"One's life is never in vain, no matter how short, if people remember you." Akelamalu 2009

Saturday, 4 July 2009

Saturday Wordzzle # 70



The idea is, every week Raven (Views From Raven's Nest) gives you between 8 and 10 words/phrases and you have to create a small but coherent paragraph using every one of them and the same with the mini challenge. You can do either, both or a megawordzzle using all the words, or even all three, it's up to you, you can post them on your blog or email them to Raven. If you join in go to Raven's and put your name on the Mr. Linky so other participants can come visit you.



No doodles this week, no time.



For the mini challenge: music to my ears, plot, powerful, braggart, super model


Jim was busy digging his plot on the allotment when he heard the chimes of the ice-cream seller. “That’s music to my ears” he said to himself “I need something to cool me down”.
Strolling over to the van he smiled at Patty, the young woman serving the ice-cream who he knew from the amateur operatics society. He asked for an ice-cream then proceeded to tell her what a great voice she had but that she was so pretty she could be a supermodel.

Patty laughed “Yeah, right” she said.

”Honestly, I know an agent” he told her “I have connections you know, I’m quite powerful. I’ll get you an introduction” he promised.

Patty called him a braggart, in the nicest possible way, but was thrilled and shocked when he phoned her a few days later and gave her the details of an appointment to see an agent in London.



Megawordzzle:
Ten Word Challenge is: Florida, spit, child bride, operatic, busy, holding pattern, sunflowers, ginger jars, office, superintendent / For the mini challenge: music to my ears, plot, powerful, braggart, super model


Patty Ives lost the plot in the agent’s office, when she was subjected to the superintendent’s enforced holding pattern of making everyone queue to see the man himself because he was so busy. Patty realised losing her temper didn’t get her into see the agent any quicker but it sure made her feel better. She was only nineteen and could take care of herself, she’d had to.

Whilst she was waiting she filled in some details on her portfolio, like how she had started off in an amateur operatic group but had now diversified and was hoping to become a successful supermodel. She listed her hobby of growing sunflowers, how she collected ginger jars and her ambition to see Florida. Of course all this was immaterial unless she fulfilled her dream and became famous, because no-one would be interested otherwise.

Eventually it was her turn to see the agent. She rapped on the door and swept through it as he shouted “Enter”. Introducing herself Patty handed over her portfolio, the agent looked her up and down and then opened her file. Patty was thinking that was a good sign because the other girls had said he didn’t even look at theirs. After studying her photos he told Patty he was sure he could find her some work.

“That’s music to my ears” she said.

The next twelve months were a whirlwind for Patty, true to his word her agent worked hard and got her plenty of modelling jobs, then one day he called her and said he needed to see her.

Patty sat in his office smiling at him across his desk.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked.

By the time he told her what he’d called her in for she was furious. She called him a braggart before she spit in his eye and told him to go to hell

He’d found out she had been a child bride and had a son, who she had left with her parents. He threatened to expose her past to the media, saying “I’m a very powerful man my dear, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours!”

She was famous now and she doubted whether anyone would care about her past, even if they did it didn’t alter the fact that she was good at what she did, look at Kate Moss, she’d made more money since the press published her drug antics. She was willing to take the chance.



Ten Word Challenge is: Florida, spit, child bride, operatic, busy, holding pattern, sunflowers, ginger jars, office, superintendent


Patty Ives walked out of the agent’s office and sat in her car, the first thing she had to do was find another agent and tell them about her past.

She closed her eyes and remembered sitting outside the school superintendent’s office when she was just sixteen, staring out of the window admiring the sunflowers and the ginger jars on display in the hallway. Both were so pretty she vowed she would grow sunflowers and collect ginger jars when she was famous. The hallway was very busy as there were other students waiting, they created a holding pattern as they moved up a chair as each one was called into the office. Finally it was her turn and she sat facing the superintendent.

“ I wanted to speak to you to ask if you would like to change your mind about dropping out of school my dear” said the superintendent. “I know you’re a child bride and are pregnant but it doesn’t have to be the end of your schooling. You have a fantastic voice and could make a career out of music, with the right training you could go on to be an operatic star” she told Patty.

“I want to be a good wife and mother” Patty told her “so there’s no time for school”.    The superintendent wished her well and said if she changed her mind to come see her.

