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MORNING BURPEES

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SATURDAY 6th MARCH 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~ MORNING BURPEES

March 2021 Writing Prompts

MORNING BURPEES


by John Yeo

 Jill Merryweather, a first class investment analyst, was on holiday in a renowned health fitness establishment. It’s another beautiful day, judging by the sun streaming through the window. The world is waiting for her, and she is ready to take it on. Live life to the full and seize every opportunity. That’s her motto, and one she intends to fulfil. Today will bring change, a new path to walk. She  can feel it. Getting out of bed, she dresses and wanders into the kitchen for some pre-exercise orange juice. Jill quickly ran a brush through her dark brown hair, splashed water into her deep brown eyes and headed towards the health centre’s gym. The morning fitness session was scheduled to start at 09:00 sharp. Jill’s pulse was racing at the prospect of continuing her brief association with the mysterious, handsome Richard Donleavy, a fellow guest. They had met and clicked instantly over the last two fitness sessions and all the signs pointed to a strong mutual attraction. Richard was unaware that Jill knew of him by reputation, as an extraordinarily successful investment banker, with his fingers of influence in many different pies. Sure enough Richard was already in the gym and favoured her with a dazzling smile. He was over 6 foot tall with a slight squint to his green eyes that only became noticeable when he removed his expensive tortoiseshell spectacles. He had a shock of neatly trimmed red hair with a small marching neatly trimmed moustache.

  ‘Hi!’ she responded, ‘How are you today? Ready to workout?’

  ‘Of course, I can’t wait, although I’m not used to such high intensity exercise, I’m sure I’m fit enough for anything.’

  ‘Well, we get through sit ups, crunches, leg raises, burpees and squats during this session. you should be fine if you have done it before.’ Jill said, smiling.

   ‘No problem,’ Richard laughed, although secretly he was exaggerating as he had never experienced burpees except for a quick home taught session via a YouTube video.

 The session started well and the mutual attraction between Jill and Richard was obvious to everyone. Until the burpee section started when for the first couple of movements Richard was fine, just a little awkward at first. On the third burpee, he landed awkwardly and screamed with pain as his back and shoulders hit the floor. Jill and the instructor rushed to help but he was unable to move. 

  An emergency ambulance was summoned to transport Richard to an exclusive private hospital. Jill was a frequent visitor during the slow weeks of intensive physiotherapy treatment  and they became good friends. Richard never fully recovered from this untoward injury and needless to say he has never taken part in any further burpee sessions again.

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

MISALIGNING MULTITASKERS

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FRIDAY 5th MARCH 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~ MISALIGNING MULTITASKERS

March 2021 Writing Prompts

MISALIGNING MULTITASKERS


by John Yeo

I’m a twenty-first century person through and through

Wherever I go I take my indispensable smartphone

This multitasking instrument often sends my life askew.

~

Checking the time and keeping my emails under review

Scheduling my appointments and texting my home

I’m a twenty-first century person through and through.

~

Concentration slips when my current tasks exceed two

Misaligning my multitasking it becomes my millstone

This multitasking instrument often leads my life askew.

~

By neglecting the main task I’m desperately trying to do

I blame my smartphone addiction, my curiosity is prone

I’m a twenty-first century person through and through.

~

When I discipline myself to a solitary task in my view 

Set a timer to work when I can make use of my phone

This multitasking instrument often leads my life askew. 

~

Turning my smartphone off when I have work to do

Making social media and online interests a no-go zone

This multitasking instrument often sends my life askew

I’m a twenty-first century person through and through.

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

THE QUEST ~ PURPLE NURPLE NINCOMPOOPS

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WEDNESDAY 3rd MARCH 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~ PURPLE NURPLE NINCOMPOOPS

March 2021 Writing Prompts

THE QUEST

by John Yeo

I have travelled the world on a mission,

I seek to follow the clues,

My existence hinges on the answers I find

To questions that haunt and confuse.

Purple nurple nincompoops

Will always be a puzzle to me.

~

The trail is hard to follow sometimes

The branches of the whole go awry.

Often when I’m sure I’m on the right lines

A new path opens and new shoots appear.

Purple nurple nincompoops

Will always be puzzling me.

~

Records were kept very poorly

The clues are confusing and suggest 

My heritage will remain a mystery to me, 

But my instincts for clarification see

Purple nurple nincompoops

Are fascinating to part of me.

~

When my Mother reached the age of sixty 

She dressed completely in purple

Her behaviour became young and frisky

Uninhibited and gloriously free

Purple nurple nincompoops

Will always be an example to me.

~

My urge is always to continue my quest

Throughout the whole colour spectrum

Following the clues to discover

The roots of my family tree.

Purple nurple nincompoops

Will always be a part of me.

