Thursday, December 27, 2018

Words for Wednesday on a Thursday.

Being out of town 'n all for a few days, I am a wee bit behind in my life and in blog reading and blog responses too. I also had bad news on Christmas Eve which I will talk about some other time. Meantime I find Words for Wednesday a most welcome distraction, thanks to River at Drifting Through Life. Feel free to join in the imaginative fun.

1. hair*
2. dissolve*
3. concertina*
4. candlesticks*
5. ribbons*
6. causeway*

and/or:

1. wizard*
2. bonfire*
3. unload*
4. beams*
5. discarded*
6. chocolate*


The house stood starkly, grey and grim, all by itself, just before you crossed the causeway. You could catch a glimpse of her as the sun, like a bonfire some nights, dissolved into the sea. She'd light the two candlesticks in the open window and play a mournful tune on the concertina. That one distant summer, us two young lads would go out there on our bikes and sit at the edge of the property on the beach and watch and listen, our pocket picnics unloaded and shared: chips, chocolate, pop. Her long auburn hair was festooned with ribbons of many colours and moved with the music in the amber light.

She'd play for hours. We'd wonder at her story, marvel at the moonbeams that would sometimes bathe her face when darkness fell. She looked like some kind of wizard, not of this world, as if she had discarded another life, like an outgrown dress, a long time ago. As we rode back home along the causeway, with the tide lapping against it, the haunting tune hitched a ride with us for a while, finally falling off into the waves.

I ran into Robert, my one-summer friend, a couple of years ago at a convention. I hadn't seem him in thirty years. After the pleasantries, I asked him about her, about our many nights on the beach, watching, wondering, making up stories about her until we had to leave, reluctantly, as parental curfews loomed.

He looked at me astonished. "You must be mixing me up with someone else," he said, "Or you've had one too many of those Scotches."

24 comments:

  1. I am so sorry to hear about your bad news.
    And awed at the use you made of River's prompts. Magical, mysterious and haunting. I would really, really like to learn more about this solitary concertina player.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you EC, it truly was just the distraction I needed and I enjoyed creating her. In my mind I called her Emmeline. I think I have a short story there once expanded.

      XO
      WWW

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  2. Clever, but could you bring me up-to-date. Is the story a memoir, or fiction? And ... hope the bad news isn't too bad.

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    Replies
    1. Strictly fiction Tom, based on the words supplied. I will write of the bad news soon once I string it together properly and with respect.

      XO
      WWW

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  3. WWW I am happy that you are here albeit a day late. I was wondering if you were alright yesterday/ Hope that you are feeling better physically. Bad news is especially hard this time of year I think. Sending positive thoughts your way.

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  4. Hauntingly lovely story, WWW - and all from that list of random words. It reminded me a little (in the middle) of "Summer of '42" - and the lovely theme song from that movie "The Summer Knows". :)

    Sorry you had bad news so close to the festive season - hope it didn't spoil enjoyment too much.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you T, it was a tonic that I needed to explore what these words brought to mind. I am hoping this is not the last of Emmeline as she does intrigue me greatly.

      More on that bad news later.

      XO
      WWW

      Delete
  5. Within those first two sentences, you established mood, setting, voice of the protagonist, and story problem. Definitely write a short story. Perhaps a novel if the characters engage you enough? From one writer to another, brava! I'm attending a writer's conference in San Miguel de Allende in February. I have been writing for a financial website for years and want to return to my fiction-writing roots. I have a very rough draft and need to think of myself as a writer again. Anti-seizure drugs and two brain surgeries have left me with an inability to proof my work as well as I want. I read what I think I wrote, not what I did. Wish you were attending, too, and I could meet you.

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    Replies
    1. Oh Linda, me too! But my extreme long distance travelling days are over for now. Thank you so much for your kind words. I am so glad you are writing again, proofing and editing our own work is very challenging for any of us, try and have friends read it first if they feel like critiquing.

      XO
      WWW

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  6. Also, Christmas Eve is a terrible time to receive bad news. We all care about you and the challenges you're facing.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Linda. I am having some bubble time to process.
      More later.

      XO
      WWW

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  7. Our memories are seldom as accurate as we like to think they are. I remember wild gatherings from my youth that were probably not that wild at all.

    Sorry to hear you had bad news just before Christmas. Jenny also had bad news on Christmas Eve. Her Canadian cousin died suddenly in her mid-sixties.

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    1. Give Jenny my condolences Nick, how very sad, it does pour a miasma over everything. And with these losses life is never quite the same.

      XO
      WWW

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  8. I love your story, but wonder about Robert not remembering.

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  9. You have me intrigued...

    And I just love the picture you paint, so pretty

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  10. Wonderful story. And I'm sorry for whatever the bad news is.

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