Written for Melissaβs Fandango
Flash Fiction Challenge #350.
Hereβs where the prompt took me.
Tag: Memories
The Empty Chair
Our gracious host, Rochelle, at Friday Fictioneers
encourages us to be creative by writing a story inΒ
100 words or less using the photo shown below.
Β Hereβs where the photo prompt took me.
Happy 54th Anniversary, Rochelle & Jan!
Novembre
This week at Glyn Wiltonβs Mixed Music Bag,
heβs asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month.
Hereβs my November artist and her song.
RDP Sunday: snowflake
Today at RDP, drkottaway asks us to get
Β creative with the word βsnowflakeβ. Thanks, Doc!
Hereβs where the prompt word took me.
November Air
This week at Glyn Wilton’s Mixed Music Bag,
heβs asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month.
Hereβs my November artist and his song.
Come Sail Away
Written for Sammiβs Weekend Writing Prompt
#441 where weβre asked to be creative in exactly
73 words using the word βceruleanβ. Also for Sue &
Gerryβs Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge –
βbucketβ. Hereβs where the prompts took me.
RDP Tuesday: ephemera
Today at RDP, we are asked to share a
story, poem, photo, painting, essay, etc.,
focusing on the word βephemeraβ. Hereβs my take.
Try To Remember
This week at Glyn Wiltonβs Mixed Music Bag,
heβs asking us to write about a song in which
the title or a line mentions the current month.
Hereβs my September artist and his song.
Walk Of Life
Written for Only Murders In My Mind Weekly
Writing Prompt #72; the photo shown below
is our prompt. Hereβs where the image took me.
Just This One
In 2017, this was the first story
I wrote for The Elephantβs Trunk.
Rewritten for The Unicorn Challenge where we are encouraged
to write a story in 250 words or less using the photo below
as inspiration. Here’s the memory that was ignited.
Broken Alliance
Written for Sammiβs Weekend Writing
Prompt #424 using the word βdemureβ,
Gerry & Sueβs Weekly Prompts Weekend
Challenge (intoxicating) and OMIMM
Weekly Writing Prompt #67. In 70 words,
this is where my imagination took me.
Memories and Inspirations
Written for Jimβs Thursday Inspiration #278 –
βLonely People.β Hereβs my spin on things.
Night Air
Written for Eugiβs Moonwashed Weekly
Prompt, incorporating βforests cloakedβ,
βundisclosedβ and βpurple hazeβ.
This is my response, an etheree.
Reflections In The Moonlight
Our gracious host, Rochelle, at Friday Fictioneers
asks us to use the photo below as inspiration
to write creatively in 100 words or less while
making every word count. This is my flash.
Mostly Fishing
Our gracious host, Rochelle, at Friday Fictioneers
asks us to use the photo below as inspiration
to write creatively in 100 words or less while
making every word count. This is my flash.
Christmas Memories: An Ovi
Written for Ovi Poetry Challenge #79.
This weekβs inspiration word is
βrememberβ. This is my Ovi.
Obsolete
Written for Friday Fictioneers where our host
Rochelle asks us to use the photo below as inspiration
to write creatively in 100 words or less while
making every word count. This is my flash.
So This Is Christmas
This week at Writing Prompts, Esther has teased us
with the word βChristmasβ. Here are some happy
childhood memories from a piece I wrote in 2018.
This is my 2024 version of βSo This Is Christmasβ.
Snow Job: Sharing My World
Written for Share Your World 25th November
where Di has asked some questions about snow.
MARIE-ELENA
Written for The New, Unofficial, On-Line Writerβs Guild.
This week the three prompts from aooga at OLWG #392 are
1) a Texaco bathroom, 2) Gaucho, and 3) Chinese work songs.
This is my story.
In Prescious Moments Of Lucidity: A Haibun
Written for dβVerse Poets where our inspiration
today is βreflectionβ. Here is my haibun.
Steve McQueen
Written for Friday Fictioneers where our host Rochelle
has asked us to use the photo below as inspiration
to get creative in 100 words or less,
making every word count. Hereβs my flash.
