the ball, the box and the remote control

I asked the BFF to help out with today's writing prompt which I found at lightening bug and modified a little bit.  The exercise was to ask a friend to choose an object and then write about it.  I didn't like any of the objects that the BFF chose, but after the third one I got the impression that she wasn't going to choose another one for me.  I decided to write about all three.  You may have figured out that the three objects are: ball, box and remote control.  This is what happened...

The red ball rolled steadily across the grass and stopped at her feet.  She stooped down to retrieve it.  When she traced the path of the ball with her eyes, she saw a little boy standing at the edge of the playground.  He was a thin 7 year old, standing still as a statue and staring at her quizzically.  She smiled at him.  He grinned back and held out his hands.  She placed it back on the grass and kicked it gently in his direction. He ran for the ball and returned to the game.  Stella continued towards the big tree in the middle of the park.  Where was Danni?  She was always running late. 

Danni jumped out from behind the tree, scaring Stella out of her skin.  Danni was carrying a box.  A big red box. 

Stella took the remote control out of her pocket.  Well, that was the signal.  A red ball and now a red box.  So she looked down at the remote and pressed the red button.  Suddenly, Stella could see nothing but red clouds swirling around her and she was spinning out of control.  This happened everytime Stella pressed a button on the remote control but she never got used to it. 

When the spinning stopped and the red clouds parted, Stella was very surprised by what she saw.  Standing in front of her was Danni looking bewildered and ill.  This was very odd.  Stella had been transported to some very strange places by the remote, but it had never yanked anyone along for the ride.  That's when she felt the hand patting her repeatedly on the back.  She turned to see the thin seven year old boy with a red ball, looking up at her.  What was going on? 

Stella crouched on the ground and covered her head with her arms.  Something was very wrong.  The remote had pulled Danni and this little boy into this fantasy land.  There was no telling what mysteries or strange creatures might be here.  She had to work out what had happened and get them out of here as soon as possible....

You know what? This might have to be continued. 

BTW I have to put in a disclaimer about the BFF.  She is beautiful.  She is incredibly patient.  Apparently, there are times when I convey her as a bit of an impatient cranky pants.  So, I want to reiterate how much we love her.  She is not at all impatient and not at all a cranky pants.  Enough said.

:) M

Bridges

Today's writing prompt comes from 365 picture prompts.  Click on the picture to go to the website.  The photos change everyday.  This picture was from January 9 and was contributed to the site by Judy Wood (the photographer, not the scientist). 

The chasm loomed ahead of us.  It would be unimaginative to tell you that I accidentally kicked a rock and it fell to the bottom of the seemingly bottomless canyon.  But, that really did happen.  The hike was going so nicely, unfortunately no one told me about this part.  Looking over the edge made me a little giddy. 

'What on earth possessed me to go hiking with these people?  I can't remember how I got here.  Really, I can't.' 

I could hear a voice, but what it was saying seemed foreign to me.  

"Liz. Oi, Liz," someone was calling my name. 

"Liz, the bridge is this way," he told me.  I finally pulled my gaze from the chasm and looked at him.  He was standing there, looking at me with those big brown eyes.  He patiently and reassuringly held his hand out to me.   

"C'mon, Liz, we just have to follow this ledge"

"LEDGE?" I questioned. 

"It's okay, Liz, take my hand and we will be there in no time."

I took a deep breath and put my hand in his.  He cradled my hand, and lead me away. 

I concentrated on the back of his head, his neck, his broad shoulders and I sighed.  Some might say this was a ridiculous response to the situation.  I had to have something to distract me from the 500 metre drop to my left and the bushland to my right.  We seemed to weave through a few small trees and suddenly right before us was the bridge. 

The suspension bridge seemed to have a slight swing in the breeze. 

'Did he really expect me to walk across that thing?'

I looked at him with a frown. 

"It's fine, Liz, I have walked across this bridge a hundred times, and look at me... could I be anymore gorgeous?" he grinned. 

I couldn't help laughing at him.  I closed my eyes, took another breath and followed him across the bridge. 

'There had better be a fantastic reward at the end of this trek.' 

The rest of the hike was rather short.  We arrived at a beautiful waterfall and everyone stripped off for a swim.  I sat on the edge and dangled my feet in the water.  He sat with me.  I realised that this was reward enough.  We sat in silence for a long time, listening to the waterfall and the laughter of the others.  Then his kissed me. 

A walk in the bush and a death defying suspension bridge in exchange for a kiss... yeah, it was worth it. 

I know that was soppy... but I couldn't resist.

 

Autobiography

Number 301: Come up with 10 good reasons why you shouldn't write your own life story.

Ten Reasons NOT to write your own life story

1. When you write it yourself, you are incredibly biased.

2. You cannot possibly describe the real you, as you can only describe who you think you are.
3. There is a great deal about your life, that even you don't know.
4. You have to live your life before you can write about it.
5. It will never be finished.
6. Privacy laws would require you to change everyone's name... Confusing.
7. No one would believe you.
8. Some things simply should not be written down.
9. It would take too long.
10. You don't know how it ends.

Personally, I think there are probably a hundred reasons not to write your own life story.  I am not sure how many of them are good reasons.  I think my list could be narrowed down to five really good reasons. 

What are the top 5 reasons for you?

The Kite Pilot

Someone used this phrase (kite pilot) in a conversation today.  I love the song "let's go fly a kite" from the Disney film Mary Poppins.

Creative Writing is a fire sparked by the everyday. 

 Today "the everyday" sparked a free verse poem. 

Kite Pilot

bright blue ceiling

glowing light

tailed triangles

upward sight

feet planted

arms raised

smooth then stilted

grounded flight

floating rainbow

twisting, twirling

framed geometric

gliding flight

built bird

piloted wings

guided by breezes

unlikely flight

motion slowing

air receeding

kite descending

pilot's plight

Bathtime!

The writing prompt today struck me as a task that would be fun and lends itself to a bit of silliness.    M :)

Number 324:

Make a list of 7 signs that it's time to take a bath.

1. Your skin is a different colour.
2. The fire brigade shows up to investigate a gas leak in your house, then realise the bad smell is you. 
3. The hair on your legs is longer than the hair on your head.
4. There is so much soap in the cupboard that there is no room for anything else. 
5. You have a dust cloud following you. 
6. Your housemate wears gloves and a surgical mask when you enter the house.
7. You don't remember the last time you had a bath.