From Sonya’s 3LineTales at Only100Words.
You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya.
Photo by Gabriel Ramos on Unsplash
The squall scoured the breakwater and churned lake water into white-capped meringue.
Constance leaned into the wind, inhaled, and willed herself the courage to release irrational constraints.
Purged, she lifted her head, squared her shoulders, and stepped into her future.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Mommy Time
Source: Flash Fiction Challenge
Prompt: Write a story that includes tapping.
Word count: 99 words
Photo by Curology on Unsplash
Steam rose from Audrey’s 1950s “First Lady Pink” bathtub as she shut the door, and locked out her hectic 21st Century life. Past midnight, she was long overdue to relax, unwind, and unplug. She twisted the knobs, stopping the flow of water from the faucet and tested the temperature with her toe. Just right.
She sank into the tub and sensed stress leaching from her tense muscles. The second she closed her eyes, she heard a soft tapping. Wide-eyed, her body stiffened.
“Mommy, I can’t sleep,” a muffled voice called.
Audrey’s shoulder slumped, and she regretfully pulled the plug.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: An Imperceptible Loss
Source: Weekend Writing Prompt # 145 – Abysmal
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 93 words
Photo by Mitchell Hartley on Unsplash
You suspected a thunderbolt, exposing a grand drama. The truth wasn’t glamourous. Dull, daily life was peppered with subtle thoughts, vague feelings, and easy decisions. A tiny rival of water snaked across flat ground, growing, gaining strength and power until it became a raging river cutting into the landscape and eroding rock-solid canyon walls.
An unbridgeable distance cleaved what once was inseparable. I outgrew my placid past and soon discovered my desire for freedom. There was nothing left to say. We stood staring across an abysmal chasm that echoed the sound of silence.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Averting Annihilation
Source: Weekend Writing Prompt # 148 – Somnambulist
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 78 words
Photo by Cederic X on Unsplash
In the far future, Roya foresaw horrible suffering, chaos, and terror. Her lips moved, but she was unaware if she spoke the words aloud. Her hands stretched before her, grasping thin air, she fought unseen daemons, yet still searching for something beyond her grasp.
Duncan trembled as he studies her eyes, dark with bewilderment and as blank as those of a somnambulist.
Roya gasped. Present again.
“We can prevent it all. But first we must take the castle.”
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Love’s Enduring Bond
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words
PHOTO PROMPT © Ceayr
The garden was the perfect spot for their rendezvous. Quiet, secluded, and bathed in gardenia’s fragrant scent. It was their calling card, a message without words.
Songbirds flocked to the eternal bubbling of the fountain, unconcerned with her presence. She twirled the red blossom between her thumb and forefinger, and closed her eyes, overcome with memories. Heavy footfalls crunched on gravel. Her heart leaped, and her skin tingled. Lips brushed her neck, her pulse quickened, and she reveled in her lover’s ardent embrace.
The air grew cold. The songbirds took flight and scarlet petals floated on the fountain’s still water.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: The Summons
Source: 100-Word Writing Dare
Prompt: (5 random words): Extra, Waterfall, Heel, Near, Power
Word count: 100 words
Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash
I am not a hero, just a nerdy book worm, who discovers a message hidden in a dusty tome. Once I decipher the phrase “Suspended power,” the code breaks easily.
The prophecy brings me to Skógafoss and the 200-foot tall frozen waterfall on my planet’s darkest night. As I draw near, the humming grows louder.
Flipping on the 100,000 lumens flashlight. I heel the light into the frozen ground, and face the pulsating wall. Five steps and I lay my hands on the ice. I push extra hard. The door opens, and the revolution to save my cherished world begins.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Ode to Clarice
Source: Flash Fiction Challenge
Prompt: Write a story about Clarice.
Word count: 99 words
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Her obituary shocked me. The journalist revealed a woman I had never known. Who was this glamorous enchantress, this caster of spells and literary legend?
I caught her scribbling in her notebook either early in the morning, or sometimes late at night. She would look at me, smile, unceremoniously fold her pen within the pages, and conceal her secrets. By day she was nothing more than a middle-class wife and mother.
I discovered what she had shared with the world, unbeknownst to me. Ghost-haunted words portrayed silent and silenced women. I wept for Clarice. And I wept for me.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
From Sonya’s 3LineTales at Only100Words.
You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya
photo by Jorge Flores via Unsplash
As skeptical as usual, Doug left, but Jamie lingered.
Beyond the graffiti, grit, and grim, she saw the light.
One decisive text, and the space belonged to her.
______________________
Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Life Signs
Source: Weekend Writing Prompt # 147 – Perplex
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 90 words
Photo by Yann Allegre on Unsplash
He was an odd sort, friendly, mischievous, intriguing. I assumed he had forgotten me when my phone buzzed. His text served to perplex me further. Hyperlinked numbers connected to a map with a destination in the middle of nowhere. Answers to my questions lay in the palm of my hand.
A desolate road ended at a ghost town. Dilapidated buildings clustered together, lending each other the courage to stand.
Except one. Unbroken glass in freshly painted casings spoke of arrested neglect. I climbed the stairs and knocked on his door.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Title: Creative Marketing
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
Mateo checked at his watch. Running his hand through his thinning hair, he surveyed his produce stall.
Minutes crept by, but still no Luca. Without the delivery, he couldn’t make money. His customers wanted choices, baskets overflowing with the freshest items.
It was time to get creative. Repackaging crates to make them look full, he piled the contents into smaller containers. He squished his offerings together and eliminated empty racks. He worked to finish before the daily rush started. His loyal customers arrived and began bickering and fighting. Faced with scarcity, they bid against one another.
Mateo sighed with relief.
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
Jo Hawk 