The exercise:
Write about: the devil's noose.
This afternoon I was asked to clean a room at Destination Osoyoos that I'd not previously had access to. After I was done they wanted me to close the blinds, which didn't seem like much of a request.
By the time I'd finished fighting with the cord I thought otherwise.
I usually have a shower after I get home from work, which gives me some quiet time to process my day. Tonight while I was in there I started thinking about those blinds and how much I hated the person who tied up the cord, whose tie job I casually referred to as 'the devil's noose'. I liked it so much that I had to make a prompt out of it.
So here we are.
Three days to go!
Mine:
The rope around my neck is impossibly hot. It should be on fire, the way it's burning me. I can almost hear the skin crackling like a steak on a frying pan doused with too much oil. The smell is... I don't want to think about the smell.
I twist this way and that, use my fingers to try to force a gap that can be used to loosen its grip on me. But there is no relief. There is no escape.
The devil's noose has a hold on me and it isn't letting go.
"Are you... comfortable?" a deep, rumbling voice asks. I can feel the echoes reverberating in my chest.
"No!" My voice is hoarse, rasping. My mouth is drier than grains of sand on a midday beach. The pain is... exquisite.
"Exquisite?" His laughter is a monstrous thing. "You flatter me."
"Get out of my head."
"Make me."
The challenge forces my eyes open for the first time. My regret is immediate and immense. Everything is on fire. I try not to look at anything too closely but I still see tormented faces and blackened bones.
I am surrounded by misery.
"Surrounded," he says. "And very much a part of it as well."
The noose tightens and I fall to my knees, clutching at the burning rope with both hands. I can feel the skin on my palms blistering and peeling away. Escape is hopeless but I will not stop fighting. I cannot stop. I must not.
"Oh, you will," he says with that terrible laugh. "You will."
Tuesday October 10th, 2017
The exercise:
Write two haiku about: the beginning of the end.
Parents managed to leave this morning without too many tears being shed. Took the boys to StrongStart shortly afterward to keep them distracted. Seemed to work out okay.
Beginning my final four day stretch with Public Works tomorrow. It's going to be a chilly week, but at least the end is very much in sight.
Mine:
This may not be the
end, but I can certainly
see it from here... *yay*
* * *
I said I love you
and you just sort of smiled and
didn't say it back
Write two haiku about: the beginning of the end.
Parents managed to leave this morning without too many tears being shed. Took the boys to StrongStart shortly afterward to keep them distracted. Seemed to work out okay.
Beginning my final four day stretch with Public Works tomorrow. It's going to be a chilly week, but at least the end is very much in sight.
Mine:
This may not be the
end, but I can certainly
see it from here... *yay*
* * *
I said I love you
and you just sort of smiled and
didn't say it back
Monday October 9th, 2017
The exercise:
Well, it has certainly been a long time since I've made use of the Last Line Prompt. So, of course, now that I'm bringing it back around I'm changing the rules a little bit.
This time I want you to take any line from a song and use it as your last. Still the same idea, knowing your ending before you begin writing, just tweaking things slightly.
Oh, and just to be a pain, the song you pluck your line from has to be one on the Hamilton soundtrack.
You're welcome.
Had a good day with the boys and my parents. Lunch out in town with everybody, harvesting fruit and veggies with Max and my parents while Miles napped. A yummy borscht dinner together.
Will be sad to see them go tomorrow.
Mine:
Wait For It - Hamilton Soundtrack
I am deeply misunderstood by the likes of you. You have made so many incorrect assumptions. You hold even more misconceptions.
Allow me to shed some light and clarity for you. It is probably best if you save your thanks until later.
Trust me.
So. Where to begin? Perhaps it would be wise to commence with my response to those responsible for my downfall. You think I've gone into hiding? You consider my silence a sign of weakness or, even worse, cowardice?
These men took everything from me. My wealth, my power, my loved ones. Do you really think that I would do nothing in the face of their hateful actions? Do you really think I would turn the other cheek? Do you really think that I will show these men mercy?
And, to be clear, know that I count you among them. You have not escaped my attention.
All of you have mistaken the cause of my inaction. Like the fools you are. So allow me, if you will, to spell this out for you simpletons.
I'm not standing still.
I am lying in wait.
Well, it has certainly been a long time since I've made use of the Last Line Prompt. So, of course, now that I'm bringing it back around I'm changing the rules a little bit.
This time I want you to take any line from a song and use it as your last. Still the same idea, knowing your ending before you begin writing, just tweaking things slightly.
Oh, and just to be a pain, the song you pluck your line from has to be one on the Hamilton soundtrack.
You're welcome.
Had a good day with the boys and my parents. Lunch out in town with everybody, harvesting fruit and veggies with Max and my parents while Miles napped. A yummy borscht dinner together.
