Warm Up

Memory Lane – Weekend Writing Prompt

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 22 Comments

Title: Memory Lane
Source:  Weekend Writing Prompt # 156 – Home
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 114 words

snow covered house on gray lake with lights on in the window

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

The night’s darkness hid his destination until he arrived. He didn’t feel nostalgia, hope, or even curiosity. He’d burned those bridges years ago. The freak spring snowstorm stirred forgotten habits, guided his car to a faraway country he could no longer call home.

Black snowfall accumulated. Cold hardened him, and he waited.

A light punched back grey edges of a lonely dawn, a harbinger of her brighter day.

A man moved through the house toward the kitchen. He pulled filters from the drawer, measured coffee, and retrieved her favorite mug nestled in the cabinet next to the sink.

Bitter regret stained his face as he started his car, resigned to being the one departed.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Pulling the Plug – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 18 Comments

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

abandoned refrigerator laying in the weeds at the side of the road

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Terri’s bare knee touched cold linoleum. The distinct aroma of disinfectant, liberally applied over thirty years, was strong in this corner. She fumbled with the cord and wrinkled her nose.

“Is this no other way?” she asked.

“No, I’m afraid not.”

Terri yanked, but the plug and outlet refused to end their embrace. She wiggled and pulled until she broke the bond. The whirring compressor grew silent. The familiar vibration faded in Terri’s heart along with memories of late-night bottles, birthday cakes, spilled milk, and Sunday dinners.

“You’ll love the new fridge. It pairs with your phone. There’s an app.”

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Mining for Gold – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 23 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © C.E.Ayr

“What are you doing?” Hannah surveyed the discarded canvas in the alley.

“I’m taking the frame,” Kurt said, brushing off the accumulated dust.

“Why?”

“It’s nice.”

“And the painting?”

“Utter crap. Unsigned.”

Kurt scorned artists who were not proud enough to sign their creations.

“But–”

Kurt ambled away, the frame swinging from the crook of his elbow.

Hannah’s lips puckered, and her eyes narrowed. Kurt’s obsession with “artistic sensibilities” blinded him to the beauty inherent in everyday life’s casual clutter.

An idea flickered, wheels turned, and new collage formed. She snatched the picture, realizing who had scored garbage gold.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

A Matter of Perspective – Flash Fiction Challenge

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 8 Comments

Title: A Matter of Perspective
Source:  Flash Fiction Challenge
Prompt: Write a story about something crazy.
Word count:  99 words

Galaxy

Photo by Clarisse Meyer on Unsplash

Insanity is measured by degrees, strictly classified by definitions, interpretations, and clever disguises. A tight white coat choked the evaluator, stripping him of his humanity. If he would only release himself from his strait-laced leash, he would see. He scribbled unintelligible notes with invisible ink and labeled my actions a Hail Mary call for help.

Nobody listened to the warnings I screamed loud and clear. Sometimes a hero must first rescue herself, so that night, with the walls closing in, I climbed Signal Mountain and sent my desperate S.O.S.

The mother ship answered, and I escaped this helter-skelter world.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Unbelievable – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 10 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Billionaires, rock stars, and those famous for being famous, envy my view. Unfathomable, inaccessible to mere mortals.

They never lift their eyes. Hypnotized, blinded gazes guide them. Lacking fortitude, unable to face brutal accusations, they deny responsibility. Curated lives avoid the uncomfortable, the awkward, the unbearable.

I walked with them. Until the unthinkable, the unimaginable happened.

Me, bastion of lofty ideals and a laundry list of what I wouldn’t do. Fate forced me to reevaluate and reconsider my reality. I decided I’d never die on grimy streets.

Much better to breathe rarefied air under brilliant stars of possibilities and live.

________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Abandoned – Weekend Writing Prompt

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 18 Comments

Title: Abandoned
Source:  Weekend Writing Prompt # 153 – Obsolete
Objective: Write a poem or piece of prose in exactly 24 words

gray truck near mountain

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

I considered myself young, but my mirror and capricious consensus disagreed. Without compunction, they relegated me to the pasture with the other obsolete workhorses.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Operation: Recover Home – Flash Fiction Challenge

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 9 Comments

Title: Operation: Recover Home
Source:  Flash Fiction Challenge
Prompt: Write a story that declares, shield your face.
Word count:  99 words

person welding gray metal equipment

Photo by boostinjay on Unsplash

Heavy metal blared, drowning the crackling and buzzing, as sparks flew. The fiery shower bounced on the cement floor.

“Jason.”

Switching off the torch, he pushed his heavily gloved hand against his forehead, lifting the face shield. Except for the music in his helmet, the garage was silent. Hot wind blasted through the open door.

He was alone.

Desperation clutched his heart. Glancing at his watch he assessed his chances of completing the needed repairs. He couldn’t stay. He had to find the passage home.

“Shield your face. Return to me.”

“I’m coming.”

Or I’ll die trying, he vowed.

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The New Morning Ritual — Flash Fiction

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 7 Comments
teacup filled with liquid placed on saucer

Photo by Jen P. on Unsplash

I never thought I would be here, really living the dream. Released from Corporate America’s draining demands, I no longer wake before the crack of a sparrow’s fart, to fight rush hour traffic, to log long stressful hours.

My day begins with a gentle stretch, a hot cup of coffee, and a healthy dose of gratitude. Characters whisper in my ear, my desk beckons, and my muse smiles as I set to work. Ephemeral emotions coalesce, transformed into epic tales. My desire to create links me to the past and ties me to the future, as I write about today.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

First Draft – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 45 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Jeff Arnold

The retreat center advertised a magical, bucolic setting guaranteed to unplug the writer from an overconnected world.  For hours, Catherine stared at the typewriter, her fingers mindlessly caressing the black keys. She sighed, rising, she stepped outside to tread the marshy moor.

The door clicked shut, and the stapler clacked his jaws.

“Is it good?”

Paper wiggled from under paperweights, wedged themselves into the roller, while the typewriter’s keys pounded words into existence.

“Any plot issues?” the hole punch asked as she perused the first paragraphs.

The ends of the space bar curled into a smile.

“It’s a best seller.”

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer