Day: June 1, 2021

Options

Fandango8 Comments

They’d been a pair since college, and as far as she knew, each had been faithful to the other throughout their almost forty years together. However, between Albert’s sleep apnea and his terrible borborygmus, Henrietta had reached her wits’ end.

“Albert,” Henrietta said, I can’t take this anymore. If it’s not your incessant snoring that’s keeping me awake all night long, it’s those godawful gurgling noises coming from your gut. I can’t remember the last time I got a decent night’s sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“I’m so sorry, Henrietta,” Albert said,” but there’s nothing I can do about either my snoring or my borborygmus. I’ve been to the doctor about them and he says he’s at a loss.”

The wily old woman looked at her husband. “Albert,” she said. “You’ve got two options. You either move into the guest room and sleep there or you move out of the house.”

“Well, dammit,” Henrietta,” Albert said. “I don’t like either of those options.”

“Okay then, Albert,” Henrietta said. “There’s actually a third option. You can continue to sleep in our bedroom, but I’m telling you right now that if you keep me awake for just one more night, you’re going to turn me into a widowmaker.”

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (pair), MMA Storytime (faithful), Word of the Day Challenge (borborygmus), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (wily), Your Daily Word prompt (actual), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (widowmaker).

Avoid Like the Plague

Fandango14 Comments

I recently came across this article that listed 15 clichés writers should avoid like the plague. The article said that, “The hardest part about cutting clichés is they are so widely known they just fall off the tip of your tongue (cliché). If you spot any of these phrases in your writing, pull out your red pen (another cliché).”

Here are the aforementioned 15 clichés listed in the article.

Writing on the wall
Whirlwind tour
Patience of Job
Never a dull moment
Sands of time
Paying the piper
March of history
Hook, line, and sinker
Long arm of the law
In the nick of time
Leave no stone unturned
Fall on deaf ears
Cool as a cucumber
Cry over spilled milk
Champing at the bit

I thought it might be fun to write a posts that is essentially nothing but these clichés. Here it is. Let me know what you think.

There was never a dull moment in Donald’s life, but nonetheless, as the sands of time slipped by, he could see the writing on the wall. He knew that his whirlwind tour would soon be coming to an end and that he would eventually wind up having to pay the piper. There were only so many people who would buy his lies hook, line, and sinker. Eventually, his bullshit would fall upon deaf ears. And there were those who were champing at the bit waiting for him to get his comeuppance.

But there was no point in crying over spilled milk. In the past he had always been able to avoid being apprehended by the long arm of the law just in the nick of time. Still, as always, Donald remained cool as a cucumber. He would leave no stone unturned, even if it took the patience of Job, to avoid going to jail. He was sure that, in the long march of history, people, with their short attention spans, would eventually forget about his indiscretions and forgive his trespasses.

My Last Photo — May ‘21

Fandango8 Comments
Brian, aka Bushboy, posted his monthly prompt that asks us to…
  1. Post the last photo from our camera’s SD card or the last photo from our phone taken in May.
  2. No editing — who cares if it is out of focus, not framed as you would like, or the subject matter didn’t cooperate?
  3. No explanations needed — just the photo will do.
  4. Create a pingback to Brian’s post or link in the comments.
  5. Tag “The Last Photo.”

So here’s the last photo I took on my iPhone in May.I took this yesterday when a couple of four-legged visitors trespassed in my backyard and started feasting on the leaves of some recently planted trees and shrubbery. Oh deer.

FOWC with Fandango — Wily

Fandango17 Comments

FOWCWelcome to June 1, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s hard to believe that it’s been three years today that I started this prompt after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt at the end of May in 2018. Thank you to all of you who have stuck with this daily challenge.

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

Today’s word is “wily.”

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. Please 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.