marius

Thanks for the torch, Nylecoj! Hope people find inspiration and/or fun with this list.

Any form of a word is acceptable. List is:

green
company
trunk
appear
incident
mess
pixilated
mix
scat (or any arrangement of those four letters– blame giraffe’s word-plays for this!)
butter neeper* (butter-neeper, butterneeper, etc.) ... or your own made up word.

*Have no idea what butter-neeper means. Origin: Silly conversation with spouse.

Either 234 or 432 words. Ends the 28th.
Torch-bearer announced morning of April 29th. (Love idea to pass torch in a.m., Nylecoj!)

giraffe

JOSH (just testing the waters on this)

"Here's how the incident started, officer. He called me a "butter-neeper" and I lost it. I was trying to be serious."

"Why, Sir, were you that agitated? It appears that a major crime has occurred here."

"He acts like these cats own the place and all they do is mess up the whole house!"

The bloody floor and walls had taken the officer by surprise. "Sir." he demanded, "You need to describe what happened for the record."

"OK. I'm studying for my ACTs and he won't lift a finger to keep the place clean. Wouldn't that make you furious?"

"How furious, Mr. umm... Percy?"

"Well my eyes were already green with jealousy. Get it? His new boyfriend had just left. I don't like the company he's keeping lately."

"Where did all this blood come from, Sir?"

"Well, I was called a butter-neeper and then a pixel-mixer. What do you think I did?"

"What did you do Mr. Percy?"

"I was mad! Don't you get it, Mr Policeman? Josh pushed me to my limits, so I did it back to him!"

"Sir, we were called here about a domestic disturbance. You have to tell us what happened here."

"Well, first of all the jerk won't clean up after himself. His cats won't stop pooping on my papers. He brings in tricks from the bars. What would you do?"

"I don't know, Sir. That's never happened to me. You have to tell us what you actually did."

"Alright, you freak! I stuffed him into that trunk over there! Get out of here!"

"Sir, we have to examine the trunk."

Josh was still barely alive and he recovered. He'll never act that brazen again. Not while I'm still alive.

marius

Hoho, giraffe. I liked that! Thanks for starting us off with humor. (Well, I found it humorous.)

And, whew, who came up with this word list anyway? Tee hee, it seemed easy enough but now ... oh well, finally got something to fit. I think. : )

marius

A Good Idea

“Oh, please ... tell me you didn’t!” Diane was laughing but she was clearly shocked.

“Well, I did. If YOU had been dating the guy, you’d have done the same.” Diane smiled but we both knew she wouldn’t have. She didn’t like messes so what I’d said went against everything she believes. She would have handled this situation much differently, but I still don’t think what I did was all that strange.

She asked, “So what was the message?”

“I just told him, ‘I keep trying to talk with you but you don’t seem to hear what I’m saying so, I’m gonna say it where you can play it back, and really get the message. I truly wish you the best, I do. You’re a nice man and I hope you find someone who is right for you, but it isn’t me, so please don’t call anymore.’ ”

By now Diane was in hysterics. She was laughing harder than I’d ever seen. “You said THAT on his answering machine?!” she gasped.

“What was I supposed to do? I needed it to end.”

“Did he call you back?”

“Yeah, that was the part where I got pixilated or something. It didn’t occur to me that breaking up would make him want to talk! So, yes he called but I cut it short and thought it was over, but oh no ... the next morning he drove over in Tom’s green company truck. He was trying to make it some kind of big thing, an incident of gigantic proportions. He tried to make me feel bad about how I broke up with him, said I was ruthless. I said I probably was ruthless and I was sorry but there wasn’t any way to undo it so I’d just have to live with my bad manners.”

I thought Diane actually spit some coke into her glass then. She was enjoying this little story. Then she said, “But, isn’t that ButterNeeper I saw parked out front?”

“Oh. I wasn’t going to talk about that, but okay. The morning he was over? I did not want to talk about it anymore so I said I had to scat to a meeting. Then I got in my VW and it wouldn’t start! So, Donny is loaning me ButterNeeper until my car is fixed. It’ll be over soon.”

