Writing Prompts – Creative Copy Challenge #190
Posted: November 3, 2011 Filed under: Copy Challenges 144 CommentsBET YOU CAN’T do this writing prompt. Take the 10 random words below and, in the comments, crush writer’s block by creating a cohesive, creative short story tying all of them together! And remember: after (if) you finish, highlight your words and click the bold button to make them stand out and help you determine if you forgot any words. (If you’ve missed previous writing prompts, we BET YOU CAN’T do those, either.)
- SuckÂ
- Will
- Love
- Great
- Surround
- Fluid
- Big
- Me
- Enough
- Move
NOTE: Don’t copy and paste from MS Word. Use a program like notepad that removes formatting or just type in the comment field itself. Also, finish your submission, THEN bold the words. Thanks. (And don’t forget to tweet this and share it with your friends.)
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Resources you should check out:
Thesis: Best Damn Theme on the Web
Collective Ink Well: Personalize Your Thesis Theme
Third Tribe Marketing: Marketing done the right way
Story Structure Demystified: Best damn writing book out there
Writing Prompts - Creative Copy Challenge 
@Kelly: This one made ME blush :O
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“Hey Billy! You can’t get enough can ya? You love munchin’ da munchy-munch don’t ya?â€
“Bobby, God and gorgeous big-boned gals willin’, I’m gonna strive to be just like one of them there suckerfishes dat attatch themselves to da big, great white sharks, movin’ through da underbelly of da sea, surrounded by fluid bliss.â€
“Billy, it may just be me, but I thinks you’s a bit off in achievin’ your goal. All da great white shark-gals I seent you wit’ has been whales wit’ da looks of hammerheads.â€
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Whales with the looks of hammerheads, funny.  For some reason when I read Billy and Bobby, I picture a narration voice sounding like Tow Mater.
@Justin G: I could picture that too! 🙂
and, as usual, I’m giggling.
@Anne: haha! I could not stop laughing once the idea sprung to life.
Yes. Tow Mater exactly. But not as smart. Oh, dear. This was….something. Big boned gals.
@Jen: “Hey Jen-gal. We’s almost done getting our masters degrees! We’s about 20 degrees short though.”
All the sea-life metaphors were classic, as they’re often used when describing this sort of situation 🙂
Shane!!!! –“…has been whales wit’ da looks of hammerheads.â€Â Oh my….
I will admit, I was a bit concerned with what “Billy and Bobby” were gonna come up wit’ when I read this list of words… heck…. I am concerned what’s going to come out of my imagination with this list. LOL
But this was great. Yah had me chucklin’ at the beginning and laughin’ right out loud before the end.
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@Kathleen: Thanks. I’d love to see videos of you guys reading my B&B submissions! 🙂
@Frank: You took the same route, you dog you!
Bobby and Billy definitely inspired me this time around 🙂
@Shane…I can’t look at your picture with you holding your son as I write this ;)Â “Munchin’ da munchy-munch” is officially my new favorite saying.
@Jeanette: just keep your right eye closed and look at half the picture. 😉
Phys. Ed., boys, Phys. Ed. That’s where the hotties are.
Doesn’t the fraternity help out? Toga parties and whatnot?
Then again, you can take the man out of the country…
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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ha – I needed a laugh tonight – this had me cracking up. Now I’m laughing thinking about the folks who come here and read walking around tomorrow saying “munchin’ da munchy-munch” You may have started a new trend lol
Okay, written in 1 minute and 23 seconds, here goes my entry:
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Love Siphon
Suck what you will
there is enough
great fluid in me
move closer and partake
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Surround yourself
in this big love
there are no limits
and plenty to share
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@Justin G: Awesomesauce. And I thought I was good for doing mine in 5 minutes.
I am so trained at this point from my Random Twitter poetry game, that I can look at a bunch of words and instantly come up with a poem. Â The CCC is almost easy in this regard compared to some of my entries which have 22-25 random words I have to use in a single poem.
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I want to do more short stories, but naturally these take a lot more time to write. Â I have idea’s about stories that I want to add, but given that I often write my CCC entry between the time it takes to feed my kids breakfast and drive them to school before I start my morning 8am conference call I rarely have time for a poem.
Wow… it took me 6 minutes. I bow to you.
