Words for Wednesday.

 

Words for Wednesday.

River has supplied the prompts for this week. The objective is to encourage people to write. Why not visit her to see what others have created?

The prompts are:

shipwreck  hook  unexpected  buttermilk  white-knuckled  buggy

Strange new colours for paints

She was tired of the bland look of her new house and wanted some ideas for unusual colours. The paint samples had intriguing names. Whoever could have guessed there were so many shades of white with such eclectic labels? Apple White, Swiss Coffee, White Dove, Chantilly Lace, Scotch Mist – her head spun. Each one was designated for a different aspect, north-facing requiring something quite different to south-east.

She continued searching for ‘just the right colour.’

‘It will speak to you,’ her daughter had said, but she was rapidly discovering that she was profoundly deaf.

Beauty Berry Purple sounded tempting; it was bright and deep and cheerful, but overpowering. It would be impossible to furnish a room with walls that colour.

Buttermilk was another version of white, a creamy, yellowish colour, a little like vomit. It would be difficult to find accessories that would complement it and not emphasise its less attractive qualities.

She pondered on Shipwreck for a long time. It was an exciting colour, a mixture of green, blue, and grey, but not calming. She could imagine it causing nightmares, so decided against it.

White-knuckled was extraordinary; ivory white with grey overtones. It was too cold for any room in which one hoped to relax.

Hook replicated the colours of fishing hooks – bronze, black, blue, and occasionally red or rainbow coloured. None of those appealed – they were too brash.

Unexpected was exactly that – a startling shade of vibrant pink with underlying pigments of gold and silver. That would certainly reflect the sun, as well as the moon, electric light, candles, oil lamps, or any other source of light. Even a flickering match would trigger a kaleidoscope of blinding, flashing luminosity. It was far too stimulating.

The last one on the paint chart was called Buggy. The name made her think of mosquitoes and midges, and she started to feel itchy. She couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to paint their walls such a muddy, dull shade of brownish-grey, or was it greyish-brown? At least the dirt wouldn’t show, she smiled to herself.

As she drove home, she congratulated herself on her decision. In the boot of the car were several litres of the paint she had chosen. It was every builder’s favourite; Magnolia went with everything. It was bland, yes, but inoffensive. She could always redecorate later . . . again.

Words for Wednesday

Words for Wednesday

The words this week were supplied by Charlotte

include, lick, saunter, hand, berry, apples

respect, elbow, fork, measure, knife, dream 

and Charlotte's colour of the month, purple

Nonsense from me . . .

Cold, wet nose,

Licks my hand, includes my fingers,

Luscious from apples and berry juice.

Drips saunter to my elbow,

He has great respect for me.

He dreams, he watches,

He measures the distance

Knife and fork must travel

To the pie

And then to my mouth.

Good dog!

Scabiosa

The following piece of nonsense is written in response to a prompt from ‘Words for Wednesday’ now retitled ‘Words for Wednesday on a Friday. This meme was started by Delores and now is hosted by various bloggers. The aim is to encourage writing – a poem, a story, a song, or whatever comes to mind, using some or all of the prompts.

This week’s words are supplied by Margaret Adamson and Sue Fulcher and can be found here. Please visit to read more offerings.

1: solicitude

2: rampant

3: toes

4: form

5: knocking

6: pin cushion

And/or:

1: reel

2: grappled

3: perfume

4: courtroom

5: squad

6: general

 

pincushion flowers (Scabiosa)

Is there such a thing as rampant solicitude, I wonder? Knocking one’s toes on a brick wall while tending one’s pincushion plants can be painful, it’s true, but it’s not good form to draw attention to oneself. It would seem excessive to have someone commiserating with one over such a foolish bump. Far better to remain silent, even while screaming inside, and possibly reeling from the shock, however slight.

The perfume from this member of the honeysuckle squad is beautiful and flowers in general are a joy to perceive. Having grappled with garden pests, I am glad not to have to face what seems like a courtroom of a flower show. My blooms are for my delectation alone and if they are smaller or apparently less perfect than anyone else’s, it matters not one jot to me.

Confusion

This is written in response to an image from ‘Words for Wednesday’ (yes, I know it’s Friday.) ‘Words for Wednesday was started by Delores and now is hosted by various bloggers. The aim is to encourage you to write – a poem, a story, a song or whatever comes to you – using some or all of the prompts.

