Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #260 by Keith Channing

In Keith’s words. “Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next 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.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”

The Photo.

Kreative Kue #260

New Moo by John W. Howell © 2020

“Hey, Roy. How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Move on the water.”

“Oh, that. I got this new thingy.”

“New thingy? What’s it called?”

“Moo Mover Handbasket.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nah. it’s the latest thing.”

“How does it work?”

“You stand on a board and aim it with your feet.”

“Wow. Who would have thought?”

“Guy Dinkus.”

“Who?”

“The human who invented it. He got tired of slow-moving Moos, so he made this.”

“Does it work on land?”

“That’s what it was developed to do. I’m just using it for fun here in the lake.”

“Where’s the rest of your Moo members.”

“They went off with Guy.”

“Where’d they go?”

“Not sure.”

“How long ago?”

“Ten days.”

“Roy?”

“What?”

“You think Guy did something bad with them?”

“Like what?”

“I heard tell of a place called the abattoir.”

“Abattoir? What the heck is that?”

“It is the Moo equivalent of hell.”

“What goes on there.”

“Moos come in and then come out in little white packages.”

“Goodness, I hope not, but I have an uneasy feeling.”

“Why’s that?”

“The last thing I heard Guy say as we hit the road.”

“By the way. Why aren’t you with the Moo Members?”

“I was but took a wrong turn. Guy never missed me.”

“Okay, so what did he say as you hit the road?”

“Saddle up, ladies. We’re going to hell in a handbasket.”

“You dog.”

“Make that you, Moo. Hahahaha.”

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Val”

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again, and here is Linda Hill to explain the prompt for this week.

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “val.” Find a word that starts with “val” or if you’re not doing the A to Z Challenge, find a word that just has “val” in it, and use that word any way you’d like. Enjoy!” Thank you, Linda. I always like the wish of “enjoy” at the end. Since I’m not doing the A to Z challenge, I need to find a word with “val” in it. So, there we have it. If you would like to have some fun, go, visit Linda’s blog and read up on how easy it is.  Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 25/2020

Val by John W. Howell @ 2020

“You look a bit puzzled. Wait! It’s Saturday. I forgot.I’ll see you around. I need to reevaluate getting involved.”

“Don’t go. There is no one who can outrival your brainpower.”

“Oh, come on now. This from one who undervalues most of my contributions to your Hill obsession.”

“Well, this time is different. I’m not ambivalent about your ability to help.”

“Okay, you had me at unrivaled. So how can I help?”

“We need to use a word that has “val” in it. I want to use words that have “val” in a prevalent position in the center of the word.”

“Sounds real easy to me. I don’t mean to sound cavalier, but what’s so hard? Go to the internet and look up words with “val” in them.”

“No, that would be cheating. I have to pull the words out of my undervalued brain.”

“Do you want me to suggest a few, then you can evaluate whether or not you want to use them.”

“I guess that would be okay. That mighty chivalrous of you.”

“Oh, please. It’s better than having to care for you as you convalesce from a nervous breakdown.”

“You would do that? Spend intervals of time taking care of me?”

“I think I’m almost sorry I said that. Let me invalidate what I said.”

“I don’t know, I think it is too late. I look upon you as the cavalry.”

“Yeah, well, quit it. I’ll give you a few words and then like the survivalist that I am will be off.”

“I think I won’t need any more words. Our conversation is the equivalent of a post.”

“I don’t believe it. No avalanching emotions?”

“Nope, we are done. You ave served with valor.”

“Okay then.I’m going to hit the Cavalcade Bar. Want to come?”

“I could use a festival right now. Thanks.”

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Practice/Practise

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again, and here is Linda Hill with this week’s prompt. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “practice/practise.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!”

If you would like to have fun as well go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2020/04/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-18-2020/

Practice/Practise by John W. Howell © 2020

“Do you have a dictionary?”

“Uh, I don’t go walking around with a dictionary. Why?”

“I need to look up a word.”

“What’s the word?”

“Practise.”

“Perform an activity or exercise a skill repeatedly or regularly to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.”

