Tag Archives: Friday

Photo Finish Friday: “Elvis and Marilyn”

Elvis and Marilyn hanging out at the local pizzeria.

Elvis and Marilyn hanging out at the local pizzeria.

Marilyn and Elvis were hanging out at the local pizzeria on a Friday night, debating which one was best: the Hawaiian or the new Reuben pizza.

“Ain ith goof ta be deed?” Marilyn asked, balancing a slice of pizza on her tongue and doing her best not to spill any of the sauce on her white dress. She was waiting to meet her blind date, some guy named Arthur who claimed to be a playwright.

“One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four don’t you know, that sauce better not get on my blue suede shoes,” Elvis said.

“I said, ain’t it good to be dead?”

“That’s better, honey,” Elvis said, “Love me tender, love me true.”

The microphone did not appear to be working. It was there and that was all.

“We can hang out in places like this, put pizza on our tongues, and no one pays us any mind. We’re just a couple of crazy look-a-likes to the rest of the world.”

“But you got a date coming. All I got is my guitar,” Elvis said.

The bell above the door to the pizzeria jingled indicating somebody was coming inside. They both looked. If it was a live person, neither one would be able to see him or her. Not directly, anyway. Only an after image and only after a few minutes. It was the way things worked when you were dead.

They saw no one. They were all alone. Elvis and Marilyn. She put the slice of pizza on her tongue. It was the same slice she had most nights. She wasn’t hungry, so she never ate it, never even tried. That’s the way it was when you were dead.

[Author’s note: Photo finish Friday is a photo something around where I live that I think might be a good writing prompt. I try to include something written with the photo. If the photo inspires you to write something, please do. Please remember that all material is mine and respect the copyright of it. Thank you.]

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Photo Finish Friday: “Portal”

In the hedge lay adventure.

In the hedge lay adventure.

Robbie said, “Ain’t so.”

“Is too,” Ray said back.

Robbie and Ray were each six years old. Robbie was a few months older, and on occasions like this, he like to remind Ray of that. They just weren’t sure what this occasion was. Still, Robbie was asserting his role as elder statesman to tell Ray he was wrong.

“It’s like Nose legend.,” Ray said “You know, that great fight called Rag in a rock.”

“This got nothin’ to do with that,” Robbie said. “Ain’t nothin’ more than a strange cut in the hedge for that box.”

“It’s a portal, I tell you. And those Nose gods will come pourin’ through it to do battle with them frost giants and there will be an army of Gideon.”

“Who’s that?” Robbie asked.

Ray shrugged. “Some guy who can pour armies.”

“Ain’t no army goin’ to come pourin’ out of that hole in the hedge. It don’t even go all the way through.”

“It’s still a portal,” Ray said, “and if you go and sit in it for six hours, you will see it: happening. I dare ya’. I double dog dare ya!”

Not one to turn down a double dog dare, Robbie snuck up on the rectangular. And to show he wasn’t scared at all, he climbed into the hole in the fence. He tried several different poses and a few words he wasn’t supposed to.

After thirty minutes, Robbie fell asleep in the portal. After another ten minutes had passed, Ray left and walked back to the family picnic where he immediately ate his ice cream allotment and Robbie’s, too.

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Photo Finish Friday: “New digs”

Even the "wee little people" have to consider climate change when finding new digs.

Even the “wee little people” have to consider climate change when finding new digs.

“Well, Colm, have you and the little missus decided on which home will be yours?”

Colm didn’t like the way the realtor used the phrase “the little missus,” but he held his tongue. He’d let “the little missus” glare do all the talking on that point. He and Caroline had come to look for a new dwelling, one outside the faery hill they were living in. The sea level was rising and their hill had already started taking in some water. Yet, he wasn’t quite sold on this type of housing. After all, even it sat on spindle taken from an old staircase in rundown historic home, as advertised, he didn’t know he was quite ready to buy one.

