September

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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Keep on writing.

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

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

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

Scholarly Discussion – 3 Line Tales

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

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

photo by Manthan Gupta via Unsplash

What do you think of the fifth precept, “I undertake the training rule to abstain from fermented and distilled intoxicants which are the basis for heedlessness?” Samten asked as he leaned across the table.

Dakpa studied the coffee menu until Samten shifted restlessly in his chair.

“I think a double espresso should do the trick,” Dakpa said and with a twinkle in his eye.

______________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

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

Trick or Treat — 3 Line Tales

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 8 Comments

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

snakes-in-baskets

photo by Jordan Gellie via Unsplash

Nani and I spent the day baking, creating our baskets of tricks, making sure every detail was perfect.

When the doorbell rang we opened our baskets to reveal our bread snakes to the children.

When they screamed and ran away, we smiled at our clever Trick or Treat surprise.

______________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

In Time of Need — FFfPP

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Title:  In Time of Need
Source:  FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #38
Word count: 175 words

foggy-meadow-with-fence-and-ghostly-trees

14946675160vn34 AugustMorgue File

It was a recurring dream, a nightmare really. She walked through fog barely able to see, her next steps uncertain and precarious. Searching.  Pursuing and pursued. The dark specter, a constant force, pushing her forward, denying her rest, threatening to overtake her. And then she screamed.

This time she did not wake. The dream was real. Her heart pounded, echoed in her ears, drowned rational thought. Her stomach tightened, choked her throat, cut off her air supply. She gasped and lurched forward, not ready to die. Salvation lay hidden in the fog.

Running now, adrenaline coursing through her body pushing her past her limits, and beyond the edge. Her next step did not hit the ground, she tumbled, falling, reaching, grasping nothing. A hand caught her, suspended in time, she searched the hooded face and saw only darkness.

“I can grant more than Salvation.”

The words filled her head, and she closed her eyes.

“Where is Salvation in your time of need?”

Despair consumed her.

“You only need to say the word.”

She nodded.

“Yes.”

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

B&B Breakfast — Friday Fictioneers

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Priorhouse

“Bacon, woman! I want bacon.”

“The sign said, ‘Canadian Bacon’, dear.”

He stabbed his fork into the meat disc and lifted it into the air. Grease and meat juices sprayed across the table as he shook the fork at her.

“Does this look like bacon?” His face turned red as he spoke, and the woman shrank in her seat.

“It said…”

“I know ‘Canadian Bacon’. They advertised American Breakfast. I expect American bacon.”

“I’d expect you’d have better luck in America than in Yorkshire, sir,” the waitress said as she plucked the fork from his hand and exited the room.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Almost Friends — 100WW

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Title:  Almost Friends
Source:  100 Word Wednesday: Week 90
Word count: 100 words

I saw the big brute and froze. Too late, big red ears flapped, slapping his jowls as he lumbered toward me, stopping a few feet away.

My heart was a jackhammer trying to crack a concrete chest. He heard it, advanced, then collapsed, his pointy, sniffing nose buried in fallen leaves. Eye to eye we stared. Stalemate.

My nose betrayed me, twitching twice. His eyebrow leaped skyward, his ears followed, he lunged, and a long, pink tongue licked my head leaving a slobbery streak between my ears.

The spell broken, I jackrabbited through the leaves. He barked but didn’t follow.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

 

Tap and Stitch — FFfAW Challenge

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 17 Comments

Title: Tap and Stitch
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers
Word count: 175 words

walls-of-mismatched-shoes-sandals-on-peg-board

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Yarnspinnerr. Thank you Yarnspinnerr!

“Are they asleep yet?” Tap whispered from the inky shadows of the rain barrel.

“The light is out, but we should wait, make sure they’re fast asleep.”

“Stitch, you’re too cautious. They’ll never hear us.”

“Shh. You mean they’ll never hear me.”

Tap scooped up a pebble and lobbed it in Stitch’s direction. The stone skidded to a stop inches from his feet. Even in the darkness Tap saw the smile spreading across his face. She loved Stitch and his sense of humor. They had been together forever, on a joyous adventure. She smiled, remembering while they waited.

“Tap, come on,” Stitch hissed as he walked through the brick wall. Tap snapped back to reality and followed.

Inside the workshop Tap and Stitch stared at the pile of shoe leather.

“Ooh,” Tap rubbed her hands over the leather before jumping into the center of the pile.

Stitch giggled and landed in the pile next to her.

“Ready to make shoes?” Stitch asked.

Tap rubbed the supple leather against her cheek and nodded.

“Ready,” she said.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Alive

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 7 Comments
girl-dancing-in-fall-leaves

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash

This is me today, and it feels good to be alive. It is the revolution they call the beginning of the end, the time of dying and death.

But I see possibilities. The crisp fall air lifts my spirits, releases me from the oppression and isolation of the summer heat. I snuggle into the wool scarf that encircles me, comforts me, keeps my heart warm.

Nature’s colors explode, and my soul expands reaching to share the splendor with those who wish to see.

Leaves crunch beneath my feet creating the song of exaltation, honoring what has come before, elevating now, recognizing future’s potential.  It proclaims, right here, right now, it feels good to be alive.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Delusional Distraction — 3 Line Tales

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 5 Comments

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

1950s-style-TV

photo by Sven Scheuermeier via Unsplash

Come one, come all, gather your family and prepare to be amazed by the newest invention.

Forget your fears and the fallout shelters, the emanate risk of nuclear destruction, and Sputnik the spy.

It is Sunday night, and it is a Wonderful World.

______________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer