Written for Tanka Tuesday where our host,
Yvette, has asked us to write a syllabic poem
of our choosing on the subject of sisterly love.
Hereβs where the prompt took me.
Tag: Parents
Housecalls – Part 6: Unknown Memories
For a refresher, you can read Part 5 HERE.
Continue reading “Housecalls – Part 6: Unknown Memories”Her Greatest Gift
Written for Davidβs Weave Written Weekly
where OβNika asks us to write an echo
poem* about a significant βfirstβ in life.
Thanks for the prompt, OβNika & David!
I have chosen to write about a first grandchild.
Continue reading “Her Greatest Gift”Housecalls – Part 3: What Was Left Behind
You may read Part 2 HERE.
Continue reading “Housecalls – Part 3: What Was Left Behind”Free Bird
Written for Sammiβs Weekend Writing Prompt
#453 where weβre asked to get creative in
exactly 43 words using the word βmournβ.
Also for Sue & Gerryβs Weekly Prompts –
The One Day Prompt. Hereβs my take.
The Greenhouse Effect
Our gracious host, Rochelle, is asking us to get
creative in 100 words or less using the photo
seen below. Welcome to Friday Fictioneers
This is where the prompt took me.
Much Too Young
Written for Thursday Inspiration #314 β
βYouβre Still The Oneβ. Hereβs my response.
RDP Thursday: reset
Written for RDP, where leapingtoes asks us
Β to get creative with the word βresetβ.
Thanks, Toes! Hereβs my take.
Broken Promises
Written for MLMM Monday Wordle #451.
Our prompt words this week are: banish,
sad, guilty, weak, push, cute, way, cheeky,
sweet, furry, trick, and battle. Thanks, Di!
Here’s where the prompt words took me.
Rockin’ The Milky Way
Written for Only Murders In My Mind
Weekly Writing Prompt β #83.
Hereβs where the photo prompt took me.
Unconditional
Written for Cinquain Poetry Prompt #20.
Our inspiration word is βparentβ. I have
written a Mirror Cinquain, a 10-line,
single stanza poem with a syllable pattern
of 2 β 4 β 6 β 8 β 2 β 2 β 8 β 6 β 4 β 2.
Revelation
Written for Muse on Monday where David asks us
to write a story about our MC having an epiphany
at the beginning. Also written for Fandangoβs Story
Starter #217 where the opening sentence is provided.
This is where the prompts and my imagination took me.
Suspended Animation
This is The Unicorn Challenge where we are
encouraged to write a story in 250 words or
less using the photo below as inspiration.
I used a story of mine from 2019 which I
remembered the minute I saw the image.
In Vino Veritas
Written for The Unicorn Challenge
where we are encouraged to write a
story in 250 words or less using this
photo as inspiration. Here is my story.
April 24, 1981
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 featured April artist and his song.
Yakety Yak
Written for Estherβs βCan You Tell A Story Inβ¦..? #278β
Exactly 35 words including the four required prompts:
βyetiβ, βburgerβ, βzoomβ and βtabooβ. Hereβs my 35 word story.
The Stain
Written for OLWG #407. The three prompts
are shown below. This is my story.
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.
The Downstairs Maid
Written for OLWG #393 where our prompt words are
1) broken yellow teeth; 2) Austin Pendleton – as Fred; 3) prodigal.
This is my story.
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.
In My Life
Written for Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge,
Specific Form 11/19/24. My theme is βfamilyβ.
I have chosen to write a Shadorma, a Spanish
poetic form that consists of six-line stanzas (sestets)
with a specific syllable count for each line: (3/5/3/3/7/5).
Heads Up
Written for Kevinβs No Theme Thursday 10.24.24.
Weβre offered incredibly creative images to inspire
and get our writing juices flowing. This is my story.
Family Affair
Written for Song Lyric Sunday. This week Jim Adams
has asked his readers in his post ‘Quality Time’ to write about
a song dealing with parenting or a child/parent relationship.
This theme was my suggestion and here is my reply.
