DEATH ON THE ROCKS

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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.

image

This week’s photo prompt is provided by TJ Paris.

DEATH ON THE ROCKS

by John Yeo

“How is the signal today?” Asked George, “I have ordered several items on-line.”
“The monthly post boat has been, but there was no sign of anything,” replied his wife the Professor.
Lorraine was very learned, she was responsible for many on-line seminars
“We will take the launch into town and check up with the post office,” said George. “Darling is it safe to leave the house unguarded? I know we are isolated here, but you never know.”
“Don’t be so silly George, there are only rocks and fish on all four sides of the house.”
” I have heard some nasty stories of pirates invading these isolated islands!”
On their return after visiting the mainland there was a serious incident.
Next day the headlines on the mainland newspapers screamed…….

FOUR DEAD IN AN ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY ON AN ISOLATED ISLAND.
CRAZED HISTORY PROFESSOR GUNS DOWN FOUR.
The Professor and her husband are helping police with their enquiries having had medical treatment for shock.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

This is in response to a challenge hosted by Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. If you would like to participate in this challenge or need more information, please click the following link:

https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (33)

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I am taking part in Mondays Finish the Story 20/07/2015, which is a challenge that provides a photo prompt and the opening sentence to your story. The rules indicate that the story you come up with must be between 100-150 words, not including the given opening sentence.

The link below takes you to Part Thirty-Two

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (32)

MI33

© 2015, Barbara W. Beacham

Finish the story begins with:

“The petroglyphs told the story of an unusual event.”

“What sort of an event?” Marg enquired.
They had encountered an old man on the track. This man was a guide and was describing the inhabitants of the Miners Hill complex. He produced a copy of a hieroglyphical representation of petroglyphs scratched on the wall of a cave discovered in the area before the miners arrived. The event referred to a very bad omen that frightened the original inhabitants away. This limited the teams choice of a guide.
Paul Strang and Delphine were to fly two little bird helicopters and land some specially selected operatives. One approaching from the north and the other from the south. Col Jack and Paul would lead the north party and Marg with Delphine would take the south approach. Don Fernando with Bella and her team would first make a frontal assault and attack the complex grabbing the attention of the guards.
A warning sounded …..

(150 Words)

To be continued …..

The link below takes you to Part Thirty-Two

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (32)

mondays-finish-the-story-2

https://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

Picture it and Write ~ ESCAPING THE NET

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This is the latest Picture it and Write prompt from Ermilia’s blog

Picture it & Write

Ermilia ~fish-face-illusion

Original image found at The Design Work.

As usual the image is supplied and credited by Ermilia

ESCAPING THE NET

by John Yeo

“There is something fishy afoot, or should that be a-fin,” exclaimed Inspector Haddock. “I have heard that fish have been disappearing by the million.”
“Cods wallop,” replied his scaly scavenging partner Scallop, “I believe the shoals have swum off to the watery wastes of the Western Med. escaping into the shiny brine, illuminated by a watery sun.”
“There are stories of mass kidnapping, with unwary shoals getting scooped up by the billion.” Chorused a group of herring, “Our families have been devastated and we have searched high and low for an answer!”
“I believe we have a suspect, and I have a mug shot here. A very dangerous looking fishy character indeed! Take a look here!” Intoned Haddock to the assembled tiddlers.
“Phew!” A new voice gurgled. From the gills of a flatfish, one of many at the meeting. “What an ugly looking shark!”
“Is he all there?” Questioned a flounder on the sidelines of the meeting. “Looks to me like a fishy character with a dual personality.”
“Ah, Yes.” replied the Inspector. “You can always tell a criminal, no meat on his bones, and the expression of distaste in the fishy looking eyes.”
“I believe this is an image of a dual fish-brained entity from the watery wastes of an alien sea. Look at the odd-shaped metallic eyebrows, obviously an unusual type of flying fish.”
The meeting was abruptly brought to an end as a huge net drifted into the vicinity scooping up many varieties of fish.
The Inspector and Scallop rapidly fled as tiny undigested fish bones rained from above.

Ermilia ~fish-face-illusion

Original image found at The Design Work.

Copyright (c) ~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

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MELTING A HEART OF ICE

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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.

Ice Swan

photo prompt is provided by Sonya O.