~

 ©  Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

DANGLING MODIFIERS

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TUESDAY 2nd MARCH 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~DANGLING MODIFIERS 

March 2021 Writing Prompts

DANGLING MODIFIERS 

by John Yeo

 ‘Excuse me, but I think your modifier is dangling.’

   Robin was leaning against the bar, relating his meeting and his experience, with Mellita Mann, a well known rising star of film and television. He ignored this obvious facetious interjection and continued….

    ‘Self assured and sophisticated, a social siren. Queen of all she surveyed, I tell you this was so unlike her.’ 

   Raving madly about the lady he had bumped into in his local supermarket, Robin sounded, shocked, surprised and visibly shaken.

   ‘Her hair was in curlers, she had no make-up on, and she was rude; pushy and rude. I would never have believed it, if I hadn’t seen it myself,! She actually stole something, picked it up from the shelf and put it right into her pocket!’ Robin went on, ‘I have seen her acting on television, I feel as if I know her intimately. There she was looking like a scruffy scarecrow, stealing from the supermarket. I called out loudly, ‘Stop thief!’ Then I was manhandled and pushed away by this gorilla of a man, who swore at me several times and told me to get lost. The police then arrived, and I was threatened with arrest, for a breach of the peace. I asked to speak to the manager to report the theft of the property, but I was stunned when the manager suddenly burst out laughing, the Police officer was also smiling. Then a tall smartly dressed man stepped forward, his next words took me totally by surprise.’

     ‘We are in the middle of filming an anti-theft, short film here. Please accept our apologies for your embarrassing, worthy reaction, we would like you to accept this money to go some way to smoothing over this unfortunate situation!

I am Henry Hills, the director.’

   Robin grimaced, made appropriate shocked remarks, reflecting his hurt feelings at this unforeseen embarrassment, and left with £100.00 in cash. 

  Later he would be found in the local bar drowning his well smoothed feelings with a velvety smooth Guinness.