Will be sad to see them go tomorrow.
Mine:
Wait For It - Hamilton Soundtrack
I am deeply misunderstood by the likes of you. You have made so many incorrect assumptions. You hold even more misconceptions.
Allow me to shed some light and clarity for you. It is probably best if you save your thanks until later.
Trust me.
So. Where to begin? Perhaps it would be wise to commence with my response to those responsible for my downfall. You think I've gone into hiding? You consider my silence a sign of weakness or, even worse, cowardice?
These men took everything from me. My wealth, my power, my loved ones. Do you really think that I would do nothing in the face of their hateful actions? Do you really think I would turn the other cheek? Do you really think that I will show these men mercy?
And, to be clear, know that I count you among them. You have not escaped my attention.
All of you have mistaken the cause of my inaction. Like the fools you are. So allow me, if you will, to spell this out for you simpletons.
I'm not standing still.
I am lying in wait.
Sunday October 8th, 2017
The exercise:
The first week of October kinda slipped by before I realized it, so let us return to The Dream Kingdom before any more days sneak past me.
Had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my parents this evening. We roasted a whole chicken, did up some potatoes and yams and peas, and had some wine to go with it. It was good to have them here for the holiday.
We've got one more full day with them before they head for home Tuesday morning. Not looking forward to how the boys will take their departure.
Mine:
"I don't know how these people can wear this everyday," Dylan muttered as he tried to scratch an unreachable itch on his back. "I'm going to lose my mind and I've only been wearing this for ten minutes."
"They must only wear clothes outdoors and just walk around their homes naked," Olivia said, completely unaware of the effect her words had on her friends. "They can't possibly wear these outfits all day."
"At least your clothes fit properly," Josh pointed out from where he was lying on the cart. "Did you have to steal the clothes from a walking blimp?"
"These are an isolated, impoverished people," Nystor reminded them. "Magic is dangerously unreliable here. They have little to work with and do the best they can. Their lot is not their fault."
"Whatever." Dylan paused to try to reach the itch with his other hand. "All right. So remind me again what the plan is? I can't concentrate with all this itchiness going on all over the place."
"Does that mean you're going to get naked before this is all over?" Olivia asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Try to focus, children," Nystor cut in. "Our... informant, once he was fully recovered from his near suffocation, was quite useful. We now know that there was an unusual burst of activity at The Lighthouse shortly after King Brekstan was taken and that was followed by a steep increase in security. If the king is not being held here, The Islanders are doing a fine job of misdirection."
"Right," Dylan grunted.
"We already knew that the only approach to The Lighthouse has to be through the village of Sandsekt, which makes our current disguises highly necessary - especially with the tower's meteorite foundations. We cannot expect to be able to maintain any sort of magical disguise once we get within a few hundred feet of its gates."
"So we're just going to hope these will be okay?" Josh asked, patting the blanket between himself and Nystor that covered Olivia and Dylan's swords.
"Can't exactly go in there unarmed," Olivia countered.
"I think that's enough bickering for now," Nystor said with a poorly concealed sigh. "We are approaching the outskirts of the village."
The first week of October kinda slipped by before I realized it, so let us return to The Dream Kingdom before any more days sneak past me.
Had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my parents this evening. We roasted a whole chicken, did up some potatoes and yams and peas, and had some wine to go with it. It was good to have them here for the holiday.
We've got one more full day with them before they head for home Tuesday morning. Not looking forward to how the boys will take their departure.
Mine:
"I don't know how these people can wear this everyday," Dylan muttered as he tried to scratch an unreachable itch on his back. "I'm going to lose my mind and I've only been wearing this for ten minutes."
"They must only wear clothes outdoors and just walk around their homes naked," Olivia said, completely unaware of the effect her words had on her friends. "They can't possibly wear these outfits all day."
"At least your clothes fit properly," Josh pointed out from where he was lying on the cart. "Did you have to steal the clothes from a walking blimp?"
"These are an isolated, impoverished people," Nystor reminded them. "Magic is dangerously unreliable here. They have little to work with and do the best they can. Their lot is not their fault."
"Whatever." Dylan paused to try to reach the itch with his other hand. "All right. So remind me again what the plan is? I can't concentrate with all this itchiness going on all over the place."
"Does that mean you're going to get naked before this is all over?" Olivia asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Try to focus, children," Nystor cut in. "Our... informant, once he was fully recovered from his near suffocation, was quite useful. We now know that there was an unusual burst of activity at The Lighthouse shortly after King Brekstan was taken and that was followed by a steep increase in security. If the king is not being held here, The Islanders are doing a fine job of misdirection."
"Right," Dylan grunted.
"We already knew that the only approach to The Lighthouse has to be through the village of Sandsekt, which makes our current disguises highly necessary - especially with the tower's meteorite foundations. We cannot expect to be able to maintain any sort of magical disguise once we get within a few hundred feet of its gates."