βWell, here we are, Chip. Back in Beech Grove, Indiana!β
βYou know, Babs. The old homestead really hasnβt changed much.β
βThe Colonial Movie House is still open! Man, Iβm so happy they didnβt get rid of that beautiful faΓ§ade. Mom hated it, always saying it looked like a widowβs walk.β
βI bet you canβt remember the first movie we saw there, sis. Loser buys lunch.β
βAre you kidding me? It was βThe Blobβ with Steve McQueen. God, I loved that man!β
βThatβs right! I forgot about your crush!β
βLook! Fire Station #1910 is now a burger joint. Youβre buying, bro!β
NARΒ©2024
100 Words
Author’s Note: Beech Grove Indiana is the birthplace of Steve McQueen.
This is βSteve McQueenβ by Sheryl Crow
From 1958, here is the trailer from βThe Blobβ starring Steve McQueen and βa cast of exciting young peopleβ!
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
Memories of Me
Written for dVerse Quadrille Monday #206.
Our prompt word is βbend; here is my poem.
I long to be myself again,
before the pain began.
Now wistfully staring at
old photos
of a younger me,
lithe with slender arms
and shapely legs
which once did bend
with graceful ease.
Dancing dreams fill my nights;
I want to sleep forever.
NARΒ©2024
This is βPretty Ballerinaβ by The Left Banke
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
Paradise Found
Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we ar1
asked to get creative in 250 words or less using
the photo below as inspiration. This is my story.
Eastern-most Long Island, New York. A little village called Montauk. βThe Endβ, according to locals. Drive to the tip of the peninsula, walk a few steps and youβre in the Atlantic Ocean β¦ literally.
1984 was our first visit. βLetβs go out for a weekend. If we donβt like it, we wonβt go back.β Famous last words. We stayed at a no frills family motel on the beach; it was paradise.
Step outside the motel and watch your toes disappear into the sand. Big pool filled with sunburned families having the time of their lives. Huge towels and colorful umbrellas cover the beach.
An old salt regales us with tales about the first German U-boats arriving off Montauk in June, 1942. Psyched, we ride our bikes to the lighthouse where we discover WWII bunkers buried deep in the woods.
Montaukβs pizza place and ice cream joint are constantly busy. Drive five minutes west on βthe stretchβ to a place known simply as βLUNCHβ for a mouth-watering lobster roll or puffers and chips.
At night little fires dot the beach, glowing and crackling. Kids stab marshmallows with long sticks and plunge them into the flames for a gooey sweet treat that wonβt be eaten again till next summer. Our boys’ hair is sun-streaked, skin bronzed, feet perpetually coated in sand. Theyβre happy as clams.
In time we started renting a house with a pool; vacations lasted six weeks; 35+ years of unforgettable family memories made, Montauk style.
Man, it was paradise!
NARΒ©2024
250 Words
The Memory Motel has been a fixture in Montauk since the mid-1920s. When the Rolling Stones were out at the east end, they would visit the bar at the motel for some heavy drinking, dancing, shooting pool, tussling, scuffling, and playing the only piano in town until sunrise.
This is βMemory Motelβ by the Rolling Stones.
https://youtu.be/FJ4be-0Nt0s?si=mP0lpYtWe2zg_AFA
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
Don’t Cry For Me Agrigento
Written for Friday Fictioneers where we are asked
to get creative in 100 words or less using the
photo below for inspiration. Here is my story.
It was 1965, a big year β my sisterβs graduation, the Beatles concert and our trip to Sicily.
We spent a day at Momβs cousin Concettaβs farmhouse outside Agrigento. Goats, sheep and a donkey grazed in the field among the olive trees. Chickens scurried around the barnyard like drunken spinning tops. They were extremely entertaining β our favorite.
We hung out with the animals all morning. In the afternoon we drove to Agrigento to explore the shops.
Upon returning to Concettaβs, we sat down for dinner. Pasta to start, of course. When she brought out the roast chickens, we burst into tears.
NARΒ©2024
100 Words
Here are three ridiculously talented Sicilian guys from Palermo playing a tune called “The Chicken”. They are Matteo Mancuso (guitar), Riccardo Oliva (bass) and Salvatore Lima (drums). Enjoy this one.
