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Finish The Story 2 – Murder Most Ordinary – Flash Fiction – @Tanmay_and_Jain

16 May 2019 10 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Fiction Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Fiction Prompt, Finish The Story, Murder

Thanks so much to Tanmay Jain for not only setting up this challenge, but for giving us the next prompt in the series.

There was something extraordinarily ordinary about murder that people just didn’t get!

Murder Most Ordinary

“I could murder a cuppa, luv. Go stick the kettle on.”
John heaved his weary frame in through the front door, catching a glimpse of Nora’s figure heading towards the kitchen.
Hands washed, freshened up, he sat on the sofa and clicked on the remote, to get his favourite programme on – Garden World.
*
Nora placed a cup on the table beside him, glancing at her husband’s tired face. “Why you can’t just switch off, I really don’t know. Look at you. Exhausted, I’ll bet your back is aching again too, and you still put the telly straight on to the gardening programmes.”
She worried about John all the time. He wasn’t getting any younger, and this new gardening job seemed to really be taking it out of him. More than most, actually. She’d often find him in a world of his own, and her voice would jolt him into action again.
*
He knew she was worrying about him. Natural, he guessed. But how could he even begin to explain the complexities of the new job?
His new employers were important people – though rather unsavoury.
And the reason his back ached so much was because of the rather suspicious bags he was asked to bury, and cover with mature shrubs… If he wasn’t mistaken, they might have even been body bags.
Still his job was not to wonder why… just to dig, cover and plant.
And anyway, all the money was paying for his retirement cruise.
Ritu 2019

Tanmay Jain is a blogger, book reviewer, writer and bibliophile from Jaipur, Rajasthan. He has been reading books since he was a child and hasn’t stopped since. He started his first blog in 2016 and since that, after many unsuccessful attempts at managing a successful blog, he landed on his current and most successful blog, Scion of Society. Tanmay dabbles mostly in fiction writing but sometimes wanders off to poetry, book reviewing and writing tips. He is an editor for his school magazine, X-rays. He’s a teenage writer, aspiring author, and a budding blogger.

Blog Link – www.bookinton.wordpress.com

Twitter ID – www.twitter.com/Tanmay_and_Jain

Facebook ID – www.facebook.com/TheBookintonBlog

The Day The Moon Began To Disappear – Speculative Fiction – March Edition

06 Mar 2019 72 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, D Wallace Peach, Flash Fiction, Speculative Fiction

Diana has another intriguing photo for her March prompt…

The Day The Moon Began To Disappear

A fine dust was falling from the sky, coating everything with a light, ethereal film. The dust settled on the ground like a warm snow fall, yet as I stepped upon it, my feet sank, as if in sand. The powder swallowed each foot and released it as it took it’s next step, leaving not a blemish upon its surface. A strange smell filled the atmosphere.

And that moon… it drew me closer and closer. The eerie glow from the eclipse was almost hypnotic.

I reached the point at which it looked like I was standing directly below this usually friendly satellite of the earth, then squinted upwards. The advice was to never look directly at the sun, but the moon was in the way so I felt no fear.

Until I realised that this dust appeared to be falling directly from the moon..

And that the moon was actually nowhere near the sun…

And that there was indeed a little man sat on this sphere…

Grating.

It all began to make sense… and yet it didn’t.

Now we know for sure that the moon really is made of cheese. The parmesan, stinky sort. That is what the smell had been.

And the ethereal feel of the earth?

Those shavings had taken away a side of the moonlight and laid it upon our surface instead.

Leaving the moon with a dark, dull face.

https://mythsofthemirror.com/2019/03/01/march-speculative-fiction-prompt/

February 28: Flash Fiction Challenge – Backup

01 Mar 2019 29 Comments

by Ritu in #CarrotRanch, Fiction Tags: 99-Word Fiction, Back Up, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Carrot Ranch, Charli Mills, Flash Fiction

Charli’s prompt this week…

February 28, 2019, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story using the term backup. You can back up or have a backup, just go where the prompt leads!

Back Up Required

“Back up! I request you all to back up. You are blocking the exit.”
Pete tried, in vain, to clear a path through the door.
It was always the same, when these guys visited.
He needed to get the band to their car, but it was proving to be impossible.
Just as he thought he’d made some headway, a huge scream erupted, and the crowd of teeny boppers surged forward, knocking him to the ground.
Typical. The boys had turned up at the entrance, with their dazzling smiles, unaware that their security was buried, and requiring back up himself.
Ritu 2019

February 28: Flash Fiction Challenge

Random Elef-Act of Kind-Mouse

22 Feb 2019 49 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Fiction, Poems Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, D Wallace Peach, Fiction, Picture Prompt, Speculative Fiction

Dear Diana has a monthly prompt going on, using a picture. It is a speculative fiction prompt, so we can write whatever we want, and this photo has been popping up into my reader on such a regular basis… things started to form in my mind…

The stormy winds did blow
The house it teetered so
The mice called for help from friend or foe
Their voices carried, but where did they go?

The snowflakes made a different sound
The elephant felt it in the ground
She followed over hill and mound
And this was what old Ellie found

A family made of her biggest fear
As she approached they raised a cheer
Even the littlest appeared to peer
And Mummy Mouse, she wiped a tear

"Oh Elephant, so big and strong,
We've been stranded for so long.
To leave us now would be so wrong.
Restore us please, to where we belong."

Ellie's fears took second place
She hid them behind a smiling face
And with surprising elephantine grace
She set the home in it's rightful place
 
The mousey family were delighted
Their huge misfortunes had been righted
Into their lives, Ellie was invited
And a lifelong friendship, that night, ingnited

A random act of kindness, see
Can change the lives of you and me
Ellie and Mother Mouse in a tree
Share a lesson in humanity

Ritu 2019

February’s Speculative Fiction Prompt

New #writephoto

14 Feb 2019 43 Comments

by Ritu in #WritePhoto, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #WritePhoto, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Fiction, New, Photo Prompt, Sue Vincent

Sue’s #WritePhoto prompt:

“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, and I’m feeling good.” The Nina Simone lyrics played in Sophie’s head as she stared out over the cliff.

Peter looked over at her, smiled, and placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

Sophie returned the smile, snuggling into his body.

It had been a fraught two years, from the severe heart attack, through the treatment and discovery that a simple bypass wouldn’t be enough to now.

The heart they thought wouldn’t be strong enough to beat for her had finally been replaced via transplant, and she had been given a very positive prognosis for the future.

Her rock, Peter, had arranged for this recuperation break away and the idyllic setting was perfect. She had been given a new chance at life and she wasn’t going to waste it on regrets, false friends or regrets, but her mind wandered to the one person she would have loved to share her new start with.

Jill.

Her best friend since childhood. They had done everything together and would have done anything for each other.

And Jill had given the ultimate sacrifice.

A tragic car accident claimed her life, and yet, even after her death, she had thought of her friend, gifting her own heart to her.

Sophie raised an imaginary glass up to the sky, tipped it heavenwards, and whispered, “Cheers Jill. I love you.”

She squeezed Peter’s arm. “It’s getting cold. I think we should head back,” and they turned slowly, making their way back towards their lodge.