Mabel #AtoZChallenge M

 

"You could go by 'May' you know," Beth was advising her friend. They were filling out college applications and Mabel was dying to start fresh in a new location. 

"My mom would kill me. 'I gave you a perfectly good name that honors your grandmother,'" she ended in a high-pitched sarcastic voice. "Not even a middle name that I can go by." She flipped through the college catalog in front of her. Beth pulled it away. 

"Why are you looking at those guys? Don't you want to go to college with me?" Beth was applying to her dad's alma mater, and shoved the brochure across to her friend. "I have an extra application form here if you decide you need it," and she waved a blank form that she pulled from underneath the one she had started writing on.

"I don't think my parents can afford this school." Mabel was turning pages but her mind was elsewhere.

"That's what scholarships are for. Besides, you'll never know if you don't apply." 

"Okay, hand it over."

"Yay!" She held the form out of Mabel's reach as she added, "Now... we both have to fill them in perfectly because there are no extras." She smiled and released the paper. "Go for it, 'May'!"

Mabel smirked at that and picked up a pen. The room got quiet, but for the sound of pens scratching on paper. As she finished hers, Beth asked, "What did you use for your name?"

"I'm waiting. Left it blank for now." She was intent on what she was writing. Beth's mom came in at that moment.

"You need anything? I can get some sandwiches going in the kitchen." Both girls nodded and the parental unit was gone.

Finally Mabel's pen rested on the table and she dropped her voice. "Do you think I can list your address as mine?"

"Why?" Beth had dropped her voice to match Mabel's secrecy. Mabel raised the form so that Beth could see the top "personal information" section. Beth grinned. "I don't mind, but the school might. I approve your new pseudonym, May."

"May-Belle. I'm hoping my mom will understand."

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely audience member. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! and I'll add it to the list.

My "Mabel" story came from the prompt "Pseudonym" provided by Anstice Brown of Curious Daydreams, in a comment left on my F post, here.

The Labyrinth #AtoZChallenge L

"And in school we learned about prairie dogs and they live underground!" Chauncey told his parents over dinner. "Mrs. Hill said..." They were keeping his schedule as normal as possible in this changed world, so dinnertime was still the time to talk about their days. "Their tunnels go all over, down in the dirt," he was carrying on, "Did you know they live here? I mean, not here in town, but..."

"I know where they are," said his dad. "I got to see them when I was a kid, once."

"Really? Was it so cool? Can we go?" He turned his innocent eyes to his mom. "Can we, Mom?" He knew nothing of things like "immune deficiency" or "pandemic". Dolores smiled at him first, then turned to look at her husband.

"Well, not yet, Sweetie. Rick, when we're able to get out on a family vacation? What do you think?" Chauncey didn't know what was happening in the wider world. Didn't know his mom had been laid off. If they could make a vacation happen sometime, it would be all up to Rick now that they were a single-income family.

Dolores was at home with Chauncey most of every day. It was a relief that he was so excited by learning new things. When he latched on to an idea, they could work that into other activities, videos, or online games. Prairie dogs were the latest passion. "Sure buddy," Rick ruffled his son's hair. "As soon as we can take a vacation, we'll go see prairie dogs. You can even help me plan the trip!"

Good idea. Dolores smiled. That would be a good way to help occupy his down time.

That night when they went to tuck him in, they found his canvas retractable tube tunnel stretched from the door to his bed. He was in bed, sitting up and looking at them with a grin. "I'm a prairie dog! That's my tunnel!" Dolores was slim enough to get down on hands and knees and crawl through. Rick was broad across the shoulders. He tried, but only pushed the first support ring into the next before backing out and shrugging at Chauncey.

"It's okay Dad. You're human. You have to walk."

The next day Rick had some boxes in the bed of his truck when he got home. Dinner was late, but much the same. "...And there are all these rooms underground. They call them burrows. But burrow also means to dig..."

At bedtime they could see Chauncey had burrowed his way to poke his head out of the blankets way down at the foot of the bed. "I'm a prairie dog! Mom, you're a prairie dog too. Come into my burrow! Dad, you have have to sit on top." So Dolores crawled through and got under the covers while Rick sat on top and read a new book he'd found about a prairie dog town. "Wow!" Chauncey said at the end. "I can't wait to visit the prairie dog town!"

"Well, maybe you'll see it in your dreams tonight," said his mom as she moved him up to his pillow for final night-nights.

As they went back downstairs she asked her husband, "What's in the truck, hon?" Dolores had seen the boxes when Rick was backing into the garage.

He gave her waist a squeeze. "Let's make a burrow," was all he said as they crossed toward the garage door.

Hours later, Dolores looked around, aghast. "It's a labyrinth! I live in a labyrinth."

"It's a burrow and he'll love it." He had bought or bartered for more crawling tunnels that they'd arranged throughout the house leading to all the rooms Chauncey used: bathroom, kitchen, living room... they had one that led right up to the seat of his chair in the "formal" dining room where his school computer was set up. Rick had even arranged random dead-ends filled with favored toys or piles of books. Where there were no tunnels, they had built faux walls by moving furniture, to keep the labyrinthine feel of a prairie dog's burrow.

"He'll be entertained all day. And you know it's only until the next thing comes up." Rick was grinning with pride at their in-home Labyrinth.

Dolores put an arm around him. "You're crazy, you know that?" She kissed him on his cheek. "Maybe on the weekend you should at least *look* at possible trip destinations." They couldn't set a date but they could at least keep their son's hopes alive.

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely audience member. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! and I'll add it to the list.

My "The Labyrinth" story came from the prompt "Labyrinth" provided by Anstice Brown of Curious Daydreams, in a comment left on my F post, here. I must admit, I let the story write itself, so if you're a little lost, so am I!

 

For King or Kingdom #AtoZChallenge K

"Keith, if anyone can pull this off, it's you."

Keith sighed. Everyone in town - certainly everyone in the Riverside Tap Room this night - knew he was great at telling tall tales and making them believed. No one called him a liar, but they turned a blind eye if he was taking advantage of an outsider. He was a good guy to those he loved, and he loved this place. "He'll know it's a scam if I'm involved."

"Really?" Came a sarcastic voice from near the bar. "You think the King knows the first thing about any of his subjects?" It was a fair point. King Fredrich ruled this valley and all the visible mountains surrounding it. He called in taxes and fees from every corner, but never provided care or needed services. The people took care of themselves and their neighbors as best they could, with no aid from the King. So where did the taxes go?

This late-night discussion in the Tap Room included prominent citizens from most of the towns and big businesses, and some of the area farmers. Basic aid was needed and they devised a plan to get the King to share some of the gold in his coffers.

Not share. He would never do that. 

Keith would have to con him out of any gold they could get. "To make this believable I"ll need at least one partner. No designer does all his own work." Not to mention, Keith knew nothing of fashion design.

Frieda stepped forward. A farmer's daughter who was back on leave from design school, few in this room knew her, let alone the king. "I can help. I can draw up the designs, you can make it look like we are catering to his fashion tastes." King Fredrich was a clothes horse. That was the weakness they would target to get him to spend some of his wealth on his people.

Not spend. He would never do that. Not on them. But he'd spend it on clothes.

A young man slowly rose from his seat at a table in the back, looking to his father for approval. The father's eyebrows rose, but he waved Jonas ahead. "You'll need to have a go-fer. I can do that. Every designer has someone to run and do things." 

It was settled. Keith accepted the help offered from the two young people. Everyone else returned to their homes to allow the trio to work out details. 

By dawn the trio were gone.

A week later the keeper of the Riverside Tap Room was telling the latest news that a designer and his team "from the Coastal Kingdom to the west they came!" to King Fredrich's court. He was leaning over a table where Jonas' father was drinking ale with some farmers of the nearest hamlet. "Aye, this man, this 'designer' brought a team with him and presented himself at court, bold as y' please, saying the King's fashion sense was 'known far and wide' and wouldn't it be his honor to make him some fancy togs!" He laughed at his own tale and saw relief on the faces at the table.

Meanwhile at court, over a bottle of wine, Keith was sowing his seeds in the King's ear. His team stood to the side, having grown by two since leaving the tavern and village behind. "I see your people are very loyal to you," he was saying.

"My trusted advisors. They handle everything for me, and yes very loyal."

Keith smiled. "It is good to be surrounded by wisdom."

"True. I don't even have to leave my own halls," King Fredrich replied, refilling his cup. "Advisors, counselors, servants. You understand. You have servants, I see." He nodded back to the four people along the wall.

Keith followed his gaze. "Ah, my staff. They are each useful in their way." He took a sip of wine in silence. "You know why I am here."

"I am given to understand you wish to make me a suitable ensemble." The King was fingering his cuff as he said the words, not making eye contact.

"If you are interested. Let me show you my work." Without waiting for approval, he waved Frieda to come to him. She had a book full of her designs from school. Keith took the book and opened it before the King. "Most of these would not be fitting someone of your eminence, of course, but I..." 

The discussion went on until they were escorted to rooms in the castle. Keith had promised new designs by the morning. 

Frieda and Keith were up late working together. She was drawing, and explaining to Keith the fabrics and colors that her designs were based on so that he'd sound knowledgeable to the King. When they showed the King in the morning, he had some alterations to suggest, which they agreed to, of course, and then Jonas came forward to take the King's measurements, with one of the new kids jotting them down in a book.

As Jonas was acting the part of tailor, Keith reviewed the altered designs and broached the subject of payment. "Now, these fabrics are not cheap, Your Highness."

"Good. I do not wear cheap clothes." 

"And this change you suggested here? Will require an extra yard or two..."

"I do not care. Spare no expense."

"Very well." Jonas and the lad finished and moved back to stand in the shadows as the King and "Designer" Keith walked through a garden to ate cakes in a gazebo. The King was interrupted by no less than three of his advisers as they walked. When their conversation resumed, he was not in a pleasant mood.

"You are from the coastal kingdom. Your people manage to keep streets in repair and wells functioning. My people do not do anything." The King settled into a seat in the gazebo as a servant poured for them. "I'm surrounded by idiots." Looking back across the lawns he added, "I'm not sure which of my advisors I can truly trust."

It was the final part of Keith's plan. "Of course, Highness. If I may be so bold..."

"Bold?"

"I have an enchanter on my staff who could enchant the clothes so that only the wise and intelligent see them. That way anyone who displeases you could be removed." Their point was to accept his payment and remove the gold into the Kingdom to repair roads and village wells as needed. That was the only removal required.

Over the next week, an advisor came to check on their progress every other day. "Why do I not see anything happening?" he asked Keith, as he stood in their suite of rooms, where Jonas was sewing air and Frieda pinned nothing onto a mannequin.

"You cannot see this gilded fabric?" Keith asked, wide-eyed as he lifted and pet the air. The young "enchanter" standing by the basin smiled at the advisor. "Best you say nothing to the King then," he said. 

"There is an enchantment to separate the wise from the foolish." Keith trusted that this advisor would spread the word among the household. The King's staff might all be taking advantage of him, individually or as a team. But he bet they'd all tell the lie to get away with it.

At the end of the week, King Fredrich returned for his fitting. "My advisor tells me these garments will glitter in the sun brilliantly," he gushed as Keith walked with him to the workroom. "I cannot wait to wear them, and to see who is worthy of being my loyal servant."

Keith watched the King's confused face as the staff went through the motions of fitting him in his new clothes, to the extent of snipping extra stitches to make them hang better. "Look in the mirror, Highness," urged Keith. "You will surely be be dazzling on such a sunny day!"

***

The King led a processional through his grounds, but not out into the city where he never went. He had doubts, but dare not skimp on the payment. Keith and his team left with the gold, which was used to do the things in the Kingdom that the King should have been doing all along.

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely reader. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! I'll add it to the list.

My "For King or Kingdom" story came from the suggestion that I try writing "fractured fairy tales". A suggestion provided by Gail M Baugniet of Gail M Baugniet - Author, in a comment left on my G post, here. Not my best, but it's written.

Jack and Jill #AtoZChallenge J

 

Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water.

...Or did they?

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" Jill freaked out as the blood oozed from Jack's head and spread in a dark stain on the blanket. They had flipped over in the heat of the moment and heard a crack as his head knocked hard on a rock beneath the blanket. A blanket now spreading red as Jill tried to remember if her First Aid class had taught about how to slow bleeding from a head wound.

He was still conscious, thankfully. "Head wounds bleed a lot," Jack murmured. "It's probably not as bad as it looks."

Jill placed each hand down on either side of his head and looked wide-eyed into his face. "How do you feel?"

"Annoyed," he smirked. "I didn't finish. Did you?"

"Cha... teh...uh..." Jill collapsed back to where she'd been straddling him. "At least you didn't break your sense of humor."

He groaned in response. "Uh... off? Please?"

"Oh right." Jill swung her legs to one side and straightened her dress anxious to do something. "What do we do now? I have to get you to a hospital. What will people say?" His wife was gonna be pissed! "Can you sit up? Or roll over?" He rolled to one side, moving the head wound to the top. He was reaching for his jeans. 

"Can you...?"

"Sure," Jill handed him his jeans. In that minute Jack realized he'd have to talk her through this step by step. Jill was a hot piece of tail, but clearly not great in a crisis.

"Okay, Sweets? I'm trying not to move too much. You'll have to help me."

"Of course!" She leaned in to kiss him, but must've seen Jack cringe because she pulled back. "What do you need?"

"Underwear. Find it. And pull it on me. Gently." Jill nodded and crawled around, finding them half under his legs. She put each foot through and carefully worked them up to his hips.

