Title: Choices
Source: Weekend Writing Prompt #100 – Silence
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 15 words.
Photo by Darpan Dodiya on Unsplash
In the deafening silence, the world spoke. He saw each path and made his decision.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Here is a friendly reminder that life is short—live it. Waiting for spring has taken every ounce of patience I can muster. Now April rains dampen my world, and misty mornings leave the muddy ground a squidgy quagmire that is best avoided. I rejoice because it is rain and not snow. I celebrate the daily temperature as it steadily creeps higher and I commend the brave tulips as they push golden-green leaves into the light.
The days grow longer forcing the darkness to recede and nature responds. Buds swell on bushes and trees, and the weight of winter lifts. It is time to sing, play and enjoy life.
What is the source of your joy today?
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Today Is Day 96 of the 2019 Daily Writing Challenge.
Did you write yesterday? Let us know your Day 95 word count in the comments.
———————
What is the 2019 Daily Writing Challenge? It is simple: Write something every day.
Write a little, write a lot. Just write. You have all day.
It doesn’t matter if you write 5 words, 5,000 words or something in between. The idea is to establish a daily writing habit. If you miss a day, don’t worry. Write today and report tomorrow on your success.
A great journey begins with one step. A great writing habit begins with one word. Go!
Check back tomorrow for the Day 96 Report and let us know how you did.
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Blue Days
Source: Stock Photo Challenge
Word count: 100 words
Hesiod played melancholy songs.
The crowd favorite featured a young musician in love. Professing his love, he swore he would do anything to please her. He begged for her hand, and she agreed. Children soon completed their life.
The wife worried. A performer couldn’t support a growing family. Honoring his vows he took a job suitable for a responsible father. The work broke his spirit and left a pale imitation of the man he once was.
Years passed, and she didn’t recognize him. He was no longer the carefree soul she married.
Separated, lost, the old musician played melancholy songs.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Today’s Positive Adjective:
Erudite: having or showing knowledge that is gained by studying
Atwyna closed the cover of her book and blinked. As she rejoined her physical body, she noticed the room had grown dark and cold. She rubbed her eyes, surveying her surroundings. She estimated the time was approaching nautical dusk, but she was unclear which day.
Petting the large tome on the oak library table, Atwyna was sure it had taken possession of her mind for a least two days. The grumbling in her stomach was another clue. Her chair scraped and squeaked along the floorboards as she pushed away from her workspace and tentatively stretched muscles frozen from inactivity. Feeling seeped into her body and she smiled as she reentered her favorite place.
Her library contained her most prized possession, works she had painstakingly searched, bartered and paid dearly to obtain. She had outfitted the entire room with long boards that reached the rafters. Countless books filled each shelf. Stacks of dusty scrolls protruded from the shelves, poked into any available cubbyhole. There were delicate parchments, some entombed in worn, embossed folios while simple leather straps held others together. Her desktop was lit by a skylight high overhead, so as not to waste valuable wall space with windows.
There was a soft tap before the door creaked open, admitting a white kerchiefed head. Blue eyes sparkled, and a grin painted the young face when she saw Atwyna reclining in her chair.
“How is my favorite erudite wizard today?” she asked bursting inside. “Done with the book I see.”
“Yes I finished, Marin.”
“Good, good,” Marin nodded and bustled around the room stoking the stove and lighting the lamp on the table.
“Supper will be ready in a few minutes. Then you can get a good night’s sleep.”
Atwyna raised her hand motioning for Marin to stop.
“I’ll eat, but then we’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” Marin smoothed her apron with the palms of her trembling hands.
Atwyna rose and wrapped her arm around Marin’s shoulder.
“Then you found the answer?” Marin whispered.
“Yes, it will be a long journey, but I think we can save your brother.”
Tears pooled in Main’s eyes, but she squared her shoulders and smiled at Atwnya.
“Looks like I need to finish supper and start packing,” she said.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Photo credit: hddod on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-ND
“They are so sweet,” Mira cooed as she bent over the makeshift hydroponic tray and reached to pet the furballs.
“Don’t touch them,” Dexter yelled, slapping her hand away.