Her parents didn’t like Billy, her husband, so living with them was difficult to say the least, but she thought everything would be OK once the baby arrived. The baby turned out to be the ‘spit’ of his father and Billy was the doting dad for a couple of months, well until he met Tina and disappeared. Patty’s Mum offered to look after the baby whilst Patty went to work and she managed to get a job selling ice-cream from a van. That was when she met Jim, who had given her the introduction to the weasel of an agent. She wouldn’t hold that against Jim, he’d done her a huge favour at the time. Now here she was again, looking for an agent, but now she was a successful model not a quiet country girl who wouldn’t say boo to a goose, a girl who had fulfilled her dream of growing sunflowers, collecting ginger jars and had visited Florida several times. Yes, she decided, she would carry on regardless.

Friday, 3 July 2009

Friday 55 Flash Fiction # 82 Hitchiker



Cathy sat at the side of the road, weary, praying someone would stop.

 
Gliding to a halt the driver beckoned her.



 
Chatting, flirting, he pulled off the road, killed the engine.


 
Cathy plunged the knife into his chest, then made her way back to the road...



 
stuffing his wallet into her rucksack with the others.


Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.

Thursday, 2 July 2009

Great Imagination......

Here's your chance to vote on who gets an award!

Those of you who read my Wordzzle #69 post last week (27.06.09) will have noticed I asked for reader's to give their answers to the questions asked by Carol's friends after her untimely death in Iran.  Here's the end of the story:

Some months later the girls were moving out of the house and found a photograph that had slipped down the back of one of drawers that Carol had used in the bedroom. The photograph was of Carol and a good looking, dark skinned man and there was some writing on the back which said

“Here’s to the next mission!”

“Whatever could it mean? Who was the man? What had really happened to Carol?” the girls asked each other
You can read the whole story here.

Those of you who gave answers have fantastic imaginations and I thought everyone should see what you came up with.      So here they are and I'd like everyone who reads this post to vote for their favourite.  The person with the most votes gets this award



which MWM made especially for the occasion.
It is not an award to be passed on, it is just for those I award it to.


So here they are:

Charlie Facwet closed the file at the CIA headquarters and turned to his partner.

"We never should have sent her to Iran. She just wasn't ready.
Dr. John (Dr. John's Fortress)


Oh, a serial killer and a spy. Maybe Carol was going on a mission as a spy in Mendelsholme's house because she knew he was a serial killer but he discovered her plot and killed her.
Nessa (The Crysalis Stage)




Gertrude and Helmer were flying back from Iran.The two dragons had deposited the motorcycle and Carol as she instructed. They told her it was not a good idea but she insisted. Now she was dead.
"She wouldn't be Gert , if you hadn't let go of her and the motorcycle too soon." said Helmer
Fandango (Dragon's Lair)



Carol had found a message from Iran on her E Mail. The message was from the dark skinned man telling her of how he was aiding those wanting freedom. He talked Carol into joining him. Carol used a rented motorcycle to travel in Iran but lacked the skill to travel their roads.
Bettygram (Betty's News)



 My ending is that the dark haired man was her half-brother who unbeknownst to her had been left behind by her father on a trip to pre-Shah Iran. Nursing hatred of his father who abandoned him and his mother for the pretty girl in the U.S., he located her, courted her, lured her to Iran and then had her killed. Now Carol's younger sister had better watch HER step.
Reston Friends




I think the man is a freedom fighter and Carol went to Iran to help and well ...
Dianne (Forks Off The Moment)




I think Carol went off with Mike. When she heard his gang was called the Blue Jays, she thought fate had brought them together. Little did she know that Mike was an undercover infiltrator gathering evidence on gang violence. The Iranian-born leader of a rival motorcycle gang killed them both and shipped their bodies & motorcycles to Iran for disposal. Mike's will show up soon.
CJ (Pro Artz)



A lady found dead in Iran, That is a sad thought. Maybe she just wanted to vote and an uprising broke out
Heather (Random Wandering Thoughts)


 She worked for the CIA, the dark skinned man was both her lover and her control in Iran, and she had been running from the Iranian secret police when she was viciously gunned down and dumped in the quarry.
Richard (Mr Richard's Bloggerhood)




This is my version of the ending: She faked her death. The body looked only slightly like her, but after laying in the sun for a few days it didn't really matter. The passport left with the body was all that was used for identification. She was now diguised as an Iranian, working with the dark skinned man and others to try to find out where the votes of the presidential election were kept and then take digital pictures of all of them and transmit copies to other countries so a recount could be done outside Iran. If the recount showed that the other person actually won, this would turn world opinion more strongly against Iran's leaders and give the protesters in Iran a stronger reason to fight.
Stephen (Stephen's Thoughts)

 
So who, in your opinion, deserves the Imagination Award?   Let me know in the comments who get's your vote.

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Portrait of Words # 11




This writing challenge has changed. Originally Jeff (A Word in Edgewise) started up this monthly challenge, derived from a previous challenge from R.E.H.'s "Picture Fiction Challenge", but Jeff has given it up and Dr. John (Dr. John's Fortress) and Thom (Thom's Place 4 Well Whatever) have taken over. The challenge is now weekly and you can get all the details here, where you can also pick up the links to read all the entries. Do pop over and read, you won't be disappointed.


I'm not sure I will be doing this every week but I will when the mood takes me.    Anyway here's my entry for this week.




Jack Milne picked up the loop end of the rope and tossed it to the boy standing on the dock.




Jack had been the drummer in a very successful rock band in the 60’s. He’d been into it all drugs, sex, wild parties but it just all became too much, after 10 years at the top he was burnt out.






Deciding he’d had enough, whilst the band were still at their peak, he walked away with a shedload of money. He had always been astute where money was concerned and had invested wisely. When he quit the music business he had started his own construction company, building it up as a reliable company that offered great service at reasonable prices. He wasn’t bothered about making lots more money, he had enough, he just wanted to do something useful and could often be found on site in his hard hat.





Jack’s willingness to get his hands dirty made him very popular with his employees and consequently he had a hardworking, loyal workforce, this contributed to the success of his company and within ten years he was a multi-millionnaire.



Personal happiness had eluded Jack. For all his success in the band and his business he had never found anyone special to share his life with. There had been girls, of course, but the one girl he really loved when he had been with the band couldn’t stand all the hype and had ditched him, she wasn’t interested in his money.




For the next thirty years travelling became Jack’s only vice and he was now mooring his boat in Göcek harbour, Turkey, a place he hadn’t visited before. Walking round the harbour he came across a little café called ‘Sweet Sue’s’ where he decided to sit outside and enjoy a coffee.





A pretty young Greek girl took his order and delivered it quickly. Jack was intrigued as to the café’s name summising that the owner wasn’t Greek and asked the girl what the situation was. The girl spoke really good English, which wasn’t surprising when she explained that the owner was not only English but also her mother. “Ah, I see” said Jack and proceeded to chat with the girl.



Jack was moored in Göcek for a week and visited the café every morning for coffee, taking time to chat with Güsde, the young waitress. On his last in Göcek he called at Sweet Sue’s for his coffee and was taken aback when a young boy served him. He asked where Güsde was but the boy said he didn’t know, then he disappeared inside. Minutes later a woman came out of the café and stopped at his table asking “Why are you asking after my daughter?”


Looking up at the woman Jack removed his sunglasses and stared at her. The woman in turn stared at Jack.


“What are you doing here?” they both asked together.

Neither the woman, Sue, nor Jack couldn’t believe after thirty years they would come face to face again. Sue was a widow with a daughter now, Jack was the free agent he always was and the spark was still there!

Monday, 29 June 2009

Never too late......


Our youngest son got a place at University studying for a Law Degree at Huddersfield University when he was 18 but ‘dropped out’ after about sixteen months and joined the working classes instead. We, as parents, were very disappointed but as long as he was prepared to work and not be a drain on society we backed his decision and he never let us down.

Fourteen years later, at the age of 32 with a partner and two children, he decided he wanted to study again and get his Law Degree and with the blessing of his partner, who offered to work all the hours God sends to keep the family whilst he studies, he secured at place at University to do just that.

He had to really sell himself at the interview to secure the place, the tutor suggested it would be better if he did an Access Course as he would find studying difficult after fourteen years of doing none. Son would have none of it – “it’s a place on the course or I do it through the Open University” he told the tutor. The tutor finally relented and said “he’d take a chance on him” and so last September he started the four year Law Degree course. His first two years are at Oldham, which is just one of the three campuses attached to Huddersfield University, which is where he was originally a student.

He completed all four modules of the first year exams last month and got 4 A’s therefore passing with flying colours and the tutor who was, at first, hesitant about his entry to the course told him he was Oldham’s best performing student. Not only that, he has also received a letter from the Head of Law telling him he is to be awarded the prize for the Best Year 1 student out of all three campuses!


We are so proud of him, he’s worked really hard and we’re also thankful to his partner, who has worked equally as hard to keep the family whilst he is studying thus enabling him to fulfil his dream.

Well done son!

Saturday, 27 June 2009

Saturday Wordzzle # 69


The idea is, every week Raven (Views From Raven's Nest) gives you between 8 and 10 words/phrases and you have to create a small but coherent paragraph using every one of them and the same with the mini challenge. You can do either, both or a megawordzzle using all the words, or even all three, it's up to you, you can post them on your blog or email them to Raven. If you join in go to Raven's and put your name on the Mr. Linky so other participants can come visit you.




Here's my efforts, complete with my doodles.



This Week's Ten Word Challenge is: Chorus line, clam chowder, apples, jack-in-the-box, puddles, Iran, quarry, housekeeping, speed, letter




Iran Mendelsholme had just enjoyed a dish of clam chowder at ‘The Jack In The Box’ diner when he noticed a young woman speed jumping over puddles in the road, which he thought resembled a quarry because of all the pot holes. He opened his briefcase and took out the letters he had received responding to his advertisement. He had decided to hold the interviews here in the diner and suspected that the young woman was one of the applicants. She looked like a chorus line girl he thought but one shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover he admonished himself, he wouldn’t prejudge her.

Entering the diner the young woman looked around then walked over to Iran and introduced herself “Mr Mendelsholme? I’m Becky Apples, I’m here about the housekeeping job” she said, thrusting out a hand. He liked Becky straight away, much prettier than his last housekeeper, who was now buried in the cellar of his house.




For the mini challenge: motorcycle, grandiose, summer, flying off the handle, blue jays






Mike was the leader of the ‘Blue Jaysmotorcycle gang. One minute he was making grandiose gestures like buying them all new leathers the next he was flying off the handle about something and nothing but one thing was sure he made their summer fun and exciting with his madcap ways.


Megawordzzle


Carol ‘Blue’ Jays was flying off the handle in her usual grandiose way, so full of her own self importance like she was the star of the show instead of a member of the chorus line. She shared a house with Tania and Anita who had asked her, politely, if she wouldn’t mind tidying up her things. Carol informed them she didn’t ‘do housekeeping’ as she flounced out.

Tania and Anita found Carol infuriating they were forever picking up after her but the three had been friends since University and had a lot of fun together. It was they who had christened Carol ‘Blue’ because of her surname. Carol was a bit of a mystery, they never knew where she’d be or what she did, she was very vague about where she got all her money but they had their suspicions. They’d tried to pump her for information but she wouldn’t tell them anything, she would just touch the side of her nose and say “That’s for me to know”.

Carol was like a jack-in-the-box, up one minute, down the next, the girls never really knew where they were up to with her, which was really annoying but she was a great cook, her clam chowder was to die for. “There’s apples in it” Carol informed them when they asked how she made it, “it’s an old family recipe”.

A letter arrived and Carol packed her suitcase. “I’m off for the summer” she told them “expect me when you see me and take care of Puddles”, meaning her cat.

They didn’t hear from her again. Six weeks later her parents came to collect her belongings and told them she had been found dead in a quarry in Iran with a motorcycle next to her. They didn’t have an explanation except the police thought she had been travelling at speed on the bike and careered off the road.

Some months later the girls were moving out of the house and found a photograph that had slipped down the back of one of drawers that Carol had used in the bedroom. The photograph was of Carol and a good looking, dark skinned man and there was some writing on the back which said

“Here’s to the next mission!”

“Whatever could it mean? Who was the man? What had really happened to Carol?” the girls asked each other.

Now’s your chance to finish the story – what are your answers to these questions?

Friday, 26 June 2009

Friday 55 Flash Fiction # 81 Marked


The weather was sweltering.




104 degrees and rising.

People were looking at him, but then he was the only one not wearing shorts.



The sweat poured off him but he didn't have a choice.




He had to keep his legs covered or they would know his secret, they'd spot



the electronic tag on his ankle.




Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.


I'm off on another little jaunt today so I will catch up with you all over the weekend - have a good one!

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Lovely Blog.....

Well it's been a while since I received an award but the lovely Thom at

Thoms Place 4 Well Whatever

has bestowed this one on me....



Like all awards it comes with rules:


1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


So I pass this award on to the following who I have only recently got to know:






Spiky Zora Jones (Bit Player Reflects)


Cloudia (Comfort Spiral)














Fandango (Dragon's Lair)











If you haven't already, go have a read of all those great blogs.


Also Mike at Rambling Stuff gave me this little beauty- The Best Follower Award!


Of course it comes with rules:
Put this Award in a post on your blog
Invite 10 people to take this award
Don’t forget to link back to the person that gave this award to you.
Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
Share the love to those who get this award.



Mike was awarded this by Sandee who gave it to her top 10 commenters, so Mike did the same and I'm going to do the same too. So please will the following please accept this award with my thanks for reading my drivel and commenting so regularly.


Ron (Vent)
Bee (Muffin 55)


I hope you will all accept the awards and pass them on but of course it's not compulsory, just know that I appreciate you all.