A River Of Fortitude

A river of fortitude flowed through her, though she was just a small thing. It flowed through her blood and up into her heart and brain. When she was a baby, she was aware of it, but she never thought that she would ever need it. Her parents would always be there to protect her.

But one cannot stay a baby forever. And one’s parents cannot always be there to fight the fight.

She relied on that river of fortitude when so many things went wrong in her life. When friends insulted and betrayed her. When the one she loved made demands of her. No matter what, she would dig deep and that river would be there. To protect her. To enable her to stand up for what she believed in. To stand up for herself. To help her through every hard day.

Years passed as they will always do. And when her first child was born, she held that child close and whispered, “A river of fortitude flows through you, little one.” She kissed her baby’s head. “Just like it flows through me.”

June Writing Prompts

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Bodacious Barnacles

The barnacles were the last to arrive to the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance.

They were dressed to impress: pleated slacks, black bow ties, and pleather jackets. They wore abalone helmets shaped like Saturn —rings included. Mother of pearl fishhooks pierced their delicate ears. And their shoes shined like a full moon on the waves.

The other partygoers were divided into two camps: Those who admired the barnacles’ bodaciousness and those who found them to be akin to cheap and tawdry driftwood.

The admirers quickly jumped ship to team two as the barnacles threw decorum and propriety to the neap tides and latched onto everything in sight as barnacles tend to do.

The hostess weeped as the barnacles slowly munched on whatever they had latched onto. She tried to pry them off, but nothing doing. They were there to stay.

The barnacles were never invited to another party ever again.

 

June Writing Prompts

Code R.A.I.N.B.O.W

In hindsight, General Grevenshen realized that it had been a bad idea.

There were a great many things he could have titled his great plan for world domination. Things like…General Grevenshen’s Generalized Take Over The World And Dominate It Plan.

Or, Kill All The World Leaders And Take Over The Whooooolle World Plan.

There were many others. All of them equally wordy. One was an entire paragraph long.

Finally, his lead henchman, Super Duper Giraffe Boss, recommended Code R.A.I.N.B.O.W.

“What do the letters stand for?”

“Huh? They have to stand for something?” Super Duper Giraffe Boss scratched his thatch of red-orange hair. “I thought it sounded cool.”

General Grevenshen was all set to argue for acronyms having some sort of meaning, but then he thought about it.

Code R.A.I.N.B.O.W. “Yes. Yes, I like it. We’ll go with that!” He raised his fingers in a victorious V. “The world will bow to me and my amazing world domination plan! aaaaaahhhh-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!”

***

Fast forward, three months later….

Super Duper Giraffe Boss entered the room with another full bag of hate mail. “Sorry, boss.”

General Grevenshen dug his fingers into his hair and pulled it repeatedly. “iiiihhh! How was I supposed to know that everyone would take offense to my brilliant plan’s name?”

Super Duper Giraffe Boss opened a random letter. “oh. This one’s accusing you of queer baiting and hate crimes all at the same time. Huh. They’re also saying that you are a hater of humanity and all things good and beautiful.”

General Grevenshen stopped abusing his hair. “It’s okay. I got this. We’ll just come up with a better plan with a much better name. aaaaah-HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!”

 

June Writing Prompts

Laughing Like A…

She said something absurd
And it made him laugh.

Laugh like a hiccupping hyena
Laugh like a deranged clown
Laugh like a teenager in love.

He cracked a joke and got the punchline just right.
It made her laugh.

Laugh like a stream
Laugh like a loon.
Laugh like a trumpet underwater.
Laugh like the stars tickling the moon.

She whispered “I love you.”
And it made him laugh.

Laugh with pride.
Laugh with joy.
Laugh with the sun’s morning light.

He whispered back “I love you too.”
It made her laugh.

Laugh like a macaroon’s softness
Laugh like a shining star
Laugh like a child’s delight.
Laugh like a lyrical lush.

June Writing Prompts

Penciled In…

When he first saw her, he drew her.
Penciled her in blue lead and soft red ink.
Black lines for her outline.
Peach hues for her skin.

When he saw her the second time, he drew her.
Inked her in black lines and shadowed grays.
White lines for her outline.
Charcoal rubbings for her skin.

When he saw her the third time,
He put his drawing utensils aside.
He walked up to her.
He talked to her.

She smiled
And lead him away.

June Writing Prompts

Sylvia’s Secrets

Sylvia McGrinnikay had secrets.
So many secrets that she could tell.
Secrets old.
Secrets new.
Secrets that she could sell.

She knew secrets about
The minister
The pie maker
The cake maker
The best tailor in town.

She knew secrets about
Fred Farddindash
Lara Collins
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dredgerson
Alice Abbindingdown.

Everyone in town
Feared her
Dreaded her
Quaked and quailed about the day
She would reveal all.

Yet, Sylvia spent her life
With her mouth shut
And her secrets locked up.

She smiled at everyone’s
Anxieties and nervous fits
Whenever she appeared
Whenever she had an announcement to make.

Yet, she kept her secrets
And she kept them well.
Though she had many secrets
So many secrets,
She never did tell.

 

June Writing Prompts

Daily Spur Presents…Stem

Author’s Note: Time for another out of story moment for my characters…

Everyone had gone hunting, leaving Isellta alone.

He sat on the front porch steps.

It’s okay. Robin should be coming home soon.

He looked up at the night sky.

“Ahh, so many stars out tonight.” He flapped his wings in a lazy gesture. “So pretty.”

I hope he’s safe.

I hope he isn’t hurt.

Isellta caught Robin’s tangerine scent. He rose to his feet.

The vampire walked up the driveway with a long, narrow box in his arms.

Isellta ran to him. “Robin!” He touched him, stroked his face, felt his hair.

“Don’t worry, stupid fey. It’s me. I’m real.”

Isellta’s wings flapped faster. “I just needed to be sure.”

“Hey. Uhh.” Robin shifted the box into a more comfortable position. “Well, see here’s the thing. Today’s the third year anniversary of when we first met. I felt bad I never did nothin’ to celebrate the other two. Umm. So. I was comin’ home and there was this flower shop and…” He opened the box.

Isellta’s wings stopped.

“I. I. Uhh. Got this for you. I know you like pretty things and this was pretty and I mean, it’s stupid that it has thorns all over its stem. I mean, who the freakin’ heck sells roses like that?”

Isellta stroked the soft, deep red petals. He tried to touch the stem.

He got pricked in one try.

“Stupid fey.”

Isellta looked up at him. “I don’t understand.” He tilted his head. “Is this for me?”

“Duh. Yeah.”

“You bought this for me?”

Robin blushed. “Because I knew you’d like it.”

Isellta’s wings moved in a soft flutter. “I love you.”

Robin kissed his forehead. “Love you too.”

 

https://thedailyspur.wordpress.com/2018/06/22/stem/