Feeling The Burn
Written for Friday Fictioneers where we are
encouraged to get creative by writing a story
of no more than 100 words using this photo
as our inspiration. Here is my 100 word story.
It was the summer of β59 and I was going to spend July and August with my cousins at the shore. Iβd been packing since my last day of school, finishing two days before taking off.
The following morning I awoke with fever, sore throat, bumpy tongue and a facial rash. Scarlet fever, the doctor said. The disease was highly contagious. I was prescribed antibiotics and my parents were warned to keep me home.
My summer plans were abruptly cancelled; I was dejected. All I could do was watch my friends playing, my nose pressed up against the window screen.
NARΒ©2024
100 Words
This is βFeverβ by Little Willie John
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 Apartment: The Continuing Story of Harvey and Fiona
Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we are encouraged
to get creative in 250 words or less using the photo prompt
as inspiration. This is my 2nd story of Harvey and Fiona.
For another look at the 1st installment, click here.
Harvey and Fiona were as different as a gorilla and a swan but they had an undeniable chemistry and started falling in love. No one was more surprised than Fiona .β¦ except her parents.
There was a major obstacle her parents couldnβt overlook β Harvey was Jewish. Fionaβs very Irish-Catholic father hated Harvey, calling him βChrist killerβΒ and βkikeβ.Β Her mother was crushed. βJesus, Mary and Joseph! Canβt you see heβs no good for you? I donβt trust him, Fina girl!βΒ she warned, crying into her apron. Fiona would not be dissuaded; with a heavy heart she closed the door of her childhood home behind her and never looked back.
Harvey and Fiona were married in city hall, the judge and his clerk their only guests and witnesses. After a weekend honeymoon in Niagara Falls, the couple settled into Harveyβs tiny apartment β a walk-up on the fifth floor with a depressing view of factories and government buildings.
Harvey worked the graveyard shift as a printer at the local newspaper, seven days a week from midnight till 8:00 AM. His fingernails were perpetually stained with black ink. The first morning he came home from work and saw the newly decorated apartment, he yelled furiously at Fiona for spending his money on unnecessary things. Uncaring, he left ink stains on the new bedspread when he sat down to remove his shoes.
Fiona cried silently in the kitchen. Harvey sidled up behind her, kissed a spot below her ear and she leaned into him.
NARΒ©2024
250 Words
This is βLove With The Proper Strangerβ by Jack Jones
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.
Getting Kookie On The Beach
Written for Six Sentence Story where Denise
encourages us to get creative in just six sentences
incorporating the word βengagementβ. Hereβs my six.
The idea of my parents chaperoning me to the beach that night was mortifying but I figured I had to suck it up if there was a ghost of a chance of having any fun during this vacation in Surf City, so that night my mother, father and I went for a stroll on the beach, me hanging back about ten feet or so hoping the cool bonfire kids would think I was by myself; music was playing and marshmallows were roasting on long sticks β¦. everyone was tan and blonde and beautiful β¦. and thatβs when I saw him β¦. he looked just like Edd βKookieβ Byrnes from β77 Sunset Stripβ and when he glanced up as we walked by and smiled, I fell hopelessly in love.
Thankfully, my parents quietly observed the group without their usual compulsion to make conversation and, satisfied what they saw wasnβt a remake of βReefer Madnessβ, sat for a while high on a dune delighting in the reflection of the moon on the water; when it was time to go, the three of us walked back to the beach house β¦. but not before I had a chance to look over my shoulder and giveΒ EddΒ a little wave; he grinned and waved back (I was in heaven) and I knew I had to go to the next bonfire β alone.Β
I guess being out in the sun all day must have fried my parentβs brains because, when I nonchalantly asked them the next night if I could walk down to the bonfire by myself for a little while, they actually agreed; all I could think about was seeing Edd again and how relieved I felt that my older sister considered herself βtoo mature for a teeny-bopper beach partyβ and didnβt want to tag along.
