Doug

You're right of course as always, but I didn't want to be graphic in this one. I thought it might be different (at least from me) to leave it more as an "assumed image" that the reader could have nightmares about, especially marius...oh marius!!! Hush little baby don't say a word daddies gonna buy you a mockingbird..shhhh...goodnight midnight, sweet dreams...

Dragon

Enjoying the stories but too busy at the moment to think up one of my own. I must make a correction to Doug's advertising story, it should be John Deere not John Deer. (I try not to be too picky but my fella's a huge Deere fan and I couldn't let this ine slip by)

morshy

Midnight: The story is called The Sting because it's about a Police sting operation. The police are using a female officer to catch a killer, one who preys on pretty, but confused, women. They set him up. The killer sees himself as an artist, and his pouch contains a weapon. He is so consumed with his blood lust that he doesn't realise he's fallen into a trap. He moves towards his victim, oblivious to everything. He reaches for his weapon, not heeding the marksman's warning, intent only on painting his picture.

It's difficult for me to "paint" an accurate picture when the word limit is so stringent. It's fun to attempt it though.

midnightpoet

Oh, wow, Morshy...now I like your story even more! Thanks for the explanation.

morshy

191

Do you see them, with their luminous eyes and their sycophantic tongues? Do you see them, with their nebulous accents, charming with one word, confusing with the next? Do you see them? Because I do. Here, in this room. They stare at my work, hanging on the walls like carcasses at an abattoir. They’re butchers, sizing me up, looking to see where the prime cuts are, and what their cut will be. I see them, and I hear them. They talk of my palette, the colours and composition. They talk of the medium of television, and how my art affects it, and could it be used to advertise anything? A car; a shampoo…erectile dysfunction? They talk of the chivalry of the art, in the gallery on the promenade. And their voices drive splinters of glass through my eyes. I let the champagne flute fall from unfeeling fingers and clutch my head. Their voices are too much.

“Shut up! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!” I scream, over and over and over until my voice is ragged and broken. One critic turns to another.

“He’s very relevant, you know” they whisper.

bhughes

#3 Giraffe, as this story is good,reminds me of chers song dark lady. but
it has 376 words and omits "Promenade"
#4 Morshy,"THE GONER". every thing jives , in the running. Great story,
complete with a surprise ending, the unseen hands of death ? or maybe a
jealous girlfriend and he survived but in the dog house.
#6 Midnightpoet, I loved this time line of her "FIRST DATE" unfortunately it
went over on the word limit.
#7 Doug, Cute story on "BUYING A VEHICLE" it surely can be a bit intimidating.
I was happy it worked out well. Driving off into the sunset, always a good
ending. I bet your wife was happily surprised!! Good deal!
#23 Shanley, I like your story "THE BOX" A mirage? Even if a close version of
Joseph Smith' gold bar story, it would be in, if not for the omitted
word "promenade"

******** THANK YOU Shanley for the lead to Giraffe' comment, This is one of
the reasons that I like this challenge... LEARNING SOMETHING NEW!******

#32 Doug, "ADVERTISING" is another great "everyday life" kind of story,which
I love... but needs the word "accent". (could the word adorn be switched?)
Your message is loud and clear!
#33 Giraffe, Okay Mister "FANCY PANTS" this story is concise and to the point
of this dandy. Good job.
#34 Morshy, again a great story. "THE STING" seems to portray the good ,bad
and the ugly in short version. Even with good intentions, wrong place wrong
time. Well done.
#37 Doug, Wow, the beginnings and endin of a scary Halloween movie, but has
two words missing "accent" and "relevant"
#45 Morshy, Well done, with your words I felt the angst of this artist, again
well done.

Doug

bhughes: Sorry I keep missing words. I'll get them all in on the next one...

Doug

Ok bhughes I promised to be a good boy and use all the words and I did. You might have fun finding them, but they are all there. This little ditty is 242 including title.

