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AN INCHWORM MADE ME DO IT

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SUNDAY 12th JULY 2020

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..

July Writing Prompts

AN INCHWORM MADE ME DO IT

by John Yeo

   Old Mathew was in his eighties and a bit confused sometimes. Mary, his youngest daughter looked after him and cooked for him and generally did most of the chores. Mathew was a vegetable grower and had won numerous prizes for giant fruit and veg. One day he came in from the garden loaded up with produce for the kitchen. Mary began by washing and preparing a huge cabbage. Suddenly she screamed loudly.

‘Dad! This is crawling with caterpillars, look!’

Mathew rushed into the kitchen and said, ‘Don’t worry they’re only inchworms. Just wash the cabbage thoroughly, Mary.’

Mary prepared the meal and they both sat and enjoyed their meal. Mary couldn’t get over the feeling she might have eaten an inchworm and kept worrying. She had drunk a couple of extra glasses of wine to wash away the possible slime from the caterpillar, and she was feeling quite woozy.

 After dinner, she slipped upstairs to the bathroom and swallowed a half dozen extremely strong emetic tablets, washed down with another glass of wine.

 ‘Not to worry, the stronger the better.’ She thought to herself, ‘ l must get rid of that slimy creature from my stomach.’ Mary took a few more tablets to make sure she got rid of the loathsome thing.

 Later her father found her collapsed on the toilet floor with severe stomach pains and called for help from Judy, their next door neighbour, who immediately called an ambulance. Mary was rushed off to hospital with the tablet packet and after they had brought her round and pumped everything from her stomach, the young sister at the hospital asked her what had led her to swallow so many tablets.

‘It was the nasty inchworm that made me do it. I know I shouldn’t have drunk so much but I just wanted to get it out of my system. 

© Written by John Yeo 

KILLER OF PLASMA TV’S

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SATURDAY 11th JULY 2020

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..

July Writing Prompts

KILLER OF PLASMA TV’S

by John Yeo

   Professor Vince was working on mind magic. A way of allowing people to experience their own individual versions of television programmes delivered through a special mind controlled screen. 

    ‘Jimmy, think of a programme you would like to see, or just say programmes into the magic box.’

    ‘Yes Professor,’

Jimmy thought of football and instantly a match was relayed onto a blank picture frame set up in the lab. Time and again the programmes changed to his personal preferences on the instant of a thought. With a sparklingly realistic picture on the blank canvas in the picture frame.

   ‘Wow! This is an impressive new technology, how much will it cost to be developed?’

  Suddenly Jimmy collapsed on the laboratory floor and stopped breathing. He came round after some resuscitation and began to comment on a nonexistent football match garbled with travel programmes, mixed up with history programmes and peppa pig.

  The Professor gave a shrug of his shoulders and remarked, ‘Further experimentation will be required. Meantime LCD televisions are a far better buy than Plasma televisions.’

  Jimmy was confined for treatment in hospital and is still there to this day.

© Written by John Yeo

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RESEARCH from Wikipedia 

Until about 2007, plasma displays were commonly used in large televisions (30 inches (76 cm) and larger). Since then, they have lost nearly all market share due to competition from low-cost LCDs and more expensive but high-contrast OLED flat-panel displays. Manufacturing of plasma displays for the United States retail market ended in 2014,[1][2] and manufacturing for the Chinese market ended in 2016.[3][4][needs update]

REGRETFUL HAPPENINGS

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FRIDAY 10th JULY 2020

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..

July Writing Prompts

REGRETFUL HAPPENINGS 

by John Yeo

   It was as if a curtain of excruciating pain had dropped on her mind as she lay there. She couldn’t talk as her throat was blocked by the airways and tubes. However she was aware of people all around her and she could clearly hear the sounds and voices surrounding her.

   Josephine’s mind drifted over the possibilities of how she could have found herself in this position. 

   The guidelines issued by the government had been clear. Wash your hands frequently, no contact, no touching and keep your distance. It was just that she’d thought, ‘I should be alright if I continually wear a mask and keep washing my hands. After all it’s mainly old people in care homes who are dying.’

   It was Jamie who had turned her head, she’d been in love with him for ages. He’d seemed to have ignored her for months until three weeks ago when they passed each other in the street, he’d stolen her heart with a broad grin. One thing led to another and a relationship had quickly developed. They say love is blind; nothing could separate the lovers, until Jamie was rushed off to hospital.

   Four days later Josephine had developed the well publicised symptoms and things had just got worse and worse. She had been rushed into hospital and here she was attached to a ventilator fighting for her life. 

© Written by John Yeo

IF ONLY WE COULD

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WEDNESDAY 8th JULY 2020

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.