Your entries are always more well thought out and much more concise in how you use the words though. Â Mine flow so quickly and without much thought, I just write and see what comes out virtually without thinking about the end result.
Wow. I really like this.
Thanks, I really enjoy this particular challenge and do many of these per week for 3 years now.
This was an awesome poem illustrating the fact that love is not a scarce resource, we could all give until we were exhausted, and we’d still have tons more to give the rest of the world.
Exactly, I always tell people there is too much hate in the world, not enough love for each other as fellow human beings.
Justin — You are right… too much hate. Give ’em love.
@Justin. I must apologize..After reading Shane’s piece my mind was in the gutter! This is great. It always amazes me how when you open your heart to new experiences it grows so much.
Thanks, I don’t think I have ever read a contribution from Shane that was not humor related in the past several months. Â Love the humor stuff, though I tend to write more dark poetry than light poetry for some reason.
Whoa! Deep! (took me 3 seconds to write that. LOL)
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As always, I enjoy your creations, Justin.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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wow – you are fast!! Very cool!
The move was big and fairly fluid. I felt surrounded by a great love. I was suckled, cared for only for me and found myself totally lacking in will. It seemed enough.
@Anne: Love your shorties. There’s a hinted, hidden layer within each word and phrase. Love that. More please.
the last sentence is so textured with meaning, and three tiny words. great job.
Ooh, I agree with the others, Anne. Love those three last words, especially your deliberate choice of the word seemed. Great impact with such an economy of words 🙂
It seemed enough. Â Such a great way to end that sentence because now I wonder what is wrong, where the doubt comes from, price paid…etc.
This sounds like the benefits of life in the womb. Sometimes I wonder if I could have renewed that 9-month lease!
Anne — Beautiful
@Anne. You killed this one!
Anne, this one has me wondering about childbirth.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Childbirth? If so it was totally unconscious, but with these things who knows.
“Will you love me enough to suck out all of the fluid in my great big thighs?” the girl asked the vampire, as she sat surrounded by piles of candy wrappers. Post holiday water retention is a bitch!
The vampire was moved.
@Ma: Holy bleep! That shortie was AWESOME! Do more of those.
Thanks, Shane..I usually go for the poems, but this one was so obvious I couldn’t resist!
hahah. I would like to meet that vampire. Got his number?
1-800-GETSUCKD
When I read the first line before the Vampire part, I immediately pictured Dan Akyroyd in Caddyshack asking Bill Murray to suck the snake venom out of his buttocks. Â Then the rest kind of ended that train of thought 🙂
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Looks like you can get some practical assistance from vampires every now and then, too 🙂
Margaret — fun too… although I got a yuck at the image in my mind… but fun to read.
🙂
@Margaret. This is hysterical!
Thanks, Jeanette and Mitch….the giggles are good for ya
Margaret, the imagery of this scene is at once hilarious and poignant. Girl’s gotta find love, right?
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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hahaha what a great new take on vampires – weight loss treatment….
Less intrusive than liposuction with cuddling benefits.
if you can suck out all that waste from me I will surely love you.It will be great if we are surrounded by cleanliness,It must rush through my nerves like a life saving fluid and make that big bang that will again bring hope in me about a beautiful tomorrow. ok, if not that much,It will be enough if you can move the worlds conscience towards the thought that I am a breathing living volume.
@sh: Great job here. Welcome to the CCC. How did you like it?
If you plan on doing more, under that handle, I’ll add it to the CCC community page. Let me know.
Thanks and sure.
@sh13: Okay, but you have to use that same email each time or you’ll end up in spam. 🙂
you sucked out what was fluid for me,
now surrounded by great blocks of dried out mass I will have to shake my way to move forward.
But it will be a big blow, if you survive I will do enough to compensate. For me love is medicine, will you care? I’ll ease myself.
is it right that I write more, it’s so fun, i read  other entries, awesome
@sh13: As we say, “Write on!”
It was surrounded, twinkling fluid, illumining my world….floated through the big waves and it was enough for me to have the nectar, yet,I will suck in that great ocean of rhymings and move my way towards the loveable galaxy of imagination.
@Carole @Punkster @RS @sh13151223 – Welcome to the CCC! Wow-a plethora of newbies! 🙂
Welcome to CCC where we suck on the nectar of golden words with the will to create what we love. No challenge is too great as we surround our words in a fluid embrace of creativity. The appreciation is beyond big for me and all others, and the submissions are never enough as we move from the mundane of everyday life into the mystical eternity of souls.