“Yeah, I know that definition. Also means the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it.”

“So, what’s the problem.”

“It is practise.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“With an s.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. P-r-a-c-t-i-s-e.”

“Never heard of it.”

“That’s why I need a dictionary.”

“Look it up on your phone. Hold it…Is this a Linda Hill thing?”

“What else. Here it is. OMG.”

“OMG, what?”

“International English calls practise with an s a verb. Like, practise the piano.”

“Anything else?”

“The word practice with a c is a noun. Like the law practice.”

“So we American’s avoid all that by using  practice with a c.”

“It looks that way.”

“So how you going to use both?”

“I think we already did.”

“Good. Now time to go practise our drinking form.”

“We could open a drinking form practice.”

“Sounds like too much work.”

“I agree. We’ll keep the practice to ourselves but go forward with the practise.”

“I’m confused. Let’s just go.”

“First one on me.”

“Not your normal practice.”

“Stop.”

“Agreed.”

 

 

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #258 by Keith Channing

In Keith’s words.

“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next 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.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”

The photo

Kreative Kue #258

Honor by John W. Howell © 2020

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Joint”

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again, and here is Linda Hill with this week’s prompt. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “joint.” Use it as a noun, an adjective, or a verb–use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!”

If you would like to enjoy along with the rest of us, visit Linda’s blog, and read how. Here is the link/

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 11/2020

Joint by John W. Howell © 2020

“You look pleased.”

“Oh, I am. Couldn’t be a better day.”

“Wow. This is unusual for you. Usually, this time of the week, you are pacing like a caged panther.”

“I think I have this prompt thing in the bag.”

“Well, that’s good. You want to go to the beer joint and have a couple.”

“How did you know?”

“Know what.”

“The prompt. Don’t tell me you are sneaking around behind my back and reading Linda Hill’s blog.”

“Don’t get your nose out of joint. I’m doing no such thing.”

“See  there you go again.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You said, ‘joint.’ That’s the prompt for today.”

“For heaven’s sake. I mean, who on the Earth besides you cares about this stuff?”

“Well, you used the prompt twice in a minute. Obviously, you care.”

“Just because I use a word that is jointly part of your prompt stuff doesn’t mean a thing.”

“I’m thinking of calling Linda and getting a joint task force together to determine how this information is getting out.”

“Stop now. You are starting to sound like a person needing help.”

“Well, you are the cause.”

“Easy, son. You are going to throw your neck out of joint, waving your head around like that.”

“Yeah, and then I hope they send you to the joint for manslaughter.”

“Okay, let’s take it down a notch. I think we have done the joint prompt.”

“I still don’t know how you found out.”

“It was a joint project.”

“Ah-ha. I knew it.”

“Between you and me.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“Beer joint?”

“Lead the way. 🎶 Don’t Bogart that Joint my friend.”🎶

“Not even going to ask.”

 

Tuesday – Anything possible – Kreative Kue #257 by Keith Channing

In Keith’s words.

“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next 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.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”

The photo.

Kreative Kue #257

Fakarewe by John W. Howell © 2020

“I’ve checked everything and don’t know what’s wrong.”

“You obviously missed something.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“If you checked everything, then you would have a clue why this thing quit out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Speaking of that, do we know where we are?”

“You have the map. Why don’t you try and locate our position.”

“Let’s see. Here is the mountain range. Over here is the watering hole.”

“You see that on the map?”

“No. I’m just looking around. The mountain range is behind us, and the watering hole up ahead.”

“What does the map say?”

“Yeah, I was never good with maps. Say, are you getting thirsty?”

“You know we were on the road for three hours before this hunk of junk died. Hey, driver.”

“Yes, Bosi.”

“About how many miles have we come so far.”

“Um. Let me convert from kilometers. That would be about 120 miles.”

“See, all we have to do is measure out the miles on the map and then the general direction, and we will have a rough idea where we are.”

“Okay, let me use my finger joint as an inch. We’ve been heading West, so I say we are here in Fukarewe.”

“Was that so hard?”