July Writing Prompts

IF ONLY WE COULD 

by John Yeo

   ‘If only we could!’ said Peter, completely out of the blue. 

    Mary looked puzzled, shrugged her bony shoulders and swept away a strand of blonde hair that had drifted across her eyes.

   ‘What are you talking about? If only we could what? Peter, you’re talking in riddles again.’ 

  Peter, who was ever the absentminded student, took off his glasses and gave them a polish on the sleeve of his shirt.

   ‘Well I think the only way we can pass the History exam is to go back in time and see what happened for ourselves.’

  Mary laughed, ‘You mean like Dr Who in the Tardiss, how wonderful it would be to actually watch the crowning of the wonderful Queen Elizabeth the first. We would have to be able to blend into the background without being noticed. Imagine the essay we could write if we learned the truth about her secret lover.’   

  Peter laughed loudly as he replied, ‘You would have to be careful Mary or you could lose your head if you were caught spying and being nosey.’

   Mary grinned and playfully pushed Peter on his shoulder, ‘Go on! I’ll give you nosey, we would be carrying out historical research, that’s not being nosey.’

    Peter smiled and replied, ‘That’s the point Mary, If we could travel through time, we would be a part of the past. We would be present before history had become history.

© Written by John Yeo

THE CUPBOARD OF ABUNDANCE

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TUESDAY 7th JULY 2020

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.

July Writing Prompts

THE CUPBOARD OF ABUNDANCE.

by John Yeo

The pantry was bare when Brian opened the outer door.

There were however, two large cold rooms and various small fridges dotted about the walls. Brian entered the first cold room, which looked as if it was for meat storage. There were some carcasses hanging from hooks suspended from the ceiling. The  other cold room contained a selection of fruit and vegetables still not enough, in Brian’s view. 

Brian thought to himself, ‘Things will have to change if I get the job as manager of this restaurant, at the moment it’s certainly not living up to its name.’

 The tables were nicely set for dinner which was a sign that the staff had been properly trained and were working well.

 Brian turned to the owner who was showing him around and laughed as he said, ‘How did this interesting restaurant get its unusual name?’

   Sir Peter, who owned a local chain of restaurants replied. 

‘Oh of course, ‘The Cupboard of Abundance,’  We always pride ourselves on our menu and the choice of off-menu meals we are geared up to provide during the high season.’

   Brian who was a high profile celebrity chef, responded with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders as he said. ‘Sorry, Sir Peter, I can’t take this position as your cupboards do not match the description of your restaurant.’

Sir Peter smiled and said, ‘Follow me. I’m sure I can change your mind.’

 Returning to the innocuous empty pantry, Sir Peter entered with Brian and turned a switch to reveal a hidden entrance to a huge underground cavern packed full of a superabundance of wine and foodstuffs. 

An enticing place that was heaven to the eyes of speciality chef, Brian.

 Both men raised a glass of rare wine to seal the deal and Brian eventually became a renowned chef and a partner in the ‘Cupboard of Abundance’.

© Written by John Yeo 

THERE’S A DRAGON IN THE BATHTUB

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MONDAY 6th JULY 2020

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.

July Writing Prompts

THERE’S A DRAGON IN THE BATHTUB 

by John Yeo.

George was a dreamy sort of a lad, he had just enjoyed a huge lunch and he’d closed his eyes and drifted off.

   He found himself in a large castle, with a drawbridge over a moat. Thick walls surrounded him everywhere and from the battlements the view was stunning. He found himself exploring immediately and was soon in the great hall where there were shields hanging on the walls and a large round table. George wandered from room to room in idle curiosity just soaking up the medieval atmosphere.

He soon  arrived in a room with a large open topped tub in the centre of the floor. He was puzzled because there was a distinct smell of burning coming from behind some large screens.

He peeped through  a gap to see the strangest sight he’d ever seen.

There was a small insignificant dragon relaxing in the bathtub with his nostrils breathing fire.

George awoke with a start as his Mother came into the lounge complaining about his rugby kit, with a large Welsh flag lying in the bathtub where George had dumped them when he returned from school.

© Written by John Yeo.

THE STING OF REJECTION

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Sunday 5th July 2020

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..

July Writing Prompts

THE STING OF REJECTION 

 The scene was played out in the rural peace of central suburban England. Deaven and Gertie were lovers and they had enjoyed a long affair together throughout their years at University.

 They had returned from a long holiday together in the sun of the Caribbean now a fragment of both of their memories as they landed in windswept, rain-lashed England.

‘Will your parents be at home when we get there Gertie? I would like to meet them and have a chat with your father.’

‘Yes! They should be there Deaven. What do you want to see him about?’ asked Gertie, feigning ignorance.