Welcome!
<claps with glee> Cathy, thanks for the creative welcome! I’m already moved from the mundane of everyday life and I just got here! 🙂
@Cathy: Nobody does it like you! Don’t forget to link to your archive.
breathing living volume. lovely
Very nice entry, enjoyed it.
I like how this poem shows the potential for love to make everything right, in bigger and smaller ways.
sh13151223 — Welcome to the Addiction we call CCC.
If you are like me you will be sucked in as your fall in love with the great lists of words put forth to move those of us surround by words in our big fluid filled brains. Sometimes the lists are enough to make you blush, other times they merely allow us to stretch the fingers to the keyboard… make someone laugh, cry, or move them to a new word or two … whatever your goal, desire or effect… glad to have you here.
@Kathleen: Great welcome here. You and Cathy make my job so much easier of describing how cool this place is.
@sh13151223 I love the tie in of the big bang with hope for a beautiful tomorrow. Very clever. Welcome to the addiction.
What a rousing first submission! Welcome to the CCC, sh13151223.
Living volume mad me think of “parental unit” for some reason. 🙂
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Go ahead: I know you will move freely through the silky night anyway and into that pulsating bar. Surround yourself with great, big love. But make sure to leave enough luscious fluid for me to suck.
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I wrote this before I checked the other entries. But that vampire theme just seemed to ‘scream’ out at us, eh? Must be post-Halloween effect lol. Cheers, all, Carole.
@Carole: Welcome to the CCC. I loved your first submission. Had a great flow to it. And I love how much you packed into such a short space. We have several people here that specialize in the “Shortie” submissions.
Everyone welcome Carole to the addiction (every Monday and Thursday). How’d you find the CCC?
Thanks for the warm welcome, Shane! I actually have very little experience with ‘the shorties’ but today’s challenge really seemed to inspire one from me. I’ve heard about CCC for a long while now, mentioned every once in a while on zee ‘ol Twitter ticker tape from various creatives. Glad I actually came by and did one. I can easily see how it might become an addiction lol.
I’ll make a point of stopping by more often. Seems like a great bunch congregate/participate here.
This was so great. I like the vampire theme, and the different variations we’re seeing today.
You used Big Love together too, made me think of the TV Show (which I haven’t seen).
I like the deal made here: go get your flirt on at the bar, but just make sure you bring me my fair share at the end of the night!
@Carole. Welcome! This was hauntingly tasty 😉 I hope to see you around these parts often.
Welcome, Carole! I’m glad you posted first, then looked – otherwise, we’d have been all the poorer for having missed your take on the genre. Yours is a bit darker than the others I’ve read so far.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Esther moved across the room in a fluid, sweeping gesture, her gown a gauzy and grand concoction of bridal excess. The photographer requested she pose before the window, surrounding her tiara with a dazzle of morning sunshine and promise.
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This was her day. Her big day. And here she was struggling to maintain her poise with false grandeur. She lifted her left hand to her chin, watching the diamond approach her face. She remembered that when Will gave it to her, on his bended knee and with the requisite roses and champagne and all the other storybook ideas she had demanded, it seemed so great. It seemed as if the diamond and the roses and the champagne and the knee bending would equal the princess dream of happily ever after.
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She felt the burn of doubt in her stomach like acid. Esther tried to keep the tears at bay, sucking in her breath, deliberately relaxing her shoulders. But the image of what she had seen last night floated back into her mind. She tried not to think it but there is was. “Does he love me enough?â€
@Jen: You sure know how to make the 1st sentence pack a punch. Masterful at that! And I must know more of what you had in mind for this Esther character.
@Jen. This reminds me of a certain celebutante who got married for all the wrong reasons…although your beautiful writing actually made me feel bad for your main character.
Jen, this is a killer hook! What on earth could she have seen that would still let her don her “excessivewear”? 🙂
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More please!
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Jen..kudos on this piece. Love ‘gauzy and grand concoction of bridal excess.’ Ain’t writing great fun? 🙂
Jen, you have a wonderful way of exposing the frailty of the silky-veneer that so many try to show the world. It’s usually a thin film covering the mania raging underneath.
