Category Archives: imagination

Cloudy with a chance of winter

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I was entertaining myself at work by going through all of the pictures I have stored on my phone and realized I had been hiding these awesome shots of what I love to photograph the most – clouds.

I love the wisps and the way the trees hold them in the frame.

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Clouds resembling a raging forest fire.

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I love, love, love the mixture of colors in these clouds.

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The first thing I saw in these clouds was the yellowish face on the right.  It looks like he is trying to blow the clouds away.

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And this was taken a few months ago, but I just love the texture in the sky.

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Cherish love – WordCloud Wednesday

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Another fun challenge at We poets show it – If you want to take the WordCloud Challenge – use only the words in the WordCloud Picture to create your masterpiece. Post your work either as a comment or if you write it on your blog feel free to post the link as a comment.

word cloud

Cherish Love

Painful past moments hold time,

loosely script tomorrow, uncertain.

Colorful future dreams includes hues,

decorated, knowing love.

Cherish tomorrow,

 hold dreams knowing tomorrow includes painful moments,

includes uncertain future, includes love.

Ponder dreams,

soul knowing script.

Cherish tomorrow.

Cherish love.

Clinging to a life – Trifecta challenge

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Orbs of white light,

phantom spirits circling,

lingering, clinging to a life they once knew,

a life they chose not to leave.

The pull of emotion, of attachment,

keeps them here in physical world

longing to prove they still exist.

They travel with us through darkness,

longing to reach out, to touch flesh.

They reside with us in sleep.

They hover, watching us during our slumber.

They bathe in the light of our life force,

pausing  in the shadows,

unseen by the human eye.

They reveal themselves in pictures,

longing for us to feel their presence

and know that they are still with us.

They cloak us in comfort,

their love too strong to let us go,

too strong to pass fully to the other side.

orbs

~

(image credit: greatdreams.com)

Written for the Trifecta Challenge: Now, onto this week’s prompt. We’re still not totally spooked out by you guys yet and we’re a little way from Halloween proper so get your ghoul glad rags on again this week. If there’s anyone who puts the ghoul in ghoulish, it’s you lot. Have fun and, as always, make sure you use the THIRD definition. This week we are back to entries of 33-333 words.

PHANTOM (noun) 1   a :  something apparent to sense but with no substantial existence :  APPARITION      b :  something elusive or visionary      c :  an object of continual dread or abhorrence 2 :  something existing in appearance only

3 :  a representation of something abstract, ideal, or incorporeal – See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.QecVLKnT.dpuf

Needles and the damage done – fiction

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I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. ~excerpt from the Hippocratic Oath

***

Danny Jenkins could not shield his discomfort.  Lying on the gurney in the hospital hallway was exacerbating, even more so considering the paper-thin sheet was barely enough to disguise his torso from the sight line of people passing by.  His Intravenous line had almost been yanked out of his skin several times as crash carts and trauma teams raced to the Emergency room.  He was living in his own personal Hell.

Danny hated hospitals.  The mere fact that he agreed to this procedure was beyond his realm of comprehension but it was time to face reality.  At his last weigh in he had tipped the scales at 468 pounds and it was time to get his life back.  His doctor had pleaded with him to consider Gastric Bypass surgery and he knew it was the only way to forge ahead into the life he dreamed for himself.

After what seemed like an eternity, Danny was wheeled from the hallway into the operating room.  Faceless doctors and nurses shrouded by masks performed their macabre pre-surgery dance around him as monitors came to life and created a sinister orchestra of metallic sounds.  Voices abraded his ears as they went step by step through the procedure that was about to take place but Danny paid no attention.  He didn’t care.  He just wanted to go to sleep and wake up to his new beginning.  A warm sensation began to flood his veins and Danny slowly slipped into a reversible loss of consciousness.

***

He could hear the pinging of the machines as his eyelids fluttered open and the recovery room slowly swam into focus.  He anticipated mild to moderate discomfort in his abdominal cavity but he felt none.  The anesthesia must have been a more potent cocktail than he imagined.  He tried to adjust his position on the bed, fully expecting his stomach to refuse any agitation, and the movement was somewhat fluid and manageable.  Strangely, there was no soreness at all.  

The call button hung lifelessly on the bed rail and he repeatedly pushed the button until a nurse entered the room.  Before even engaging Danny in post-surgery banter she glanced at his hospital wrist-band, diligently checked all of the monitors and made notes in the chart that hung from the foot of his bed.  She lifted the bedding from the bottom of the bed, inexplicably checked his legs and tenderly replaced the covers.

“How are you feeling?”, she finally asked.

Danny spoke through his dry mouth, “I thought this would feel much worse.”

Her response baffled him.  “You will think you can feel your toes for a while.  They call it phantom pain.”

His look of complete bewilderment took her by surprise.  She guessed his silence was just his way of processing his loss.  She regarded the monitors one more time before leaving with the promise of returning with ice chips.

As the anesthesia began to clear his system he began to feel the after effects of the four-hour surgical procedure.  He could feel the dull ache beginning to throb but the pain was coming from his knee.  More than slightly disconcerted he reached for the call button once again.  This time a doctor entered and performed the same ritual with the monitors before beginning his communication.  Immersed in the chart in front of him, he absently began to speak.

“Okay Ms. Jenkins.  The procedure went extremely well and the lower part of your right leg was successfully amputated.  You will feel some discomfort but you have the ability to give yourself a dose of morphine……”.  His voice trailed off as he lifted his head and his vision of the patient in front of him finally swam into focus.  He looked directly at Danny and immediately re-examined the chart in front of him.  The doctor said nothing more.

Danny finally spoke,  “Did you just call me ‘Miss’ Jenkins?”

“Would you excuse me for just a moment?”, the doctor’s words were rushed as he left the room.  Danny incessantly pushed the call button with no response.

The doctor’s footsteps echoed through the hallway as he raced to the operating room.  As he pushed the doors open and entered the sterile room all eyes turned and fell heavily upon him.  Ms. Dani Jenkins lay sedated and poised for Gastric Bypass surgery.  Not one medical practitioner had commented on the unnecessary procedure but merely followed the direction on the chart – the wrong chart.

His words reverberated in the surgical chamber, “Look very closely at that medical chart.  You were about to make the second biggest mistake in the history of this hospital.”

Hollywood may have ruined it for me

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Admittedly, I have seen Sleepless in Seattle at least a dozen times.  For that matter, I will come clean and say that I have seen my fair share of romantic movies.  There is something truly endearing about the thought of being drawn to someone in the way that Meg Ryan was pulled across the country to find Tom Hanks.

We all love the feeling of being in love……the giddiness, the smiles at random times when you think of those cute moments and the contented feeling from knowing that someone reciprocates those feelings that you feel.  But all too often we find ourselves (at least I do) wishing that falling in love resembled something from the big screen.  We want the music score, we want the slow motion kiss…..we want to be in love in a movie.

Hollywood certainly knows how to dangle the bait of love stories to all of the hopeless romantics that wish their own fables of romance would emulate those on the big screen.  They make us want to fall in love in a way that is completely removed from the mundane realities of our own lives.  And although our lives may not seem at all ordinary, there is something exhilarating about falling in love the way they do in that scripted performance.

In reality, love will find us at random times and show itself in unique ways.  It may not mirror the effortless bliss they show on the big screen, but it is fraught with as much truth and depth as those moving pictures.  Love that we find in our own lives may come with more obstacles than are written in those quickly abating scenes or it may seem completely effortless, like it was written just for us.

Regardless of the circumstances, the love that we put our heart and soul into is the stuff that movies should be made of.  Listen to your own music score and write your own script – your love story could be better than anything you can watch at the theatre.

Ashes to ashes – Trifecta Challenge

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After surviving ten years of an emasculating marriage, Jake had reached his breaking point.  His friends made many jokes at his expense and he was tired of being bullied by everyone.

She would be expecting an extravagant anniversary present so, after extensive research, he booked a trip to the Babuyan Islands so she could bask in the raw beauty of nature.  As anticipated, she complained about the coach seats on the plane.  She complained about the oppressive humidity.  She profusely disapproved.

Her obituary was poignant and sad.  Who knew she would have met her fate in that volcanic chasm?

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(image credit: lastwildplace.ph)

Written for the Trifecta Challenge – This week we are giving you a page from the Oxford English Dictionary.  The ninety-ninth page, to be exact.  (Click to enlarge.)  From this page, you can choose any word, any definition, to use in your post.  (Please type your chosen word in bold, so we know.)  And instead of our typical 33-333 word limit, we are asking for 99 words exactly. – See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.8OvMgQVR.dpuf

Life in a costume – Trifextra challenge

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He did what everyone expected of him.  His screams cut through All Hallows’ Eve and the full moon only served to intensify his anguish. His cries echoed. His mask can never be removed.

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Artist credit: Dan Duford
www.poisonedplayground.com

***

Written for the Trifextra Weekend Challenge – Give us the 33 words that follow this illustration.  What happens next?

Sssssssending a messsssage

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Slightly over ten years ago I listened to a voice mail that would rock the world in which I lived.  I was nearing the end of my work day and called home to see if my best friend had left a message to say she had returned home safely to Halifax from her vacation in England.  The message that I received was nothing like what I expected.  I played the message one more time, listening carefully to the Newfoundland accent to make sure I heard it correctly, and the handset of the phone fell out of my hand and hit the desk.  I stood in utter disbelief as the horror of the words slowly transformed themselves into my new reality.  Sandra had passed away.

While on her holiday, she had burned her leg on a propane heater and, unbeknownst to anyone, had been exposed a form of bacteria that would take her life several hours after she stepped on the plane.   She had been infected with the Staphylococcus bacteria which presented as Necrotizing Fasciitis, better known as the Flesh Eating Disease.

I flew to Halifax to be with her mom and to attend her funeral.  I did my best to articulate the words I had written for her eulogy and can still remember how much my legs shook behind the podium as I tried to capture and convey her beautiful spirit with my words.

When I returned home from the most emotionally draining experience of my life, I was confronted with the most terrifying experience of my life.  This picture was taken of the window in the entrance way to my house.  The glass spans 45 inches and this charming creature was folded in half basking in the sunshine between the two panes of glass.

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This Eastern Milk Snake meandered its way up the window casing and into the ceiling of the entrance way.  I’m sure by now you have surmised that I did NOT sleep in my house for a few nights, but knew I couldn’t abandon my home.  I moved back in and am still hoping it wasn’t long before it moved out.

After a few weeks I didn’t give it another thought but last week all of that changed.  No, it did not resurface, but I was sharing my story with a friend and she told me that a snake symbolizes rebirth.  Suddenly my perspective on that whole experience changed.  Perhaps Sandra found a way, a terrifying and unique way, to let me know that she was okay.  Maybe she was trying to impart her acceptance of her fate and let me know that her soul felt reborn.

Messages are everywhere – we just need to learn how to see them and interpret them.  I am sure now that Sandra somehow managed to guide that reptile to my house to send a message in a way that nobody else could.  She was as distinctive in death as she was in life and I still miss her every day. (Sandra, in case you are reading this – if you are going to send further communication, any other form of message would be greatly appreciated!!)

Lullaby and good night – Trifextra challenge

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Lullabies pulled the young ones into slumber.  Dreams formed like rainbows while they slept and that warmth soothed them in the darkness.  Crickets sang their melodies and the world closed its weary eyes.

**

Written for the weekend Trifextra Challenge:  The editors of Trifecta are tired.  Hectic summer plans, last minute school shopping and prep for courses of our own have us drifting off in front of the computer.  Any millisecond we can shave off of our busy schedules could potentially improve the quality of our lives as well as the lives of those around us.  This weekend, we’re enlisting your help in shortening our considerably lengthy bedtime routines by giving us a children’s bedtime story in exactly 33 words.  It can be an old favorite reimagined or a work that is entirely your own.  We only ask that your story not leave our kids with visions of the boogie man dancing in their heads.  These tired bones thank you in advance.
– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.53SoD6bL.dpuf

Blue Shoes – A picture is worth 1000 words challenge

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Written for the Weekly Writing Challenge

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Photo by Michelle Weber

She liked to call it the Magic Wall.  The reflection in the window changed each time she spun around and always showed something vastly different from her reality but the thought of life beyond her prison made her smile.  She had always had a vivid imagination for a child.  Everyone told her that.  She loved to live in worlds in her mind, far removed from the day-to-day life in which she found herself immersed.  The chain link fences and concrete yards were a harsh world for an orphan.  She was convinced that only she could see the colors on the carousel and that one day the animals would come to life and take her out of this dark place.

Although her Hello Kitty jeans were new, she could feel the cement on her feet through the holes in her shoes as she pushed once again to spin around and see what the magic wall would reflect.  The windows of the house were beautiful and she could almost smell the scent of pine coming from the trees.  This was no ordinary house.  She knew this house was a home.  Inside of those walls lived laughter and love and warmth.  She wanted so much to find a home – something far removed from the brick building and cold walls where she spent countless days waiting to be found.  She knew that home had a mom who baked cookies.  She knew that home was where hugs were given freely and where tears were wiped away by something other than the back of her own hand.

The lifeless creatures held fast to their position as she spun once more.  As the carousel came to a stop she noticed that the image in the window had not changed.  Never before had she seen the same picture twice.   She turned the disk a quarter turn so she was no longer facing the wall that she now thought was broken.  She pondered what this signified. Was the magic gone?  Would the colors of the creatures cease to exist and her world become monochromatic?

She heard the high-heels clicking on the pavement before she saw anyone approaching.   Slowly she looked up to see the woman in the pretty blue shoes.  She was positive she had seen this lady before and seeing the brilliant color on those shoes made her realize that the palette of her world was not going to be shades of grey.  The woman was speaking to her and it took a moment for the words to filter through her ears to her brain.  She was no longer an orphan.  This woman with the brilliant royal blue shoes wanted to take her home and give her a family.

Happiness traveled through every part of her small child-like frame.  She spun around again and again, giggling as the blue shoes raced past her vision each time she circled by the woman who came to save her.  As the ride slowed and finally came to a stop she looked at the magic wall for the last time.  The reflection in the window showed nothing more than the chain link fence and corrugated sheet metal that had surrounded the only playground she had ever known.  The woman stood next to her and they grasped each others hand.  As they left the playground, the woman pulled out a picture of where they would live together.  It was the house from the magic wall.   She could see the warm light cascading from the windows in the photo and already felt like she was home.

She glanced over her shoulder as they rounded the corner and took one last look at the carousel.  The faded grey and white characters that had once been so vivid in her head now appeared as they truly were.  She was sure she saw one of them wave good-bye but she was too focused on the most beautiful blue shoes she had ever seen.