The group was friendly and waved me over so, as casually as possible, I headed straight forΒ EddΒ and sat down next to him and someone handed me a cold beer β¦. my first ever .β¦ which I liked quite a bit; the kids were intoΒ Jan and Dean andΒ The Beach Boys β¦. I was aΒ BeatlesΒ girl but I wasnβt going to let that get in the way β¦. and by the end of the night,Β EddΒ and I were holding hands and agreed to meet again the following night.Β
That was the most blissful week of my young life β¦. lots of kissing and petting β¦. professions of love β¦. an βengagement ringβ fashioned from a Bud Lite pull tab β¦. but we didnβt go beyond 2nd base; in all my 16 years, Iβd never been as happy or excited to be with someone as I was with Edd.
At the end of the week we exchanged phone numbers and promised to call each other but that didnβt happened and itβs ok β¦. I never really thought it would …. I’m content with the memory; one thing I’m sure of is none of my friends will ever be able to say they spent a week making out on the beach with Edd βKookieβ Byrnes.
NARΒ©2024
This is a really awful song called βLike, I Love Youβ by Edd βKookieβ Byrnes and Joanie Sommers.
Hereβs the theme song for the TV show, β77 Sunset Stripβ.
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.
Suspended Animation
Written for Six Sentence Story where we are given a word,
in this case ‘lift’, and asked to incorporate it into a story of
no more than six sentences. This is my true story of family.
Β© NAR
βMangia il cibo sul tuo piatto, Concetta, o lo mangerai dal pavimentoβ β (βEat the food on your plate, Concetta, or you will eat it off the floor.β)
Without changing her expression or taking her huge brown eyes off her father Domenicoβs face, three year old Concetta picked up a meatball, extended her arm over the side of her highchair and very calmly let it drop to the floor.
Silence.
Everyone sat in suspended animation as Domenico deliberately put down his knife and fork and removed the napkin which was tucked into the neck of his shirt; slowly he stood up, walked behind Concettaβs chair, grabbed the back of her dress and lifted her up.
Holding her feet with his other hand, Domenico lowered Concettaβs face to the floor until her mouth touched the meatball; she tried to turn away, but Domenico pushed her face into the food, forcing her to take the meatball into her mouth, then, satisfied, he sat her back in her highchair, returned to his seat and resumed eating while Concetta languidly chewed what was in her mouth.
Hesitantly, self-consciously, everyone resumed eating and talking except Concettaβs mother Rosa who sat watching her daughter closely; at the end of the meal as the women cleared the table, Rosa placed a napkin over her defiant daughterβs mouth so she could spit out the uneaten meatball and whispered in her ear βMai piΓΉ, Concetta; obbedisci a tuo padre!β β (βNever again, Concetta; obey your father!β)
NARΒ©2024
This is a Sicilian folksong called βMi votu e mi rivotuβ (βI toss and I turnβ)
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.
Like Spitting Into The Wind
De Jackson, aka WhimsyGizmo at dVerse Poetβs Pub
has asked us to write Poems of Place for Quadrille #201.
This is my submission.
That time I found
myself
in the principalβs office
because
I
screamed
at
the teacher
who tried to put
his hand
up
my
shirt,
then
being assaulted
again
at home
by
my
mother
who accused me
of
βasking for itβ.
Neither
place
felt
safe.
NARΒ©2024
44 Words
This is βEducation β Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2β by Pink Floyd
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.
The Piano Lesson
Denise at GirlieOnTheEdge
has challenged us to write a
Six Sentence Story and
include the word “task”.
This is my response.
Not having practiced the piano at all that one week, I called my instructor who was waiting for me at the church and declared into the phone βMrs. Ridgeway, itβs Nancy and I canβt make it to my lesson today because itβs rainingβ; I was quite proud of myself for coming up with such a creative and foolproof excuse.