Dorothy thought that he sucked at making an impression, although he had the heart of a passionate lover. He was staring at her surrounded by her group of friends. With great courage and a strong will, he started walking towards her. He took deep breaths and moved with a fluid motion, trying to act as normal as possible. Once he got close enough to the gathering, the group moved aside and noticed him standing.
He looked at her with his big passionate eyes and asked “You and me, for a coffee please?”
@Punkster: Welcome to the CCC. I can never read enough male/female interaction stuff. Nice write. And I can tell you love words too. Great to have you here, and I hope to see you here more often (a challenge each Monday and Thursday).
Everyone welcome punkster to the fun.
Great piece, Punkster, and welcome! Some of the scariest moments in life can be when trying to extract the potential object of our affection from their protective social circle.
Thank you Shane, for the warm welcome.
I’m so happy to join this party.
Cheers.
=)
@Frank Ruiz
Thank you, Frank.
I totally agree, it’s hard to break into a social circle for that one special person. =)
@Punkster. I felt like I was part of the group watching this poor fellow make his move. Well done. Welcome!
Welcome, Punkster! As sad as that pick-up line is, I can vouch for the authenticity of the socially inept attempt. LOL Been there, got dumped. 🙂
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Gotta love a guy with a blog called Brain Stew. (I loved that Silent Haunting, by the way!)
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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I stood back from the breakers – but not so far that I didn’t feel enveloped by the sea. A few minutes is all it took on most days to let the expanse and immensity surround me and carry away the day’s irritation – often, the only homage I brought to the sea. I sat back, preparing to be distracted from my thoughts by the game – constructing whole stories from the the brief glimpses visitors to the beach allowed me of their lives – played out unaware of or unconcerned by watchers like me, perhaps reassured of the anonymity the beach offered them.The regulars were exempt. I did not want to be involved – my reserves of emotional energy were spare. The exercise was this then – to find someone and imagine this day in their lives, to shape a character and the compulsion that brought them here today from the gestures, expressions and reactions I was privy to. There was to be no verbal or physical contact and the assessment had to be completed in 5 minutes. I considered the game won if the subject’s behavior in the next 5 minutes confirmed the hypothesis.I looked about me – I had to be careful to choose someone who would stay for the necessary period and who was close enough for me to observe details. I settled on a young woman finally.She sat alone, looking absently at the patterns she scored in the sand with her fingers. One arm held her light blue sari lightly but firmly in place at her ankles. A black strapped watch encircled a slim wrist. She wore no jewellery except some non descript earrings.Hair mid length I guessed – held thickly together by a big plastic hair grip.She stopped drawing and looked up at the sea – held its gaze for a while, the finger still poised to draw, frozen mid air.She was distracted from her reverie by the cell phone that rang in her bag. I was too far to hear what she spoke, but she seemed to be having a casual and friendly conversation.Was she waiting for someone? If so, she did not seem very concerned by that person’s failure to appear. A friend, I decided, she was waiting for a friend – someone close enough to her. This was either a routine or she knew the person well enough. Financially independant, probably lived alone given that she didn’t seem to sport the obligatory amount of gold jewellery, conservative Chennai demanded of its middle class. En route home from work, probably stopped for a breath of air before she went back to the PG accommodation she shared with 4 other girls, I concluded, irritated that I had wasted my time on one so ordinary. I hurried to spot another target before the day ended. A family presented themselves almost immediately. I plunged into their dramatic interlude headlong. Young parents animatedly discussing something while their daughter reluctantly accompanied them to the ice cream stall. The girl,all of 5 probably, refused the cones and cups her parents and the surprised vendor offered her. Unconcerned, the mother ordered a double scoop and proceeded to eat it with visible delight. The girl was unmoved. The father remonstrated with his wife – probably on the extravagance of the gesture wasted on the child. An early evening home from work, an unexpected treat this stopover at the beach – the woman was determined to enjoy it. The man clearly looked as though he regretted this magnanimous gesture. The girl uncomfortable, standing apart from her parents. Not sulking, something deeper – perhaps a toy denied from a shop on the way.I settled to examine the wife – moderately blinged, she let her shiny sari speak her happiness at this unexpected trip and break from the montonous chores. She paused, sucked up the melted icream from the fingers and asked her husband something. He glanced at his watch – and seemed to be pleading with her. She stood up, langour and icecream discarded fluidly. With great resolve, held her daughter’s hand and began the trek across the sands back. For once, mother and daughter seemed to be of one mind – relieved to leave.The husband, by contrast, walked ahead and turning his back to me began to address wife and daughter repeatedly. Neither appeared to hear him.I gave up all pretence of being a disinterested observer and followed their path with my eyes. They appeared on collission course with my earlier target, who stood up as they neared her, to let them pass by I thought. But no, she walked over to meet them. The young girl, skipped over to my first subject and held her hand firmly. The man appeared angry with my subject, who stood strangely sad and calm. Pointing to his watch, he gesticulated strongly. His wife, if that was what she was, held his arm and spoke to calm him. In the end, her will appeared stronger and the couple walked back to the parking lot. My subject and her daughter watched as the man looked back dejectedly at the family he had left.I looked away and gathered my belongings. I would not count this game as played, I decided.