Life’s like that! The modification of a situation dangling in the imagination.

~~~~~~~

Example of a dangling modifier.

‘Hopping briskly through the vegetable garden Robin glimpsed a frog.’

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

CREASES AND CURVES

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MONDAY 1st MARCH 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~ CREASES AND CURVES 

March 2021 Writing Prompts
Image © john and Margaret

CREASES AND CURVES


by John Yeo

Poets and artists struggle to replicate the creases and curves of natural power,

Beginning with a bud waiting to burst when creased, crumpled petals spring apart

Unleashed with the birth of a simple flower, heralding the birth of Spring daffodils

~

A host of power inspired the poet to meditate whilst overcome with sheer admiration. 

Turning the scene into powerful verse, recreating the scene through his inner eye

By moving and dancing in the breeze, trumpeting the birth of Spring daffodils.

~

A sight to inspire the artist’s palette to replicate curves and creases through art,

Golden stately trumpets nurse, the ability of pigment to portray reality,

Shapes and shades the admiring eye, replicating the beauty of Spring daffodils.

~

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

Daffodils by Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) a French Impressionist painter.

THE HEART OF WHO I AM

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SUNDAY 28th FEBRUARY 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~THE HEART OF WHO I AM

February 2021 Writing Prompts
Marguerite Daisies

THE HEART OF WHO I AM

by John Yeo

Take a seed from a pod that contains many seeds

Scattered and shattered for germination

When searching for the perfect conditions it needs.

~

The twists and turns doing battle as life proceeds

Building and forming the parts by gradation

Taking a seed from a pod that contains many seeds 

~

My heart develops when life’s journey finally succeeds

In shaping my dreams by my life’s circulation

When searching for the perfect conditions it needs.

~

Experience builds on experience fulfilling my needs

Chapter follows chapter in swift succession 

From a seed in a pod that contained many seeds.

~

The heart of who I am develops wherever life leads

Beating steadily throughout my life’s duration

When searching for the perfect conditions it needs.

~

The heart of who I am is shaped by my deeds

Broken and healed by the heights of loves elation

From a seed in a pod that contained many seeds.

When searching for the perfect conditions it needs.

~

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

HOMESPUN FABRIC

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SATURDAY 27th FEBRUARY 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~HOMESPUN FABRIC 

February 2021 Writing Prompts

HOMESPUN FABRIC 

by John Yeo

  My child has left and gone to work, I lie here alone with my thoughts. I will not stir, I will not move, I am in pain. My little girl Anya is twelve years old. She takes care of everything for us both since her mother left us when the sadness descended on me. Anya gets up at dawn to prepare our meal and fetches water to wash our clothes. She cleans our room and takes good care of me. Anya hides when visitors come to the door. We both need her here to take care of me. Anya works in a sweatshop for twelve hours a day. With homespun fabric, she labours all day making clothes, for the fat people over the sea. 

 As I lie here alone the rats appear, they scuffle around, then leave, we never drop any crumbs here. 

 When the landlord calls to collect the rent; I’ve noticed the way he looks at my Anya when she pays him from her paltry earnings, mischievous, malevolent, lascivious looks that bode no good for my child.

 School for Anya was a couple of years In a shack for a classroom until her mother left us and she started to work. Anya always returns feeling weary, the dull repetitive drudgery is taking a terrible toll on her wellbeing.

  Anya has no time for friends or parties, new clothes or games and playing sports. No time for laughter or enjoying a book. Anya is always too busy working to stop and notice the children around her.

   Selfishly I lie here and let things be, I know I can never let Anya leave me to face my sadness alone. We are tied to each other irrecoverably. It’s far too late for me to offer her anything but my sympathy. I know I’m a thief and I can clearly see I have stolen a precious commodity. The innocent freedom of her childhood.

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

IMPRESSIVE AND LUDICROUS

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FRIDAY 26th FEBRUARY 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~IMPRESSIVE AND LUDICROUS

February 2021 Writing Prompts
Image credit http://www.south-central-media.co.uk/locns/_towers/_towers.htm

THE FOLLY

by John Yeo

  Old Tom was always thrilled when he had visitors, particularly when his twelve years old Grandson Ferdy came to visit. 

     ‘Where are we going today Grandad?’

     ‘Well Ferdy, today we shall take a look at Charborough Tower, a well known folly that towers over the surrounding countryside.’

     ‘What’s a folly Grandad?’

   ‘A folly is an impressive, costly, ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park.’

  ‘Hey Grandad! Why would anyone waste money on something that’s of no use to anyone?’

   ‘I haven’t got a clue Ferdy! Some people have more money than sense. It will be good to see this impressive tower that was such a ludicrous waste of money when it was built.’ 

   ‘Can we go inside and climb to the top Grandad?’

   ‘I don’t think it’s open to the public, Ferdy. In any case I won’t be able to make it up to the top. It’s five floors high.’

IMPRESSIVE AND LUDICROUS

 by John Yeo 

   There will be words that transcend the words that have built the beautiful poetic cornucopia abundantly displayed on a daily basis via this wonderful social medium. Words to dance to in a pretty pattern…Words to dance away from; full of negativity….Words to inspire a wonderful poetic dance. Dancing to the universal tune inspired by many different poetically inspired minds. Love…Peace…Follow your own unique steps…Keep in tune….Follow these wonderful prompts provided by ‘M’

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

REAL REALITIES

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THURSDAY 25th FEBRUARY 2021

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~REAL REALITIES

February 2021 Writing Prompts

REAL REALITIES

By John Yeo

I drifted freely in a magical sky

With my wings outstretched I began to fly,

From cloud to cloud through the intense blue

I drifted and danced my way to you.

I passed a magical fish flying by

Swimming in the Cerulean sky.

~

A voice broke into my high journey

From across the shores of the skyful sea.

Half aware and still flying free

I wondered who could be calling to me.

I was rudely brought back to reality.

When I awoke from my magical reverie.

~

Get out of bed! It’s getting late!

Breakfast is ready and it will not wait.

I crawled out to face another cold day

On my bike in the rain, and on my way, 

Soaked to the skin, in the heartless city,

From a magical dream I faced harsh reality.

~

© Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

MAGENTA IN TWILIGHT

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WEDNESDAY 24th FEBRUARY 2021 ~ FLASH FICTION 

This is a response to a Flash Fiction prompt from ‘Putting My Feet In the Dirt’, Writing Prompts hosted by ‘M’.
Which can be found by following the link below..

Prompt ~MAGENTA IN TWILIGHT

February 2021 Writing Prompts

MAGENTA IN TWILIGHT

‘You see one

loves the sunset when

one is so sad’

Sunrise,

Happiness is rebalance

Rejuvenation,

~

Sun rises

A blaze of beauty,

Sunrise all

Round the world,

Children are born and breathe life.

The sunrise brings light.

~

Sun circles

the globe with real warmth,

People live

People love,

Soaked in rays of survival.

Intellectual growth.

~

Life begins.

The sun starts the day

Lighting clouds

Bringing joy.

Birth, life, sadness, tears, death,

The cycle of life.

~

Magenta in twilight

 When the sunset brings night.

One loves the

sunrise at

the dawn, when we feel happy.

After a deep sleep.

Depression.

Balance of the mind

is upset. 

Day seems black.

Night brings sweet sleep and stilled thought. 

Blank reality.

~

‘You see one

loves the sunset when

one is so

sad’

Sunrise,

Happiness is rebalance

Rejuvenation.

© Written by John Yeo~ All rights reserved.

~

‘You see, one loves the sunset when one is so sad.’ 

 A quote from  ‘The Little Prince’ written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry