Day: December 1, 2019

Sunday Photo Fiction — Shelter From the Storm

Fandango17 Comments

Fortune teller tentGeorge stepped inside the makeshift tent and took a seat opposite the old woman. In a heavy Eastern European accent, she said, “I see you have some secrets that you have been zealously guarding. But don’t worry, I won’t divulge them to anyone.”

“Good, because if you did, I’d have to kill you,” George said, a broad smile on his face. The woman was not amused.

“I have a proposal for you,” she said. “Stop trying to be funny and I’ll continue telling you what’s in store for you. I see a date on a calendar. There’s going to be a big event coming up next week.”

“Yes, that’s when my girl and I are getting married,” George said excitedly. “Tell me, are we going to have a long and happy marriage?”

Just as he asked the question, the skies darkened, the winds picked up, and it started to sleet. The curtains of the structure they were sitting in started flapping wildly in the wind and both George and the woman stood up and began to run out of the tent, looking for shelter from the storm.

But once outside of the tent, a powerful gust of wind lifted up the heavy, wooden chalkboard that advertised “Readings,” and it came crashing down hard upon George’s head, killing him instantly.

The woman looked down on George’s body and said, “The event I saw on your calendar wasn’t your wedding, George. It was your funeral.”

Written for Donna McNicol’s Sunday Photo Fiction prompt. Photo credit: Wendy Van Hove. Also for these daily prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (zealous), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (divulge), The Daily Spur (kill), Word of the Day Challenge (proposal), Ragtag Daily Prompt (calendar), and Daily Addictions (sleet).

Who Won The Week? 12/1/19

Fandango12 Comments

10CC3057-4EEA-4C80-B8C1-700C0FC6C906It’s time for another Who Won the Week prompt. The idea behind Who Won the Week is for you to select who you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.

I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.

My pick for this week is Mother Nature.

The headline in today’s newspaper read, “Storm Sweeps in with Rain, Snow, and Gusty Winds.” Normally I would look at that headline and think it was bad news. But for those of us who live in Northern California, it’s just the opposite. The first significant rains in months in the region have extinguished most of the wildfires that have plagued the area, which had caused mass power outages and evacuation orders in many communities. The rains coming in this week should finish the job.

So Mother Nature was able to quickly accomplish what mere mortals were unable to do. And for that, those of us who have had to deal with these destructive wildfires are grateful.

But looking at the forecast, I’m wondering if Mother Nature May be going a bit overboard.816BA0E8-B1A2-4CAF-A62B-8DE26351A170Thanks for dousing the wildfires, Mother Nature, but how about giving it a rest now that the fires have been doused?

And now it’s your turn, folks. Who (or what) do you think won the week?

Who Is the Real Me?

Fandango14 Comments

The Real MeRory has this habit of asking a lot of questions. But that’s to be expected, given that his answer to his own question about his most useful personality trait was “I would have to say it’s my curiosity.”

In order to satisfy his insatiable curiosity, every week Rory poses three questions so that we can answer them and tell him (and whoever reads our responses) who we really are.

So let’s get to this week’s questions.

What is the silliest thing you have heard people say about you?

I try not to listen to what people say about me. If it’s something negative, it makes me feel bad about myself. And if it’s something positive, I don’t believe it. That said, probably the silliest thing anyone ever said about me is that I look like Kris Kristofferson. That’s nonsense. Seriously, do you see any resemblance?0D1547AF-B5E4-4F00-9597-FCE6A67F1671Grim fandango cropped

Which of your personality traits has been the most useful?

Is having a sense of humor a personality trait? If so, that’s my answer. If not, then I have no clue…or maybe no personality.

Are you a early bird or a night owl?

Back in the day I used to be a night owl and a world class sleeper once I finally hit the sheets. Now that I’m an old fart and can’t make it through most nights without having to get up and pee at least once, I’m more of an early bird. I’m usually up and out of bed no later 6:30 or 7:00 every morning. That said, early to bed and early to rise hasn’t made me any healthier, wealthier, or wiser, dammit.

Song Lyric Sunday — Lyin’ Eyes

Fandango17 Comments

Let’s face it, Jim Adams had facial features on his mind when he chose “Chin, Ears, Eyes, Face, Mouth, and Nose” as the theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme. I am keen on people’s eyes, and there are tons of songs about eyes. But I’m also keen on The Eagles, which is why I chose “Lyin’ Eyes.”

“Lyin’ Eyes” was written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, although Henley said that Frey was the main writer of the song. It was recorded in 1975 by The Eagles, with Frey singing lead vocals. Their second single from their album One of These Nights, “Lyin’ Eyes” reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 8 on the Billboard Country chart.

This song is about a woman who cheats on her husband. She is confused and lonely, and tells her rich, old husband, whose hands are as cold as ice, that she is going to see a friend when she is actually going to meet her lover across town. When she gets there, she falls into his arms, but has to leave to go back home. She swears someday she will come back forever, because she is happy there.

When they were a struggling band in LA, The Eagles saw a lot of beautiful women around Hollywood who were married to wealthy, successful men, and wondered if they were unhappy. One night they were drinking in at their favorite watering hole, Dan Tana’s, when they spotted a beautiful young woman accompanied by a much older, fat, rich guy. As they were half laughing at them, Frey said, “Look at her, she can’t even hide those Lyin’ eyes!”

Frey realized he had a song title and he, Henley, and the other band members began grabbing cocktail napkins and writing down lyrics to go with Frey’s observation.

Here are the lyrics to “Lyin’ Eyes.”

How to open doors with just a smile
A rich old man and she won’t have to worry
She’ll dress up all in lace and go in style

Late at night a big old house gets lonely
I guess every form of refuge has its price
And it breaks her heart to think her love is only
Given to a man with hands as cold as ice

So she tells him she must go out for the evening
To comfort an old friend who’s feelin’ down
But he knows where she’s goin’ as she’s leavin’
She is headed for the cheatin’ side of town

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes

On the other side of town a boy is waiting
With fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal
She drives on through the night anticipating
‘Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel

She rushes to his arms, they fall together
She whispers that it’s only for awhile
She swears that soon she’ll be comin’ back forever
She pulls away and leaves him with a smile

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes

She gets up and pours herself a strong one
And stares out at the stars up in the sky
Another night, it’s gonna be a long one
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry

She wonders how it ever got this crazy
She thinks about a boy she knew in school
Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
She’s so far gone she feels just like a fool

My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things
You set it up so well, so carefully
Ain’t it funny how your new life didn’t change things
You’re still the same old girl you used to be

You can’t hide your lying eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
Honey, you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes

FOWC with Fandango — Divulge

Fandango18 Comments

FOWCWelcome to December 1, 2019 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 “divulge.”

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.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

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