“You guys know where we are yet?”

“Keep your pants on, Harold. We think we have it.”

“I hope so cause those animals are getting closer.”

“Uh, Bosi?”

“Yes, Jafari.”

“We are at the point of rescue.”

“How do you know?”

“I placed a call when the fuel ran out.”

“The fuel?”

“I mentioned that we should get fuel, but in a hurry, you were.”

“Yeah, I remember. What call did you make?”

“Triple-A. They should be here shortly.”

“Fuel. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Why didn’t you think of Triple-A?”

“We need to go back and start over.”

“You said it. Just Jafari and me.”

“Shut up, Harold.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – “Beside You”

 

Stream of Consciousness SaturdayIt is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again, and here is Linda Hill to describe the prompt.

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “beside you.” Write about whatever is beside you when you read this prompt. Not when you sit down to write, but whatever is beside you right now. Take note of it if you think you might forget. Enjoy!”

Thank you, Linda. If you would like to join this fun, visit Linda’s blog, and read how. It’s real easy. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS March 28/2020

Beside You by John W. Howell © 2020

“Man, this is a kick to the heart.”

“What are you reading.”

“I just opened Linda Hill’s prompt.”

“Oh, here we go again. What masterful machination did she serve up today.”

“I’m supposed to write about whatever is beside me when I read the prompt.”

“So how hard is that?”

“All that was beside me when I read the prompt were these two pillows.”

“Yeah, so?”

“What can you say about two pillows?”

“I see your point. Maybe you could lie and say there was a scorpion or something interesting beside you.”

“And go to Stream of Consciousness jail?”

“There is such a thing?”

“Not sure and don’t want to find out. I imagine Linda on a platform with a bullwhip. Not a pretty picture.”

“Okay, so what are you going to do?”

“Well, here is pillow number one. It is black and has a fuzzy texture.”

“Oh, come on. You can do better than that.”

“I suppose. Okay, let’s try this.  It was the pillow that Lindberg sat on when he flew across the Atlantic.”

“Is your nose growing?”

“Don’t buy it, huh?”

“Who would?”

“How about this other pillow?”

“How about it?”

“It has a pattern of grey and black.”

“Can you be any more boring?”

“Ugh. I give up. What can be said about pillows?”

“I think you were right the first place.  A kick to the heart.”

“I think I need to prepare better for the next time.”

“Like how?”

“Maybe sit next to something more interesting.”

“Like?”

“An elephant would provide a lot of discussion topics.”

“I could just see that. Why not a Rhinosaurus?”

“Don’t be silly. Those things are dangerous.”

“I’m leaving you now.”

“Okay, maybe just a parrot.”

“You are hopeless. I’ll be at the bar.”

“Be careful of what’s beside you.”

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Welcome”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again, and here is Linda Hill with this week’s prompt. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “welcome.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!” If you would like to have some fun with these prompts, visit Linda’s blog and read how. It is easy to let yourself go. Here is the link.

https://lindaghill.com/2020/03/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-21-2020/

Welcome by John W. Howell © 2020

“Ahhhhhchoooo.”

” Gesundheit.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I think I’m allergic.”

“To what?”

“Not sure.”

“I see you are not stressed over the Saturday prompt.”

“No, in fact, I welcome the challenge.”

“What is is this week?”

“Welcome.”

“Pretty formal. I’ve lived here for years.”

“No, it’s ‘welcome.”‘

“What’s welcome. We get something new?”

“Quit being a poor imitation of Bud Abbott. The word is welcome.”

“You talking about the good word?”

“OMG, are you serious? The prompt is ‘welcome”‘

“Of course, it is. You throw down the welcome mat every Saturday. We can hardly do anything until you have completed your prompt.”

“Okay, I give up. You recording this or what?”

“What.’ I’m not recording anything so it must be ‘what.”‘

“What must be ‘what?”‘

“You asked, I answered. I wish I knew. Since I’m not recording, I must be doing ‘what.”‘

“How do we get off this loop?”

“Let’s have lunch. Maybe it will help.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, wait. The prompt is ‘welcome.’ Right?”

“Right.”

“Darn, I thought I had it with ‘welcome.’ ‘Right’ is pretty good too.”

“Private memo to myself. Just shoot me.”

 

 

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #254 by Keith Channing

In Keith’s words “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next 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.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”

The photo.

Kreative Kue #254

“What do you mean you can’t find it? The coordinates are clear.”
“The coordinates are real clear, but we still can’t find it.”
“That’s impossible. Give me an optical scan of the area.”
“Okay. Coming at you.”
“I don’t see anything.”
“That is exactly what I told you.”
“Maybe the solar flares are distorting the picture.”
“Okay. What do you see then?”
“Some vegetation is all.”
“That is exactly what we are seeing.”
“Why don’t you walk a couple of klicks and send us another shot.”
“What? Through the coordinates, you mean?”
“That object is as big as a mountain. It can’t have disappeared.”
“So one would think. Maybe our measuring devices have been damaged. You think the locator on the thing could have gotten damaged in flight.”
“Well, the takeoff was certainly a jolt. You could be right.”
“Not to mention the landing. This planet’s gravity is pretty strong.”
“Okay let,’s assume the locator is faulty. Can you get to higher ground and, maybe you can spot it.”
“Yeah, there is a cliff up ahead. We have to cross what looks like a desert.”
“Go ahead and cross.”
“Okay, the rover made it across the sandy place. It looks like this desert has been dug out of the cliff.”
“Can you climb to the top of the cliff?”
“I have shot a grappling hook and rappelling rope up and over. All I have to do is climb up there.”
“You have permission to do that.”
“Okay, I’m here. My goodness.”
“What?”
“This is a plateau and, it is made of grass.”
“Can you see the sphere?”
“No, but when I rise with my jet pack, I can see a huge hole not too far away. There is some kind of pole rising up from the hole.”
“Send me the picture.”
“Here you are.”
“Look at that. Amazing. Aim the camera up to the top of that pole.”
“I don’t have an LD lens, so I don’t know if you can see the top.”
“Yes, I can make it out. There is some kind of symbol on a flag on top. Jet to the hole and point the camera into it. Be careful and don’t fall in.”
“Here it is. “Look at that. The sphere is at the bottom of the hole.”
“You sure. It doesn’t look like ours. The size looks right, but that one is white. Can you see the letters on it.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Do you have any idea what it means?”
“S-P-A-U-L-D-I-N-G? I have no idea.”
“Well, it can’t be good to see other spheres landing around there. We’ll just chalk ours up to lost and take the penalty. Come on back. It’s time for lunch anyway.”
“Roger that sir.”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt “Wire”

Stream of Consciousness Saturday

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday time again, and here is this week’s prompt per Linda Hill. “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “wire.” Use “wire” as a noun or a verb or any way you’d like. Enjoy!” So there you have it. If you would like to have some fun, go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS March 14/2020

Wire by John W. Howell © 2020

“Wire as a noun?”

“Excuse me? Oh, It’s the Saturday mind thump again.”

“Not a mind thump. It’s a prompt.”

“Thump, prompt all the same to me.”

“That’s ’cause you don’t write.”

“Now, that’s not true.”

“What was the last thing you wrote?”

“A check for that last round of your WIP edit.”

“Very funny. Help me with this.”

“Okay. The noun use of wire would be like, “We need use number 12 wire for the house electricity.”‘

“How about a verb?”

“To wire the house will cost $10,000.”

“Adjective?”

“Our money looks like wire.”

“Adverb?”

“Spending money on wirely things has to take priority.”

“Wait. Are you trying to tell me something?”

“You think?”

“We need to wire the house.”

“Bingo.”

“So, the prompt is done.”

“I think it is. So is our bank account.”

“To wire or not to wire, that is the question.”

“Do you like to roast marshmallows?”

“Of course. What does that have to do with wire?”

“To not wire, you may be able to roast them without leaving your bed.”

“Okay. I get it. Let’s wire.”

“Good decision.”

“With my feet to the fire.”

“So to speak.”