MELTING A HEART OF ICE

by John Yeo

I stood there admiring the workmanship that had gone into sculpting the ice to perfect this amazing ice sculpture.
“I am here to help you!” came a clear distinct voice from the ice. “I have very little time here before I melt away into the rivers of time.”
I stepped back in astonishment. “How can a block of ice talk?” I stammered.
“I am here as a result of a wish granted to a young lady, to melt the heart of an icy block-headed, cold-hearted idiot.”
The swan wiped away water with an icy wing, melting from its eyes almost like tears.
“Why me?” I asked? “I know of only one lady I would like to get close to, but she shows no interest.”
The melting swan sighed as the water gradually melted the ice, and the voice became almost inaudible.
“You are both very shy, we swans do not suffer from shyness.”
Then as the trickle of icy water became a flood. A whisper came from the water.
“Go and get her you fool!”

(175 Words)

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

This is in response to a challenge hosted by Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. If you would like to participate in this challenge or need more information, please click the following link:

https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

 

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (32)

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I am taking part in Mondays Finish the Story 13/07/2015, which is a challenge that provides a photo prompt and the opening sentence to your story. The rules indicate that the story you come up with must be between 100-150 words, not including the given opening sentence.

The link below takes you to Part Thirty-One

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (31)

MI32

© 2015, Barbara W. Beacham

Finish the story begins with:

“Delphine always wanted to pilot her father’s plane and when he forgot his keys on her tenth birthday, she knew that taking off would be easy.”

 The plane taxied along the runway and crashed into the hanger, costing her father thousands of pounds. In spite of this she had never lost her obsession with aircraft and she was now a very accomplished pilot.
The Brigadier introduced Delphine to Marg and her team and outlined his plans for the assault on the Miners Hill complex.
“I have reliable information of a huge stash of bullion and cash secreted here, the proceeds of drug trafficking. The object is to smash the drug factory and capture or kill the Dickus brothers. This will save thousands of young lives from the evils of drug addiction. The rewards for success are huge as the proceeds will be shared in bonuses for all.”
Then from the depths of the Brazilian jungle a wolf howled eerily, breaking the silence of the jungle.
Doctor Dickus was in the complex with his pet American wolverine.

(150 Words)

To be continued..

The link below takes you to Part Thirty-One

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (31)

mondays-finish-the-story-2

https://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

Picture it and Write ~ SATURDAY NIGHT IN SEA-TOWN

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This is the latest Picture it and Write prompt from Ermilia’s blog

Picture it & Write

Ermilia~alcohol-in-sunglasses-

Original image found on Pinterest

As usual the image is supplied and credited by Ermilia

SATURDAY NIGHT IN SEA-TOWN

by John Yeo

 A long hot summer had begun again.

The city council were holding an emergency meeting, to discuss
the increased levels of violence.
 “It’s always alcohol related!” Shouted Mrs Matse. “We should close all the beachside bars and clubs, to remove the threat of danger.”
The community was up in arms, the season had got underway again.

Jim Winchester was against the idea from the first. Prohib….What!”

 “Prohibition.” Repeated the mayor in his mayoral robes. “We should ban the sale and consumption of all alcoholic drinks along the beachfront until the season is over.“

  “Not bloody likely! That would ruin the town, many traders would go broke, and Sea-Town would become a ghost town”
The voice was very strong, very relaxed, very sure of the points raised, and belonged to David Miller, a publican and a local club owner. David had served on the council for several years.
The meeting closed, with no firm decision, as always the council members were equally divided

 Billy and Bert pulled up on their bikes.
  “Looks like a good place to stop!” Smiled Billy, “Some nice looking pubs along the seafront here. We can enjoy ourselves and raise a little hell, for a while.”
Bert laughed. “Judging by all these Harley’s parked along here we will have plenty of company.”

 Nurse Joy had worked in the accident and emergency unit of the local hospital for many years. She dreaded the night-shift in this busy unit by the seaside. As with most seaside hospitals Saturday was usually the worst night shift of the week.

 Mary and her friend Juanita were very excited it was Saturday and they were heading into town for their first night out together ever. They were both first year students in the university of Sea-Town, they had adjoining rooms in the hall of residence.

 Billy and Bert met up with some other friendly bikers and started out on a glorious pub and club binge. They finished up in the “Tropicana” club, just as Mary and Juanita arrived. Little did any one of the the four separate people guess they were destined to meet up later under very different circumstances.

 The music was loud and the drinks flowed freely. Suddenly a scuffle broke out accompanied by loud voices shouting with much cursing as fighting began and the bouncers and doormen moved in to break it up. Then sirens belted out as the police and ambulances arrived at high speed.
Billy and Bert were both injured and rushed by ambulance to Sea-Town hospital.
 Juanita screamed as a flying bottle hit her in the face causing a very nasty cut. One of the police officers signalled an ambulance paramedic who helped her into an ambulance, accompanied by Mary.
  “You will have to go to hospital to be stitched up.” Remarked the ambulance driver.
 Both girls were horrified. “Will she be scarred in her face?” Asked Mary, shocked. “We were not involved, just out for an evenings fun.”
  “Sorry Miss, I don’t know the answer to your question! I will put her down as a bystander in my report. Collateral damage.”
  “What does that mean? Collateral damage? For heavens sake!” screamed Mary, now very upset and in shock.
  “That means she was an innocent caught up in an affray.” Replied the paramedic. “Sorry about that unfortunate choice of words.”