But it wasn’t. Donny got upset when my new fiancé came with me to return ButterNeeper.

Of course, he isn’t really my fiancé but Donny said he wants me to think about marriage and I thought that was a good idea.

midnightpoet

I'm just going to sneak in and leave this here. It's 234 including the title...


"The Pixilated Trunk Incident"

She ate tic tacs in even numbers. She preferred the orange ones, generally.

She ate skittles one at a time. Her husband liked to mix the green and yellow to create a new flavor, but she could only eat them individually. She'd sort them by color and then eat them in the order of the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, then purple. She never felt quite right when she did it, because there was no blue.

When she played cards, she had to make sure they were all facing the same way, equally spaced apart, whether neatly fanned in her hand or laid out in a straight line on the table.

Her quirks were apparent to anyone who cared to look, but no one ever really tried to figure her out.

When asked what she did for a living, she told people she was a butterneeper. No one knew what that meant, and that was her reason for saying it. She preferred to remain as enigmatic as she could.

She rarely had company at her house. Her husband was antisocial. He told her he hated humanity, and sometimes she felt like he hated her too.

So much of her life was organized, and so much was falling apart. Her house was constantly a mess; another reason for rarely having company.

She burned it to the ground, with her husband inside.

giraffe

Marius! How dare you laugh at Mr. Percy's terrible misfortune! Even Edward Gorey would see the severity of this! (Look him up. wink)

'A Good Idea' is also light, serious and open ended. I liked Diane. I like this list. I brings out lightness

Midnight. I think she was a buttonkeeper with a speech impediment. Nice look at OCD. Everything in order except her own life. Cool.

marius

giraffe, am familiar with Mr. Gorey. tee hee! [btw, love what you did with the word 'scat' in your story.] ; )

midnight, very nice! Enjoyed it much and the gal being bothered by no blue skittles - priceless. The Title added much too.

marius

A Good Idea, Part II

The dough was mixing up nicely. Caroline figured the bread would come out of the oven at the same time James appeared. That was the deal, home-made bread for her ‘new fiancé.’

When he showed up that afternoon, his girlfriend Jamie was with him. She was a little thing with a big smile. “So how’d you like ‘thinking about marriage?’ ” she asked with a saucy flavor in her voice.

Caroline smiled. “You have a very nice boyfriend and you have no idea how much I appreciate his help.”

“It wasn’t any problem but from the sound of things, we don’t think Donny is going to stop.”

I passed out the green plastic iced-tea glasses and we filled them on the bed of James’ truck. The sun was mixing through the leaves overhead, making a nice pattern on the gravel. Dappled. Caroline liked it.

James said, “We think we should leave my truck here a few days.”

What good friends, Caroline thought. She wasn’t good at picking men, but her friends were excellent company and she told them so at that very moment.

“Oh, would you really do that? You see, I ran into Rae-Lynne at the store. She asked what happened. When I told her, she appeared bothered. Finally she said, ‘HE’S telling everyone YOU wanted to get married. That’s why he broke up with you. He said you wouldn’t listen so he had to break up on your answering machine!’ ”

James howled, smacked his blue jeans and sawdust flew up in the air. “You sure can pick ‘em Care-bear! I swear, the man is pixilated, an utter mess.”

That was when they heard the car coming down the gravel lane. There was no mistaking ButterNeeper. The minute the car was in sight, James swooped Caroline off the ground, did a little twirl and gave her the nicest lip-lock she’d had in a long time. She couldn’t remember when she’d been kissed like that, and since she could hear Jamie laughing in the background, she let herself relax and, well, enjoy it too.

A few nights later Donny called, said he’d tried to stop by a few times but every time he did, James’ truck was there. He never mentioned the driveway incident, but Caroline knew he’d seen it.

A month went by and Donny seemed to have given up but then came the weekend of May 16th and there was a big picture in the paper of James and Jamie in their wedding glory.

When the phone rang Caroline let the machine pick up. The message said, “Call me.”

marius

Drat ... this line "I passed out the green plastic iced-tea glasses and we filled them on the bed of James’ truck." should read:

"Caroline passed out the green plastic iced-tea glasses and then filled them on the bed of James' truck."

