It’s time for another terse tale for the Six-Sentence Stories. This writing prompt is given by GirlieOnTheEdge. CLICK HEREif you’d like to see the prompt rules and add your story to the mix.
So here’s my micro-fiction tale, which sort of leaves you hanging — but you can use your imagination to fill in the rest. 🙂
OFF BOARD ADVENTURE
“Snow board, skateboard, surfboard, water skis, motocross, I’ve done it all – and want to do it all again, just as soon as I’m back on my feet.”
“Well, I’m not as adventurous as you, pal; I prefer to keep my feet – or at least my wheels – on the ground.”
“But life’s an adventure, meant to be lived to the full, right? So I asked myself, why not give hang-gliding a try?”
“For me the biggest risk is never knowing for sure where you might land, what with unpredictable wind currents and all,” Jim said, regarding his long-time friend sympathetically, “and I wouldn’t want to land where you did.”
“Your attention please: visiting hours are now over,” the loudspeaker crackled, ending their conversation.
Once upon a time I was a new — and really ambitious –blogger. Naively I hearkened to the experts’ advice that “Your blog should have one theme.” Once upon I time I had four blogs, each with its own theme or topic. One day I realized the folly of trying to maintain three different blogs.
In August 3013 I started a blog specifically for haiku — Treetop Haiku — and posted a lot of mediocre verses. This blog has been dormant since April 2019, but here are a few of those verses, slightly reworked and hopefully improved. Let me know in the comments which one(s) you like.
nursing her fawn the doe’s ears twitch a mouse rustles
her reflection rippled by a water bug shattered dreams
cotton fields in bloom the rattle of our chains as we cycle past
reading in bed the stories under her pillow swirl through her dreams
THE WREN
I stalk him in the lilacs
and round the poplar tree,
that elusive little wren
who sings so cheerfully.
House sparrows, on the other hand,
I toss them out some seed
and they're my friends forever.
They greet me eagerly.
The little wren is patient;
he waits the morn's first light
to harvest on my doorstep
the insects fried last night.
Many’s the time I’ve tried to get a look at the wrens in our yard and only saw a fluttering and movement in the leaves. But first thing in the morning, sure enough, here’s the wren cleaning off our deck, feasting on bugs that got too close to our porch light.
As I write this, I suppose some of you will be toasting the New Year, some may even be seeing the first morning of 2022. I’m wishing for all of us that this coming year will be more encouraging and upbeat than the one we’re leaving behind.
The Ragtag Daily Prompt this morning was FINALE – and last night I finished the last book in my 2021 GoodReads reading challenge. At the beginning of last year I set a goal of reading 80 books in 2021, and I accomplished that. In fact I surpassed it, as the book I just finished was #125. Mind you, some of these were simple children’s books – but every book counts.
The shortest book was 32 pages, a children’s book called MAC & CHEESE, by Sarah Weeks, a tale about two cat friends. “Macaroni and Cheese are best friends, yet they couldn’t be more different! Mac likes to pounce and bounce and jump, but Cheese just sits there like a lump.” But one day Cheese has just the answer Mac needs for his problem.
The longest book is actually a three-volume set, Apple Orchard Mysteries, 639 pages in all. A quick easy read with characters who are ditzy and wise-crackers rather than clever. If you’re looking for a good mystery and MC’s with some sense, forget about these and go for Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple + Hercule Poirot, or Dan Walsh’s When Night Comes (#1 in the Jack Turner Series.) In 2021 I reread almost all Diana Xarissa’s Markham Sisters, very mild cozy mystery series. Funny that I liked these so much and her Isle of Man series featuring “Aunt Bessie” not that much.
Book #125 may have been my last read, but I gave it five stars. DON’T EAT THE PUFFIN: Tales From a Travel Writer’s Life by Jules Brown, is delightfully descriptive, written with humour and respect for the environment, the locals and their customs. He’s even embedded You tube links in a few of his stories so readers can get a glimpse of the sights he saw. In his last chapter he pays a warm tribute to his brave, open-minded father who lived in 47 countries and visited thirty more. I read it one chapter at a time over several weeks, savoring all his adventures – though not all the food he consumes. It was well worth the journey!