"So we're just going to hope these will be okay?" Josh asked, patting the blanket between himself and Nystor that covered Olivia and Dylan's swords.
"Can't exactly go in there unarmed," Olivia countered.
"I think that's enough bickering for now," Nystor said with a poorly concealed sigh. "We are approaching the outskirts of the village."
Saturday October 7th, 2017
The exercise:
Write a four line poem about: opening night.
The Vancouver Canucks opened their 2017-18 season this evening with a 3-2 victory over Edmonton. They're not expected to be significantly better than the team that finished second-last in the league last season, but the first game of the year is always good for some baseless optimism.
Kat and I joined Becky and Adam in helping their parents finish off the apple pick this afternoon. The two of them have been going hard for much too long and are hitting a wall, so we're pitching in to get them over the finish line. The pick should get finished tomorrow morning.
Then all we have to do is convince them to get some well deserved rest.
Mine:
We're making our debut -
We're all brand new!
So, if it's okay with you,
I think I'll fake the flu...
Write a four line poem about: opening night.
The Vancouver Canucks opened their 2017-18 season this evening with a 3-2 victory over Edmonton. They're not expected to be significantly better than the team that finished second-last in the league last season, but the first game of the year is always good for some baseless optimism.
Kat and I joined Becky and Adam in helping their parents finish off the apple pick this afternoon. The two of them have been going hard for much too long and are hitting a wall, so we're pitching in to get them over the finish line. The pick should get finished tomorrow morning.
Then all we have to do is convince them to get some well deserved rest.
Mine:
We're making our debut -
We're all brand new!
So, if it's okay with you,
I think I'll fake the flu...
Friday October 6th, 2017
The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about: the hearing test.
Another (cold) day in the books. Next four days off, and then the final run of four commences. Very much looking forward to doing something else for a while.
They were doing hearing tests this morning (the crew has to do one annually because so many of them work with loud machinery) and I (eventually) opted to join in. It's been a long time since my last one, so I was feeling a bit nervous.
Turns out my hearing is pretty much perfect and that I did the best on the test of everybody who did it this morning.
Must remember to rub that in their faces next week...
Mine:
"Did you hear that?"
"Knock it off, Derek."
"Come on, I'm just trying to make sure your hearing is okay after the accident!"
"Your accident... and if you set off one more firework in my office I'm going to fire you."
Write four lines of prose about: the hearing test.
Another (cold) day in the books. Next four days off, and then the final run of four commences. Very much looking forward to doing something else for a while.
They were doing hearing tests this morning (the crew has to do one annually because so many of them work with loud machinery) and I (eventually) opted to join in. It's been a long time since my last one, so I was feeling a bit nervous.
Turns out my hearing is pretty much perfect and that I did the best on the test of everybody who did it this morning.
Must remember to rub that in their faces next week...
Mine:
"Did you hear that?"
"Knock it off, Derek."
"Come on, I'm just trying to make sure your hearing is okay after the accident!"
"Your accident... and if you set off one more firework in my office I'm going to fire you."
Thursday October 5th, 2017
The exercise:
Write about something that has been: disguised.
I think my boys are born entertainers. Certainly in my parents eyes they are.
The silence in the house, now that they're asleep, is rather deafening.
Going to miss all that happy noise tomorrow while I'm at work. Thankfully I'll have the next four days off to make up for it.
Mine:
"The exhibit is magnificent - you've done an amazing job!"
"That's very kind of you. I'm particularly proud of this display."
"I can see wh... wait. Isn't that the artifact that was chewed up by our resident rat family?"
"It certainly is! You've got a keen eye."
"There was hardly anything left of it!"
"Yes, well, that's why I've got it almost entirely buried underneath artificial snow. Luckily for me the arctic discovery show was put into storage last week, so there was plenty of the stuff to go around."
"That's great and everything, but... wasn't that artifact dug out of an archaeological site in Egypt?"
Write about something that has been: disguised.
I think my boys are born entertainers. Certainly in my parents eyes they are.
The silence in the house, now that they're asleep, is rather deafening.
Going to miss all that happy noise tomorrow while I'm at work. Thankfully I'll have the next four days off to make up for it.
Mine:
"The exhibit is magnificent - you've done an amazing job!"
"That's very kind of you. I'm particularly proud of this display."
"I can see wh... wait. Isn't that the artifact that was chewed up by our resident rat family?"
"It certainly is! You've got a keen eye."
"There was hardly anything left of it!"
"Yes, well, that's why I've got it almost entirely buried underneath artificial snow. Luckily for me the arctic discovery show was put into storage last week, so there was plenty of the stuff to go around."
"That's great and everything, but... wasn't that artifact dug out of an archaeological site in Egypt?"
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