“Ow. What the—? Why not? They want to snuggle,” she snapped at Dexter as she rubbed the red mark on her wrist.
“They bite.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she leaned toward them again.
“I have the scars to prove it,” Dexter said as he watched Mira lean closer.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And don’t expect me to stitch you back together.”
Mira glanced at him and smiled.
“They wouldn’t harm me, would you, my precious babies?” As Mira spoke her voice took on the sing-song quality mothers use when they speak to infants.
“Did the big, bad human hurt my little darlings?”
Dexter stood mouth agape as the furballs nuzzled Mira and made a noise he had never heard before.
“Yes, tell Mama how he stole you from me,” she said stroking them.
“Wait, a minute here. I stole nothing. They were being ejected into space with the garbage. I saved them. I’ve done nothing since I found them but try to take care of them and find their mother. They have bitten and scratched me for my trouble. Not to mention the shots and stitches. And now you accuse me of stealing?”
“Humans are a strange species. Why would you save them when most creatures consider our babies tasty treats?”
“I guess we’re gluttons for punishment,” Dexter sighed.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Today Is Day 95 of the 2019 Daily Writing Challenge.
Did you write yesterday? Let us know your Day 94 word count in the comments.
———————
What is the 2019 Daily Writing Challenge? It is simple: Write something every day.
Write a little, write a lot. Just write. You have all day.
It doesn’t matter if you write 5 words, 5,000 words or something in between. The idea is to establish a daily writing habit. If you miss a day, don’t worry. Write today and report tomorrow on your success.
A great journey begins with one step. A great writing habit begins with one word. Go!
Check back tomorrow for the Day 95 Report and let us know how you did.
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
The simple act of smiling has profound consequences. Scientists say a smile causes your brain to release neuropeptides that can help you handle stress. Your smile charges your body with dopamine, endorphin, and serotonin, chemicals shown to lower your blood pressure, decreases your heart rate and even ease your pain. Studies show when we smile others perceive us as looking younger, thinner and more intelligent. Yep, that’s right, smiling makes people think you are smart.
But those wonderful benefits are only the beginning. When your friends see you smile, they smile back. They receive those same feel-good chemicals, predisposing them to smile at the next person they meet. Your beaming face can start an epidemic.
Whose day will you brighten?
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Today’s Positive Adjective:
Didactic
a) designed or intended to teach
b) intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment
Desi was younger than her classmates. She had never understood her “gifted” label and considered it a curse. Kids her age shunned her. They told her college would be different and the students would be more accepting. The undergraduates weren’t overt at excluding her because they knew better. They used more subtle tactics. Introduced as a brilliant young mind and they viewed her as competition.
Desi held her own in most of her classes. Solving math, statistics or programming problems only required the proper application of specific, known rules to derive the answer. Her grades followed another set of guidelines. It provided a nice, neat, logical package.
Drama class stressed her. Here, no laws applied, and the issues didn’t have easy solutions. Everything here was messy. Often there was no decisive correct response or the most popular one made no coherent sense. Desi considered Professor Tate a throwback to the hippies. She insisted her students “feel” and try to connect with their “deepest emotions.” The latest play proved no exception.
Desi had grown accustomed to her position. Her classmates cast her as the youngest child, the half-wit, and now a fool. While Desi understood the didactic nature of the assignment, the allocation seemed designed to humiliate her. She spoke with Professor Tate who told Desi it took intelligence to play the jester, and the two of them devised a plan. Desi read the script studying each part. When they performed this afternoon, a deeper plot would be revealed. Professor Tate assured her, the thespians would learn a valuable lesson.
__________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Today Is Day 94 of the 2019 Daily Writing Challenge.
Did you write yesterday? Let us know your Day 93 word count in the comments.
———————
What is the 2019 Daily Writing Challenge? It is simple: Write something every day.
Write a little, write a lot. Just write. You have all day.
It doesn’t matter if you write 5 words, 5,000 words or something in between. The idea is to establish a daily writing habit. If you miss a day, don’t worry. Write today and report tomorrow on your success.
A great journey begins with one step. A great writing habit begins with one word. Go!
Check back tomorrow for the Day 94 Report and let us know how you did.
_________________________________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Jo Hawk 