Brown, a travel writer by profession has written several travel books and blogs at https://julestoldme.com where he recounts his many adventures abroad. He writes for a travel company, but has his own book publishing company, Trust-Me Travel, his own You Tube channel, and posts on Facebook @ JulesBrownWriter. His next book, likewise sharing some common sense travel advice is NEVER PACK AN ICE PICK.
Now I shall close, wishing you good health, blessings and comforts in the new year.
Delight: A beautiful sunny morning. I saw a hummingbird at our feeder at 7am. Dismay: I’m missing the swallows. Used to be, morning and evening, I’d see a dozen swallows swooping and diving, cleaning our yard of pesky mosquitoes. So far this month I’ve seen two tree swallows and, twice now, a lone barn swallow. Some people regard barn swallows as pests. “Dirty little birds, dropping mud here and there. Wish I didn’t have to clean up their mess.” Never considering how swallows clean up our air, devouring thousands of mosquitoes and other bugs every single day.
Delight: All kinds of birds come to my watering/bathing dishes all day long. Dismay: Can they ever splash, especially the robins! Dishes need refilling several times a day. I don’t mind, actually; the show is worth the effort.
Delight: I’m finally getting another blog post written! Dismay: I’ve lots I’d like to write – and posts I’d like to follow – but I’m having a hard time disciplining myself to get at it.
Delight: Last week I finished different painting projects and varnished half a dozen. They’re ready to go now. Dismay: This new hobby takes time and money. On Friday I left another generous sum at Michael’s for more paint and canvas.
Delight: Someone encouraged me to sell them and even suggested a selling price! Dismay: Perhaps no one will buy them? I’m not a pro, you know.
The same someone reminded me that we have other artistic sorts here who sell stuff and they aren’t PROFESSIONALS, either. Sign makers, candle makers, soap makers, bakers — we all do the best we can and it’s up to buyers if they want what we offer.So I’m encouraged to try.
Delight: Last week I studied online about the art of “paint pouring,” the different methods used, etc. And then I gave it a try! Dismay: For the first picture I used some old Mod Podge I had sitting around as a pouring medium. Not so smart. The picture’s fine, colour-wise, but the texture is like someone sprinkled sand on the canvas.
Delight: On Friday’s trip to the city, I bought some proper pouring medium and a few more canvases. Mixed up some paint, several colours separately in cups, and gave it a try. Actually, I mixed up too much paint, so did a second picture. Dismay: The second picture being an afterthought, I hurriedly mixed up more paint and it wasn’t mixed as carefully as the first cups. So the result had a few lumps.
Delight: Hey, the pictures were okay. The second one, on a 9″ x 11″ canvas, came out looking like six pink flowers spaced out nicely in a beige and turquoise flowerbed. This would have been a perfect illustration of Friday’s RDP prompt: Not a pair. 🙂 Dismay: One important instruction about pour art: When you leave your pictures stand overnight to harden, be sure the surface they’re on is level. Otherwise the picture may shift; paint may flow off the canvas one way or the other and you may see a much different picture in the morning. I could say I spent $25 Friday night to discover that the desk in my sewing room isn’t quite level. My “flowerbed” now looks like a dipsy tulip. Artists, beware!
Delight: I’m not giving up anyway. 🙂 I’m so enthused about my new artistic hobby! Dismay: Much as I’d like to – I can’t spend all day painting. 😉
Delight: My operation was a great success and I’m pretty much back to normal in my activities. Dismay ?: It’s time to catch up on all the housework and pull weeds in the flowerbeds.
Delight: Though the spring was drought-dry and dust was flying, farmers seeded their crops in hope. Now some badly needed rains have come to replenish our land. The seed is germinating and we’re all hopeful again. Dismay: June is half gone already!
Christine's Collection 