Rubbing Salt in the Wound #WritePhoto

 

 

“There used to be water here,” he pointed to the cliff. “Up to the standing stones.”

She nudged some loose debris with her foot. “This is cool, isn’t it? And, no, there wasn’t. Water, I mean.”

“How do you know?” He asked.

“I don’t,” she shrugged. “I just figured if it was you saying it, it must not be true.”

“Well, there was water here,” he insisted. “And it had salt in it.”

She laughed, “Salt? Okay, yeah, whatever.”

“Stop kicking that stuff. It was part of the water. Still is.”

“What’s wrong with you that you’ve got to make stuff up all the time?” She glared at him. “Water that had salt inside of it? You’re crazy, you know that?”

“I don’t know why I bother. Let’s go.”

She crouched and studied the debris. “I want to stay here and check this out.”

He grabbed her arm. “Don’t. Touch. That.”

“Why? Will the little, dried-up, old dirt eat me for lunch?” She yanked her arm from his grip and reached out.

“With salt,” he mumbled. The seaweed shot up and snaked around her body, thin tentacles covering her mouth and dragging her under the ground.

 

 

Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain, my friends. πŸŽƒπŸ’€

 

My attempt at #writephoto, a weekly writing prompt for poetry/flash/short stories hosted by Sue Vincent

 

writephoto-logo

 

Featured On the Reef ~ Full Dark

 

 

On the Reef is a series featuring fabulous indie authors from around the blogosphere and beyond. Titles, covers, and blurbs that catch my eye, new releases, great reads… Basically, authors I’d like to highlight and works I’d like to share with my fellow book-loving word nerds. Happy Reading!

 

New Release

 

Full Dark (A Short Story Anthology)

11 Dark Stories

What happens in the dark will come to light.

FULL DARK is a collection of eleven short works with impressive depth and range. Twisted tales of ghosts, villains, and the paranormal await youβ€”mystery, heinous fantasy, and pure suspense. Acclaimed and award-winning authors as well as a few talented newcomers have joined forces to be your guide. Venture into the dark if you dare.

 

* FULL DARK is a benefit anthology. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Gary Sinise Foundation, an organization that does many wonderful things for our country’s active military, its veterans, and the countless first responders who sacrifice so much to keep us safe.

 

Just in time for Halloween… πŸŽƒ

You can get your copy here: πŸ™‚

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

Contributing Authors:

Retribution by Melissa Maygrove (Editor)

Just A Matter of Time by Loni Townsend

Forerunner by David Powers King

Taking Care of You by Carrie Butler

The Apartment by Lisa Buie-Collard

The Caricature by Nick Wilford

Shifting Sands by Elizabeth Seckman

Shadows Falling on Rainbows by Celeste Holloway

Meringue, Murder or Marzipan by Tonja Drecker

Haunted Lake by Michelle Athy

Soul Coin by Laura Rich

 

 

On the Reef: The Shark’s Friday Feature

 

Flash Fiction Contest: TwitterFlash 9×11

 

This contest asks writers to pen a flash in 99 words composed in tweets: 11 tweets, 9 words each. Here’s my attempt (not an entry, just challenging myself for fun). First are the actual tweets, then, same story in 11 sentences (each with 9 words).

Psst…the tweets are interactive. Like, RT, or reply right from this post. Give it a go…

 

 

~~~

They find me. Crouched behind a rusted filing cabinet.

Gloved hands grip my bare arms, lifting me easily.

Shoving me into bright sun outside the hospital ward.

I run back, stumble, fall hard on the asphalt.

I reach for the door. I reach for him.

Balancing on my left palm, I almost make it.

With their heavy boots, they step on my fingers.

They laugh. I shout. They threaten. I kick. Dammit!

They grab me, make me promise to stay away.

Tell me he is sick and dangerous. They lie.

Then, again, so do I. They will die tonight.

~~~

 

 

Tweet some fiction, fellow tweeps. You could win $25. πŸ™‚ Check it out here.

