Friday Fictioneers~The Forgotten Corner

Friday Fictioneers is a weekly blog link-up based on a photo prompt. The Challenge – write a one hundred word story inspired by the picture that has a beginning, middle, and end. (No one will be ostracized for going a few words over the count.) The Key – make every word count. Up to the challenge? Join in!

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PHOTO PROMPT– Copyright –  Bjorn Rudberg

Stairway to Heaven

by John Yeo

Old Jack had been Head Gardener at the Hall for twenty years. One day Lord Melbury who liked to supervise Jack and the team moving trees and shrubs on the estate, stumbled across the magical corner where his children had loved to play. The stairway to the stars they had called the overgrown steps leading up to a ledge that was the lookout spot for the whole garden.

“Get rid of those old steps Jack, They spoil the look of the garden!”

“Yes sir!’ Jack replied, knowing full well they would both forget the order.

The magical mysterious stairway survived.

(100 Words) ~ In response to a prompt on ~ http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com

Written by John Yeo © All rights reserved

PICTURE IT AND WRITE ~ “WHICH WAY?”

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

Picture it & Write

Two ladders~Ermilia picture it and writeAs always the image is provided and credited by Ermilia

WHICH WAY?
by John Yeo

I am the man at the door. “Welcome to death”. There are two routes to follow here, on the left we have the ladder to the top, the soft sturdy easy route to follow, usually travelled by those lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon. On the right there is the twisting turning care-worn difficult path, travelled by many. Here at death’s door you are presented with the choice. The decision is yours, whichever way you go is the continuation of your journey towards heaven and eternal life. I am here as your spiritual guide and I can only guide you to this point, nothing is ever easy, if you take the easy way out you may make a mistake, no-one has ever returned to tell the tale from either route. The hard way has many twists and turns, however both routes lead to the same place eventually, the choice is yours. 
 The majority of the people who have had soft easy lives and have continually taken questionable shortcuts along the way, take the soft easy option and use the ladder on the left, very few take the well-trod worn ladder on the right.
Not a single person sees the trapdoor under the ladder on the left that instantly sends them back to start the journey all over again.


Copyright © written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

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Death Chimes ~ Velvet Verbosity ~100 word challenge

Velvet Verbosity is a 100 word challenge. Today’s word is CHIMES

http://www.velvetverbosity.com

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DEATH CHIMES

by John Yeo

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The family had heard the chimes, chiming for them six times.

Mary and her family lived in fear of the death chimes.

Many neighbours and friends were dying and it was very difficult to avoid leaving the house for food.

People were fleeing fast, moving away from the area, spreading the plague.

There were robbers, looters and killers, very few police were alive.

The biggest fear of everyone was to hear the bell on the death cart.

The bodies were piled high on the death cart as the loaded cart left for mass graves.

The bell may chime for thee!

(100 words)

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Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

HAPPY NEW YEAR

PICTURE IT AND WRITE~SINISTER SANATORIUM

This is the latest Picture it and Write prompt from Ermilia’s blog.
https://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/__picture-it-write-97/

Sinister Sanatorium

As always the image is provided and credited by Ermilia.

SINISTER SANATORIUM

by John Yeo

The year was 1903. We lived in the heart of the City of London. I was quite a prosperous businessman and my wife who had a nursing background followed her own interests. We lived comfortably and shared much together.

I had been struck down with a persistent cough for several weeks. When I started coughing up blood, the doctor made his diagnosis and recommended I stay in a sanatorium. We visited several institutions and finally selected a well recommended hospital on the windy Cornish coastline. Fresh air was thought to be an essential part of the treatment. The isolated imposing building was perched on a cliff with the raging boiling sea stretching out in the front and very large grounds at the rear. Consumption was rife all over the country and the sanatoriums were full of people taking the cure with rest, exercise and fresh air for recuperation. Sadly many people died of the illness and were buried in a private cemetery in the grounds.