"That's not right," he said. "Do you see the fly?"

"What? Oh. Crap." She pulled them back down, less gently this time, making Jack grunt with the effort. After pulling them up the right way Jill guessed the next step and took his jeans back from him. She made sure they were the right way round before fighting his foot into one leg. With one foot in, Jack interrupted her progress. "My cell phone, please? It's in my jacket."

"Who you calling?" Jill asked while digging in his jacket.

"After I'm dressed, you'll need to help me back to the parking lot. I'll have the EMTs meet us there." Jill's eyes widened. Her parents absolutely could NOT know about this. He was already dialing, so Jill moved to get his pants up. "I have a head injury," she heard him saying. "Yes, me. I'm conscious, but there's a lot of blood."

He moaned in pain as he lifted his hips to help her, putting weight on his shoulder and head. "Ahhh! Hit my head on a rock, falling near the spring... yes, someone is with me to help. Can you meet us at the Spring Road parking lot? Thanks."

He hung up. "They wanted to talk to you, but we need to talk first," he said as he put the phone down. Jack saved Jill the trouble of doing up his zip and button. "Listen Jill, they're going to ask you what happened. You brought a blanket and your backpack, to study by the spring. I slipped while I was out hiking and you heard me. You have books in your bag?" Jill nodded. "Pull them out." She didn't move, intent on listening to the rest of their alibi. "Now! You may need to tell them what you were studying. Do you have homework in those classes?" She was holding up two text books. "Or, maybe there's one that you're struggling in and wanted a change of scenery or the quiet of nature to help you think?"

"Okay, okay!" Jill compared the two books. "Medieval history. I can say that being outside away from technology helped. Thanks Jack." She smiled at him, but the smile evaporated as he corrected her. "Professor Williams! Professor Williams! Always!"

She put the books away and he started moving to get up. "Okay, now help me up, slowly. Use the blanket. Try to wrap it around my head where I've already bled on it." As she tried to maneuver the bulky fabric, he continued. "You were studying, I was walking the trail, mis-stepped and you came to help. Got it?"

She was nodding as they started slowly making their way to the parking lot. They'd find out soon enough whether their story held water.

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely reader. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! I'll add it to the list.

My "Jack and Jill" story came from the suggestion that I try writing "fractured fairy tales". A suggestion provided by Gail M Baugniet of Gail M Baugniet - Author, in a comment left on my G post, here. I'll have to do another one and try to keep it more innocent.

 

I've Got Nothing #AtoZChallenge I

I've got nothing. That's the story, but it's no fiction.

Today, I've got nothing. No Inspiration, no Ideas. I have several reader prompts that, when I did this 2 years ago, would have launched something. But somehow my muse has abandoned me and no stories are filling my fingertips. 

On the brink of despair, thinking I'd have to abandon this challenge for the first time since I started doing it, I suddenly realized the challenge is to write something for every letter of the alphabet. MY challenge was to do flash fiction, but that was self-imposed. No one is coercing me into writing stories, but if I have no story for I, I still need to post in order to participate.

I. Ideas. Inspiration.

Nope. I've still got nothing. Sorry for letting down those expecting flash fiction. I'll get back into it tomorrow. I hope. Things are just weird right now.

The Hologram - #AtoZChallenge H

The hologram faded in an Iridescent blip. Shamita's heart was racing. Could everyone hear it? She looked around the "Coffee And..." shop. No one was paying attention to her cubicle. 

Coffee And... had been created to give students a place to study in quiet, with ample coffee provided. Now most people used it at least once a week to check alt accounts. Servers left patrons alone until you pressed a call button for the type of coffee you wanted. All they served was coffee, so you pressed the type of coffee and a cup was delivered to your station with no interruption. Payment was automated, as you had to check in to the cubicle electronically.

Shamita's hand reached to the button panel, but she hesitated. Calm down first. The caffeine would only make her heart louder at this moment. She chugged the dregs in her cup instead, and looked around again.

The cubbies were lined along the outer edges of the room. Each consisted of a desk with dividers blocking the sides and front. There was a shelf running around the top for books or devices. The drink shelf was set below the desk. One on each side so you could pull it out according to your dominant drinking hand. Everything was thought of.

Of course, there was no true privacy. The desks were bounded only on three sides. Chairs stuck out, and it was possible to look around and see someone's active screen or hologram. Everyone's audio was hooked into their own ear device, so no one heard her message, but she couldn't help be paranoid.

Was it a joke? Shamita forced a smile and thought of the few words she could make out, looking for the humor. Maybe? Looking around once more, she played it again. 