@RS.What a first submission…this was super interesting.
@RS: That was super cool. As if you were creating characters in your character notebook for creative writing class.
R S, this is a fascinating study in characterization, rendered beautifully through the prismatic sieve of your masterful disclaimer:
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“…played out unaware of or unconcerned by watchers like me, perhaps reassured of the anonymity the beach offered them…”
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I look forward to more from you! Welcome to the CCC!
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Hello, am not sure how to make the words appear bold – could anyone explain?
@RS: We have a toolbar right above where you type in your submission with the “b” button to bold your words. Highlight the words, then click on that button. If you ran out of time to do this. Just resubmit, bold the words and I’ll erase your first version.
Hey, R S! Welcome to the CCC! Your story about the beach game is like the game we play here every Monday and Thursday! Looking forward to your continued entries!
The Ache
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From the fender ’round my heart
Leaks a fluid from a part
That needs love to make it start.
Take my body to the shop
Check the engine at the top
Make that horrid pressure drop!
Finding nothing in my head
Bad enough to cause me dread –
They will fix my chest, instead.
With a great big rubber hose
Shoved twelve inches down my nose
Try to suck out all my woes.
Now the cavity is drained
And the pressure is explained:
My emotions have been chained!
I surround myself with shrinks,
Who unlock those rusty links
And repair my mental kinks.
From the cockles of my heart
Moves a smoothly running part
Primed by sparks from Cupid’s dart.
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Awesome poem, Mitch, and great to see your range with this one! I love how every triplet rhymed each line with each other! This could be “Cars 3: The Opera!”
Thanks, Frank! Lately, I’ve been experimenting with different metrical feet. You’ll find a similar rhythm in CCC #158.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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@Mitch: What can I say? I don’t think there’s a genre you can’t do.
Thank you, Shane. Your support says it all.
I’ve been bogged down with that blogging contest. Only 600 words into NaNo 😦
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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I love what you achieved in the blog challenge, while I’ve been on the move.
And I know you got the will to do enough in the NaNo, Mitch. Your story is already great; you done the big one; you began.
Don’t quit; that would suck. I’d have an ache somewhere if you did that.
Keep those words fluid 🙂 Surround me with more of your images.
Thanks, Ant! We fought the good fight. Time to hit the keyboard for NaNo!
I hope you land lightly, my friend.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Mitch, if it makes you feel any better (and I know it doesn’t) my word count is “0” right now. There, I said it. I’ve written NOTHING for NaNoWriMo.
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::hangs head in shame::
Holly, I haven’t written any at all yet either; or much of an outline. So be encouraged. You’ve done lots of other things in the last few days and I’m sure you’ll get there.
I’m never sure whether November is the best time of the year or the WORST for NaNo. And then this contest came up in a weak moment, when I wasn’t even THINKING about NaNo – so I consider it a “prior commitment.”
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But there’s always CCC. 😉 Mitch, Ant, maybe we can string all our CCC posts together, call it “absurdist fiction” and publish a bestseller?
Heh, Collaborative Cockamamie Codicil from Creative Copy Challenge – think we can take on Yesterday’s Gone?
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883 words, including the little aster ricky separators. How do you deal with headings? Just write more than 50K?
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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COUNT THEM. Sheesh. Every meaningful word (and a few that are not so meaningful) counts.
