Image Copyright John and Margaret

A prompt response for INSPIRATION MONDAY ~ “QUIET LIGHT”
Posted on February 13th, 2016 by John Yeo
A prompt response for Inspiration Monday

Inspiration Monday: Quiet Light

STARLIGHT

by John Yeo

I always relish the night shift at the hospital. The administration have all gone home, that leaves the professionals to fully take over and we can do our jobs without too much interference from the budget boys. Too many fingers in the pie if you ask me!
I remember once when a patient was in pain and there was some argument over whether we should use the latest methods to ease the pain. The poor patient was pumped full of morphine, while three admin men discussed whether the hospital could afford the very latest miracle light rays that have just been introduced.
This is a brilliant, bright new starlight, that mimics the rays of starlight that have streamed unused and ignored by scientists until a very powerful computer picked up the almost silent sound of the starlight rays bouncing of the Earth’s surface. Professor Modesty then hooked the starlight to a machine that generates a beam of fantastic intensity, that has proved to be the most powerful painkiller ever known. One gentle bathe in the purifying quiet starlight and pain is instantly a memory that allows time for the medical specialists to identify and cure the causes.
This wonderful new technique is very expensive to use as it is difficult to generate starlight in the daylight hours.
Now on the night-shift we are able to freely use this pain killer, without any interference or repercussions from these admin ignoramuses. The quiet light eases the pain of the patients and ensures a drug free, pain free night.
What these budget conscious, penny pinching idiots don’t seem to realise is that the stars come out at night and the quiet starlight is free to use without the necessity of expensive machines.
I do love the night shift.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

Hate to Love

Daily prompt on WordPress ~13th December 2015 ~ Hate to Love.

Tell us about a guilty pleasure that you hate to love.

MY IRRATIONAL TASTE-BUDS

by John Yeo

      I wish I could stop eating my friends!

     Many years ago, for purely altruistic reasons I decided to give up eating red meat. I decided to forego the debatable pleasures of eating Pork, Beef, Lamb, Venison, and all the associated concoctions that are devised by clever chefs and marketing men, made from the slaughtered bodies of these animals. No more thick juicy red steaks, no more shoulder of spring lamb, joints of pork, or beef; in future I vowed to eat a diet of just fish or fowl.

    Nowadays my tastes have changed completely and I stick rigidly to my diet of Fish or Fowl. I absolutely adore the succulent taste of slices of a well-roasted Turkey or Duck or a highly flavoured Chicken, cooked in a hot peri-peri sauce. Another delight for my taste buds is the Fish element of my diet, there is nothing quite like a well cooked and well flavoured fish dish. I love the taste of a whole grilled Sea Bass, a tasty Kipper, or freshly grilled Sardines served on toast with butter drizzled all over the top.

         Lately I am beginning to have many reservations and second thoughts about the Fowl element of my diet. I am a confirmed bird lover: All my life I have been fascinated with birds, of all shapes and sizes. I love birdwatching, and my garden has many bird feeders, that I keep topped up with sunflower seeds and fat-balls and I love to watch the birds as they feed. I also have several nest-boxes in the garden to encourage wild birds to breed and produce eggs, that eventually will hatch and grow into chicks.
  I am an inveterate bird-lover, I love everything about them, their beautiful plumage, their graceful flight and most of all the sound of their beautiful birdsong.

      Then Why? Why? Why, do I also love to eat my friends?
Eggs, cooked in a variety of ways are a mainstay of my daily diet. These are baby birds in a shell.

        I often rationalise to myself that the quality of life for farmed chickens is not worth living and they are probably very unhappy; raised in the intolerable circumstances they endure before they reach my table. In fact we always buy free-range eggs and free-range fowl whenever we possibly can.

      I hate the thought of beautiful game birds, raised and shot in the thousands simply for sport, yet we think nothing of buying and consuming a brace of pheasants from our local butchers shop, during the season.

     This is an indulgent pleasure that I will always be extraordinarily guilty about, as it is the total opposite to my inner feelings, to the point of becoming an irrational pleasure. I have come very close to stop eating fowl many times over the last few years, without success.