The floating, glowing lights showed a dog, her dog, catching a frisbee. Then her ear phone picked out a light laugh. Shamita maintained her smile. Think humor. Okay, maybe. A shoulder passed in front of the holo-camera and someone squatted in front of Muppet and scritched him under the chin. "Good boy!"

She never saw the person's face, just a long black ponytail tied low on a strong neck. Broad shoulders covered by a leather jacket. She couldn't even tell if she was looking at a man or a woman. There was nothing distinct spoken to the holo-cam, just mutterings to the dog. Her dog. The shaggy golden retriever she'd named Muppet. The image faded into an Iridescent blip and was gone again.

Muppet had died three years ago. So what's this all about?

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely audience member. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! and I'll add it to the list.

My "The Hologram" story came from the prompt "Iridescent" provided by Anstice Brown of Curious Daydreams, in a comment left on my F post, here. I must admit, I let the story write itself, so if you're a little lost, so am I!

 

Grayson and Gwennie #AtoZChallenge G

"Oh my goodness, you should have seen them having fun!"  Annie was laughing so much this story was taking a while. Carlotta couldn't believe the joy on Annie's face as she told the events of the storm. "The whole ditch was just filling up with water. You know, that ditch between the building the parking area?" Carlotta nodded. Of course. The only ditch on the property.

"It had rained so hard, and something was blocking the drain, so the kids just ran out in the rain and used it as a slip-n-slide!" Annie was howling with laughter at her children's antics. Why wasn't Carlotta laughing?

"A slip-n-slide?"

"Well, you know, they kind of belly-flopped into the mud and slid as far as they could. Gwennie called it 'belly-whomping' but it looked like a good ol' slip-n-slide to me. Remember those from when we were kids?" Surely she hadn't forgotten the slip-n-slide they shared as neighbors in their youth.

Carlotta remembered, but seemed to forget the fun. "Well, I mean, but that was spread out on a smooth lawn, on a warm summer day. You were okay with them doing this?"

Annie disregarded Carlotta's concern. "Pshh... Yeah, why not?" She grinned and touched her old friend's arm. "Don't you remember how much fun we had? We'd laugh all day!" Carlotta hadn't laughed at all during this catching up coffee. Annie took a guess at her old friend's new priorities. "Clothes can be washed, you know? Bodies - can be washed, and at least I could see them from the window." 

Trying to move into common ground Annie rolled her eyes and gave a sarcastic half-smile. "Better sliding through the mud where I can see, than doing God knows what online, am I right?" Carlotta didn't share Annie's chuckle. She seemed to have no sense of humor anymore.

Carlotta took a sip of her coffee. "Yes, but this was no smooth lawn. There could have been rocks, sticks, animals..."

"Eh, you got me. A drowned opossum floated up and -" seeing the horror on Carlotta's face, Annie backed into a teasing grin. "Just kidding, just kidding! Although, Greyson scraped his knee on a big rock in the ditch," Uh-oh, that superior look again. "Hey, it was still raining so the cut was basically clean by the time he got inside. He is such a good brother, he dug out the rock and set it to the side so Gwennie wouldn't hit it too." She didn't clarify that she had  - of course - cleaned the cut and applied antiseptic and a bandage. The look on Carlotta's face at the thought of rain cleaning a wound was just too good.

Carlotta smiled a tight smile. "Well, they had fun and luckily no major injuries, then." 

"Yeah, it was fun." There was a pause so Annie asked, "And you? You're in town for -"

"My grandfather died. The funeral was three days ago and I'm here at my parents' house trying to ... support them."

"Oh, Carlotta! I'm so sorry! I had no idea! Why didn't you say so?" She remembered Carlotta's Gramps vaguely from childhood.

Carlotta's face permitted a tiny smirk as she raised her cup to her lips. "He didn't die. It's a joke."

The room was very quiet. A passing waiter might have stepped on Annie's jaw. Annie was wondering what had happened in Carlotta's life since high school, that she now thought THAT was a joke. Carlotta stared back at Annie, prompting Annie to realize she had been staring. She forced a smile. "Ha-ha," she said. 

Friends drifted apart; it was true. Annie decided that in this case she didn't care to drift back together.

Have you ever reunited with a friend, only to wish you hadn't?

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely reader. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! I'll add it to the list.

My "Grayson and Gwennie" story came from the suggestion that I try some humor. A suggestion provided by Iain Kelly of IainKellyWriting, in a comment left on my F post, here. Seeing how this still turned dark at the end, I'm wondering if humor is in my skill set but I'll keep trying!