 The hospital accident and emergency department was a sea of people in various stages of treatment. Several incidents of drink-related violence had occurred in the town that night and the unit was very very busy. Nurse Joy and her colleagues were rushed off their feet, stitching up the injured and desperately keeping some order out of the chaos.
 Billy and Bert were interviewed by the police and released on bail, they waited for three hours to be treated for their injuries. Bert had a broken arm and a very badly bruised face and Billy had a six inch cut on his neck that would leave a nasty scar.
 Juanita fortunately had a superficial cut to her face and she was badly bruised. Juanita would be the owner of a nasty black eye on her return to college. She vowed never to go to the Tropicana club again. Ever!

 Nurse Joy was very tired at the end of her shift.
“Thank goodness I’m off-duty next Saturday. I will sit on the beach in the sun, protecting these tired eyes, that have seen so much, behind dark glasses.” 

Ermilia~alcohol-in-sunglasses-

the image is supplied and credited by Ermilia

Copyright (c) Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

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WHEN ON-LINE AND OFF-LINE REALITY MERGE

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FLASH FICTION ~ INTERNET CAFE ~ 10TH JULY 2015

Another challenge from https://therattlingbones.wordpress.com/
the life and works of Lori Carlson
Today’s prompt is to write a scene set in an internet cafe. You decide the people involved, the situation and the outcome.

image

Image © John and Margaret

WHEN ON-LINE AND OFF-LINE REALITY MERGE

by John Yeo

 The day was hot but Jed needed to get on-line fast, he needed to establish an on-line footprint. The man, a tramp, or hobo, lay dying in a pool of thick red blood. This was the lull before sirens and the usual hubbub of noise followed one of his exterminations.
   “Coffee please, with cream and sugar.” Ordered Jed from the faceless man behind the counter.
  “OK! That will be one hundred and fifteen pounds, please.”
   “How the heck do you work that out?” He demanded.
 “One hundred for the footprint and fifteen pounds for your coffee.”
Jed peeled the money off from a wad of notes in his pocket. He had managed to hold on to some of the money he had earned from his last excursion into the back streets.
This was getting harder and harder to keep up the masquerade for the required time.
A button was pressed hard, and the game began again. The sirens exploded on to the naked eardrums as his pursuers began to get closer. He secreted himself in the farthest corner from the entrance and began to surf and keep in control.
 Another player entered the fray, needing the security of four walls to keep up the illusion of privacy.
A young woman with smiles and femininity had arrived. He nodded at her as she approached the coffee counter.
  “Skinny Latte heavy on the molasses?”
 “Are you sure? Skinny coffee and molasses is an unusual request!” asked the nondescript man serving behind the coffee bar.
   “Yes please!” She responded with a smile. “I’m an unusual person, I need to give myself the illusion of keeping slim together with the reality of keeping sweet”
 “That will be one hundred and thirty pounds, please.”
   “How much? I am sorry I am five pounds short of your extortionate demands. How on earth did you work that price out?”
 “With our hourly increases for inflation that is one hundred pounds for your online footprint together with your speciality coffee.”
Jed came to her rescue and peeled off another five pounds from his wad.
  “Hi! Thanks, I’m Samira, pleased to meet you. I can’t stop, I have a world of on-line things to get on with.”
  “It’s OK!” Jed replied, “I am a player on the run from the twists and turns of an on-line game.”
They both were soon lost in the ether of the world within the outside world that was reality.
Then another person shattered the concentrated silence by throwing a bag full of money on the counter.
  “A milky coffee quickly please. I must get on-line fast. I have had a tip that will not wait and you are my only chance to effect an on-line deal, I will save myself thousands of pounds.”
 “Peace my friend, How much is there in your bag?”
  “More than enough!” Shouted the burly man in a suit. “Take what you need, get on with your job and pour my coffee.”
 “Sugar?”
  “No thanks! I’m sweet enough!” Joked the ignorant man in a hurry. ” I want to use the machine in the corner farthest away from the door and the risk of interruption.”
 Jed’s game was coming to an end and the dying hobo had magically come back to life. Jed had lost interest now and Samira had done her on-line shopping.
 Jed smiled, “Would you like another special coffee Samira? I am done with my on-line gaming and I need the warmth of reality.”
  Samira blushed and nodded “Yes please, I am also through here shall we share an on-line footprint or shall we get out of here into the reality of the harsh-edged world outside?”
There was a crash as the door was thrown open and suddenly the internet cafe was full of uniformed police. They arrested the burly man in the suit for armed robbery and confiscated his bag of money, retrieved from the man behind the coffee bar.

“What about my bill?” He demanded.
 “Send him a bill” replied a police officer.
Samira and Jed left the internet cafe together arm in arm.

Copyright © ~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

(766 Words)

‘A SPACIOUS MISCONCEPTION’

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THE RATTLING BONES
The life and works of Lori Carlson

https://therattlingbones.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/words-to-write-by-prompt-13/

Hello fellow writers. What a glorious Thursday! It is time for Words to Write By! I will list 10 random words and it is your job to chose at least 5 of them to write a poem, a story, a journal entry or use them to inspire a piece of art or a photograph. Remember, you can use any form of the words, make them adjectives, adverbs, present tense, past tense, etc.

 eggplant,  waiter,  linger,  spacious,  stiffen,  misconceive,  mystical,  deracinate,  precipitate, weaver.

A SPACIOUS MISCONCEPTION

by John Yeo

~

An eggplant growing in the hothouse
Shining, glossy, purple edibility,
A study in polished vegetable beauty.
Grown in a bed of nutritious goodness
Misted with a spray for moisturised taste.

~

The gardener smiled as he worked with care,
Nurturing and nursing his vegetive wonders.
His hands would sow seeds to precipitate
The change graduated to slowly deracinate
As the aubergine became an eggplant.

~

This aubergine was no ordinary eggplant.
A living entity, a mystical superfood.
To stiffen and shock the gourmet taste buds
Cultivated to precipitate with expectancy
A memorable flavour guaranteed to linger.

~

The waiter smiled as he took the order,
Eggplant, fried with tomatoes and chilli.
Chopped and fried with garlic and olives.
Cooked slowly on a bed of fluffy tender rice.
To the weaver of the magic woven in the kitchen.

~

Copyright (c) ~ Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

TERROR IN THE VINEYARD

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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.

image

Grapevines photographed by Vanessa Rodriguez.

TERROR IN THE VINEYARD

by John Yeo

“We had been backpacking in France all summer. Excitedly we arrived in Burgundy’s Cote d’Or, at the gates of a vineyard that spread for miles. We were going to work here fruit picking for a couple of weeks. The long September days of sunny warm weather, working and living the dream in the great outdoors close to nature, earning the princely sum of 8 euros an hour.
We stayed in a workers purpose built house where we slept 4 to a room. The men had their rooms with facilities for ablutions attached and there were a couple of rooms reserved for the women.
We were too tired in the evenings to do anything but eat and sleep.
One day a terrified woman screamed. A terrifying scream that startled everybody in the middle of the vineyard. We threw our baskets down and raced forward . A volley of shots rang out as the foreman appeared with a smoking gun, a wild boar had roamed into the vineyard.
That night 100 workers feasted on fresh wild boar meat.”

(175 Words)

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

This is in response to a challenge hosted by Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. If you would like to participate in this challenge or need more information, please click the following link:

https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (31)

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I am taking part in Mondays Finish the Story 06/07/2015, which is a challenge that provides a photo prompt and the opening sentence to your story. The rules indicate that the story you come up with must be between 100-150 words, not including the given opening sentence.

The link below takes you to Part Thirty

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (30)

M.I. 31

© 2015, Barbara W. Beacham

Finish the story begins with:

  “The barista shook his head. That hedge couldn’t have moved closer overnight. Could it?”

 “He was serious too. A jumped up bartender who started quoting Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’!”
Angelo was relating an amusing anecdote to the gagged and bound so called Professor. “He was as drunk as a bar fly swimming in a gin bottle!”
A series of grunts and a feeble attempt to shake off the ropes binding him tightly, was the reply.
Angelo was laughing loudly as a helicopter arrived to take them to Sao Paulo.
  Marg and her team had met up with the Brigadier, who was unusually taking a personal interest in this operation, with Colonel Jack and Don Fernando. They were having a major conference with the other team leaders on how to approach the Miners Hill complex.
The Brigadier updated the assembled operatives and began to outline the plan of attack. “We have infiltrated the Dickus brothers organisation and our way will be made easier from inside the complex.”

(150 Words)
To be continued

The link below takes you to Part Thirty

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (30)

mondays-finish-the-story-2

https://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved