Tag: Six Sentence Stories

Curiosity Cure

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 8 Comments

Here’s a belated response to GirlieOnThe Edge’s SIX SENTENCE STORIES where the prompt word is VAULT.


Curiosity Cured the Cat

“The gate’s padlocked, Witt,” Lee grumbled, “and that means keep out –which is also what that sign says, in case you can’t read.”

His pal turned from peering through a thin crack and said, “this isn’t that high; I can vault over it no problem.”

“Yeah, maybe, but what’s on the other side that you have to see; this is an experimental station, after all, and if you show up uninvited they might experiment on you.”

Itching with curiosity, no way was Witt going to give up, but jumped up, grabbed the top of the wooden gate and pulled himself over.

“Remember, curiosity killed the cat,” Lee called – but it was too late.

When Gavin Wittenburg was allowed to exit that gate again two hours later, ashen-faced and trembling, his curiosity was more than satisfied.

Because I’m only allowed six sentences, you will have to imagine his two hours inside. 🙂 You can read other responses visa the Link Here

Grandma’s Story Mat

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 21 Comments

Good morning everyone. We’ve been looking out at a snowy yard for the past couple of weeks, I thought I’d better change my header to reflect the change of scenery here. Found this wintry image on Pixabay, by photo artist Picoflop.

Time for a tale — and today I’m going to respond to two prompts. the Ragtag Daily Prompt word this morning is VOLUTE. Think SPIRAL:

Or think of Jane Kenyon’s verse about “the involute rhubarb leaf, like a mad red brain, thinks its way up…” She wrote some great verses!

I’m also going to respond to GirlieOntheEdge’s Six-Sentence prompt, where the prompt word is ETERNAL.

Grandma’s Story Mat

How fondly I recall the times we sat by Grandma’s rocking chair, on this same volute mat; I’d rub my fingers over the scratchy surface and find comfort in knowing Grandma made it with her own hands. Every month it was a bit rounder as she continued to braid and attach new coils – telling us it was a good past-time now that Grandpa was “resting” and she didn’t have him to look after anymore.

The mat lay near the hearth, so the warmth of the fireplace toasted my back as Grandma wove her stories for us. Only later did we find out what she was up to, and were all amazed when a book written by our grandma appeared on Amazon one day.

Seems she had an eternal fount of stories in her mind, tales of ages past that she’d learned as a child, stories from her own life; she entertained us for hours while Mom was off doing the daily shopping.

When I was ten, sitting by her hearth, feeling the comfort of her love and listening to her tales kept me from despair when Dad was in the hospital – palliative care, they called it – and Mom was spending most of her time with him, sharing their last days as best they could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rope mat Image by Andrew Martin — Pixabay

The Secret Story

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 20 Comments

It’s been awhile since I dabbled in fiction, but today I feel I must write some kind of story. So I’ll try the Six Sentence Story Prompt, where the given word is PLAY.

THE SECRET STORY

Are you going to play around with that thing all day or are you going to get ready to go,” Janaya snapped as she pulled on her tennis shoes.

“Give me a minute more; I want to get this motion sensor camera set up and working right before we go,” her brother responded, “because I’m sure someone’s been sneaking into the house while we’re away.”

Timothy clicked the box shut and placed it carefully on the shelf, partly concealed by a vase of artificial flowers, arranging it to point directly at the front door.

A few days later Timothy took the camera down and took out the SIM card so he could view the data collected. Janaya and her mother came running when they heard him shout, “Aha! I just knew it.”

Which is how they finally discovered their Uncle Kelvin had been sneaking in to use their computer when they weren’t home because he was too embarrassed to let anyone know he was trying to become the next Stephen King.

Suspicious Sparks

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 13 Comments

I’ve been a snail all this week, that’s all I can say. With this story, I had to settle on who the characters are. Yesterday the where-to-from-here became clear and I sat down to write my six lines when the doorbell rang. My visitor, a friend who likes to chat, stayed a couple of hours. So here’s my belated offering for the Six Word Story Challenge. The prompt word this week is SPARK.

Suspicious Sparks

“Great job getting rid of them before they did too much nosing around,” Jonathan said, stepping out of the hall closet. “So, how did you happen to show up here, Sonia — just when I needed you?”

“We’d set up a meeting with a shareholder for half an hour ago – a very important one – so when Herb didn’t show up I knew something was wrong and came to see what happened to him. “Now, what are you doing here and why Herb was out cold with a bruise on his face,” she demanded, glaring at him.

“The CEO ordered me to find out where his wife, Janice, is hiding; she’s gone and he was sure Herb would know where. Mr Zenzig thought he saw a spark flash between her and Herb one day and suspected they were meeting privately, so he sent me to nose around, see if she was here — in the course of our discussion Herb happened to trip and hit his head on the edge of the coffee table.”

What Happened to Herb?

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 16 Comments

It’s Six Sentence Story time again and, just to keep you on your toes, I’m going to continue the tale I started last week. The PROMPT WORD this week over at GirlieOnTheEdge is KNOT

What Happened to Herb?

Sirens and flashing lights attracted a knot of spectators in front of Herb’s house and they watched as paramedics carried him out on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance.

“Poor Herb must have fallen downstairs by the looks of him,” a neighbour surmised as the ambulance drove away.

“She must have found him,” another person said, nodding toward the door where a pale thirty-something woman was talking with a policewoman. “I saw her drive up about ten minutes ago and go dashing into his house like she was expecting trouble.”

“While I was watering my planters awhile ago I saw some fellow–a smart-looking guy–go up Herb’s walk and ring the bell.”

“Yes, and I didn’t see him leave so he must still be inside,” said Mrs Robins from across the street, who was notorious for seeing everything that transpired on their block.

Image: Pixabay

In case you missed the first episode, click here to read it.

The Coming Storm – Part 1

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 15 Comments

In an earlier post I said my husband and I have been following a writing course given by best-selling author Jerry Jenkins. The last lesson I did covers how important the first sentence and the first paragraph are. No time for rambling here; that opening scene has to grab the reader. Even if the story doesn’t start out with a bang (on someone’s head, in some building or some universe) the reader must get a sense of a fascinating storm just ahead.

I’ve tried to do that in my response to this week’s Six Word Story prompt over at GirlieOnTheEdge’s blog, where the prompt word is BAND. I’m cheating on the prompt, though, since this isn’t a complete story. 🙂

BETTER NEVER LATE

Herb glanced out the window, checked his time again, then snapped the band of his watch in frustration.

“If she isn’t here in three minutes, I’m leaving,” he silently vowed. He had an important meeting with one of his shareholders and he dare not be late.

A moment later he heard a knock and rushed to open the door, snarling, “What…!”

“What am I doing here, you were going to ask,” Jonathan said, shoving his way inside. “Can’t you guess, Herb?”