Don’t allow others to suck the life out of you! Take it from me; they will steal your light if you allow them to do so. Surround yourself with like-minded, creative people who can move you to where you need to be. Be fluid like water and have enough self-love to handle constructive criticism. After all, it’s for your own good. Can you feel the big changes rumbling through your life? Have you had enough of the ‘same old, same old’ routine? It’s time to let go and pursue your dreams and the life you’re meant to live. Be great, be you.
Rebecca, this is a great piece on the dangers of keeping haters close enough to wear you down. I want to read this every morning before walking into work!
@Rebecca: Ain’t that the truth. What word gave you this idea today?
You have a bright future as a motivational speaker! I’m fired up! 🙂
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Be great, Rebecca!
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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@Rebecca. I live for hearing the big changes rumbling through my life. I agree with Mitch, you could totally be a motivational speaker.
“Why do you equate sucking with love?â€
“Why do you keep trying to remove their connection?â€
“Uh, because I don’t see the need for fluid retention to be the measuring-stick for how we feel about each other!â€
“Listen, I’m starting to get the impression that you don’t’ love all of me as much as I love all of you.â€
“C’mon, man! Will you stop trying to paint me into a corner here? My love for you is as big as this room! It’s surrounding us. This whole place is a veritable shrine to you. I’ve got enough of your crap here to open a museum!â€
“You’re right, and I appreciate it. We can barely move around in here with all this stuff. What’s puzzling to me, though, is that the one thing I tell you would be the greatest expression of our love ever is the one thing you don’t want to do!â€
“Damn it! Let it go, alright?â€
“Maybe I should let you go!â€
“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? FINE! It’s simple! No one wants to get lost in a jungle, okay? Why don’t you try trimming the hedges and freshening things up down there once in a while? I’m tired of tasting a fucking locker-room floor every time you beg for it!â€
“…â€
“Don’t look at me like that! YOU’RE the one who kept pushing the issue!â€
“Wait, come back! Don’t slam that- -â€
BAM!
“…bathroom door.â€
CLUNK! CLANG!
“Hey, what’s that racket in there? Open up, man!â€
BZZZZZZZZ!
“Hey, are you using my fucking razor? I shave my legs with that!â€
“And I’m shaving my ‘jungle!’ You’ve got about 5 minutes to get those lips ready!â€
“Fuck!â€
@Frank: haha. You had me thinking this was benign until almost the end. Locker room floor – that made poor Bobby gag.
Laughing out loud enough to wake Davey Jones. this was highlarious!
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Write on, you writer, you!
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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@Frank. The places these words took everyone is quite interesting :)Â LOL!
Thanks for the comments, Shane, Mitch, and Jeanette!
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Yeah, I guess I just couldn’t take the high road once “suck” was on the list, heheh!
@ Frank … Thank you! I’ve had to clear out some ‘haters’ from my life. I feel much better 🙂
The sun hid behind the red rocks. Pink streaks exploded through random crevices allowing just enough light to make out the path. Signs of life came from softly cracked branches in the distance. The winds fierce fluidity cut like knives.
“There’s not enough light, but I think it says ‘look out’ point this way.â€Â Roberto’s lips and chin jutted out to reflect the direction. “Man, it would suck if we got lost.†Â
Miranda stared down at her bare feet. She never liked her big toe with its oddly shaped nail. She had been afraid of heights her whole life, but she would never let him know it.
“You wanted to immerse yourself in nature, right? Let’s move.†Shoving her feet into her Vibrams, she chugged a gulp of Gatorade and walked ahead. They had about twenty minutes before the sun would rise and surround them with warmth. Â
Rocks and dirt littered the way making it difficult to decipher the path. Miranda tightened the straps of her backpack, reaching back to check the safety of her camera. Her will to achieve this climb superseded her fear. Â
Roberto’s breathing was getting labored. “I think it’s great that at your age you’re still trying new things. For me, when I retire, I plan to sleep in and play catch with my dogs all day.†Â
Miranda winced at his words. She knew she said too much the day before when he booked his excursion. Â
“Well Roberto, my job is to have you fall in love with Sedona so maybe you can retire here someday.”
@Jeanette: There’s nothing you can’t write about that makes whatever you write about better than the reality of it.
@Jeanette, what Shane said.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Your ability to breathe life into all your characters with these pages every week is amazing! I want to meet and hang out with every character you present us!