One day a body was discovered in suspicious circumstances in the gardens. The police were loathe to call and investigate and as it was thought death was imminent due to the nature of the illness, the death was almost hushed up. The patient was a Lord Raven, a very wealthy man and his relatives were very keen to get answers. They called in a private investigator, Marg, a very astute tough lady sleuth, who after completing her enquiries decided it was undoubtedly an inside job. Some days later when Lord Raven’s will was read, it became clear that her suspicions were correct as he had left all of his substantial wealth to the directors of the sanatorium. The police arrested the entire board of directors, and after many enquiries it was discovered this was a much larger operation, and past patients had donated millions to these crooks before their deaths in the remote sanatorium. It became clear there was a mysterious Mr Big in control, who lived across the Atlantic in Colorado.

Lord Raven’s family hired Marg to investigate and the chase goes on ~~~

( to be continued)

 

Copyright ©  Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved

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Magic on the Moor

MISTY~ GLARING~ ALIVE
Three Word Wednesday
Write something based on and including these three words

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MAGIC ON THE MOOR

by John Yeo

As he began his search, the darkness descended very quickly on the moor. It was very misty and it quickly became almost impossible to see the path ahead.
He became more and more worried about Sarah, who had stormed off out into the night, from their isolated cottage on the moor, after a tiff. He turned on the flashlight and found the glaring beam reflected the light back at him from the thick mist that enveloped everything on both sides of the path. Suddenly he tripped over a log on the path. His heart started beating very fast as he realised he had stumbled over soft flesh, then he realised he had stumbled over a body lying aross the path.
“Sarah”! He shouted, when he recognised her red hair and her face became visible.
“David” she murmured, as she stirred, “I tripped and fell and I have hurt my leg”.
“Thank God you are alive!” He exclaimed, “Let me help you home.”
He put his arms around her, holding her up with his shoulder. They hobbled back along the path to the warmth of the cottage.

Written by John Yeo (c) ~ All rights reserved

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Five Sentence Fiction~TRUST

What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week I will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word.

This week’s word: TRUST

http://lilliemcferrin.com/five-sentence-fiction-trust/

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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

The Doctor gave Mother a thorough examination, hoping against hope that his suspicions were wrong.
He looked grim after he had studied the results, the cancer had spread uncontrollably.
Mother smiled benignly, without fully understanding the gravity of the situation.
“Don’t worry dear, have no fear, I will still be here next year.
I trust in God and my horoscope, the tea leaf pictures are very clear, I will win the lottery of life.”

Written by John Yeo (c) All rights reserved  

Friday fictioneers ~ Water wars

Friday Fictioneers is a weekly blog link-up based on a photo prompt. The Challenge – write a one hundred word story inspired by the picture that has a beginning, middle, and end. (No one will be ostracized for going a few words over the count.) The Key – make every word count. Up to the challenge? Join in!

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Image provided and credited by Friday Fictioneers

WATER WARS 

by John Yeo  ©

The river became a stream when the water was diverted to the factory farm. The local smallholders were up in arms as the water supply began to dry up. War was declared on the rich family who owned the huge farm. When a massive explosion blew the dam to smithereens, a body was discovered floating face down among the detritus revealed by the low water and the residue of the explosion. When police were summoned by the farmer to investigate the crime, the farmer was arrested for constructing an illegal dam and causing death by negligence. Water wars began again. 

PICTURE IT AND WRITE ~ CONTROLLING POWER

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

__picture it & write


As always the image is provided and credited by Ermilia~Resin stacking rings by daimblond

Ermilia~ Rings

CONTROLLING POWER

by John Yeo

 Micro science was radically altering the way of life of the Human race. This amazing blend of physics and science, moulded to new discoveries in the fields of psychology and biology, led to many new discoveries that were still unfolding. Waves of the new power obtained from the elusive dark matter that surrounds us all in the new dimension, allowed the Human race to achieve miracles with new scientific advances. Enormous amounts of knowledge could be stored in tiny rings that were archives which could be accessed simply by thought power, allowing instant access to the answers to many fields of enquiry. The thought rings were distributed to all young people when they reached the age of thirteen, where they replaced the old-fashioned education system.

 Dickus was a rogue scientist who developed a secret control ring, that would be able to control the thoughts of everyone wearing a thought ring. In a slow insidious way he became master of the ringed society, and immediately ordered all children to be ringed at birth with the developmment  of new materials that would expand wlth time and growth. A new God was worshipped as Dickus was both cruel and ruthless in his use of these limitless powers. One day an alien spacecraft arrived and landed in the newly created lush green forest that was once the Sahara desert. The aliens were returning Human spacemen and their families who had been travelling around the outer reaches of the known universe for centuries. Dickus could see danger and began to create weapons to wipe out the newcomers, who of course did not wear thought control rings. Dickus invited the leaders of the space families to his palace, to commune with them about the wonders of the rings, with their access to vast stores of unlimited knowledge. The sage old leader who could see many zombie-like people, obedient to Dickus’s every command, refused. Drawing his old fashioned ray-gun, he shot and killed the dictator, cut his finger off and threw both finger and ring into the deepest part of the ocean. The body of this evil monster was then publicly burned never to return. The population immediately woke from their enforced trance and removed the thought control rings. New methods of learning and culture were developed and many years of happy contentment followed.

Meanwhile in a remote laboratory in a cave hidden deep in the rockiest mountains, a cryogenically stored clone of Dickus stirred, as a computer generated robot began to adjust the temperature.

(to be continued)

 

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

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Mysterious Island ~ (1)

PART One and Part Two below

I am taking part in Mondays Finish the Story 08/12/2014, 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.

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The image is supplied and credited by “Monday’s finish the story”

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

by John Yeo

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Donning her fins and snorkel she headed out into the deep water.

She entered the water making as little splash as possible to avoid alerting the guards on the mysterious island. Her mission was to steal a very valuable painting that had been stolen from a London art gallery and was now part of an eccentric millionaire’s private collection. Reaching the shore, she checked a waterproof canvas tube slung over her shoulders and unfastened an infra-red torch from her belt. Making her way to the centre of the island she encountered no guards and to her great surprise the door at the rear of the mansion was unlocked.

Creeping silently through the dark mansion she found what she was looking for and took her knife out from the sheath attached to her belt, to cut the picture from the frame.

Suddenly light blazed out.  A smiling man pointing a gun right at her said. “Welcome little mermaid, we have much to discuss.

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Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

mondays-finish-the-story-2

Written for: http://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/mondays-finish-the-story-december-8th-2014/

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I am taking part in Mondays Finish the Story~15/12/2014 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.

chessboard

The image is supplied and credited by “Monday’s finish the story”

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (2)

by John Yeo

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They say that life is a game of chess.

This was illustrated very clearly by her present predicament. Marg froze as she stood staring at the pistol held by someone who’s picture she had only ever seen in newspapers and on the television news.

“I have been expecting you. Our mutual friend has now departed in the yacht. I have been following your progress. You are a very brave lady, but greed is a very powerful motivator”. Marg could do nothing  to bluff her way out of this crazy situation as she realised she had been used as a pawn in a much larger game. “What do you want?” She stammered, full of questions. “Why Me? Why go to a lot of trouble to entice me here? I am only an ordinary person. I have nothing, I was hired to come here by your colleague!”

“Just a minor inconvenience my dear we needed to test your courage and resilience”~

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(149 words) To be continued ~~~~~~

Copyright © Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved.

mondays-finish-the-story-2

Written for:~ http://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/mondays-finish-the-story-december-15th-2014/

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Highway Robbery ~ Foiled

Friday Fictioneers is a weekly blog link-up based on a photo prompt. The Challenge – write a one hundred word story inspired by the picture that has a beginning, middle, and end. (No one will be ostracized for going a few words over the count.) The Key – make every word count. Up to the challenge? Join in!

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com

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HIGHWAY ROBBERY~FOILED

by John Yeo

The street was crowded with families and shoppers, mingling with tourists, shopping, browsing, searching for the satisfaction of fulfilling a desire.
Suddenly a cry of alarm rang out. “My purse, stop thief!” Two young men were running, elbowing and pushing their way through the crowd to escape.
An elderly man stood firmly in their way, they both went on the attack. A bad move! The 70 year old ex-soldier, very fit and supremely hard, knocked them down. The police arrived, arrested the thieves and escorted them to hospital. The elderly man disappeared into the crowd, never to be seen again.

(100 words)

Copyright ©  Written by John Yeo ~ All rights reserved