one_hundred_words_by_Parz: October 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020

Treats With Tricks

Prompts = Trick, Treat, Birthday

Molly had practiced the trick Uncle Craig had taught her until she could do it effortlessly. All that practice didn’t keep her hands from shaking as she entered her classroom.

On their birthday, students were paraded through the room then made the teacher’s assistant. Today was Molly’s turn. And also Halloween.

‘Trick or treat!’, she said to the class.

‘Treat!’, they yelled back.

‘With a trick!’, she replied. Then proceeded to make chocolate dollars appear from each of her fellow student’s ears, then did it one last time to her teacher.

‘How’d you do that?’, they wondered.

‘It’s a secret.’

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Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/Parzival-Sattva-427507144484255
Blogger = https://onehundredwordsbyparz.blogspot.com
Medium = https://medium.com/100-word-or-less-stories
YouTube = https://www.youtube.com/user/parzivalsattva

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Friday, October 30, 2020

Beware Of What You Wish For

Photo by Clovis WOOD on Unsplash

Prompts = Catch, Book, Majority

‘Members of Newton City Council, I’m Officer Frank Cappuccino with Bicycle Patrol. You’ve heard testimony that our force is outgunned. We are also out-biked.

‘To catch a criminal, let alone book one, we need vehicles up to the task. The majority of our bicycles can’t keep up in high-speed chases in rough terrain. We need — ‘

‘How much we talking?’

‘$7,000 per bike.’

‘Cheaper than a car. I have an idea…’

A bicycle for each officer arrived the same day the cruisers were towed away for scrap. Frank was upset. ‘These bikes are worse than what we’ve already got!’

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Thursday, October 29, 2020

To Find A Bear + untitled (Throwback Thursday)

Prompts = There, Their, They’re

Story New — To Find A Bear!

Photo by Jue Huang on Unsplash

‘There’s a bear.’

‘Where?’

‘Over there!’ Her hand pointed over her son’s shoulder, tickling his neck on the way. He giggled and shrieked; piercing-blue four year-old eyes wordlessly asking to go again.

‘There’s…’

‘There you are!’ The sound of panic in his father’s voice melted the eyes into puddles of water. ‘They’re calling “Final Boarding”. Didn’t you hear?’ His movements were hindered by their carryon luggage, passports, tickets, child seat, and two bulging plastic bags containing dinner for the plane.

She stifled a chuckle. ‘Let me take some of that and let’s go where?’

‘To find a bear!’

Story old — untitled


Photo by JC Dela Cuesta on UnsplashAs I strolled along the walk
‘round the time of the county fair,
I spied an unusual gent
In obscene square underwear
And as I looked closer
To discern what was there
I came to conclude
T’was worn with great care
Consider shape within shape
Oval within square
And I had to suppose
This has to be a dare
And others looking on?
The kids who could only stare
Their parents shielding eyes
And the gent catching glares
So where’s the gentry?
To shame this arse of a mare
They’re deep in their cups
And comment on the gent’s flair.

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

The Physics Of Spilling Hot Beverages

Photo by Ohmky on Unsplash

Prompts = Surge, Thermos, Inevitable

While it’s not true that all turbulence during travel is caused by someone drinking a beverage from an open container, it is true that drinking coffee from a mug causes spatial and temporal distortions. Said more simply, it’s inevitable someone’s going to spill something.

In a recent development, a surge in space/time anticipation was detected as a thermos, filled with hot tea, was opened. Speculation is rife as to why, but comedians might have the answer. Said one, “The Universe’s a bitch, spilling beverages on people. There’s that tension, getting ready to shimmy a little, prepping for a laugh.”

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Balloon Heads + The Artistic Crane (2 Fer Tuesday)

It started as an artist’s expression of hearing challenges and the difficulty in understanding what’s being said. The portraits consistently show cocked heads, furrowed brows, and faces locked in concentration trying to hear.

The paintings evolved, heads more craned and balloon-like, bodies receding into the background, necks like string. To the artist’s chagrin, social media referred to them as “Balloon Heads”.

The artist railed against the characterization. ’I think my work should be outside the province of mockery given the seriousness of the subject matter.’ However, as his popularity grew, the frequency and earnestness of his complaining decreased proportionally.

*****

Story 2 — The Artistic Crane

Photo by mana5280 on Unsplash

Within ornithology circles, the story of a gifted bird has been making the rounds of conventions and conferences, seemingly for longer than ghost stories have been told around campfires: the mythological Artistic Crane.

The story usually goes that the Crane will land near a solitary artist (usually in sparsely populated provinces of Japan) and approach cautiously. While the humans will back away from the large bird for a variety of reasons, the Crane will pick up the dropped brush or pencil (different media don’t seem to faze it) and proceed to paint a self-portrait. Amazingly, they’re all consistently good.

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Monday, October 26, 2020

It Could Be Intelligent Life

Photo by Abdullah Ahmad on Unsplash

Prompts = Diaphanous, Mould, Container

What’s in that closed opaque container?, he wondered, while scavenging for a snack in the packed fridge. Pulling it out, opening it, time slows as eyes see something resembling food covered by a forest of rotting disintegration. Gagging from the overpowering reek of leftovers that last saw daylight ten or more years ago, instantly doubling-over, hands fly up to protect mouth and nose from the insatiable nostril-stinging odour clogging every pore in his body, mould and slime spill out, a diaphanous cloud of spores launched into the aether, perhaps landing where new colonies of its kind can thrive.