Doug

Quit a nice word list marius and I love how you come up with the "unusual" word. Funny how it doesnt even come up as a word in "word". lol. I'm quite fond of quixmickle and I think you'll see that in one of my stories. 432 words including title...

Oliver


Oliver celebrated his 19th birthday with little fanfare. His parents had long ago given up on him after the “incident”. Now he spent most of his time at his grandfathers’ house watching old Perry Mason reruns and drinking coke and old granddad which just happened to be his grandfather’s favorite drink. Oliver often sat with an expressionless gaze as if the world was spinning around him, but he was gone to some far off world. What happened in that mind has been Oliver’s downfall from the beginning…

Scat! You non-testicular blow worm, I have had enough of you, Oliver said. Margie cried and ran. She thought that they had a chance at something nice, but Oliver always turned a good situation into a mess. Oliver trailed after her like it was his sole purpose in life to dig the knife a little deeper. Maybe he would cause her to commit suicide. That might ease the pain he felt in his head, the throbbing undulating wave of torture that filled his cranium more often than not anymore. But, with his latest diatribe at Margie it did ease enough that he slowed his pace so she could escape. He might even call later and apologize or drive over in his forest green “Eddie” and make up. Naw, I’m bored with her now...

Scat! Oliver directed one mean boot kick to the hindquarter of his neighbors black cat. The cat soared into the air until is crashed with a thunderous thud against the fence dropping to the ground in a heap. Oliver stood over it and witnessed its last breaths as its tongue dripping saliva swam in its mouth and a smudge of blood came from its ear. No one witnessed this macabre game of football, but it did make Oliver feel better.

Scat! The little mouse scurried quickly out of sight. It knew that if he didn’t dart fast enough into his hole that “mean thing” would hurt it. He had already sported scars from previous battles with the beast. Oliver gave up on the mouse and watched the pixilated pirated DVD of Diaries of an Axe Murderer. There was a certain look in his eyes when he watched. They grew dark and little specks of butterneeper seemed to spark out of his iris. It was as if he was absorbing the inner workings of the movie as he watched.

Somewhere in the company of strangers a man walks. The misfortune of being near him was yours. It was a vibration you could feel through every cell in your body. Walk away, scat!

Doug

giraffe (Ron): Love police melodramas and the idea of a bloody body in a trunk suits me just fine of course. Glad he wasn't in there with the "blow up doll" or maybe that is coming in Chapter 2. lol.

marius: You have a nice melodrama going. Can't wait to see what happens next!

midnightpoet: Good to see you with a story right off the bat! Don't quite understand the title (maybe I missed something and I'll go "duh"), but I did enjoy the story and it was written in cadence with the whole OCD thing. Didn't expect the ending....well, yes I did!!

marius

Wow Doug! marius does not like to ponder the likes of Oliver, but will say I thought you protrayed him well. (shiver) Love how you used the word scat to tie things together. And, this part "... little specks of butterneeper seemed to spark out of his iris," gave a great visual. Felt like I knew what butterneeper is! And, glad you like the word list.

Thanks to giraffe, midnightpoet and Doug for getting us going! Great contributions so far. Can't wait to see what the others will share!

ladyhwin

Okay, I actually got a nice story within a day or so. : D
432 words without title
*************************

