exploring

#FlashFiction Challenge for Carrot Ranch Literary Community

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This weeks 99 word challenge is Comet…

 

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COMET

When I look at a comet, having been lucky enough to see one, I see a giant snowman, throwing a ball of ice across our night sky, with its tail of dust.

We look upon it with wonder.

Could this giant hand be playing Rounder’s, or maybe Alleygobs with giant marbles? Is there someone on the other side of our dark sky ready to catch them, to hold onto them for too long before we see them again?

Could it be an invisible jockey riding a sky horse or maybe a knight from some forgotten age, looking for Merlin?

#Writephoto ~ Circle

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CIRCLE

I had gone for a walk beside the lake and barely remember bumping my head on a low hanging tree branch.

The small lump on the side of my head told me I had.

Feeling dizzy, I must have fallen and found myself leaning against a five-foot monolith. I counted eight more around me and a broken altar stood in the centre.

I sat there feeling as if I had fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole and into a stone circle. Hoping I had not broken my phone, having landed on my backside, I retrieved it from my back pocket and snapped away.

Rubbing at my eyes now at the sight of nine ladies in flowing robes, of which I was one, holding hands with the other eight. Was I glimpsing my former life or had the lump on my head grown to twice the size?

I could still feel the stone against my back, the scene before me began slowly fading, taking the other me with it.

As I sat there, I could still feel the hands I had been holding inside the circle.

I cannot be in two places at once, I must be dreaming. Yet the proof was in my hand. I flicked through the images, feeling the bark of the tree at my back…

 

 

Another lovely #writephoto prompt from Sue Vincent… 

I WAS CALLED

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I was visiting a church to take a rubbing, and as I wandered through the aisles, I fell beneath the cross. Not because I had been struck by some Holy visitation, I simply tripped, not paying attention to my feet. As I felt the cold tiles through my clothing, I had to wonder if I had tripped by accident or some higher purpose.

As I left the church, I felt a hand on my back, gentle and warm. I spun around to see who had touched me. No one stood behind me, yet I could still feel the touch.

Reaching home, the first thing I did was take a shower to wash the weird feeling from my back. I let the water run for a long time, but the feeling remained for three days. I am 24 years old and have never felt religious, yet I found myself reading the bible. The idea of becoming a priest slowly growing inside me.

Who or what had touched me I cannot tell, yet it sent me on a path I had never thought of. I am now a part of something bigger than myself. I had gambled my short life with God and lost. So now he has me.

I have joined the priesthood…

Anita Dawes 2018

#Wordle 364

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We just love doing these… find more at https://thesundaywhirl.wordpress.com

 

 

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The dusty street where Sarah lived was being washed clean by today’s rain.

She had chosen this village, this street, having been told she would find the peace and quiet she had been longing for.

As a shy yet brilliant writer, the small house seemed the same, shy, forgotten. A perfect fit. Sarah thought she could work well there. Thoughts rippled through her mind, leading her to a new idea.

Being shy from an early age had left Sarah on the outside and alone for most of her life. She had heard people whisper about her, mistaking her shyness for snobbery. She wished she could blend in the way other people did. How could she tell them of her longing to be like other people, to laugh, to go out dancing. She had been asked in the past, but always refused.

The lilting sound of rain on the window added to the thoughts already growing in her mind. She would yield to them, write them in her new novel.

As she was about to move from the window to start working, she caught sight from the corner of her eye, the brilliant speckled breast of a thrush. And Toby, her neighbour’s cat about to give chase.

To Sarah, this was the life outside her window. She picked up her pen and waited for the new words to begin, to tell people all about the shy young woman behind the rain-spattered window…

So, why do we blog?

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We are constantly being told that reading more will make us better writers and that we should blog with enthusiasm to build up our presence on the web. But I find that some of the things we need to do seem counterproductive and time-consuming.

Don’t get me wrong, reading does make me think, and it probably improves my vocabulary, but sometimes this can be counterproductive too in that I end up reading too much, taking time away from my writing. When I first started blogging, I read everything I could get my hands on, desperate to learn the secrets of the black magic box of the blogosphere.

And admittedly, I learned a lot.