This week’s prompts are two photographic images supplied by Lissa. I chose the second as it looks as confused and hazy as the future of UK after Brexit!

My offering is a poor effort, much like the Prime Minister’s ‘deal’. You will find other and better responses here.

                            

Confusion 

All is confusion,

Trade in seclusion,

Empty delusion,

There’s no conclusion.

Some shout ‘sedition!’

Bring back tradition.

Ignore the suspicion

We need a magician

To make a decision.

Words for Wednesday Time to stand and stare

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘Under the Porch Light' offers six words as a writing prompt – fragmented, gravel, blistering, mundane, clairvoyant, grasshopper, OR the phrase incidentally yours. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted? 

  

Time to stand and stare

It was a blistering hot day and Lizzie was bored with the mundane chores of daily life. She paused in her cleaning and gazed out of the window, sighing. The words of a familiar poem came into her mind:

‘What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?’

Acknowledging the truth of this she flung down her duster and hurried out of the house. She would go to the meadow and sit by the stream. The air there would be fresher. She smiled in anticipation.

Gravel from the drive skipped into her sandal, piercing her foot and making her wince. She shook it out and hobbled on. By the time she reached the paddock the pain had passed. She removed her sandals and luxuriated in the feel of the cool grass against her hot flesh. ‘Nature’s carpet,’ she thought and sat down by the stream. The sun glanced off the water, reflections from above fragmented by its tumbling passage over the smooth pebbles below. Dragonflies danced in the air, darting thither and yon in their relentless hunt for prey. Birds sang as if for joy and Lizzie felt herself relaxing.

A movement in the grass caught her eye. A host of newly-minted small frogs scrambled through the stems. She captured one and held it up to examine it. ‘Such perfection in so small a form,’ she thought.  She released it and watched as it clambered away to safety. She wondered how long it would survive. Maybe if she were clairvoyant she would discover the answer. Reason told her that the world would be overrun if all such tiny creatures survived to adulthood and breeding status. As she watched, another small being came into her vision. The grasshopper, so common, so rarely seen and therefore a delight, seemed to study her as closely as she observed it. She held her breath, knowing how quickly it could move away. Seconds passed and still the little creature remained in sight, then in the blink of an eye it was gone.

Lizzie stretched and stood up, refreshed in body and mind, and wandered home. The last lines of the poem came to her:

‘A poor life this, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.’

She smiled again, glad she had taken the time to stand and stare.

Words for Wednesday - 13.11.2013

Words for Wednesday – 13.11.2013

Delores from ‘Under The Porch Light’ offers six words as a writing prompt – glittering, nasal, super, venting, spurious, chain – or a sentence – Faster than a lie from a cheating husband. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted?

It had been a superb meal, a celebration to mark their ninth wedding anniversary.  When her husband’s phone rang she sighed. It would be something to do with work she guessed. Couldn’t they have an uninterrupted evening together for once? He was too conscientious she told him as he smiled apologetically and called two cabs, one to take her home, the other to drive him back to the office. He kissed her lightly on the lips and as she was about to clamber into the cab she heard the nasal tones of his boss. ‘Celebrating something, are we?’ he grinned, winking at her. Her husband laughed and ushered Tillie into the dark interior, shutting the door firmly behind her. She fingered the fine gold chain at her neck, a nervous habit, and stared out at the two men, trying to hear what they were saying as the cab edged away from the kerb into the busy traffic.

It began to rain, puddles on the pavements glittering in the street lights, exhaust fumes venting from stationary vehicles as they waited for the traffic lights to change. Tillie thought back over the evening, pondering how quickly a mood can change. She had been so happy until the phone call. How many times had a phone call affected her life with her husband? How many times had he told her he had to go into work? And this time? Her husband’s words came back to her. ‘That was the boss. He needs me to work on some final details. I’m sorry. I won’t be late home.’

Yet the boss had been there, at the restaurant. Tillie acknowledged what she had suspected for many months. She recognised her husband’s spurious excuses and explanations for the lies they had been. She felt the icy chill of betrayal grip her heart, harder and faster than a lie from a cheating husband.

The Challenge

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘’Under ThePorch Light’ offers twelve words this week to inspire. We may mix and match as we wish – the words are spasm, uneventful, trek, early, limestone, felt and bland, curious, reeks, indefinite, morning, fulminate.

Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted?

The Challenge

Her life was bland and uneventful compared to others or so she felt. That was why she had decided to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Writing that in capitals in her journal had the curious effect of galvanising her into action. Her husband laughed at her, not unkindly, but his reaction caused her to fulminate at his attitude.

‘I’m serious,’ she said. ‘I’ve thought hard about this and I’ve volunteered to go on a climb to raise money for charity.’

When he realised she was serious he rearranged his expression to one of solemnity and offered to accompany her.

‘Thank you for your offer but this is something I need to do on my own.’

This caused her husband to guffaw once more. ‘You won’t be on your own,’ he pointed out with maddening logic between spasms of laughter. ‘It’s a trek up a limestone mountain with a group of experienced mountaineers.’

 ‘You know what I mean,’ she countered. ‘I shall be leaving early next Thursday morning.’

‘I’ll miss you,’ he said.

‘I’ll miss you, too,’ she replied, ‘But it’s not as though I’m going for an indefinite period.’

‘How long will you be away?’ he asked.

‘I expect to return the following Wednesday.’

On the day she left he drove her to the railway station where she was to meet the rest of the group. He didn’t know, and neither did she, that it would be the last time he would see her. When the news came of her fatal fall from the mountain he wept. His wife’s life had become far more exciting than she had intended.

The Gift

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘Under The Porch Light’ offers six words as a writing prompt – flirtatious, blurred lines, headstone, vixen, discerning and fish. Once again she is testing our numeracy as well as our imaginationsJ. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted?

The Gift

Fishing was a pleasant pastime at any time but today she had added purpose. Her hair shone rich and red in the late afternoon sun as she hastened to the water’s edge. There were fat river trout basking in the shallows and she was adept at capturing them.    She was discerning in her choice – she wouldn’t take just any fish. No, it had to be perfect for her swain.

Soon she had her prize and hurried off to their meeting place. The cemetery was an ideal rendezvous – peaceful, secluded. He was already there, studying the blurred lines on the headstones. Shyly she presented him with the shining fish and looked under her lashes at him. His white teeth gleamed as he took the gift. ‘How handsome he is,’ she thought, watching as he bit into the firm flesh, the scales silvering his black nose.  He left a little for her and she rubbed her head against his as he murmured, ‘I love you, my flirtatious vixen.’

Words for Wednesday Soul Mate?

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ’Under The Porch Light’ offers six words as a writing prompt – crystallize, morbid, fragrance, cling, instant, blueprint. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted?

Soul Mate?

It was a blueprint for disaster. She should have known that from the beginning. For an instant, when he said he wanted to buy her some perfume, she found herself clinging to the hope that this time he would buy something she liked. Short of writing a list of her favourite fragrances or, worse, buying one herself and giving it to him to give to her, she could think of no way of persuading him towards the scents she favoured.

Never the most cheerful of companions, he was becoming daily more morbid and sadly she realised that their relationship was never going to crystallize into the long-term partnership she had envisaged. She would have to look elsewhere for her soul mate.

Words for Wednesday

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘The Feathered Nest’ offers six words as a writing prompt – recalcitrant, fangs, dithering, glassy, rodeo, wet. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted?

It was summer and the season of school fayres and community fêtes with every group hoping to raise funds. In a bid to appeal to a wider audience the local church had decided to rename their Flower Festival the Floral Rodeo. People came out of curiosity, hoping for prancing stallions in the aisles but found instead dithering officials apologising for any disappointment they had caused. Recalcitrant children, dragged along by their parents, bared their fangs in a semblance of good humour as a rather wet young curate tried to engage them in conversation. Glassy-eyed visitors, anxious to escape his enthusiastic exhortations to join the congregation, gladly donated substantial amounts of loose change to the church restoration fund and gratefully made their exit to the cool air of an English summer.

Words for Wednesday - Anyone for cricket?

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘The Feathered Nest’ offers six words as a writing prompt – virtuous, flannel, donuts, cartoons, inching, frayed. 

 

 Why not visit her and see what other writing has been inspired?

During the season commonly called Summer the sun-starved Englishman is sustained by cricket commentaries on television or radio. Often he will watch the television with the sound turned down and listen to the radio commentary.