I really do wish I could stop eating my friends!

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

Image © Copyright John and Margaret

A prompt response for Inspiration Monday ~ Department of Silence

http://bekindrewrite.com

DEPARTMENT OF SILENCE

by John Yeo

      Jim and Bill worked in the post room of St Mary’s a huge General Hospital. This was a busy challenging place to work, before the advent of computers. Ken on the post van would throw six sacks of mail on the loading bay, three times a day.
        “There you are boys! Another load to stop you two dropping off.”
  Laughing his head off as he drove away fast.
      “Thanks for nothing!” Jim shouted back with a grin.
 Then there was the internal mail coming in thick and fast, at all times of the day. Sometimes there would be a huge pile of unsorted mail, sitting on the bench, and both men would quickly get to work, clearing the backlog in no time.
     Bill was the detective of the two, there wasn’t a scrawling, squiggly example of a young busy Doctors handwriting, that could defeat him. Bill always found a home for the most obscurely addressed letter.

   One day there was an unusual package addressed to the head of the “Department of Silence.” Jim picked it up first and said to Bill.
         “This is certainly one for you to work out! There’s no such department here that I know of!”
        “Ah! Hmm!” murmured Bill, “I can think of several places this could be destined for. Either the Sleep Clinic, the Acoustics lab, The Audiology and Hearing loss department, the Chapel, or in my opinion, this is meant to send us to the silence of the hospital Mortuary.”
          “Wow!” Jim exclaimed. “I had better call security to get the bomb squad in. Let’s get out of here!”
 Soon the hospital was drowned in the combined sirens of the emergency services.
   After a total evacuation of the building, an army officer removed the package and ordered a controlled explosion in the hospital grounds.
           The officer in charge congratulated Bill and Jim on a quick thinking response. “Well done! How did you guess that was a suspicious package?”

           “It was the address that gave it away,” said Bill quietly. “Silence is not only golden, it is virtually impossible to achieve in a busy hospital.
I thought at first they meant department of Science, but that’s all over the place in here.”

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

http://bekindrewrite.com

  When I first heard the news of the death of my special friend Barb, we were out of range of an Internet connection and I will never forget the feelings of frustration as I was unable to express my grief and genuine heartfelt sorrow at the loss of a very special part of my life. Although we had never met each other, it was a great pleasure , communicating with her on a weekly basis through our writing, and my regular responses to her excellent writing prompts. I already sadly miss her and her family of writers. We were saddened this week to hear of a death in our family, and we both sincerely sympathise with her husband and family in their tragic loss. God rest her soul in peace, she will always be surrounded by the deep affection of many writers around the world who were inspired by her prompts, her support, and the wonderful way she always finished with the words “Be Well!”

She will be sadly missed by Marg and I. Rest in peace my friend.

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers ~ Writing challenge.

Hosted by Priceless Joy.

The goal is to write a story between 100-150 words (give or take 25 words) based on the provided photo.

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Sonya-Only 100 Words

THE QUESTION

by John Yeo

   The peahen looks on in wonder as two peacock suitors vie for her attention, so different in looks and size and appearance.

  The dazzling white peacock was cocksure of winning the ladies hand, everybody was stunned at his handsome appearance. Not a feather in disarray to spoil his courtship display, a beautiful youthful bird.
  Standing next to him was the competition a wise old bird who preened with unlimited resources and a reputation for looking after the ladies.     A famous wise old bird. Food and shelter would be luxurious here, her children would want for nothing.
    Which bird won the Peahens hand?

   Jim, a stunningly handsome well built youth, was a ladies man, desired by many ladies, in love with life, when he fell in love with a desirable beautiful lady.
   Rick Roller, an ageing very famous singer, was also in love with her, and spent vast sums of money on his appearance, preening to seduce her. Money would be plentiful here and the children would want for nothing.

    Which bird won the ladies hand?

Copyright © Written by John Yeo all rights reserved.

https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com