Day: October 14, 2018

Reclaiming Love Lost

Fandango2 Comments

53BA3DDE-80D3-4854-9295-5746F372391EHe somehow needed to persuade her to come back to him. She was his lost love, a vibrant woman whose best feature was her extraordinarily mind. He just needed to find a way to unlock her heart.

He decided his best chance was to buy her an engagement ring, with the hope that his shot at reclaimed love wouldn’t ricochet back at him.

(Exactly 63 words)

Written for Teresa’s Daily Writing Challenge, which includes exploring lost love, the Three Things Challenge using “hope,” “Love,” and “lost,” and Worth a Thousand Words using the picture at the top of this post.

Also written for these one-word prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (vibrant), Scotts Daily Prompt (feature), Ragtag Daily Prompt (ring), and Word of the Day Challenge (ricochet).

B9884F64-E91A-4712-8341-56E7D2D1DBFFAnd also written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where we need to use the word “unlock” and write a post with exactly 63 words, no more, no less.

Too Old to Trick or Treat

Fandango34 Comments

C419DDCE-D44F-4B75-890E-703CA42265C2When I first read the article, I said to my wife, “This has to be fake news.” But it’s not. It’s true.

The Virginia city of Chesapeake has passed an ordinance that bans anyone 13 years and older from trick or treating. If teens are caught in costume with a sack full of free candy, they could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100 and/or by confinement in jail for not more than six months.

Okay, as I mentioned in another post at the beginning of this month, I’m not a big fan of Halloween. But fining and potentially arresting kids over 12 for trick or treating?

How about this? If you’re old enough to vote, you’re too old to go trick or treating.

And if you’re old enough to vote and you don’t, then you should be subject to being fined or arrested.

Sunday Photo Fiction — Not In My Backyard

Fandango10 Comments

1208DC9E-8BBC-414D-9152-A69789895CED“Why would anyone do something like this?” Wally, the head of the cleanup crew asked.

“It’s a protest against converting this abandoned building into a shelter for the homeless in our community,” Grace, the town councilwoman said. “They believe we’re going to be dumping what they call our human garbage here, so they drive their trucks here and dump their physical garbage in the parking lot.”

“But don’t they realize that it’s to their benefit to give the homeless a safe place to sleep at night?” Wally asked. “Otherwise they’ll be out on the streets or in the parks sleeping in makeshift shelters or boxes.”

“I think they realize that,” Grace said. “It’s not so much that they’re against the idea of shelters. It’s more of the NIMBY issue that they oppose.”

“NIMBY?” Wally said. “What’s that?”

It’s an acronym for ‘Not In My Backyard,’” Grace explained. “They’re just opposed to having a shelter in our town. These townfolks wouldn’t be dumping their garbage in the parking lot of a proposed shelter that isn’t in our town.

“They want to make the homeless problem go away by pushing it on someone else,” Wally said.

“Outta sight, outta mind,” Grace said.

(200 words)

Written for Susan Spaulding’s Sunday Photo Fiction prompt. Photo credit: C.E. Ayr.

Also for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (shelter) and Daily Addictions (grace).

Song Lyric Sunday — Hide Your Love Away

Fandango17 Comments

I suspect I’m not going to be the only one to use the song, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” by the Beatles for today’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt from Helen Vahdati. Her theme is “hide/hiding/hidden.”

“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was written and sung by John Lennon (writing credit Lennon-McCartney) and released on the album Help! in August 1965.

John Lennon said that he had been just knocking out pop songs at his home in Kenwood at the time, without expressing his own personal emotions to any great extent. “The period would be for songwriting,” he said, “and so every day I would attempt to write a song and it’s one of those that you sort of sing a bit sadly to yourself, ‘Here I stand, head in hand….’”

Bob Dylan was beginning to have a big influence on his songwriting around the time he wrote the song. “I started thinking about my own emotions and instead of projecting myself into a situation, I would just try to express what I felt about myself.” Although Lennon never discussed the inspiration for the lyrics, it seems to tell the story of an unrequited love and hidden feelings. Some have suggested that it was written about their manager Brian Epstein, who had to hide his homosexuality from the public.

Here are the lyrics.

Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she’s gone I can’t go on
Feeling two-foot small

Everywhere people stare
Each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say

Hey you’ve got to hide your love away
Hey you’ve got to hide your love away

How can I even try
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I’m in

How could she say to me
Love will find a way
Gather round all you clowns
Let me hear you say

Hey you’ve got to hide your love away
Hey you’ve got to hide your love away

FOWC with Fandango — Shelter

Fandango24 Comments

FOWCWelcome to October 14, 2018 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “shelter.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.