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Lost In Space Thanks To Cold Beer

Photo by Guillermo Ferla on Unsplash

Prompts = Loose, Condominium, Refrigerator

Ten thousand families hurtling through space aboard a spaceship. Each family housed in their own spacious and luxurious condominium. Almost everything going according to plan.

When calculating trajectories across the immensity of space, the smallest error can lead to disaster, such as not landing on the intended planet and instead being set loose into the intergalactic void. For instance, the weight of a refrigerator snuck onboard…

*****

‘We searched the ship and found your beer fridge’, the Captain said icily.

‘I like cold beer!’, said the passenger.

‘You’ve doomed us all. But please, enjoy your beer.’

‘Awesome! Want a brewski?’

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Saturday, October 24, 2020

No Thank You

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Prompts = Show, Rim, Candidate

In the small town of Snowshoe, Manitoba, no one wants to be mayor; who wants the responsibility to do the paperwork?

Voting doesn’t work; no one ever steps forward as a candidate. So they’ve gotten creative. They’ve drawn straws. One year it was part of a Secret Santa gift exchange (along with chocolate covered mints and a condolences card). Another year they teamed up with Tim Horton’s “Roll Up The Rim” prizes, but due to a printing error all 1,000 cups said “Congratulations Mayor!”

I don’t know why they bother; even when someone’s chosen, they never show up for work.

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Friday, October 23, 2020

Wordplay Ad Nauseam

Photo by Jessica Furtney on Unsplash

Prompts = Sidetrack, Fondness, Spectacle

‘I’d been walking in the park. I turned off the main trail and onto a relatively unused one when my attention was attracted to something.’

‘You were sidetracked onto a side track?’

‘Uh… yeah. Anyway, I found a pair of glasses. I called out, hoping the owner was in earshot. It attracted a crowd and…’

‘You didn’t! You made a spectacle over spectacles?’

‘I guess? Anyway, I set them on a fence. I posted comments on social media hoping the owner sees them.’

‘You posted about something on a fencepost?’

‘Your fondness for whatever this is isn’t amusing. Stop it.’

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Atlas, Interviewed + untitled (Throwback Thursday)

“Exhausted? Hades yeah, I’m exhausted. Who wouldn’t be in my position?”

Moving words from Atlas, the Titan doomed to hold the world on his shoulders after being defeated, along with his fellow Titans, by Zeus and the other Olympians.

While others of his kind have been released from Tartarus for good behaviour, Atlas sees no relief coming any time soon. As he said, “While my lawyer has my full confidence, there’s resistance to my release.’

When asked about Flat Earth theories, he was quick to dismiss them. “They’re nonsense. I should know. The world’s a tetrahedron.”

Matthew Matthewson, Investigative reporter.

*****

Story old - Untitled (originally published here)

Photo by Matt Hardy on Unsplash

There’d been no choice: orders were orders. HMS Gallant had to be on station on the other side of the Pacific in two weeks, despite it being typhoon season and an active one at that. But the Captain was a seasoned veteran and if anyone could navigate rough seas, he could.

Those thoughts were cold comfort, as was the taste of salt water, as he swam, exhausted, towards a life boat. One rogue wave had been the ship’s doom, already half full of water and sinking fast. The automatic distress signal called for relief. Would it arrive in time?

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Halloween Planning

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Prompts = Flood, Prompt, Sharp

‘Hello lovelies, I’m Patty Luviosa, your holiday trendsetter, coming to you from my creative decoration workshop. I want to talk to you about a holiday that’s near and dear to my heart: Halloween.

‘Do you remember that year when the “witch crashed into a tree” was all the rage? Or that flood of Halloween colour colliding with Christmas decorations resulting in orange lights everywhere?

‘This year, your house and yard can look sharp in a Valentine’s flavoured holiday with scary orange hearts! They’re beautiful, they’re scary, they’re proprietary. Order promptly so your family can be the envy of your neighbourhood.’

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Clear Cutting + Colouring Outside The Line (2 Fer Tuesday)

Prompts = World, Distinguish, Margin

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

Story 1 — Clear Cutting

A small armada of resource-gathering spaceships entered yet another star system. The Captain and crew had been away for a long time and were looking forward to the pleasures of home. Which explains the Captain’s crankiness…

‘Captain Snorkelfunk, we have discovered an inhabited world. It is the blue one, third in from the yellow star.’

Irritated, the Captain snapped. ‘Scientist Grognak, we are to clearcut this system!’

‘But Captain, we must distinguish between life-supporting planets and harvestable ones!’

‘Can we perhaps collect the planets on the margins?’

‘Yes, Captain.’

‘Good. Take them all but leave the blue one.’

*****

Story 2 — Colouring Outside The Lines

‘Hello Mrs. Osper. I’m Haley’s teacher, Nicole Smithers, pleased to meet you. Do you have a moment to talk about her latest assignment?’ Haley played quietly in the classroom.

The teacher pulled out a sheet of paper, a map of the world, coloured in with crayon, a red “F” in the margin. ‘The instructions said to colour Canada blue but she used red stripes. Does Haley have trouble distinguishing colour?’

Haley ran up. ‘Blue isn’t in their flag! But there is red and white.’ She grinned.

They all looked at her. Then the teacher changed the “F” to an “A”.

And a link to where my Lovely Lady Love (who also operates the camera) posts her art: https://www.youtube.com/user/recyclinggoddess

Join in on the fun of making a story from the same prompts I do! https://www.facebook.com/groups/565109053911712

Other places to find my stories

Saturday, October 31, 2020

Friday, October 30, 2020

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Monday, October 26, 2020

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Friday, October 23, 2020

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Tuesday, October 20, 2020