Frequently he hears ‘Rain stopped play’. In previous times, a natural break might furnish an opportunity for cartoons to be played. Today’s commentators discuss cricketers of yore, choosing their candidates for a hypothetical all-time greatest team. They talk also of each other’s exploits on the cricket field, when dressed in white flannels, they kept wicket or stood at silly mid-off or backward short leg and tried to prevent the opposing team inching towards victory. They note the comings and goings of aircraft, pigeons and clouds and comment on their colleagues’ predilections for wine or salmon-coloured trousers.

The Faithful Fans send in cakes to the team in the commentary box, which are gratefully received and enjoyed during the long hours of a cricket match. I don’t think any donuts (doughnuts) have ever been offered, but I may be wrong.

Sometimes tempers are frayed, both on the pitch and off it; for example, an Australian batsman may miss the Ashes test series next month after hitting an English player in a bar in the early hours of Sunday morning. The victim, not badly hurt, indeed, not hurt at all, virtuously accepted his attacker’s apology. Undoubtedly they will meet again on the cricket field some time in the future and battle will be joined according to the strict and baffling laws of the game.

The Maid's Lament

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘The Feathered Nest’ offers six words (actually, she’s gone overboard this week and given us twelve to choose from. Twelve!! J) as a writing prompt – bovine, clandestine, divine, engine, enshrine, incline, leonine, machine, pine, ravine, recline, valentine.  

Why not visit her and see what other writing has been inspired?

The Maid's Lament

He said our love would be enshrined,

He said our love would last –

He said, ‘To wed I am inclined’ –

The fatal die was cast.

His honeyed words seduced me,

We met near the ravine,

A clandestine arrangement -

He feared we might be seen.

I thought he looked so leonine,

He said I was divine,

And on the tallest broadest pine

He carved our valentine.

The engine of his passion

Beat hard within his breast,

At least that’s what he told me –

I know you’ll guess the rest.

Upon the greensward I reclined,

He took my hand in his;

What bliss was this, a simple kiss –

My fate was now defined.

For what came next was no surprise,

Except to this poor maid,

Like tables, eggs and groaning ghosts

I had been truly laid.

Words for Wednesday

Words for Wednesday

Delores from ‘The Feathered Nest’ offers six words (actually, technically it’s eight this weekJ) as a writing prompt – blank, dashing, flashlight, four leaf clover, shadowy, trembling. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been inspired?

It was twilight when Jess left school. Usually she walked with her friends but they had stayed on for play rehearsal.  Knowing she would be walking home alone today her mother had reminded her to take her flashlight but Jess had forgotten. She wished now she had its bright beam to slice through the gathering darkness.

Dashing past the house everyone claimed was haunted she glanced at the blank windows and shuddered. Shrubs and creepers straggled about the door and she thought she glimpsed a shadowy figure half hidden there. It moved towards her, a man, tall, big, strong. Jess gasped and urged her trembling legs to carry her faster.

The next morning her parents identified the pendant Jess had been wearing when her body was recovered from the river. ‘We thought it would bring her luck. Silly superstition, really,’ her father said in a gruff voice. He ran his finger over the four leaf clover resting on his palm as his wife wept in the arms of a policewoman.

Words for Wednesday

Words for Wednesday

Delores from 'The Feathered Nest' offered six words as a writing prompt - buzzing, intrepid, clang, broken, flash, cliff. Why not visit her and see what other writing has been prompted?

Jellicoe, Isambard and Herschel gazing into the garden

A frantic buzzing at the window attracts the attention of curious kittens. An errant bee behind the curtains has forgotten the way out.

Eager to display their hunting skills, the intrepid stalkers prowl, chittering, sharp eyes on their potential prey. It is not hunger that drives them but instinct. Their excitement grows as the bee escapes into the room. They leap and twist, a flurry of felines, each trying to outwit the others and gain the prize.

Young and inexperienced, they sometimes miscalculate their jumps and there is a clang and clatter of objects they have simply not seen. Undeterred by broken shards of china and glass they redouble their efforts to capture the intruder. Paws flash and tails lash as the furniture becomes a series of cliffs to be scaled in the pursuit.

The end comes swiftly. The bee makes a final desperate dash for the window and, to the chagrin of the kittens, flees to the garden to resume its normal routine. The kittens, not caring to show their disappointment, take up their positions in patches of sunlight and groom themselves and each other before succumbing to sleep.

A bumble bee working hard