Crying Sticky Tears

I was at the end of my rope. I had had a sore throat and cough for over a week and now I had a weepy and sticky eye.

It had been raining for about a week and both my husband’s pairs of shoes were wet. The caravan was out of water. We tried to fill it up but as fast as the water flowed in from the hosepipe, it gushed out again. I cried to the Lord. “I just can’t anymore,” I wailed. “I just want to cry and go to bed.” The verse that came to me was one that has come to me before – ‘My grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I was desperate to buy some ointment for my eye. I remembered the verse from Revelation. “So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.” (Revelation  3:18 NIV)

I hadn’t realised before how important the eye ointment was. These words were written to the Church of Laodicea who were neither hot nor cold. Was part of their problem the fact that they couldn’t see what was important and blundered about after the wrong things? Is that part of my problem?

My Prayer

Lord, please forgive me when I am neither hot nor cold. Please send the fire of Your Spirit to rekindle my flame. Amen.

Soapy Exit

 

When I poured shampoo into the kitchen sink, the squid blew bubbles. By the time the foam cleared, he was gone. I never saw him again.

I am trying to do two challenges with this post. The first is Grammar Ghoul Press’ Shapefitting challenge where we are challenged to write a story in 26 words including the words “kitchen”,”squid” and “shampoo.”

The next is Linda G Hill’s One liner Wednesday. I hope neither of the challenge hosts objects to my trying to kill two birds with one stone (or two squids with one wash).

It’s a Circus Out There

 

“Mayday! Mayday! This is Medijig 100. Can anybody hear me?”

“Come in Medijig 100”

“I am running out of fuel. Where can I land?”

“We see you on our radar. You are in the middle of Letnin City. There is no open space for 10km.”

“What about a building with a flat roof?”

“Not in Letnin. After the terrorist attack last year all the buildings have had spike barriers added to their roofs.”

“Wait. I see something. It’s a flat topped vehicle. I’m going down.”

The clown in the circus van looked up. “Hey Dora, A helicopter ambulance is going to land on our roof. They’ll have oxygen for sure. Our little asthmatic chimp is going to be all right!”

120 words

 

This story is for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers and is based on the following photo prompt.

 

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Iain Kelly. Thank you Iain!

Maybe you’d like to join in the fun.

Guide for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

1. A prompt photo will be provided each Tuesday to be used as a base to your story. Please include photo prompt with your story.

2. Linking for this challenge begins on Tuesday and runs to the following Monday evening.

3. Please credit photo to photographer.

4. The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit.

5. Pingback to the challenge post in your story’s post.

6. This is a flash fiction challenge (stories in 100-175 words or less) and each story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Therefore, no serial (continuation) stories. They become too complicated for our readers.

7. Add your story to the InLinkz Link-up (Blue Froggy button). If you need link-up instructions, please email me at mepricelessjoy@gmail.com.

8. Please keep stories below R rating.

9. Please respect the diversity of our readers and writers in regard to race, religion, and life style choice when writing your stories.

10. Remember, half the fun is reading and commenting on each other’s stories.

Lend a helping hand.

“Look Mom,’ it’s trying to escape!” Four year old Nicholas was watching his big brother fly his new kite.

“Mmm!” said Mom. She glanced up from her needlework.

“It looks like a bird. It wants to fly.”

“Mmm!”

Nicholas spied Mom’s sewing scissors.

“Don’t worry, little kite,” he said. “I’ll help you.”

 

This story is in response to this week’s Shapefitting challenge.

Nightmare

“Pleeeease Granny, it’s only five Rand.” How can I resist such a pleading four year old face.

“OK then. Here you are.”

I go to the ladies bathroom while she’s on the horse.

I return. No horse. No granddaughter.

This is part of the shapeshifting flash fiction challenge. This week the story must be exactly 39 words based on the following photo prompt.

 

A Bookish Gentleman

Charles went back to the library after twenty five years.

It was hushed as he’d remembered it. It seemed like the spirit of Mama drifted and swirled in between the dusty pages.

“Are you sure we can take books home?” he’d asked her in awe.  He had been three when Mama  introduced him to the Library.

She’d smiled. “Only for three weeks. Then you bring them back and take others.”

He loved books.

After the accident, when he lived in the Orphanage, he read all the books he could find.

Charles Drummond, PhD, looked around.  “Thank you, Mama,” he whispered. 100 words.

This story is part of the FFfAW challenge for this week. The challenge is to write a story in 100 or so words. thanks to Joy for hosting and TJ Paris for this week’s  photo prompt.

Green Beam

Sophie slung her camera bag over her shoulder. The  light was perfect for landscape as well as macro photography.

She saw the space ship just above the clouds. As she watched it get closer, a telescopic cone protruded and shot a beam of greenish light onto a yellow-wood.  The tree miniaturized and was drawn up into the space ship.

The beam shot out again, two metres in front of her and swept closer. Sophie grabbed the reflector from her  bag and deflected the beam as it reached her.

As she watched, the space ship shrank and disappeared in green light.

100 words

This post is part of Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by Priceless Joy. the challenge is to write a story of 100 words based on a photo prompt. the photo this week was thanks to Nonnaci.

Arm of menace

This story is part of FFfAW run by Priceless Joy. The challenge is to write a story in 100 – 150 words.

This week’s photo prompt is provided by phylor. Thank you phylor for our prompt photo!

 

 

“It was an accident, Officer.  You see my friend here…” I looked around to indicate the girl I had just met. She had disappeared.

“Well, anyway. She’s also a student. From Australia. She showed me this fancy boomerang. The latest in technology, she said. You can even programme it on your cell phone.” I held out the shiny metal object. “Then she said she’d give me a hundred dollars if I could loop it around the statue and retrieve it.”

The policeman fished a packet of white powder from the statue’s broken arm. “You’d better come with me,” he said.

Ultimate Exclusivity

 

We were an exclusive coterie. We respected secrets, confidentiality. We were murderers all.

 

This is part of Shapeshifting 13. This week’s challenge is to write a story in 13 words about the word “coterie”

This is just the beginning

This is part of Flash fiction for aspiring writers. by Priceless Joy. Thanks, Joy, for hosting this challenge.

 

The photo prompt for this week is supplied by Barbara Taylor.

Well, here I am in the city. It is more beautiful than I expected, and not as cold.  It took six months to sell the farm and all the animals. It broke my heart. I hope it was worth it. I hope I find her, the girl that stole my heart in a short weekend before she moved to the city.

All I know is her name and that she works for a newspaper. How many newspapers can there be in one city? If it takes another six months I will keep looking. I never told her I loved her.

100 words