Just lately though, there has been a change in my attitude to all things blog related. It suddenly dawned on me that as bloggers, we are trying far too hard to be the best at what we do with our constant searching for the golden egg. The one that will magically cause us to become omnipotent.

But because we are so busy running around like headless chickens, we are losing sight of our focus, the real reason we blog in the first place. We might even be missing the plot or choosing all the wrong moves.

I have been concerned of late, that there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything. What with the increasing amount of emails and time spent on social media, there isn’t much left for writing or blogging, come to that. Not to mention any new ideas that need to be explored or any of our other interests.

Apart from the reviews we do, I haven’t read a book simply for the joy of reading it in ages. I have begun to resent some of the demands made of my time too.

It could be time to step away and have a long hard look at what we do. Time to prioritise and cherry pick what we really want to concentrate on.

Life might be different when the dust has settled, but hopefully better. We have to concentrate on what we can do and do well, instead of chasing so many rainbows…

What does everyone else think?

 

 

Jaye’s Journal 1~ 6 August

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The recent hot weather has finally eased and I for one am delighted.

Now, I can resume normal duties without running the risk of collapsing in a soggy heap!

There was a point when the heat was at its hottest when I almost lost the will to do anything, and being unable to sleep at night wasn’t helping at all.

On one of the unbearably hot days, I made the mistake of asking the family what they wanted for dinner. When they requested pasties, my heart sank.  We usually had them for picnic meals with salad, perfect for a hot day, but first I had to make them, then cook them in a hot oven!

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I nearly melted in my scorching hot kitchen, but the pasties went down a treat…

Another reason I am so glad the weather is cooler now is for Merlin, our aged black and white cat. He really has been suffering and watching him as he tried to find a cool place to lie down has been distressing for us as well as him. There were moments when he looked as though he couldn’t last much longer. In fact, there were times when he looked dead and my heart was in my mouth until he moved or flicked an ear.

What passes as a lawn in our garden has suffered too, and won’t need cutting any time soon as all we have at the moment are funny green tufts sprouting through the straw coloured dead grass.

This is more than I can say about the dreaded forty-foot long, seven-foot-high hedge. It has gone more than a bit crazy, with long branches shooting out in all directions. It will need a trim soon.

Not much writing was done during the heatwave unfortunately, something I am trying to remedy now it’s cooler.  I’m not sure why they call it a wave, wouldn’t that imply that it passes quickly, and that definitely didn’t happen. We were all being forced to live in a world that had turned into an unbearably hot oven, and it wasn’t funny.

I love a bit of good weather, but don’t appreciate being cooked the minute I step outside. So keep it down to a comfortable level, please?

You just know that life is returning to normal when computers find new ways to annoy. The latest game is ditching any comments I make on other people’s websites. You go to the bother of commenting, and not just ‘nice post!’ only to have it vanish without a trace. And I don’t know about anyone else, but my brain never remembers exactly what I just typed, so the second attempt is usually not as good or as long. Not acceptable, right?

Wishing to avoid frustration, I came up with the idea of commenting, as usual, then copy and paste it, just in case it does a runner before posting it.  Not exactly in the rulebook, but works for me…

And last but not least, something I have finally managed to do this week.      Yay! (cause for celebration!)

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We have claimed a BookBub profile and all of our books are locked and loaded!

Not sure how any of it works (no change there then) but if anyone wants to follow us on there, here are the links to Jaye’s BookBub and Anita’s BookBub.

Have a Wonderful Weekend Everybody!

 

Thoughts from Anita…

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THOUGHTS

You have heard that matter cannot be created, nor can it be destroyed.

It hangs around in one form or another.

Take me, for instance.

In the spirit world, we are constantly bombarded by thoughts from earth, so many with tears attached to them, so many prayers carrying heartache.

Why do you bother?

Your lifeline was decided from birth.

Praying, whinging and whining cannot change anything. You have to do it yourself, not on bended knees in some building made by a man called a church,

So please slow down on those thoughts that carry a wish, for you are planting seeds on concrete.

No matter how many times you water them by wishing, they will not grow.

All those good luck charms, holy relics, forget them, they are two a penny.

One good thought will push you on to a new line of destiny.

The right thought is like carrying a spare backpack. It will get you to where you want to be.

That one good thought was there all along, so watering it.

Remember, good luck is nothing more than cause and effect!