Service Level Announcement

The observant amongst you may have noticed there have been a couple of subtle changes and additions to the blog over the last month or so.  There is now an established Features header detailing the types of review you may see on the blog from time to time and a header which will direct you to a couple of samples of my writing, should you be so inclined.  There’s also a new header for links – something I’ve been looking to put in place for a while but hadn’t previously had chance to due to competing time constraints.  There you’ll find links to fiction/writing websites which may be of interest and (in due course) advice on writing courtesy of established authors. 

Additionally, you can click the buttons in the sidebar to subscribe via RSS feed and/or e-mail, in addition to following on Twitter.  (Feel free to head over and say hello!)  It’s also possible to follow via a bloglovin’ feed.  With all that said, it’s now time to bury myself in a couple of good books…

Tunnel Vision (VisDare)

Photo Source (via VisDare)

Its length lay stretched before her; taunting.  Beth had been here before.  Yesterday.  Again, again.  It would not beat her.  Not yet.  She would tread the gauntlet – retrace her steps.  Touch the rough walls, feeling forwards, seeking the doorway she hoped yet to find.  Her exit from the cycle; loop stuck on repeat, no respite. 

She was unsure of the numerics – a deliberate omission; her mind similarly resetting itself?  She hoped not – her brain was what was left amongst the roughened floorboards, the constricting walls.  Behind them, lurked the Unspeakable, source of unintelligible sound.  Infrequent.  Beth had no wish to stir the whatever - creeping forwards, seeking still for speed.  She knew the lights would fail pre-end, familiar of old.  That marked the end and the beginning. 

Foot atop failing wood, Beth ventured a misstep – a chance perhaps, harm disregarded – launching herself into darkness below, a downward descent.  Down.  Down.     

(150 words)

Comment

The word prompt this week was "beneath".

Reductions (Flash! Friday)

Kolmanskop CC photo by Damian du Toit (via Flash! Friday)

I am ground to grains by you; miniscule proportions.  A steady slow creation.  Loss begins at my toe; the ochre nail.  Barely noticeable at first, at least by you.  A careless word and gone.  I tell myself I do not miss it.  My reduction, one digit alone.  I tell myself.

The missing foot poses new problems.  I set myself to hobble, resolved.  You step upon the scattered silica granules in my wake with your soles.  I hear the grate on wooden floorboards, the grind and crunch.  You don’t – or so it seems.  You say to stay, safe with you.  I do.  I wonder why. 

Times passing anchors me to the floor.  My remnants splay about me; pass through the gaps in boarding, make good their escape.  I cannot hope to follow, unless by gradual division, which continues apace.  An inexorable shrinking.

Perhaps if you are patient, some day you will wake surrounded by the pieces of me you have made.

(160 words)

Comment

The word prompt this week was "patience".

Communications (Trifextra)

This week's Trifextra challenge asks for 33 words exactly about love gone wrong, with the added challenge of requesting that the following words are not included:

love - sad - tears - wept - heart - pain

This is my offering:-

Communications

Bodies curled together, shared heat, now separated by blank indifference.  Nothing fills the breach.  Communication lost; irretrievable.  Clare forgets when, precisely.  It doesn’t matter now, though she would have tried if he’d asked.

(33 words)

We Three (VisDare)

Photo Source (via VisDare)

I sit, needle in hand.  Surrounded by nothing, yet everything.  Possibility limitless. 

You think you see me.  What’s there.  In truth, you see as I allow.  You think you understand.  Perhaps you do, in part. 

We are everywhere, we three, in differing guises.  I, the spinner; my second and third.  They follow, though you must look elsewhere to find them.  Aisa, perhaps, may find you first, if you are careless with your allotted time. 

I think you know me now.  The weight of your gaze suggests it; the sudden change.

Time’s passing brings changes for us too.  No loom or spindle.  Thread replaced by yarn, needle lengthier as year turns upon year.  Thus do we hide in plain sight, on your eyeline.  Committed to task, as you create your own chances, heedless and harried.  Oblivious.

The failing is in not seeing - the real decisions are made elsewhere.

(150 words)

Comment

The suggested word prompt for this one was "contemplation".

Gladiator (Flash! Friday)

Public domain photograph sourced here via Flash! Friday


It took Olympian strength to leap the hurdles some days.  Sal knew the ones.  When tasks took non-allotted time; ate into hours.  The sleep filled, rest bound days.  She boxed those away behind closed doors; her warrior walls.

Converse and counterbalanced against these - the gladiatorial ones.  Those to pole vault over obstacles.  The ones Sal envied for their effortless on the others.  Fun filled and fanciful.  Family, friends and fulfillment.  Love and laughter.  While the race lasted.

She stacked moments upon one another, wherever; whenever.  However; whomever.  Ducklings at play time.  Sun on the skyline.  Ally; always.  Her mini miracle.  Smiling; sleeping; giggling; gurgling.  Best endeavour ever.  Worth it.  Worth it all.

Sal classified days via her personal podium.  A system of order amongst chaos, when it threatened to invade.  She had her reasons.  Clear cut and crystal.  The world was yet her stadium.  Sal aimed for gold.  Always.


Comment

The photo prompt explains itself in terms of timing.  The word prompt for this week's challenge was "envy".  This received an Honourable Mention.

The Game (Trifecta)

It was the annual gathering which brought them together.  The community as one, for a singular occasion.  Their celebration of the cause – the festival dedicated to their sole aim; to manipulate.  They had all been drawn into it for differing reasons, really, retaining the same twisted sense of purpose. 

You saw the usual suspects, of course.  You could guess for yourself which professions they worked within, little effort involved.  Yes – of course – those are the ones.  The supposed high flyers, bringing in their high scores in the game.  Still, it all counted.  Large project or small, either way.  Each could garner its own submission.  Then it was down to the panel to decide the most worthy of recognition.  The overall winner. 

Rumour had it the prize differed from year to year.  Last year’s had been cash payout.  That had prompted the influx this year.  Economics win out.  Cold hard lack of conscience playing its part. 

Word of mouth had a way of proving their best form of advertisement.  It didn’t do to draw too much attention to themselves otherwise.  Spoiled the effect if the art of the manipulation was revealed in the act, sometimes.  Better for it to become clear after the event, once one’s purpose was achieved.  Their own variation on sleight of hand, so to speak.

The room held a sense of anticipation in amongst its occupants as they waited for the scoreboard tally; the recognition of their year’s efforts.  The chatter in amongst them suggested some were keen to pre-empt it, getting their word in first.

It was some time later that they began to realise.  Murmur cresting into overriding conversation.  There was no committee attendance.  Later again, the understanding that nor would there be.  The general unspoken understanding seemed to be that their efforts this year had simply been beneath the expectations of them. 

Perhaps in reality it should have been anticipated – that the most worthy manipulators amongst them might also seek to manipulate; to participate in the game.

(333 words)

Comment  

Something slightly different for this flash fiction challenge.  This one stems from a word prompt only, the prompt being:

MANIPULATE (transitive verb)

1: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner
2a : to manage or utilize skillfully
  b : to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage
3: to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one's purpose : to doctor

(as at Trifecta via the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary)

The response to the prompt needs to be between 33 and 333 words.  If this is something you like the look of, you may wish to take a look at the website and challenge instructions.  Alternatively, you may want to try the photo-inspired challenge, also up on the website.