Saturday December 31st, 2011

The exercise:

A four line poem about: the New Year's Eve party.

Happy New Year to all of you, and may 2012 bring each of you good fortune and countless happy moments.

Mine:

As the sun sets on one more year,

We come together in good cheer

To reflect, toast, attempt to sing,

And wonder what the next will bring.

Friday December 30th, 2011

The exercise:

Four lines of prose about: the giant.

Just one day left in 2011. It's been a pretty busy year, to say the least.

Mine:

The giant surveyed the land below him, craning his neck to peer around a cloud as he used a redwood held between his thumb and index finger to excavate the remains of his lunch from between his teeth. It hadn't been a particularly satisfying meal, but he was hopeful that the next herd of cows he encountered was of a more reasonable size.

At length he spotted what he was searching for and bent his knees to begin the long descent down to ground level. Grasping the circus tents in both hands, he couldn't help thinking that there really had to be a more efficient way to gather toilet paper.

Thursday December 29th, 2011

The exercise:

Your writing task for today requires you to create something to do with: support.

At 11:30 this morning it was 16 degrees here. Welcome back, spring!

Mine:

The men studied the blueprint they had stretched across the surface of the dinner table, their fingers twitching for the coffee mugs that held it in place. If they hadn't been so distracted while laying it out, they would have used empty mugs for the task. As it was, they were trying not to rush through their analysis for the sake of more caffeine.

"It's a beaut of a design," one of them said and the others nodded their agreement. "The layout of the living room and the way it flows into the kitchen is particularly sweet."

"You said Cody is responsible for it?" the man to the first speaker's right asked. "Man, I should hire him the next time I'm looking to build. The guy that did my current place must have got his degree from his neighborhood's kindergarten class."

"Can we focus, please?" The third man to speak stared at the others, daring them to continue. "Thank you. Now. This is the main support beam, correct?"

"Yessir," the first speaker confirmed. "We blow that bad boy up and your ex-wife's home will come crashing on down in a big old hurry."

Wednesday December 28th, 2011

The exercise:

Trying something a little different today - show me what you've got for: that could have been us.

Inspiration for prompt explained below, but I'm particularly curious to see what you guys come up with. 

It's good to be home (now that the fireplace has finally warmed it up).

Mine:

We spent last night in Williams Lake and were up early as we were all eager to get home as soon as possible. Kat and I mostly because we figured if we got here before sundown then it wouldn't take as long to warm up the house (turns out we were right). Anyway, with us being smack dab in the middle of our shortest days of the year, that meant being on the road before sunrise.

I took the first shift, since Kat's dad had been doing the majority of the driving over the course of our trip up to Dawson Creek and back. The roads were okay - mostly clear with a bit of slushy snow in some spots - and dawn was already well on its way. In other words, we were off to a good start.

Then the sun came up over the horizon.

With it shining straight into my eyes, not to mention reflecting off of a wet road, the next hour or so was definitely in my top ten worst driving experiences. Oh, and throw in some eighteen wheelers driving in the opposite direction and throwing up a windshield-covering amount of dirty snow. You know, just for kicks.

Maybe I should just slot it into the top five.

Anyway, after getting us through that barrel of monkey fun for as long as I could manage, I pulled over in one of the many small towns (villages?) that line the highway and Kat's dad took over. With the sun a little higher in the sky at that point it wasn't quite so bad, but I'd had my fill.

A little while later we pulled into a gas station and Kat's dad topped up the tank while I did my best to clean off the windshield and side windows. We could have made it to the next town but Kat's dad doesn't like the tank getting too low, plus we needed a bathroom break.

We hit the highway again but we didn't get very far before we came upon an accident. The police had blocked the road but the ambulance hadn't arrived yet, so it couldn't have happened all that long before we got there. It happened right in front of... something - I didn't really notice whether it was a general store, a garage, or something else entirely. At any rate, the owner of whatever that building was directed us to use his driveway to get around the accident.

Because there had been a fatality and the police weren't likely to open up the road again any time soon.

It was not a particularly difficult stretch to think that very easily could have been us.

Tuesday December 27th, 2011

The exercise:

Two haiku about: babies.

Blame it on Natalie. Spending four days with a 3 month old was bound to start screwing with the prompts sooner or later.

I'm scheduling this one, as I have no way of knowing whether or not we'll have internet access at our hotel tonight.

I'll catch up with all the comments from the past week over the next few days.

Mine:

It's not always there,

but when she shares it with us

her smile hugs our hearts.

*     *     *

The scream is piercing,

the messes are unending,

but still we want one.

Monday December 26th, 2011

The exercise:

Your prompt today: the sack.

I need to finish up my Christmas week story already, so I'm just going to get to that.

We're heading home tomorrow morning, stopping off... wherever we happen to be when we get tired of being in the car. Looking forward to being back in our own bed Wednesday night.

Mine:

Tensions were high as Santa harnessed in the reindeer to the Sleigh. Eye contact between man and beast was avoided completely, except when a buckle pinched the skin on Rudolph's neck. Rosa and Miguel had to move quickly to prevent a last minute disaster.

Once the team was ready to take flight, Santa climbed up onto his seat but, after a moment's thought, left his whip on the floor by his feet. No need to aggravate them unnecessarily - they all certainly knew what they were doing by that point.

Taking a deep breath to calm nerves that were usually steady as a rock, he noticed that all of the reindeer were facing forward. Turning his head slightly, he gave Rosa and Miguel a quick nod before beginning his traditional spiel.

"Now! Dasher, now!" Santa shouted as the two elves brought a wriggling, shifting sack over to the Sleigh. "Dancer, now!" Miguel and Rosa heaved the sack onto the seat beside Big Red and scurried away as the reindeer eased into motion. "Prancer and Vixen, on!"

The Sleigh attained liftoff as Santa continued his shouting. Miguel and Rosa watched with the other elves as the team tore off into the night sky - but they were the only ones who spotted the antlered head peer out of the sack beside their boss.

The trainees for next year's Flight were aboard and learning; the only question was whether Santa could keep them hidden from the current team until the end of this one.

Sunday December 25th, 2011

The exercise:

Merry Christmas to one and all! We're going to keep it straightforward today - your prompt is simply: Christmas.

I hope Santa is kind to all of you. I'm writing this on Saturday afternoon so that I don't have to worry about finding time to do it on the big day. I'm hoping to bring my Christmas week story to a satisfying conclusion today, but I might extend it for one more day if it starts looking a little long.

Mine:

"What in the world is going on, Santa?" Miguel asked as his boss crawled out of the bushes rubbing the side of his head.

"You just hit me in the head with a snowball, from like ten yards away!" Santa replied, clearly unimpressed.

"But what were you doing hiding in there in the first place?" Rosa asked before Miguel could get himself in even more trouble.

"I'm teaching those bloody reindeer a lesson!" Seeing the elves exchange confused glances, he huffed mightily before carrying on. "I was explaining to them last week that it was high time I started training their replacements, what with them getting on in years. Well, they did not like that one bit, no siree!"

"You can hardly blame... er, so what did they do?" Miguel asked, changing tact when he saw Santa's expression darken.

"They disassembled the Sleigh!" Santa shouted, then looked around nervously to see if anyone else had heard. Spotting nobody, he carried on in a whisper, "They're trying to hold Christmas hostage! Well, I'm here to show them that two can play that game!"

"Tough to have the Big Day without Big Red," Rosa said with a nod. Miguel elbowed her in the ribs for sucking up.

"Exactly!" Santa said with a satisfied smile. "So, is everyone in a big panic about me going missing?"

"Er, not exactly." Rosa looked to Miguel for support but he just crossed his arms and looked back expectantly. "You see... um..."

"What is it?" Santa's smile was fading quickly.

"We're kinda the only ones that know you haven't been around."