Deaven smiled and said nothing in response to this. The chauffeur was waiting for them when they alighted from the train and they were whisked off to the Manor House; Gertie’s home.

Immediately they arrived; after the introductions had been completed, Deaven asked to have a private word with Gertie’s father and the two of them retired to the library.

Raised voices could be heard and the noise of a gunshot broke the silence of the manorial splendour.

The servants dashed in to find one man shot dead and the other man with a serious head wound. 

It seems Deaven had asked for the hand of Gertie in marriage and the sting of her father’s response of total rejection had caused him to lose his sense of reality. Deaven had pulled a ceremonial sword off the wall and attacked the overbearing man. Gertie’s Father had pulled a gun from a desk drawer and killed the young man in self defence.

The tragic effect of the sting of abject rejection had a permanent irredeemable effect on all their lives.

© Written by John Yeo

PERFECTLY PUFFY

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SATURDAY 4th JULY 2020

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..

July Writing Prompts

PERFECTLY PUFFY

by John Yeo

  We laughed together, thrilling, pursuing each other through the long green grass. Sheep were grazing in the distance woolly ewes with lambs sticking closely to their mothers. A hawk hovering in the sky suddenly dived, fast towards the ground.

 ‘Look Jim!’ Exclaimed Mary. ‘That bird won’t go hungry today, did you see how fast it swooped down to capture its prey?’

‘Yes, he’s likely to have a nest nearby and he’s feeding the family.’ 

We continued chasing through the long grass until we finally collapsed, laughing together. Mary looked up at the sky with the white fluffy clouds casting shapes. 

Mary gazed up and suddenly said, ‘Do you see that dragon in the clouds?’

‘Where?’  asked Jim. ‘I can see white horses and men marching through the sky with perfect white plumes on their helmets.’

‘Oh! I can’t see war Jim, just peaceful, perfectly puffy, clouds.’

 ‘Mary it’s a dreamy, sunny, summer’s day, let’s pretend we’re hawks diving through a cloudy sky together overhead, without a care in the world.’

  Slowly the sky began to darken and the perfectly puffy clouds became dark and threatening, the atmosphere became warlike and the couple ran for home.

© Written by John Yeo

MISTY MOON MAGIC

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3rd JULY 2020

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..


July Writing Prompts

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MISTY MOON MAGIC

by John Yeo

  The night was perfect for Eli, he had been waiting for the full moon. There was a faint mist swirling around the huge monolith. The stones were lit up and conditions seemed just right.

He’d been sad for weeks since his lifetime partner Miriam had been killed by a lightning strike.

 It was out of the blue a sudden electrical storm with wicked forked lightning had quickly blown up and taken the life of Miriam.

 Eli had searched through his many volumes of magical spells and came across the perfect spell for bringing life back from the dead.

 Eli had some locks of Miriam’s hair that he placed on the largest stone, known locally as the altar stone. 

 He intoned the age-old words and called to the misty moonlight to raise Miriam’s spirit.

 Suddenly there was a heavy downpour, with crashing thunder and streaks of lightning that cut through the misty atmosphere.

 Eli was struck down and died instantly. Miriam had been calling to him from the other side of the curtain of death.

  Their spirits were reunited by the light of the mystical magic of a blue moon.

The storm soon petered out leaving Eli’s lifeless body draped across the altar stone. There was a smile transforming his face in death.

© Written by John Yeo 

CITY IN THE SKY

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THURSDAY 2nd JULY 2020 

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..

July Writing Prompts

CITY IN THE SKY

by John Yeo


  The travellers had driven the mules and the assembled pack train from the lower slopes of the mountains. They had endured a long arduous climb to a large hidden valley within the peaks.
Professor Tomlinson, a well known explorer, was the brains behind the expedition.
Jim Smithers was a respected botanist, who had joined the team to study the flora along the mountainous trails.
There were two other members of the team, Laura, a  redheaded lab assistant and Sam, a strong young  English cockney man who was included to take care of everyone along the way.

The Professor addressed the team.
‘Listen everyone, we haven’t far to go, if we reach the fabled city in the sky, we will be lucky enough to contact a unique civilisation, the chances are, some of us could be wealthy beyond measure.’

   Jim Smithers and Laura, who had certainly become an item, during the earlier part of the climb smiled. Marriage would certainly be on the cards now.


Suddenly they were under attack, a thousand arrows, spears and boulders rained down on them from above.
Sam was the first to go down as the expedition was surrounded by the local inhabitants.
The rest of the team were bound hard and foot and dragged by the mules to a golden shining city in the clouds.


How they came to tell the story of what happened next will be the subject of some more Flash Fiction another day.

© Written by John Yeo.