The rock still held some warmth from the sun and I loved to come here to sit and watch the sunset. I couldn’t get enough of it. Even with the noise from the river, I felt a peace like nowhere else. I thought for the thousandth time, how grateful I was to Aunt Kathryn for leaving the cabin to me in her will. The more I learned about her from her journals and from tiny touches around the little house, the more I was sure I would have loved her.
My thoughts were interrupted by motion at the edge of my vision. I turned my head and there stood a wolf on my side of the river. I sucked in my breath and jumped off the rock and the wolf growled, front legs planted apart. It was beautiful and terrifying all at time.
Her movements were fluid. Why did I assume the wolf was a female? I was suddenly acutely aware of my surroundings. Nothing but trees, and the roar of the rapids would be loud enough to drown out my voice if I tried to shout for help. I took a slow step back. Her fur was standing up and her I was close enough to see the delicate pink of her gums. Her lips were peeled back and the large canines glinted in the remaining light. Remaining light..it would be dark soon. No one would know I was gone until morning when the shop remained closed. Great.
“Look I don’t mean you any harm. Nice doggie?”Â
The wolf growled, deep and menacing. I could swear she was angry. What a crazy thing to think. She was closer and she was big. I took another step and she growled again, tracking my movement. I was sweating in the cool air. I felt ridiculously clumsy and slow. Her eyes seemed intelligent and I knew I was I was in danger.
The almost ebony wolf suddenly jerked her head up. Something was behind me. I slowly turned my head and saw a huge brown wolf. I would be dinner for two.
Instead of both of them attacking me, the brown wolf leaped around me and stood between me and the female. This was the wolf I had seen watching me from the other side of the river. He growled and stepped forward until he was just a few feet from the black wolf, a rumbling sound coming from his throat the whole time. The female held her ground for a moment and then lowered her head. The brown wolf continued to growl until she laid down and exposed her throat. I could do nothing but stare in fascination. He nipped at her and she rolled and rose to her feet and with a look back at me, turned and loped off. My rescuer turned and sat down in front of me. I was frozen in place.
When my heart stopped pounding so hard that I was sure he could hear it, I sunk to the ground. This was crazy. Why wasn’t I running?
I tried to speak and nothing came. I swallowed and tried again.
“Thank you.”
The wolf just stared at me. I lowered my head just like the female wolf did. He seemed almost to nod, stood and walked away.
I managed to stand and turned toward home, my legs shaking. I made it home with no more trouble, let myself the door and threw the deadbolt.
I turned on every light in the house. It was going to be awhile before I could sleep.
Dee, were it not for all the wolf-infused stories surrounding us, I’d never leap to the conclusion that this was a werewolf encounter.
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It’s more fun to imagine it exactly as you had written it – human vs. beast vs. beast.
By the same token, if this is your entree into the genre, sign me up!
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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Thanks Mitch. I am so very aware that that wolves and werewolves are a bit over done. I am going to be searching for ways to make this stand out. I am behind on word count but ahead in the planning and that feels good. There is a post on my blog about my feeling about nanowrimo this year. I have given myself permission to fail gloriously 🙂 My goal (while there is a bit of ocd in me that cracks the whip and says get that word count up!) is to make a good – no scratch that, GREAT plan and end up with something better than I had the first time. Just trying to learn and improve. :) How is it going for you? If you are interested, let me know your username on nano and I will add you to my buddy list. Anyone else into self torture??
Oh, cool! Well, it stands out already, for me – I do not usually read werewolf stories.
I’ve got this really awesome handle on NaNo! … Wait for it …
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Mitchell Allen
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LOL
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So, let me hop on over to your blog to see what’s what. I got 600 words, but once this week is over, I’ll be more focused.
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Cheers,
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Mitch
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tired and trying to get my word count up a bit as I fill in my story map. Thanks for prompts that moved me ahead at least in my mind 🙂
@Dee. I’m really enjoying these werewolf stories and like Mitch, I don’t tend to gravitate towards them. Good luck on developing this. Your style of writing draws me in.
I am not sure about writing from this pov in present tense. I have read that it can work well but I am giving it a try for a bit. I may change later. I need to live with it for a bit. thank you!!
[…] Creative Copy Challenge 190 […]
Oh my God what a place to have been landed on!