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
The Condo
Written for Six Sentence Story where this week
we are challenged to use the word βfaintβ
in a story of exactly six sentences. Hereβs mine.
After the boating accident, I returned to New York but didnβt have the heart to stay in the condo where Kevin and I used to live; I drove to my parents’ beach house in Amagansett, leaving the apartment untouched, thinking to return one day when I summoned the courage.
Too many memories and sleepless nights at the beach house brought me no comfort or closure …. an impossibility since Kevin’s body was never recovered …. and I now found myself back in Manhattan staring up at the window of my old condo and seeing ghosts β¦. ghosts of Kevin.
An overwhelming force drew me closer and I slowly entered the building and climbed the stairs to the apartment we once shared. Approaching the door, I could hear faint music, laughter and the sound of familiar voices; a man and a woman were inside, unaware of my presence as I stood outside the door for what seemed a lifetime …. and in that passage of time I knew beyond a doubt who they were.
Blood pounding in my head, I raised my fist to knock on the door, then stepped back.
Resolutely and silently, I walked away.
NARΒ©2024
This is βGhost Behind My Eyesβ by Ozzy Osbourne
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
On Bended Knee
Lillian, tonightβs Pub Master, is hosting Quadrille Monday
at the dVerse Poets Pub. Weβre asked to create a 44-word
poem using the word βfigmentβ. Hereβs my poem.
She knelt
down on
bended
knee
Heard a
voice say
βCome to meβ
It’s just a
figment,
this canβt be
A voice that
sounded
just like he
βI think
I will count
to three
Then of his
ghost
I will be
free
One, twoβ¦.β
NARΒ©2024
44 Words
This is βImaginationβ by Bob Dylan
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
Sometimes I Wonder: A Haibun
Lately I have been pondering some of life’s mysteries.
If I had gone out on that blind date in March of ’68 with Billβs twin brother Jim instead of Bill [which was the original plan], and married Jim instead of Bill, would I have experienced the same happiness and blessings in my life? Would I have had the long and loving relationship, the feeling of security I enjoy now? Would my spouse still have been my equal partner in every aspect of our marriage? Would I have conceived and given birth to the amazing children I raised who in turn have blessed me with incredible grandchildren? Would we be celebrating our 52nd wedding anniversary?
Or would I be a widow?
Two-and-a-half months ago, before my husbandβs brother died, I never thought about such things. Strange how death can make us wonder about life.
scattering stardust
unanswerable questions
swirling round my brain
NARΒ©2024
This is Hoagy Carmichaelβs βStardustβ featuring the voice of Nat King Cole
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not for use by anyone without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
Of Memories And Dreams
Written for Friday Fictioneers where our gracious host, Rochelle,
encourages us to get creative in 100 words or less using this photo
as our inspiration. Here is my 100-word photo-inspired story.
Funny thing about dreams and memories; sometimes itβs difficult to tell them apart. Sometimes I just donβt want to.
That summer β¦. after the breakup β¦. I needed to be alone …. to think β¦. to put the hurt behind me. A few days at that motel on the beach seemed like a good idea at the time.
Everywhere I walked β¦. everything I saw β¦. reminded me of you. The scent of salt water. Scattered shells and seaweed. That song. Hot summer nights. Stars so close you could touch them.
Memories and dreams of you β¦. theyβre funny that way.
NARΒ©2024
100 Words
This is βIn Dreamsβ by Roy Orbison
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.
In The Cold
Today at dVerse we are asked to
write a haibun that alludes to
breath, breathing, or to breathe.
The weather seems colder these days, perhaps that’s because Iβm getting older.
As we briskly walk we can see our breath in the air when we talk and we laugh at my memory, just a fleeting sensory thought.
As kids weβd joke, pretending to be grownups who smoke in the cold.
A gentle snow fall
Crystalline flakes on my tongue
Breathing in the cold
NARΒ©2024
This is βBreatheβ (In the Air) by Pink Floyd
This portfolio (including text, graphics and videos) is copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephantβs Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR Β© 2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 