Of Chattering, Elves and Other Mysterious Matters

Annabelle had always loved the forest. No matter what the season, she wandered, enjoying the trees, the squirrels, the birds or the quickly disappearing deer.
She believed most everything about nature, drank it all in, stored all the knowledge she could about creatures, plants and other beings that lived in the forest.
Except elves. Most people spoke of elves along with the woods as though they were real, but Annabelle always caught the spark of mischief in their eyes. She didn’t believe in elves. Never had. Her belief had always been the same.
Until she had gone to the animal shelter. Her aim had been for another cat to join her family, but when she saw him, his bright bold colors, she stopped.
He came home with her, silent as a mouse, only his eyes, his wide eyes acknowledging the company of fifteen cats that held sway in the house and watched curiously as he was brought in and put in the corner.
Annabelle waited for him to speak. After two days, she noticed that he ruffled only his green feathers, none others. Strange. And he ate the bark off her tree – the big trunk she had built her house around.
But finally he did start talking. And never stopped. Yowling, annoyed cats and the chatter-chatter newcomer did not did not mix. At all.
Annabelle finally decided. She named the pixilated parrot Butter, bought him a chatterbox companion named Neeper, stored both of them away in a spare bedroom when guests were around and tried to return to normal.
It didn’t work. Buying that creature had been the mistake of her life. The incident that had caused her usually organized mind to morph into a cluttered mess.
That was why Annabelle was now wandering the forest, trying to find calm and quiet. But even here she was jumpy, nervous about what might be behind the next bush or bramble, afraid of something that might suddenly appear.
With a sigh, she resigned herself to the truth. That her unwavering belief had finally been shaken.
Butter believed in elves. As such, he talked about them, day and night, night and day, telling their legends, their history, their characteristics. Annabelle had thought getting another chattery bird might help – preferably one that did not believe in elves.
So she had found another parrot. No, Neeper did not believe in elves. And this only increased the problem. Both birds were set in their ways and this resulted in loud squawking arguments.
No use. Poor Annabelle and her, odd, somehow strangely elvish, Butter-Neeper situation.
*shakes head in dismay*

belladonnis

Congrats Marius! I've had some line problems to my lap top but its fixed now!!!!!!! Cant wait to get started!

giraffe

This is for Doug's silly comment. 292 is in the zone.

JOSH Ch.2

"Mr. Percy. You are under arrest for attempted murder. You have a right to an attorney."

"Yeah, blah blah blah. You can use that against me in court. Blah blah blah."

"Sir, I believe you ARE a butter-neeper! Put your hands behind your back."

As the ambulance pulled up, the assistant was searching the yard for evidence. "Look what I found," she said, "A blow-up doll with recent fingerprints."

"Are you aware of this, Mr. Percy?" the officer asked.

"I already told you, bitch. That's Josh's new boyfriend. You're really are dumb, you freak!"

"How did it end up in the backyard?"

"I kicked his ass out! Then I gave Josh what he deserved."

The ride downtown is never fun. You're sitting on your hands and you know they're gonna find the meth in your pocket. You know the company you keep ain't gonna be pleasant and you won't see anything green for months.

"Incidentally, Mr. Percy, you appear to be kind of a mess. Your eyes look pixelated and you seem all mixed up. We searched the trunk of your car and found 2 dead cats."

"Josh has this obsession with cats and when they die, I just put em in there until I can dump em somewhere. I told you, this guy is driving me crazy."



"Wake up, Ron! Wake up!"

"Is that you, Josh?"

"Baby, you've been out for 35 minutes. I almost called the hospital."

"Almost? After 35 minutes?" I finally realized that these drugs were insane and Josh only saw me as a blow-up doll. I shook my head awake. "Honey, can we go pick up that trunk we bought yesterday?"

"Oh yeah, that was a beauty! It'd look great by the fireplace. Lemme put my shoes on."

giraffe

Marius. I liked Good Idea Ch 2, but there are so many characters by then, it's hard to keep them straight. Maybe it needs a chapter One and a Half to develop.

Ladyhwin. Is this about human dissatisfaction with nature vs. domesticated animals? It seems like a fog she's looking through about that.

giraffe

Doug, Instinct vs Programming? So much in that. It's hard to get a concept into a paragraph or two. Nice work, tho.

marius

Tee hee, ladyhwin, I was waiting for butterneeper to end up with some kind of elvin connection. Love how you did it! Very fun read, although, please do not send either of those birds my way! : )

giraffe, you are right. I changed point of view for the second story and that was the first problem, but yeah, there are more problems that that. : )

Josh Ch. 2 - my goodness! Did giraffe see movie, "Lars and the Real Girl?" It was quirky-sweet. : )

marius

Glad you got your computer up and running, belladonnis. Will look forward to your contribution! : )

Doug

giraffe: Bravo! Gave me the chuckle I needed for the day! I'm going to stop suggesting things for you. lol. Loved Part 2!