekend!

©Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

#5509 NIB Vintage LJN Blinkins Grog the Frog Foreign Package | eBay

Click to link!

Swoosh!

Before any could say a word, a tornado-like flash of rainbow-colour light swirled around them all with such dizzying force, they lost consciousness.

Slowly, each fairy woke and checked their surroundings.  What?  They were in Barbie-like packaging.  Panicking, they yelled and banged on the sides, trying to escape.

Zephyr jumped when Charlotte’s face filled his vision.  “Oh!  You!”

“Shhhh.  This is only temporary.  I called the elves and they magicked you out of there.”  She shoo’ed away a small child, “Not for sale!”

“What’s your plan, lovely human?”

“I have to get you off the shelves!”

“That’d be best.”