So much of words filled with oceans in it,
so many who just can think only well awesome
I bow to that supreme who created this small thing, called human brain.
Mine was a reply love letter from earth to him,
He made that little grey matter so resourceful
but we sometimes fail to preserve the resources around us.
 Thanks a load.
@ Mitch … Thank you! I’m developing a business and wouldn’t mind incorporating motivational speaking. I’d like to reach teens as well as adults.
@ Shane … The word that gave me my idea is “suck.” I know a lot of people who allow others to ‘suck’ the joy, fun, excitement about a business/idea, light, etc. out of their lives because they’re too afraid to set their boundaries. I used to be one of those people, not anymore.
@ Jeanette … That’s fantastic! My hope is that more and more people will ‘hear and listen’ for the ‘big changes’ rumbling through their lives. The world would be a better place.
His great love surrounds me;
Fluid energy; sucking inward, flowing outward,
Big enough to move mountains,
Small enough to infiltrate human will.
@Lisa: HOLY BLEEP! That was super hot, Lisa.
Two bottles drifted up onto the beach, rolling back and forth in the surf. One had a piece of paper rolled up in it; the other contained a clear fluid that I hoped was precious, potable water. I opened the first by dashing it against a rock. In my impatience, I left jagged shards of glass and got two sliced and bloodied fingers as I reached in to extract the note. It was from K, my nemesis and mastermind at Weblogbetter’s Surviving the Blog Contest – the very contest that had landed me on this idyllic, yet thoroughly booby-trapped island.
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“This is going to suck,†I muttered, reading the week’s challenge. Just then, a propeller plane flew low overhead, dropping something from the sky. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I watched as a chattering chimp floated down on a garishly colored parachute, bearing what appeared to be a large wooden box marked “SOAP.†Although I had learned to be wary, I supposed that the box could come in handy. I wondered if it could float with me in it, and get me back to civilization.
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The macaques would not be thrilled with the addition of an overly chipper mail-order chimp, even if it came strapped to the back of a used crate filled with nuts and boots, bananas and other supplies. Last week’s quake meant that the island was about to experience a tsunami fit to wash over the eastern tribe and suck one out to sea. As dark thunderheads rolled up the horizon, surrounding the savage island and heralding the coming storm with great flashes of light in the rose and purple sunset, I began to move my hips and feet, singing unselfconsciously: “I feel the earth move under my feet, I feel the sky tumbling down, tumbling down…†Hell, might as well do a rain dance. There was no one around to see me. No one but the chimp, that is. He did his best to ape me, but being a chimp, the best he could manage was something akin to the Hokey-Pokey on speed.
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Through the tangled trees, a seething, crimson glow from Mount Volume hinted at yet more ominous things to come. I uncorked the second bottle and took a long draught of sweet, fresh water – reminding myself that survival was the name of the game. I grudgingly gave the chimp a few precious droplets; apparently, my survival this week depended entirely on his. I handed him a banana, then dragged the huge box into my lean-to and explored the treasure at hand. There were several books big enough to serve as end tables. A small, crank-powered record player and a scratchy album by the Shirelles soon had me singing, “I’d like to know that your love is a love I ca-an be sure of… So tell me now, and I won’t ask again: Will you still love me tomorrow?†For some reason, it made me feel lonely for the rest of my team, and I scanned the trees for signs of life as darkness approached.
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Before I could launch into some sappy rendition of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,†or start laughing to the tune of “They’re Coming to Take Me Awaaaaaay, Ha Ha!†I heard the laughing voices of Larry, Ntathu, Brandon, and Neeraj as they tumbled and ran down the hill bearing bright, flickering torches and packages of their own. “Boy, am I glad to see you!†I exclaimed.
VERMONT, AUG 2011
hurricane
fluid can’t be sucked down the drain
fast enough
front barely moves
on top of the mountain,
surrounded by big water below
(where greater troubles than mine lie)
when will we be able to drive down?
ah, me
i love rain but this is ridiculous!
@Kelly: I live in one of the highest points of Maryland, so floods don’t bother me. 🙂
[…] Challenge for Creative Copy Challenge.Words: Suck, Will, Love, Great, Surround, Fluid, Big, Me, Enough, Move His great love […]
[…] Originally appeared on CreativeCopyChallenge #190. […]