June 3, 2019, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that makes a big splash. It can be fluid, or you can play with the idiom (to make a big splash is to do or say something that becomes unforgettable). Go where the prompt leads!
One Way To Create a Splash! “Can I see it? Please!” Julie ran over to Jack, straining to grab the phone. Jack stretched his arm high up, out of her reach. Grabbing his sleeve, she tried to bring his arm down. “I need to see the photo!” “Why?” “Because I’m not having you sharing awful pictures of me!” She pulled at his arm, her grasp nearing the phone. Both hands on the handset – it was like a tug-of-war. “There! Got it!” One final wrench and it was hers… except it flew out of her hand and landed in the pool with a big splash. “Oops.”
May 30, 2019, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that includes strawberries and mint. The combination evokes color contrast, scents, and taste. Where will the combination take you? Go where the prompt leads!
Pimm’s O’Clock
Right.
I’ve laid all the components out.
A jug. Glasses. The lemonade is chilled and ready. Succulent red strawberries just waiting for me to slice them. A firm, green cucumber, already transformed into slices, then quartered. A big, juicy orange chopped into little triangles; peel still attached. Ice. Lots of cool, refreshing ice. Fresh, minty leaves. And that beautiful bottle of fruity gin liqueur.
I slowly pour in the alcohol, and add the lemonade, watching the bubbles fizz up. A big handful of ice, then the assorted fruits. Just a few leaves of mint. Perfect.
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.
But I Smile Anyway... 