challenge

The Thrill — 100 WW Week 85

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

Title:  The Thrill
Source:  100 Word Wednesday: Week 85
Word count: 100 words

Image by Bikurgurl

Lizzy remembered the first picture she ever created.  Mother left her with a babysitter who was more interested in texting her boyfriend than watching Lizzy. She shushed Lizzy, shooing her away.  She made Lizzy mad, so Lizzy stomped to her room and opened her school supplies. New crayons, chalk, and markers, a kaleidoscope of colors, tumbled onto the floor.  Lizzy used the biggest canvas in her room, the wall.

Mother fired the babysitter and punished Lizzy. But Mother loved Lizzy’s picture and Lizzy was delighted to create something Mother loved. She never outgrew the rush of drawing in unconventional places.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Lately — Tuesday Writing Prompt

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Title:  Lately
Source:  Tuesday Writing Prompt — Go Dog Go Café
Prompt:  Use this phrase:  Lately, I’ve been feeling
Word count:   100 words

Photo credit: x1klima on Visualhunt / CC BY-ND

Maybe I’m just blind but lately, I’ve been feeling I really don’t understand. You started a fire in the darkness, taught me what it’s like to be alive. I shared my secrets, confessed I had been wrong.

I only ever wanted to be the man you wanted me to be. I will never let you down, I don’t even want to try, and I begged you to let me be your one. The secrets I revealed soon became your lies, and now my life seems overrated.

And lately, I’ve been feeling I’m a lonely man who will never really understand.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Duped — FFfAW Challenge – 179th

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 11 Comments

Title:  Duped
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers
Word count:   200 words

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

Jason, Alex, Nick and I discovered the museum’s exhibit of the terracotta warriors. We knew the story, researching each new archaeological discovery. Excited, we bought our tickets and stood in line expecting amazing things.

China’s First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, took the throne as King Zheng of Qin at thirteen.  By forty he conquered his enemies ending the period of the Warring States. Even before proclaiming himself Emperor, construction of a vast underground empire, the ultimate tomb began. To protect his tomb, he commissioned an army of terracotta warriors. Eight thousand figures each with distinct faces stood over six feet tall. Hand-crafted from clay, they were assembled, fired in a giant kiln, then hand painted.

When we left the exhibit, I threw my ticket and the brochures in the garbage.

“Hey, man? What’s up?” Jason asked.

“I expected to see real terracotta warriors. Actual artifacts.” I said tugging on my coat.

“What are you talking about?” Nick looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Didn’t you read the tags? ‘Replica’ this, ‘Model’ that.  Maybe three pieces were true artifacts.” Pulling my phone from my pocket I flipped through photos proving my point.

“Bummer,” Alex said and tossed his brochures in the garbage.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Unintended Consequences — 3 Line Tales Week 134

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 6 Comments

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

photo by Maxim Leyssens via Unsplash

Unintended Consequences

Our instructions were to capture the predator killing the farmer’s livestock.

We hunted the hunter, captured her and prepared her for relocation.

We didn’t see her two cubs or hear their hungry cries.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Escape — Friday Fictioneers August 17

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Yvette Prior

Marty spent his nights singing in smoky bars. It wasn’t glamorous, but it paid the bills. After last night’s show, the band and some ladies continued the party at Ned’s place. Marty woke, head pounding and nauseous from the smell of alcohol, stale cigarettes and cheap perfume lingering in the room.

His mind shook free from his self-induced coma. He rode a merry-go-round, an endless circle of perpetual motion. He waited, hoping to feel real emotion, looking for proof of life. It wasn’t here. He knew what he must do. Marty grabbed his keys, walked out and closed the door.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Labor of Love – FFfPP Week 33

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Title:  Labor of Love
Source:  FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #33
Word count:   200 words

Daria Shevtsova pexels-photo-1070945

The first fingers of dawn hadn’t touched the black velvet curtain of darkness when Laroux flipped on the kitchen lights. Overhead, the fluorescents bounced off spotless stainless steel and bleached white tiles. Wednesdays were her favorite day of the week. She had three hours alone, to play in the kitchen.

Laroux tied her apron and gathered the ingredients, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, and flour. Yeast was a special ingredient, the origin of life. Baking took simple items and used chemistry, art, and kneading to form an aromatic loaf. She measured yeast into warm water, watching it bloom before stirring in the remaining ingredients. Laroux continued adding flour, forming a soft dough she turned onto the marble bench. She gathered the sponge, pushing bits together until it stuck in a lumpy ball. Now came the fun, the hard work.

The heel of her hand dug into the dough moving like an earth mover compacting dirt, stretching the dough on the marble, then folding it into a ball. Laroux repeated the actions, developing the gluten in the flour. Then, she and the dough rested. The dough doubled in size, ready for the oven. Laroux created bread with love to please the senses.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Subtle Shift — 100 WW Week 84

/ JoHawkTheWriter

Title:  Subtle Shift
Source:  100 Word Wednesday: Week 84
Word count: 100 words

Image by Bikurgurl

It was hot. Summer held us in its sweaty grip, but there was something else, the heat was not as oppressive and sweltering, summer’s grip seemed less intense. A haze settled over the brilliant blue sky, cloaking the light, so subtle at first, we didn’t notice the change. The haze morphed into clouds, hinting at rain.

This morning in my new dorm room, I put sweaters, long-sleeved shirts, and wool socks in the back of closets and drawers before donning a tee-shirt and joining my friends for a campus tour and an iced coffee. The prediction for the future: change.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Facing Fear — FFfAW Challenge

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 6 Comments

Title:  Facing Fear
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers – Week of 08-14 through 08-20-2018
Word count:   170 words

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Ted Strutz. Thank you, Ted!

What was she doing here?

Diana pulled her car into the parking lot and shifted into Park. A ferry approached the launch and cars waited to load. Diana’s hands trembled, and she breathed in ragged gasps.

Why had she agreed?

It was her therapist’s idea. She insisted Diana confront her fears and leftover emotions from the accident that were controlling her life. It sounded rational in the therapist’s office.

How was this going to help her?

They called it a freak accident. The water was choppy the day she drove onto the ferry. She was the first car in line. The ferry lurched and the truck behind her rear-ended her, hard, causing her car to catapult into the bay. She remembered trying to escape, water filling the car and the sky disappearing as she sunk under the waves. She didn’t remember being rescued.

When would she get past this?

She realized she didn’t need to relive boarding the ferry to face her fears. Diane turned the car and headed home.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Fade — 3 Line Tales, Week 132

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

photo by Khürt Williams via Unsplash

The day played on a continuous loop reserved for her mind only.

Brilliant flashbacks fluttered past reflecting ghosts from other days.

Grains of sand slipped through the hour glass stealing the memory frame by frame.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The Drop — Friday Fictioneers August 10

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 14 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Ronda Del Boccio

His directions showed a booth in the empty section at the rear of the diner. The hostess motioned for him to sit and dropped the menu on the table. Bart sat his back to the brick wall and watched her disappear around the divider, leaving him alone.

He leaned forward and ran his hands underneath the tabletop and the bench where he sat. He checked his phone, determining he was in the correct spot

“Where is it,” he wondered?

A planter box sat on the divider and Bart’s hand snaked along the rim, searching. He removed the envelope and smiled.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer