Tuesday – Anything Possible – Creative Kue #67 by Keith Channing

March 8, 2016March 7, 2016 ~ John W. Howell ~ 39 Comments

Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here – pingbacks don’t seem to be working, and I haven’t yet figured out why.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your own blog or website, next Monday.

Here is the photo.

Kreative Kue #67

“So tell me again what the mechanic said.”

“Why? I’ve told you ten times.”

“I just can’t believe he would give you that advice.”

“Why not. He’s the mechanic.”

“I know but it seems a little dumb to me is all.’

“Dumb? What do you mean dumb?”

“I have never heard of such a thing is all I’M saying.”

“Well, maybe there are new procedures for roadside repairs.”

“I can’t believe roadside repairs have changed over the years. You come out, try to fix the problem and then if you can’t you tow the vehicle into the shop.”

“Yeah so don’t forget we are in a strange part of the country. These people probably have their ways of doing things.”

“Tell me again what the mechanic said to you. mary and I were over at the field looking at the beautiful flowers and didn’t hear anything.”

“Fine. This is the last time, though.”

“Okay, just tell me.”

“The mechanic came out here. He looked at the motor.”

“Yes?”

“He said we needed a repair that could only be done at the shop.”

“So far sounds normal.”

“He then backed his wrecker up to the car.”

“Yeah we saw that.”

“He then pulled out the motor and said he would be back shortly.”

“And you let him do this?”

“I had no choice the motor was out and hanging from his wrecker.”

“When did he say he would be back?”

“Shortly.”

“It’s been four hours.”

“Well maybe shortly means something else here.”

“Call him.”

“I can’t.”

“You can’t? Why not?”

“My phone is in the wrecker.”

“Damnation.”

“Yup.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday _ Prompt “This and That.”

March 5, 2016March 5, 2016 ~ John W. Howell ~ 33 Comments

This is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. This week’s prompt is “This and That.” I have no idea what I’m going to do with these two things. Of course, there is a catch. We have to start our post with this or that and get bonus points (redeemable for Starbucks Coffee) by ending the post with one of these two words. If you would like to join in on the ~~confusion~~ fun, visit Linda Hill’s site at http://lindaghill.com/2016/03/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-516/ Tell her John sent ya.

“This is the tool you need.”

“That thing is the right tool?”

“This is the right tool.”

“That looks like a corkscrew.”

“This is like a corkscrew.”

“That looks good for opening wine bottles.”

“This can do a lot more believe me.”

“That thing can do what?”

“This can get that key out of your lock.”

“That can?”

“This can. Look all you do is put it in the place where you twisted the key off and turn it in.”

“That will twist the key out of the lock?”

“This will.”

“That will also open wine right?”

“This will do that as well.”

“That and remove keys.”

“This is a miracle tool.”

“That costs how much?”

“This is only fifty bucks.”

“That is fifty bucks?”

“This is what I said right?”

“That is crazy.”

“This is also true.”

“That is one tool you can keep.”

“This tool is your answer. What are you going to do without it?”

“This and that is what I will do. More this than that.” (Whew I did it.)

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Creative Kue #66 by Keith Krates

March 1, 2016February 29, 2016 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your own blog or website, next Monday. Here is the photo

Kreative Kue #66

Here is my interpretation.

“I have to say I love it out here.”

“I do too. It is so quiet.”

“You can say that again. Remember when we were worried about the train tracks?”

“Yeah, that was a hoot.”

“We were all concerned that there would be too much noise.’

“Yeah, remember telling the real estate agent that we might want to pass on the house.’

“I sure do. I can see her face now.’

“Talk about red. I’ve never seen a color like that.”

“Me either. I thought she was going to explode.”

“Well, she did convince us to take the house. She said the tracks are never used.”

“She was sure right about that. I don’t think there has been a train since we move in.”

“I can’t recall one. Come to think about it.”

“Why is it we are sitting here at this station then?”

“Well, you know how it is.”

“Tell me how it is.”

“You never know when there will be one.”

“And so.”

“We want to be ready to complain to the real estate agent.”

“I think we are a little nuts don’t you?”

“She said never and never is a long time.”

“For sure.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Food”

February 27, 2016September 15, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 69 Comments

Saturday Stream of Consciousness time again. This week’s prompt is “Food” which can be used as the theme of this post. If you would like to know more and join this fun go to Linda Hill’s site http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2716/ Here is my interpretation.

Food by John W. Howell © 2106

“So today class we are going to talk about food. Yes, Johnny.”

“Will this be on a test?”

“Well Johnny, I hate to tell you this, but the only way I can be sure you understand the lesson is to give you a test. So yes. There will be a test. Try to stay up with the class.”

“Most of the class sleeps during the lectures so I don’t think it will be too hard to stay up with them.”

“Very funny Johnny. Have you ever thought about being a writer?”

“No ma’am. I want to be able to make a living.”

“Okay, Johnny may I proceed?”

“Yes ma’am sorry about the interruption.”

“Now class in this segment we are going to learn how the body converts food to energy. Sigh, yes, Johnny.”

“Are you talking energy like oil and gas.”

“Well in the body food changes to elements that act like gas in a car.”

“Wow. We talking Methane?”

“Let’s not go there, Johnny. By the way do you need to visit the restroom?”

“No ma’am. Why do you ask?”

“Oh no reason I just would like to move on is all.”

“Oh, I get it. You would like me to be quiet.”

“I didn’t say that Johnny. May I proceed now?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

“We will also learn the correct kinds of food to eat to maximize your body’s performance. What? John.”

“By performance are you talking running and that kind of stuff?”

“Yes, Johnny. That is exactly what I’m talking about. Thanks for clarifying that for us.”

“My dad eats wheat germ to help him sleep.”

“I’m not sure how wheat germ helps him sleep.”

“Me neither. He just says it helps his performance in the bedroom.”

“Fine Johnny. Let’s start the lesson shall we?”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry for the interruption.”

“Now class who can tell me the most important meal of the day?”

“Yes, Charles.”

“Pizza.”

“Um. Anyone else want to try? Yes, Mary Lou.”

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

“Very good Mary Lo— Yes, Johnny what is it?”

“I think Charles is right. Pizza is the most important meal of the day. Especially if you don’t have any.”

“Okay, I give up. Here’s what we are going to do. I’m going to sit down in Johnny’s chair, and Johnny will teach the course. Come up here Johnny.”

“Thank you, teacher. Now class who can tell me the four major food groups.

“Yes, Simon.”

“Grilled cheese, bacon, pizza, and chocolate milk.”

“Correct. We need to add Ice cream and Snicker bars, but I think you have it. What’s the matter, Mrs. Crane? You crying?”

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #65 by Keith Channing

February 23, 2016September 15, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 29 Comments

Keith Channing puts out writing prompts in the form of photos. Here is what he says, “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here – pingbacks don’t seem to be working, and I haven’t yet figured out why.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your own blog or website, next Monday.”

Here is the photo

My interpretation

“How about you sir? Would you like one?”

“Um. I don’t know really. What d’ya say they were made of?”

“I didn’t say. These are the best there is on the planet.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. The best what on the planet?”

“Here little boy. You want one?”

“I have to wait for my dad. He said not to take anything from strangers.”

“I think that’s candy kid. This situation is different. It’s lunch.”

“I still better wait.”

“How about you over there. You want one?”

“Like the other guy, I would like to know what they are.”

“These are hamburgers. You never saw a hamburger before?”

“No. Can’t say I have. Say where did you people come from after all?”

“We are from the government and we are here to help you.”

“We don’t need any help. We are doing fine.”

“How about a hamburger then.”

“What’s it made of?”

“Beef. Good ole government beef.”

“What’s beef?”

“You’re kidding right?”

“No ma’am. I never heard of it.”

“You know what a cow is?”

“Sure I do. They are our pets.”

“Beef is cow.”

“COW? dead cow? You want us to eat cow?”

“What is the matter with you? Everyone eats cow.”

“Not here we don’t. We play fetch with them, and they provide companionship.”

“Does everyone feel that way?”

“YES.”

“Well, Blanch it looks like another government feeding program has been planned to the finite detail of perfection. We sure have a lot of hamburgers to eat.”

“I like our uniforms, though. Don’t you?”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – A Contraction

February 20, 2016September 15, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 38 Comments

This week’s Stream of Consciousness prompt is a contraction. We are to start the post with a contraction and end it with one as well for extra credit. It ain’t going to be easy. Oh wait, maybe it will. If you would like to participate go to Linda’s site and you can read all about it. http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2016/ here is my contribution.

“Can’t you do something to help me?”

“Gosh, darling. I don’t know how I can help.”

“Aren’t you in this with me? After all, you’re the one who wanted that nightcap.”

“I know I’m equally to blame here honey, but I feel helpless.”

“Try useless. Get me some ice won’t you?”

“I’d rather stay and hold your hand.”

“I need ice. I don’t need a damn hand hold.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going. What’d the doctor say?”

“About what? I can’t read minds all t’sudden.”

“How long we’ll be going through this.”

“Through this? We? Who’d believe there is a we here. It looks like I’m the only worker.”

“When’s he coming?”

“I’d figgered he’d been here by now. I don’t know. I’m getting real close. Oh, there’s another contraction.”

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Creative Kue #64

February 16, 2016September 15, 2020 ~ John W. Howell ~ 33 Comments

As you know, I love prompts and am fond of those by Keith Channing. His instructions, “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here – pingbacks don’t seem to be working, and I haven’t yet figured out why.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your blog or web site, next Monday.”

Here is the photo.

Here is my interpretation.

I know this story will be confusing since I hardly understand what happened myself. In fact, I don’t know why I’m writing this down since I don’t believe there will be anyone around who will read it. Okay, no matter. I think writing things down helps me control the panic I feel. I know whoever reads this won’t understand the nature of my feelings but let me explain my sense of dread by writing down what happened as best as I know.

I came back to the jungle after a long trip to the city which included an eight-hour drive through the outback, a small airplane ride and then a flight from the regional airport. I needed to earn some money to keep the hospital going. We were spending more that we were bringing in. (that is a story for a different time) I came back to the hospital very late and went straight to my room. The trip was long and I was exhausted. I lay down and went to sleep. When I awoke and walked around there was no one here. The patients were all gone and the staff as well.

I went to the radio room and tried to call the nearest station to find out any information they could give. The station did not answer. I then looked at my SAT phone with the idea of calling my sister in London for no other reason than to see if she heard something about the hospital being closed down. There was no service and at first I thought the satellite had malfunctioned. I called the regional police on the radio and all I got was the white noise that tells me their radio is not working. I began to feel my stomach rolling like I had too much wine. I knew it was the first signal of fear and I needed to get control before I did something irrational.

I sat in the radio room and tried every broadcast channel and finally gave up. There was no response to any of my broadcasts. I looked at the SAT phone for the tenth time and still no signal. It was clear to me now that I was disconnected from the world. This lonely outpost where I worked for ten years to bring modern medicine to this remote privative area was cut off from civilization.

Sitting on the veranda and visits to an empty village for the last ten days has finally convinced me that I need to go from this place and seek out other people. The Range Rover will take me back through the outback to the small airport. Maybe there has been some kind of atmospheric disturbance that has caused the radios and phone to malfunction. Only a face to face meeting will answer my most pressing question. Is there anyone else out there?

Tuesday – Anything possible. Kreative Kue #63 by Keith Channing

February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 ~ John W. Howell ~ 25 Comments

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your blog or web site, next Monday.”

Here is the photo.

“I can’t explain it. No one would believe me, so I took a photo.”

“What could be all that difficult to explain that you had to take a picture?”

“Okay, smart guy. let me tell you what I saw and then you be the judge.”

“Sounds like a good idea even though they say a picture is worth a thousand words.”

“No, you wanted to know what was so difficult so here you are. There was this woman dressed in a red parka. One I had never seen before by the way.”

“Okay, go on. Pretty straightforward so far.”

“She had one of those retractable leashes in her hand. It was red as well.”

“I get the picture. Keep going.”

“She had apparently lost sight of her dog as she kept yelling,’Here boy.'”

“I think I would do the same if my dog got away. So what did you do?”

“I went up to her and asked if I could help.”

“You are a gentleman. What did she say?”

“She thanked me and said unless I could fly I would probably not be much help.”

“Fly? What the heck does flying have to do with anything.?”

“I told you it would be strange.”

“So tell me. Why did she ask it you could fly?”

“Because and get this. her dog wasn’t a dog.”

“Wasn’t a dog?”

“Nope she was walking her pet crow on a leash, and it got away. I saw it sitting in a tree and took the photo.”

“Let me see the photo.”

“Tell me that’s not unusual.”

“Okay, it does sound weird. Let me see the photo.”

“Here you go.”

“Get outa here. This picture is, of course, a photo of a woman standing and waiting for her dog.”

“What about the crow in the tree?”

“Trees have birds. So it’s a random bird. It doesn’t even look like a crow.”

“Where’s the dog?”

“How do I know?”

“Told you it was strange.”

“You are strange. You know that?”

“No dog in sight.”

“Here’s your photo. Good luck with that story.”

“Already sold it to the Enquirer.”

“What?”

“Yup. A thousand bucks.”

“You’re going to jail.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt Finger

February 6, 2016February 5, 2016 ~ John W. Howell ~ 31 Comments

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again. I would never have believed the word “finger” and Linda Hill would ever be associated together. Well, this week the prompt is “Finger.” Linda says we can use it… er the prompt anyway we want. If you would like to know more about this ~~craziness~~ program you can go here and read on how you can participate. http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/05/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-616/

“Is that your age or IQ?”

“It’s the number of friends you have including yourself.”

“Yeah, amusing. Why don’t you quit it.”

“Quit giving you the finger.’

“No, quit showing everyone how stupid you are.”

“Well, you’re the one who started it.”

“Started it? All I said was you shouldn’t wear that jacket.”

“And I said it’s my choice.”

“And I said you will be sorry when someone asks you if you are a Denver Broncos fan.”

“Why would I be sorry?”

“Cause you don’t know anything about the Broncos or Denver for that matter.”

“Well, I do like the jacket.”

“Yeah I know. We are going to a place where that won’t help you much.”

“I’ll just tell everyone that I like the clothes.”

“I’m sure everyone will appreciate that distinction.”

“So why are people so particular?”

“They love their teams is all.”

“Where we going again?”

“To a bar called ” The Carolina Panthers Den.”

Tuesday Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #62 – by Keith Channing

February 2, 2016February 1, 2016 ~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

As you know, I’m a fan of Keith Channing and his Kreative Kue prompt. Here Keith gives the direction. “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here – pingbacks don’t seem to be working, and I haven’t yet figured out why.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your own blog or web site, next Monday.”

Here’s the photo