Category Archives: challenges

Hoo’s there?

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I feel his stare before I am aware of  his presence.

If I had to, I could answer my own question.

I know why he suddenly appears.

My dad said he would always be with me.

The owl only proves his promise.

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~~

Written for the Gargleblaster #160.

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We’re turning to The Carpenters for this week’s ultimate question. This song has been stuck in my head since the gargleblaster started.

Why do birds suddenly appear?

Give us your answer in 42 words. We know you all know the next line in the song. Let’s see if you can make us think of something different. Take it out of context of the original song and help me clear my head!

Waging a war with words

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I charge into battle,

head held high,

armed with neither knives nor guns.

My ammunition carries no physical weight.

The only weapon I use to defend myself will not extinguish a life.

My battles are fought with words.

The only dagger I possess is my sharp tongue.

My army is my vocabulary,

my stealth is the thesaurus in my brain.

My mind is the only weapon that doesn’t need a holster.

(image credit)

Crash – 100 Word Song

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My elders warned me – ‘life moves at a million miles an hour’.

When you are young and full of disdain for authority, you make up your own rules,  you choose to believe what you want to believe.  So I kept pace, moving along at that million miles an hour.

Who knew I would crash into my future self at such a young age?  Who could have predicted my youth would come to such a screeching halt?

All I can do now is sort through the wreckage and try to put the pieces of the carnage of my life back together.

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 (image credit)

~~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  This week’s song is Crash by The Primitives.   Go check out the fun challenge and join in!!

 

 

 

 

 

Suspended animation

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Time slows.

The air is chilled.

My breath lingers as vapor

and I feel you near.

Neither tick nor tock

echo in the hallway.

Hands are frozen and each clock, like you,

is suspended between life and death.

Which light is stronger?

~~

Written for the Gargleblaster at YeahWrite.

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This week’s ultimate question was suggested by Erica M, and comes from Alice Munro’s short story A Real Life.

Have all your clocks stopped?

Give us your answer in 42 words. You don’t need to include the question in your response, but make sure your answer stands alone. What do we mean? Write down the question. Write down your response. Now cover the question with your hand and read your answer out loud. Does it still make sense when you don’t know the question? That’s what we’re looking for. Be creative, and remember: no family allowed!

Everyone is an artist – 100 Word Song

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Like a charcoal sketch,

I see myself outlined his eyes,

I see my silhouette as he sees me.

So vastly different

from my reflection in the mirror.

But I follow deep into the abyss,

into the portrait he has created of me.

I follow those lines,

to try to see what he sees.

In my mind I trace the outline

following each stroke of the pencil.

And I journey

as deep as I can go,

swimming in his reality of me,

truly understanding how he sees me.

I may have changed  a few lines,

but to him I am perfection.

~~

Written for the 100 Word Song Challenge at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  This week’s song is Deep As You Go, by October Project.

Go and check it out if you haven’t been there!!

Why are you fighting?

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Every day I wake,

the inner dialogue begins.

A taunt here, a few bad words there,

the cycle continues.

You asked me,

why are you fighting?

For me it is simple,

I continue to fight

until I feel like I’m good enough.

~~

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Written for the Gargleblaster – this week was an interesting task and, sadly, it took me back to my teenage years.

This week we’re paying tribute to Gabriel García Márquez, who was (in our humble opinion) one of the greatest writers of the last century. This week’s ultimate question comes to us from One Hundred Years of Solitude:

“Tell me something, old friend: why are you fighting?”

A few lines of latitude

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I consider myself to be an extremely lucky person.  I am fortunate enough to call many people friends and have them reciprocate that sentiment.  There was a saying I remember hearing as a teenager that really stuck with me –  “Friends are the family you choose for yourself”.

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(image credit: planet–earth.ca)

My friends are scattered far and wide.  Some I get to spend many hours with and share philosophies and laughter and others are located in other cities, provinces and countries, even continents.  Some I have never met face to face.  We also share the same ideals and sense of camaraderie but we do it through cyber space and across the blogosphere.

There are no lines of latitude or longitude that can divide a friendship.  Those relationships can span time and distance and there is great comfort knowing that the strength in those friendships gives us the ability to pick up where we left off even after months of being apart.

I have received an overwhelming amount of support from all of my friends, near and far.  Whether they are known in my physical reality or in my cyber reality, the strength and encouragement I have been given has been monumental to getting me through a very trying time.

I wanted to say thank you to all of my friends for really being there for me and sending your words of love and optimism.  Although by kilometers and miles we may seem worlds apart, your words bring you close and keep you in my heart.

The Miracle of Life

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Winter seemed reluctant to release its hold

as the Earth yearned to welcome Spring.

The sun’s rays massaged the ground and the trees.

A warm breeze whispered,

playfully tickling the branches on its journey.

The smell of wet soil rose to greet the morning

as the familiar songs of new life began to play

their symphony of rebirth.

For just a moment, I was an instrument in that orchestra.

The sun kissed my cheek,

as happy to see me as I was to feel its warm embrace.

I was comforted by its nurturing essence.

But Mother Nature’s heart is frozen,

her resolve, stoic.

Her icy talons hold Spring hostage in their death grip,

encasing it in a cold and lifeless womb.

The new blanket of snow

wrapped so tightly, ceasing the flow of life,

suffocating the season.

But at the core of her being, she is a mother.

Her heart will fill with a need

to birth this new life,

to nurture it and watch it grow.

She will proudly watch Spring take those first steps

and her heart will warm once again.

~~

Written for the Speakeasy at Yeah Write.  I was more inspired by this prompt this morning after waking up to 8 cm of fresh snow!!  We were SO close to it all being gone.

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hang on — there’s rules:

  • Your post must be dated April 13, 2013, or later.
  • Submissions must be 750 words or fewer.
  • Submissions must be fiction or poetry.
  • You must include the following sentence as the FIRST line in your submission: “Winter seemed reluctant to release its hold.”
  • You must also include a reference to the media prompt.
  • The speakeasy is for submissions written specifically for the grid. Please don’t submit an entry if you intend to showcase it to another blog link-up. Such posts are deleted without notice.
  • Please don’t post long explanations before your post. We want your writing to be the star of the show. If you need to clarify anything, feel free to do so at the end.
  • The badge for your speakeasy #157 post is found in the sidebar. Add the code to the html/text view of your post before publishing.

And don’t forget to come back on Tuesday and add your link to the Inlinkz grid!

The Time Had Come – 100 Word Challenge

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As the sun sparkled on the water her paddle dipped purposefully into the lake.   With the skill of an avid enthusiast, her J-stroke carried her closer to her destination.

She could see smoke billowing from the chimney atop his cottage as she pictured his frame curled up in his chair, book in one hand and glass of wine in the other.  The sun continued its descent into the horizon and the hues speckling the water deepened in their intensity.

She could no longer pretend that her feelings hadn’t changed and he needed to know she was in love with him.

~~

(image credit: cottagelife.com)

Written for the 100 Word Challenge at Julia’s Place.

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I’ve been to the seaside for the week-end. Divine! So, your prompt this week is:

… as the sun sparkled on the water…

Please make sure you only use 100 words and put a link back to this post so that others can find us! If you are not sure what all this nonsense is about, do read ‘What is 100WCGU?’

The link will close on Sunday 20th April.

 

 

 

 

 

A few drops in the bucket

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Even if you don’t have one of your own, you’ve undoubtedly heard of “The Bucket List” concept.  It’s a list of things you want to accomplish before you leave this world.

Some people, like myself, err on the side of caution and have seemingly mundane ideas like writing a novel or meeting The Tenors (which I was able to cross off my list in December of 2013).  A friend of mine has a few crazier ideas and one of them is to get shot.  She is not seeking a fatal death-blow but she wants to be grazed by a bullet to understand the sensation.  Crazy?  Perhaps.  But regardless of the lunacy of its contents, a Bucket List is a worthwhile thing to have.

Life is short and thinking of the things you want to accomplish or participate in is a very grounding way of keeping motivated.  And it doesn’t have to be something you come up with when faced with the possibility of the end drawing near.  A Bucket List can be created to keep you stimulated to just live your life to the fullest.

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(image credit: pureblissyoga.com)

That bucket can be a driving force in helping you succeed in the areas that you would never have previously challenged yourself.  You could decide to learn yoga, take a new course to expand your education, sleep under the stars or jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Your Bucket List is your own.  Nobody can tell you what to wish for and they certainly have no authority to coach you on how to achieve those goals.  Some may want to change the world and others just want to alter their own world.  There is no right or wrong.  You make the list, you create the rules, and it is entirely up to you to follow through and slowly cross the items off your list and fulfill the journey you created for yourself.

Whether that list is designed because the end of your life is looming closely or because you simply want to set some goals in your life…..see it through.  That list was created from a desire deep within yourself to see an idea to its conclusion. Just remember to keep filling that bucket and don’t ever let the passion that fueled the driving engine behind those bucket contents ever run out.

What’s in your bucket?