Flash Fiction Contest: When I Grow Up

 

This contest asked writers to pen a flash in 100 words from the perspective (and voice) of your 6-yr-old self about…you guessed it…”When I Grow Up”. Here’s my attempt (not an entry, just challenging myself for fun).

 

Potentially Right

I hear them.

I’m in the hallway at school, cuddling Oscar, my purple owl stuffie. I’m petting his fur. Owls don’t have fur but I pretend it’s feathers. And that’s okay.

Their voices creep from under the door with number 17 on it. That’s my classroom. Words like β€œsimple” and β€œincapable” hit me. I pull Oscar closer. They say I do not understand things.

I don’t like coloring circles in red and squares in blue to prove I know the difference. I know.

I know trapezoids, octagons, parallelograms… I want to find a new shape, maybe, when I grow up.

 

The Usual Haunts #Tanka

 

I thought my spirit

would glide gracefully amongst

the living. Alas…

I find I’m a clumsy ghost

Can’t earn my haunting license

 

 

 

In the spirit of Halloween, this week’s prompt is to write a poem with the words ‘ghost’ & ‘haunt’ in it.

I’ve gone a bit silly for Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge. You can write any of the following: Haiku / Tanka / Haibun / Cinquain / Senryu. Check it out and challenge yourself.


 

blog-badge-tanka

 

Wings #Haiku

 

Mist coils sleeping pines

From their shadows, bats take flight

Dark shapes in moonlight

 

 

 

 

It’s been a bit since I’ve taken on one of Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenges (which is now: Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge).Β Things have changed. More forms are included: Haiku / Tanka / Haibun / Cinquain / Senryu. Check it out and challenge yourself.

I’ve chosen a haiku. This week’s prompt is to write a poem with the words ‘mist’ & ‘shape’ in it.

 

blog-badge-tanka

 

Featured On the Reef ~ Helen Jones

 

 

On the Reef is a series featuring fabulous indie authors from around the blogosphere and beyond. Titles, covers, and blurbs that catch my eye, new releases, great reads… Basically, authors I’d like to highlight and works I’d like to share with my fellow book-loving word nerds. Happy Reading!

 

Featured

 

A Thousand Rooms by Helen Jones

You don’t wake up expecting to die.

Katie is thirty-two, single, and works in advertising. She’s also dead. A lost soul hitching rides with the dying, trying to find her way to… wherever she’s supposed to be.

And whoever she’s supposed to be with.

Heaven, it seems, has a thousand rooms. What will it take to find hers?

 

You can get your copy here: πŸ™‚

Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

About Helen:

Helen Jones was born in the UK, then lived in both Canada and Australia before returning to England several years ago. She has worked as a freelance writer for the past ten years, runs her own blog and has contributed guest posts to others, including the Bloomsbury Writers & Artists site.

When she’s not writing, she likes to walk, paint and study karate. She loves the idea of finding magic in ordinary places; as a child she and her grandmother used to visit the woods on Midsummer’s eve to look for fairies – whether they found any or not, is a story for another time.

She now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and daughter, and spends her days writing, cleaning, thinking, and counting cats on the way to school.

Website/Blog
Amazon Author Page (Please check out her other books here)

 

On the Reef: The Shark’s Friday Feature

 

Flash Fiction Contests

 

Check out the flash fiction contests this month at Carrot Ranch. They start today and a new one is up every Tuesday and Thursday.

 

 

Click here to see the information for each contest.

There’s something for everyone.

Pick one (or more) and join in.

Free to enter. $25 prizes.

 

Go write some flash! πŸ™‚ #FFRodeo

 

Selfless #Flash4Storms

 

Night is soft, quiet, speaking in layered moonlight.

Listen.

She whispers through trees, between branches.

Do not be afraid. You are not alone…

Beautiful darkness soothes us even though she knows it is her that we fear.

 

 

Written for the hurricane relief flash fiction challenge over at Lemon Shark. I’ve just raised the first $1. πŸ™‚ See? That was easy. Hope you join in.

#Flash4Storms

#LemonSharkCharity