challenge

Fountain of Youth – 100 Word Wednesday

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 14 Comments

Title: Fountain of Youth
Source:  100 Word Wednesday: Week 137
Word count: 100 words

Image by Cyranny

Christopher was an ordinary boy who lived in an otherwise ordinary neighborhood. Like most little boys he loved playing outdoors and discovering secret gardens, talking animals, and harrowing adventures. His mother indulged his interests and read him bedtime stories. One storybook developed the telltale signs of the favored status, but that story couldn’t contain his imagination. He created his own fantastical stories about a boy named Chris and his giant tortoise named Bulldozer.

Nestled into his otherwise unremarkable neighborhood, sat a fountain. It drew the curious who always read the plaque. To my darling Christopher, who never outgrew his dreams.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Rarefied Society – Friday Fictioneers

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Title: Rarefied Society
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © CEAyr

James caressed and cradled the book against his chest. It had taken months to locate. Local libraries no longer hunted and delivered your desired tomes. They were relics, dismantled by the Device and digital data proliferation. The Quest was difficult, part of the grueling initiation process qualifying worthy inductees for the Ambassadors Club.

He unfolded blue spectacles and positioned them above page forty-five. He played with the focal length until it snapped into focus. The lenses illuminated the glorious words between the words. With his heart pounding in his ears, James began the laborious task of transcribing his next clue.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Accidental Friends – 100 Word Wednesday

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 15 Comments

Title: Accidental Friends
Source:  100 Word Wednesday: Week 136
Word count: 100 words

Image by Cyranny

It materialized, and I had missed her. Again. I said ‘her’ although it could be a man. My gut confirmed it was her. Why did she torment me? Why did I obsess?

Her story grew in my mind. With the consistency of each sunrise, her bicycle arrived, parked at my door by one o’clock and by three it was gone. She was meeting her lover; she was a spy stalking her mark. She was my aberration, my ghost, my diversion.

Then her bicycle wasn’t there. Weeks passed. I feared she wouldn’t return. Months later, I cried for my lost friend.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Gritty Gray Hope – Flash Fiction Challenge

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Title: Gritty Gray Hope
Source:  Flash Fiction Challenge
Prompt: Write a story that shows true grit.
Word count:  99 words

Walking the city streets, I choke on the summer heat as it boils the simmering stench.  Gray skies descend, reflecting the hell rising all around me. Everything lays dead or dying, and the devils threaten to consume the little I have left. This is my creation.

Time killed the last honest man. There is no way to wash away the rain. My black hole life ensures I cannot move past this singularity.

A warm wind blows, prying the cold, damp dread from my heart. I grit my teeth, grasp a sliver of hope and dare to reinvent my future.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Tree Museum – Weekend Writing Prompt

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 13 Comments

Title: Tree Museum
Source:  Weekend Writing Prompt #122 – Museum
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 147 words.

***Description on Caleb’s photo: The Boardman Tree farm in northern Oregon was an incredible place to visit. The 25,000 acres of poplar trees made for an almost otherworldly experience in the fall. The farm was sold in January of 2016 to be cut down and used for cow pastures and agriculture. This photo was taken during during the autumn of 2016 before the bulk of the man made forest was removed. Small sections reportedly still remain, but not at the mind blowing scale of a few years ago. ***

“They once grew like this?” Ro let his fingers touch the rough tree trunk.

“Not exactly. Forests were much denser. There were multiple layers, areas of undergrowth so thick you couldn’t walk. The ground wasn’t level. There were countless rivulets, streams, they merged, forming great rivers which ran into oceans. And animals.” I paused, letting images develop in Ro’s mind. “The books describe deer, bear, fox, squirrels, and a multitude of birds all roaming wild.”

“Wild?”

“They claim there were no fences or cages. Some beasts had a yearly migration. They travel, on their own, thousands of miles, searching for food or breeding grounds.”

“Not anymore?”

“No. They only exist in museums. Most animal and tree species are extinct.”

“What does that mean?”

“They don’t grow or live anywhere. We, your ancestors saved, nurtured these. When I am gone, it will be your responsibility to guard them.”

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Honor Games – #SwiftFicFriday

/ JoHawkTheWriter

Title: Honor Games
Source:  #SwiftFicFriday – Week 5 Prompt
Word count: 300 words

Theo’s palms were moist with dread, and they trembled as he rubbed them on his trousers.

“I must be crazy,” he said to himself. The god sitting across from him snickered.

“Perhaps you are…” he paused amused by Theo’s squirming, “or maybe you seek to restore honor to your family name.” He pressed his ashen-grey fingertips together in front of his hood shrouded face. Pale eyelids slowly closed, hiding the deep ebony pits of his demon tortured soul.

“Will you help me?”

“You want me to intervene with the daughters of Night?” Scorching fire flashed when his eyes opened. “The Erinyes do not yield once they accept the curse. I am afraid he is doomed to suffer every misery and misfortunes they see fit to heap upon him.”

“My brother is not responsible for my mother’s death. His only crime was not being able to protect her from my uncle’s greed. My uncle killed her. He seeks to destroy everything he cannot own.”

Theo imagined Hades smiled.

“Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera play an elaborate game, but you hold a winning move.”

As he spoke their names three Furies appeared behind him, black robes fluttering with their lamentations. Serpents writhed, coiling in their hair and twisting around their arms as crimson blood oozed from their dead eyes.

“You wish to invoke the burden of persecution?” they asked in unison.

Theo’s mouth gaped and his skin paled making him resemble Hades.

Hades lifted his hand, and a stifled chuckle passed his lips.

“Ladies. Ladies. There is no need for invocation tonight, Theo wants to right a wrong. Someone has duped you three.”

The Furies’ wails fell silent, and they looked from one to the other.

“Duped? Pray, tell us more. We must hunt the miscreant and administer the fate that he deserves.”

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Betrayed – Thursday Threads

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 10 Comments

“My God, Charlene… He’s barely alive.” Contempt tainted Haley’s voice.

I didn’t respond. She dug in her tool bag, grabbed a long silver instrument, then she peeled back her palm, revealing the gaping hole in his chest.

I watched her frantic movements, letting the gun spin in my hands. She clamped lines, sopped ooze, trying to save him. I began to question my decision to call Haley. She was the best in her field. Maybe too good. I mean, what would happen if he lived?

“Charlene, will you give me a hand?”

I could tell by her tone, she wasn’t asking. She expected me to jump and do her bidding. She was my friend, but her only concern was saving him, not helping me.

“Charlene?”

“Doesn’t he deserve to die?”

“I can fix him,” she offered, almost pleading.

“Like you did last time?” My voice sounded harsh even to me.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I’ve heard that before. I’d be a fool to help.”

A scenario flickered, then exploded in my mind.

“It’s been you all along, hasn’t it? You’re in love with your creation, your darling automaton. His devotion to me is killing you. You’re programming him to kill me.”

Haley’s face crinkled and felt her simmering hate.

“Yes, when you’re dead, he will love me.”

I saw his processor flicker, and his right hand grabbed her throat. He didn’t let go.

“I’m sorry,” were his last words, as I placed the gun in Haley’s lifeless hand.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Green Monsters – Friday Fictioneers

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Title: Green Monsters
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Penny Gadd

I screamed when Mom showed me her newest houseplant. Barely bigger than my thumb, I begged her to destroy it. She laughed.

Each time I visited; it was larger, more menacing. It developed tendrils, and under each leaf, were sharp, curved barbs. They reminded me of claws. Mom was unconcerned.

I tried to enlist my brother’s help. She would listen to him. He called me crazy.

One day Mom didn’t answer her phone. In a panic, I drove her house. A green vine opened the door, invited me inside. I ran, with the sound of laughter ringing in my ears.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Revealing History – FFfPP

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Title: Revealing History
Source:  FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2017 WEEK #35
Word count: 200 words

Gertrude thirsted for world knowledge. She studied ancient history, immersing herself in worlds far removed from hers. It seemed natural she found herself in Crete excavating the magnificent Minoan palace. It covered multiple square miles and reached four stories high. Filled with passages, tiny rooms, corridors, great courtyards and evidence of running water, the complex mesmerized Gertrude.

They assigned her a splendid area to work, dig and document. Brilliant colored frescos emerged as she swept the dirt from the walls. Working alone in the room, a seated goddess stared back at her.

“Who are you?” she asked, letting her fingertips brush the woman’s dark pigmented hair.

That night the dreams started.

“My name is Kitane,” she said. The darkness lightened, she faced Gertrude and smiled.

Coal-black curls framed her face and cascaded across her shoulders. Charcoal circles smudged amber eyes, and she had painted her lips a rich mahogany color.

“You look exactly like your picture.”

“Pura was an excellent artisan who worked in my court.”

“Your court?” Gertrude’s voice quivered.

“There is much you do not know.”

“I want to learn. Will you teach me?”

“Seek, and you shall find,” Kitane said, bowing, her image receded into the shadows.

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Jo Hawk The Writer

https://ko-fi.com/johawkthewriter#

Can’t Take It with You – Flash Fiction Challenge

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Title: Can’t Take It with You
Source:  Flash Fiction Challenge
Prompt: Write a story about the safebreaker’s daughter.
Word count:  99 words

His body lay dead and buried in the ground before Nydia met the man she had lived with for thirty-two years. He arranged his funeral, she signed the papers, and the undertaker handed her a yellow envelope bearing her carefully printed name.

An address and a key revealed a storage locker lined with shelves stuffed with labeled boxes. Thousands of them greeted her.

She opened the note with trembling hands:

Dearest Nydia,
I lied. My late nights were never at bars. I was a safecracker. The contents are here, chronicled, logged and stored. Consider them your inheritance.
Love,
Dad

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Jo Hawk The Writer

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