Written for Great Minds Think –
“What Next: Friday Challenge”.
Our hosts, Sarah & Rohini, ask
us to write a poem or story using
any or all of these five clues:
Category: Longer Stories
The Last Crossing: The Story of Thomas & Mary Ashworth
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
“RMS Mauretania: Queen of the Atlantic”.
Finally a steam ship story that isn’t tragic!
Many Unhappy Returns: A Minnie Ming Mystery
Written for Great Minds Think – “The Five
Clues Challenge”. Our hosts, Sarah & Rohini,
challenge us to write a poem or story
incorporating these five clues:
a red umbrella, a missing tooth, 1984,
a woman who hates birthdays, a bird that cannot fly
What Goes Up…..
Written for Great Minds Think – “Oops”.
Our hosts, Sarah & Rohini, ask us to write
a poem or story about a situation where the
best of intentions ended in the worst results.
Also for Gerry & Sue’s Weekly Prompts –
The One Day Prompt.
Move-In Condition, My Ass!
Written for Great Minds Think –
When Truth Has a Shadowy Challenge.
Our hosts, Sarah & Rohini, ask us to
imagine impossible situations and write
a piece where “Every Lie Becomes Visible”.
SS Princess Alice: The River Remembers
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’:
“SS Princess Alice: Tragedy on the Thames”.
This is a fictionalized ‘penny paper’ article as
it may have been reported in the late Victorian era.
What My Grandfather Carried: Domenic DiStefano and the General Slocum
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’:
“PS General Slocum – New York’s Forgotten
Tragedy”. This story is very personal and was
difficult for me to write. It’s my grandfather’s
story of what would be the worst loss of life
from a single disaster in the history of New
York until 9/11. Thank you for reading.
Rammed At Dawn
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
RMS Olympic: Old Reliable. Please be sure
to check out Max’s site for more information,
videos, and photos of RMS Olympic.
The Cousin
Written for Muse On Monday.
David challenges us to write a
story involving a distant relative.
Between Two Shores: Vito’s Story
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
SS Andrea Doria: The Last Great Ocean
Liner Disaster. This one is personal;
this is the story of my father,
what he felt in his heart and
what he would have said.
Vaffanculo!
Re-written from 2023 for Great Minds Think –
The Enough Challenge. Our hosts, Sarah & Rohini,
ask us to consider “when is enough actually enough?”
Some of you may remember this one; it felt like
the right time to break it out again. Enjoy!
Lady In Red: A Dirk Malone Story
Written for Sunday Whirl Wordle.
Here are Brenda’s prompt words:
siren ~ chanting ~ startled ~ pulse ~ sighs ~ night
basket ~ answers ~ heart ~ shape ~ badge ~ stay
Granted A Life
Written for the Great Minds Think Challenge –
“And that makes all the difference”. Our hosts
Sarah & Rohini invite us to write about a hero
or villain and choose to do one of two things:
1) Visualize how a hero might have become a
villain or vice versa by choosing to make a
different decision at a crucial moment … or …
2) Have a character reflect on their lives and
a key decision that brought him to that place.
SS Pacific: Guilty Conscience
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
this is my fictionalized “confession” (and I
use that term loosely) made by an un-named
foreman from an unknown shipyard, written
days after the coroner’s inquest re the SS
Pacific, addressed to no one in particular,
which somehow makes this tragedy even
worse. See my notes on the coroner’s inquiry.
Room 407
Written for Muse On Monday.
Our challenge is to write a story
about a piece of obsolete technology.
The Fourteenth Guest: SS Île de France
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
this is my dramatized fiction piece based
on a true renowned introduction on
board the SS Île de France, written
in the style of Ernest Hemingway.
Four Seconds: RMS Lusitania
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
this is my dramatized first-person fiction
built around the documented history of
Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger,
commander of U-20 responsible for
the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
Inside Job: A Dirk Malone Story
Written for Muse On Monday. We are asked
to write a story about an article of clothing.
My People
Inspired by Max’s blog, ‘Old Steam Ships’ –
this is my story based on facts about the SS Eastland
disaster in the voice of Harry B. Thayer, President
of Western Electric, who chartered the ship
for 2,500 employees and their families
for a company picnic. Thanks, Max!
The Sky Above Dubbo
Written in response to a cool
image I saw on Bushboy’s World.
Thanks for letting me use it, Brian!
Hampton Bays, 1973 – or – That Time I Met Cat Stevens
This is my story as I remember it.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” – Rumi
Embers
Written for Violet’s Literary Quote Challenge
where she asks us to include the following line
into our writing – “dreams can be such dangerous
things: they smolder, and sometimes consume us
completely” from ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ by
Arthur Golden. This is my response.
Last Laugh
Written for “It’s Story Time” where Jolene
has given us four prompts to work with.
They are shown below; here’s where they took me.
Unseen
Written for Sadje’s What Do You See
and for Fandango’s Story Starter.
Here’s where the prompts took me.
Getting Closure
Written for Reena’s Xploration Challenge 411.
The following quote is suggested as our muse:
“It was not my idea, but it happened.”
This is where my imagination took me.
Reindeer Christmas Party
This story is one of several I have written for our
5-year-old granddaughter, Colette, for Christmas.
I can’t wait to read them with her.
Also in response to Missy’s Mad Challenge#069
and for Weekly Prompts Colour Challenge – “red”.
Brothers Malone: The Break
Our friend Fandango and I share a fascination with
noir crime and detective stories. He recently wrote
a story called “Five Years Later”; it was great and
I was hooked. If you haven’t read his story, click the
link above. I noticed his MC and a character I have
previously written about share the same last name.
My imagination kicked in and I asked Fan if he’d
mind if I wrote a story that intertwined with his;
he said to go for it. Here it is …. longer than my usual
so make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the read.
Caliban O’Doole
Originally written in 2022, this is my take
on a beloved fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.
Did You Know?
Boys Will Be Boys
Written for Stream of Consciousness – “What’s that smell?”,
Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – “humility” and
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – “departure”.
Growing up, it was just me and my sister – two girls doing girl things. And while we weren’t always best of friends, it was just the two of us. It wasn’t my fault that my mother went into labor smack in the middle of my sister’s 4th birthday party; after making a hasty departure for the hospital, my mother arrived just in time for me to be born …. on my sister’s birthday …. and she’s never really forgiven me. I mean, she says she has but deep down there’s resentment. But I digress.
Bitterness for being born on her birthday aside, we managed to get along ok. And we both had a bunch of little girlfriends who’d come over the house to play and swim in our pool. There’s a definite advantage to having the only pool on the block – even if it was inflatable and barely three feet deep. We always had lots of friends over but there were never any boys around and, if an interloper did show up, he was quickly shown the way out before he had a chance to dip his you-know-what in our pool!
For the first six years of my life, I had very little contact with boys .… except for my cousins and they didn’t count. In elementary school boys were just tolerated; they were looked upon as excess baggage. Of course, that all changed when I hit my teen years and realized boys had potential. I had a couple of crushes early on but nothing earth-shattering. Then, at the ripe old age of 17, I went on a blind date with a guy named Bill and together we learned all about boys and girls, how they were so wondrously different and incredibly well-made for each other. I was stunned by how much I didn’t know about boys.
So, wouldn’t you just know it! God, in his infinite humorous nature, decided to bless me with only boy babies. All those years of playing with my baby girl dolls, changing their diapers fashioned from paper napkins, powdering their petite girlie bottoms, all that didn’t come close to what these boys were packing! It didn’t matter how well I knew Bill’s anatomy; he didn’t wear a diaper and I had never changed one …. at least not a boy’s. Talk about a rude awakening!
Let me just explain something very quickly here. When infant girls are getting their diapers changed, sometimes they pee but it’s a dainty little trickle that gently disappears into the absorbent pad under them. When infant boys are getting their diapers changed, parents put on a hazmat suit because that nozzle has a mind of its own and it is gonna spray wherever it wants.
Oh sure, parents can buy little wee-wee teepees to hold over the wee-wee while their baby boy giggles at them, but most times that thing is flying around like an errant garden hose and the pee goes everywhere. And, of course, that’s where men first learn to pee with no hands – yawning and stretching and placing their hands behind their heads in a very satisfied “look-what-I-can-do” sort of way. Usually in those situations, there will be spillage. I have found, for the most part, the male species is not very discriminating and is quite happy to just “hit something“.
Which brings me to the heart of this story.
I love my boys and, in all humility, Bill and I did a good job raising them. BUT, nature will take its course no matter what we do. And let me tell you, there is nothing …. and I mean NOTHING …. like the overwhelming musky, barn-like odor that punches you in the face when you open the door to a boy’s bedroom. For the love of all things holy, what is going on in there? How is it possible for boys …. little or big …. to ravage so many briefs, boxers or tighty-whities in one day, not to mention the now-fossilized face cloths (and sometimes my good hand towels)?
We’re all adults here and you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Well, I finally reached the end of my rope. It became unbearable for me to do my teen sons’ laundry, let alone keep up with it, so I threw down the gauntlet. I led the boys to the laundry room where I proceeded to write on my washing machine with a Sharpie. In all the corresponding receptacles were the words “DETERGENT GOES HERE.” “BLEACH GOES HERE.” “SOFTENER GOES HERE.” I’m sure they didn’t believe me when I said I was done doing their wash. After two weeks of their laundry piling up and them running out of clean clothes and their sheets desperate enough to literally walk off the bed and leap into the washing machine, they finally got the message!
As the old saying goes, boys will be boys, and I never had a problem with what was going on in my sons’ bedrooms …. within reason; if I thought something dangerous was happening, I’d be in there in a flash. I’d just had enough of cleaning up their messes. Now they’re grown men, good men, married with children, and they get to deal with their own kids’ smells, sprays, spills and secretions.
And when I see them lugging a basketful of laundry to their washing machines, I chuckle and know I did them a huge favor.
NAR©2024
One of my readers once commented that I have a song for every story. Well, who am I to argue?
From the Broadway show/movie Hair, this is “Sodomy”.
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.