Quarter past a Tree

Shawn was still in his pajamas when he snuck out of his window and landed with a soft swoosh onto the carpet of grass below. He was always one to accentuate the positive in life and this night was going to be THE BEST! His friend Rita had invited him to a pajama party without her parents blessing or his henceforth the skullduggery of nebulous sneaking.

He followed the tree line through the side yards until he reached the appointed meeting place which was the Burnside Academy Church on Second Ave. From there Rita was to take him to the party as her guest. It might be relevant to add that yes this was to be a boy/girl party his first. He was beaming from ear to ear and his mind was almost bursting with medium size shards of white light as he thought about what fun he would have.

So he waited. It was the appointed hour, the place and a whole palette of what seemed like shadow people danced in the moonlight although he knew it was only the trees swaying in the breeze.

More time passed. He became confused, confounded and slightly irritated and his mood soured. He had fallen for the advertised sales pitch Rita made and she wasn’t delivering the goods.

Almost smack dab in front of him he heard a resounding roar of a voice recite LUMINOS, PROMENADIO, CHIVALTO!

Shawn woke up…

bhughes

No problem Doug, Your stories are great! I , on the other hand feel like the mean ole school marm. (?) Don't mean to be so ruled.(by the book).

ladyhwin

Okay, I'm back!! Love the word list, bhughes!

All words in, 236 words total.


Schi turned from the canvas to the window, letting her mind spill over with the colors of the scene outside before gazing back at her artwork. There the picture from the window was forming slowly, reappearing, first with nebulous, pale lines that slowly found their path, joining into one line. Then Schi had begun to create the colors she would need to recreate the world that was only there today. Tomorrow it would be changed, different hues, different lights.
Schi looked with scrutiny at her work, then turned to her palette filled with various browns, greens, yellows, blues and reds. All so different, yet all so relevant. Every color would eventually discover a place on the canvas, some spot – however inconspicuous – to brighten the luminous masterpiece. Every brush stroke, every accent of a touch was important.
This particular work had a special interest to Schi though. The field was her own, but the focus, a small house, was her grandparents’ and would help advertise the painting, which in turn would help raise funds for her grandfather’s health. She would take it to a promenade tomorrow, Schi decided. Hopefully her luck would hold and the same chivalrous, yet strangely confusing man would offer the highest bid.
Schi pulled her mind back from its wanderings and brushed another streak of brown on the field, covering the yellowish shade that served as her medium background. Schi smiled in satisfaction.

bhughes

#48 Doug, Bravo! As I read this story, with anticipation, I hoped that Shawn
would get his first kiss playing spin-the-bottle. But maybe it was his
first wet dream? Well done.

bhughes

So sorry , I blush, even to describe this dream in this way.

bhughes

#50 Ladyhwin, a portrait portrayed well, I hope Schi received the high bid to
help her grandfather... very touching.

midnightpoet

b, I don't know if you're counting my title in it...but, without the title, my story is 250 exactly. I'm not one to be argumentative about this sort of thing, but I never go over the word count, unless I say specifically that I've gone over. I just double checked, copying and pasting my story into word, and it is exactly 250.

midnightpoet

Lady, it's so good to see you again. That was absolutely beautiful!

Doug...ah, another twist from you, but not one I was expecting this time.

bhughes

#6 Midnightpoet, sorry for the miscount... Yay ! Totally in the running!!!
I am cross eyed at this point. Thanks for the correction.

bhughes

I copied "First Date" onto Words and got a total of 252 wrds w/title, how do
we differ? Even though I go on wrd count without title.252-3=249. Still my
bad.

bhughes

:)

giraffe

Midnight and Doug. I couldn't find any glaring misspellings. Would you point them out?

Doug, Fancy Pants is genderless like a lot of my stuff. Being written by a man from a female perspective could have been reversed. Gotta go.

midnightpoet

That is odd that we differ by one...

but, either way, I'm not in the running. I passed the torch to you, it can't be passed back to me.

But the word count issue has me baffled