In her clipped New England-accented voice, Mrs. Ridgeway replied βYouβre not a sugar cube and wonβt melt in the rainβ, then went on to say βSurely you have an umbrella you can useβ; I was quick to inform her that I had left my umbrella on the school bus, adding that no one was at home with me to lend me an umbrella and my mother didnβt approve of me walking unprotected in the rain to which my piano teacher replied βWell then, Iβll just come to your house for your lessonβ.
You could have knocked me over with a feather because I certainly was not expecting that response and, true to her word, ten minutes later Mrs. Ridgeway appeared at my front door, ready for the task at hand; I dilly-dallied as long as I could looking for my book of Schirmerβs Library of Musical Classics β Selected Piano Masterpieces, setting up my metronome, cracking my knuckles and swinging my arms a la Ed Norton and shifting butt cheeks searching for the most comfortable position until Mrs. Ridgewayβs patience reached the breaking point and she barked βEnough!β which nearly made me jump off the piano bench in a panic.
Shaking like the last leaf on a branch in a windstorm, I opened my lesson book to the appropriate page and began playing Beethovenβs FΓΌr Elise while Mrs. Ridgeway sat next to me, staring over my shoulder and glaring; I played as though I was wearing boxing gloves and, being the master sleuth that she was, Mrs. Ridgeway saw right through my brilliant plot.
Angrier than my sister the day she discovered I had ripped off all the heads on her Barbie dolls, Mrs. Ridgeway exclaimed I had wasted her valuable time and she doubled my lessons for the next week which would have been tolerable if she hadnβt reported to my mother who got so mad because of my lack of responsibility, she withheld my allowance for the next two weeks and took away my TV privileges β¦. even Dr. Kildare.
Hoisted by my own petard!
NAR Β© 2024
This is what FΓΌr Elise is supposed to sound like; youβll notice Lang Lang is not wearing boxing gloves (but I bet heβd sound just as good even if he was).
The incomparable Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in a clip from the Honeymooners – Suwanee River. How could I possibly resist?
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.
IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE
Today Sadje is asking us “What do you see?”
Here’s my take on this photo prompt.
βHold it right there, Bitsy. Where are you going with Sissy’s lion?β
βI donβt wanna talk βbout it.β
βOk, but it might make you feel better if you do.β
βNuthinβs gonna make it better.β
βNothing, eh? Well, that sounds like a mighty big problem.β
βIt is, Grammy.β
βYou know, big problems become small ones when you share them with someone.β
βReally?β
βOh, sure! Why don’t you share your problem with me?”
βMr. Lion’s ear came off.”
βI see. And youβre afraid Sissy will find out, right?β
βRight.β
βCan I take a look at Mr. Lion?β
βNo. I don’t want you to.β
βNot even if I can fix his ear? Remember when I fixed your bunny’s tail?β
βIβm just gonna hide Mr. Lion.β
βOk, thatβs a good idea, Bitsy β¦. until Sissy comes home from school.β
βSissyβs gonna be real sad.β
βI think youβre right about that, Bitsy.β
βCan you really fix him, Grammy?β
βWell, I wonβt know until I take a look.β
βOk, here.β
βHmm. You know, I think I have this color thread in my sewing box.β
βYou do?β
βI think so but I have a big problem, Bitsy. I have trouble seeing the eye of the needle to get it threaded. Can you help me?β
βI can do that!β
βGreat! Mr. Lion will be good as new.β
βAnd Sissy wonβt ever know!β
βNow just a minute, Bitsy. You still have to tell Sissy.β
βBut why, Grammy?β
βBecause you were playing with Sissyβs lion behind her back. Thatβs sneaky and not a good way to behave. You understand, Bitsy? Itβs important.β
βI guess.β
βOk. Letβs work on this together.β
βGrammy, can we have ice cream?β
βWe sure can β¦. just as soon as Sissy gets home.β
NAR Β© 2023
What do you see # 212- 13 November, 2023
This is “It’s A Jungle Out There” by Randy Newman:
Please stop by
The Rhythm Section
today as we celebrate
Birthday Thursdays.
There will be ice cream!
π¨
https://rhythmsection.blog/
The Elephant's Trunk 