“Maybe this will help you make up your mind,” Jasper the realtor said. He rubbed his hands together, then slapped then against each other, then shot his sleeves. His jacket was as loud as his actions. Rumor had it, the darn thing was actually made from a section of a horse blanket. If it had been from a braying jackass, it would have been more appropriate.

“For today, only,” Jasper said, “I will throw in a ten pound bag of birdseed at no additional charge.”

“Birdseed?” Caroline asked, speaking for the first time in over an hour. “What do we need birdseed for?”

“Why, my lovely, for the birds that will be stopping by.”

“You mean this is a bird house?” She asked.

“Only if you let them stay,” Jasper said. He rubbed his hands together again, then slapped them against each other again, then shot his sleeves again. “And if they should become a bother, I have a couple of cats on retainer that for a small fee I can send over your way for a few days, and that should clear things right up.”

Colm sighed. Moving into a neighborhood above ground was going to be harder than he had imagined.

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Photo Finish Friday: “The Trojan catsup bottle”

[Editor’s note: Every now and then I will post a photo with a caption or a short poem or a bit of writing to it. You are free to make up own captions or comments.]

The invading force was hidden inside a giant Brooks Catsup Bottle.

The invading force was hidden inside a giant Brooks Catsup Bottle.

There it was. The invading force was hidden inside a giant Brooks Catsup Bottle. He was sure of it.

“There it is,” David said to himself. When we go to sleep tonight, the alien invading force will unscrew the top of the giant bottle, sneak out, and cut the throats of all able-bodied males, slather the women in red ooze, and tie up the children with supersized french fries. Somehow, he had to muster the courage to tell the town’s people an invasion was coming and likely coming tonight, and that the aliens would be flowing out of the giant bottle like spilled milk. He didn’t relish all the derisive comments he’d have to face and maybe even a rotten tomato or two thrown at him. After all, this wasn’t the first alien invasion he’d been privy to. Or even the second. He didn’t call this the Condiment Wars for nothing.

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KWG Contests deadline is April 30, 2013

Contests deadline April 30th.

Contests deadline April 30th.

Prepare your manuscripts! The Knoxville Writers’ Guild is accepting submissions for its annual writing contests through April 30. This year’s categories include SciFi/Fantasy, One Act Play, Screenwriting, Literary Fiction, Novel Excerpt, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction and Crime/Mystery. Young adults have categories in both poetry and fiction this year. For more information, including submission guidelines, visit www.knoxvillewritersguild.org/contests.htm

You don’t have to live in Knoxville, TN and you don’t have to be a member of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild in order to enter. But time is running out.

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Eleanor and Rose, and “The Case of the Fleaing Colors,” part 15

Part 15: The hat matters.

Part 15: The hat matters.

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Eleanor and Rose, and “The Case of the Fleaing Colors,” part 10

Part 10: Real detectives.

Part 10: Real detectives.

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Eleanor and Rose and “The Case of the Fleaing Colors,” part 7

Part 7: The Chief weighs in.

Part 7: The Chief weighs in.

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Eleanor and Rose and “The Case of the Fleaing Colors,” part 3

Part 3: The chase always begins with good grooming, at least for Rose.

Part 3: The chase always begins with the right suit of clothes, at least for Rose.

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Freeform Friday: “Stroke of Genius”

Stroke of Genius

by David E. Booker

O’ gods of justice and of light
Pause to consider this poor man’s plight.
He stands erect, with chain saw there
In place left best for underwear.

He yanks the cord with all his might
Hoping to overcome his limpid plight.
The motor chuffs; the man’s abrupt
Wondering loudly why nature interrupts.

He tugs and tugs and tugs once more
Imploring the gods: implore, implore.
Sweat from his face is running down
And he wants to toss saw to the ground.

Yet, one final time he assails his plight,
Stroking and stroking with all his might.
The engine coughs and sputters to life
Then its biting causes him new strife.

Putting something sharp where he ought not to.

Putting something sharp where he ought not to.

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