May

Schooled – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 15 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Miriam stood in the Scuola Grande Tedesca listening to the docent.

“De Scuola wasa founded ina fifteen a hundred and a tweeentee eighta,” she recited in a heavy Italian accent. “Prior toa fifteen a hundred and a seexateen, theya not permit Jews toa liva in Venezia.”

The Doge’s decree granted them living area in the “getto”, or foundries. Strict regulations were set. At night, they locked the gates of the “getto” and Christian guards, paid by the Jews, patrolled the canals to prevent them from escaping.

Viewing the elliptical “mechitzah” of the “Scuola”, Miriam wondered at everything her ancestors endured.

*** As a word nerd, I love learning a word’s etymology. Ghetto has an interesting history. To read more check the entry from The Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms : page 50.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — Roundup

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

atoz2019tenthann

The April A 2 Z Challenge was fun. For those of you following I have compiled a roundup of my 26 posts. It was a busy month and I admit I haven’t visited all the participating sites. With the master list downloaded, I look forward to continuing the cruise in May.

Congratulations to everyone who took part.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — A

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — B

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — C

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — D

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — E

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — F

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — G

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — H

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — I

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — J

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — K

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — L

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — M

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — N

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — O

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — P

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — Q

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — R

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — S

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — T

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — U

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — V

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — W

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — X

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — Y

Blogging from A to Z Challenge — Z

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

You’re Pretty — 100WW

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Title: You’re Pretty
Source: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 19
Word count: 100 words

Photo By William Stitt

People said it to her all her life, “You’re pretty, for a black girl.”

Their words hurt her, cut into her soul, made her question her self-worth. Tamecia could have bowed her head and let her anger consume her. Instead, she walked in a different world. She used her art to educate and inform, to tell other women they were not alone. Her art explored beauty and feminism and exposed how the definition frustrated and hurt women. She recognized the scars while refusing to allow them to define her. She worked to remove the lines that never should have existed.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Digging Deeper – FFfPP

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Title: Digging Deeper
Source: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2017 WEEK #21
Word count: 200 words

Kurt stood at the edge of the pit glaring at the idle excavator. He had just arrived when his radio crackled, reporting an injury on site. Kurt rushed to the pit to see Pete slumped over the tractors of the excavator. The emergency crew whisked him to the hospital leaving Kurt to complete the paperwork and arrange for a replacement operator.

He lifted his hard hat and ran his hand through his hair. Concern for Pete competed with frustration in another delay. They were behind schedule. Kurt glanced at the office clock, time slipped away. He relied on Pete, counted on his expertise to get them back on schedule.

The radio crackled, the voice informed him the replacement operator had arrived. In an hour, the excavator growled and sputtered and the bucket took a bite of dirt. Kurt headed back to his truck.

Alone he dialed the number of the hospital. He spoke with a nurse who connected him with Pete’s doctor. Dr. Barton said Pete was dehydrated, but responding well to treatment. They predicted Pete would be fine by tomorrow. Relief flooded through him, Pete, his baby brother was okay. Kurt knew he couldn’t run the business without him.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Frank’s Diner — Friday Fictioneers May 19

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Title: Frank’s Diner
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

It was an institution in a neighborhood of institutions. Starting with a pushcart in the last 1800’s Frank sold lunch baskets to the workers. Later, he found the best corner and set up a more permanent building. Little more than a shack, it served its purpose. Frankie Jr. took over the business in the 1920’s and upgraded the shack to a metal dining car. The third shift diners slowly gave way to the after-hours bar crowd, allowing the diner to stay open twenty-four hours a day for over one hundred years. Frank’s customers were more than loyal, they were family.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Total Dedication — 3 Line Tales

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 8 Comments

From Sonya’s 3 LineTales at Only100Words. You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya.

photo by Faustin Tuyambaze via Unsplash

Rachel worked hard for twenty years, she had something to prove.

She earned all the distinctions, M.D., Valedictorian, Summa cum laude and a residency at a prestigious hospital.

The debt she amassed guaranteed she would work hard for another twenty years to earn her freedom.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Ephemeral Wonderland — FFfAW

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 13 Comments

Title: Ephemeral Wonderland
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers – Week of May 16, 2017
Word count: 170 words

This week’s photo prompt is provided by loniangraphics. Thank you for our photo prompt!

It has been foggy and cold here for several days. The fog lingers on the horizon until the sun rises, warming the air and putting the fog to bed. This morning I woke to a rare surprise. The conditions were perfect, and the signs were promising, so I waited and hoped it would happen. Hoarfrost covered the earth. It transformed the world, covering everything in frost crystal structures that formed on any sub-freezing blade of grass, leaf, branch, fence post or sign. The hoarfrost formed from the moisture in the air, the vapor instantaneously metamorphosing into intricate interlocking patterns.

I dressed, pulled on my wool coat, and my heavy boots before grabbing my camera and headed into wonderland. The silence was deafening. My boots crunched through the snow and echoed for miles. The sun was a fuzzy orb that stained the sky a soft pink that contrasted with the shimmering green of the encrusted pines. I snapped photos preserving the moments until the delicate frost disintegrated in the warming air.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Last Call – 3 Line Tales

/ JoHawkTheWriter

From Sonya’s 3LineTales at Only100Words. You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya.

photo by Paulette Wooten via Unsplash

The band was smokin the crowd was rockin out; the night was amazing.

Ax brought it down for the final song, singing the one they loved to hate.

Even dudes wiped away tears as the last strains floated into the night.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Dare to Be Different – 100WW

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 6 Comments

Title: Dare to be Different
Source: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 18
Word count: 100 words

Image Credit: Felix Russel;-Saw

People judged her. She didn’t remember a time when they saw her and not her disfigurement. As a child, she could not escape the condemnation in their eyes. Her family thought they were protecting her when they hid her away. The doctors, convinced they could fix her, made her suffer through surgery after surgery. She hoped and prayed they would make her look like the photos in the magazines. Each time they failed and each time she grew stronger and came to accept who she was. Instead, she celebrated her differences, put them on display. She would never hide again.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Commemoration — FFfPP

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Title: Commemoration
Source: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2017 WEEK #20
Word count: 200 words

The clock ticked in Sakura’s office. It echoed down the hall and through the empty stacks. She loved the library. As a little girl, she fell in love with the books and she never wanted to leave. It was why she had become a librarian. She knew every inch, all the library’s secrets, and she wanted to share them with everyone. Each year she helped the students with Mr. Ayer’s final writing assignment. Sakura found joy in locating the perfect book for each reader. Everything had changed, everything and everyone except Sakura. She kept current with technology so she could continue to help her patrons, but it wasn’t enough. The books remained, but the library was empty. It broke Sakura’s heart. The people had forgotten the joy in her library.

People from the town and from years ago and miles away attended her funeral. They each told a special story about Sakura. Their beloved librarian, who taught them so much had slipped away, they would not lose her library too. They buried her ashes in the courtyard under the window of her office. They planted a cherry tree to mark the spot and to remind them of the real treasure.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer