Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 166

This week's prompt photo was taken by Alan Chaput, a Cozy Mystery author, in Savannah, Georgia where he lives, and where his books are set. He is an author worth checking out, not just for his books but he has great posts on both twitter and facebook. 

Another Tricky tale. They write so easily and each time she reveals a little bit more of her larger story. Soon I will be writing her whole store. I can hear her clap her hands in glee. We last saw her on Week 159, where I list all of her stories. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

A Paltry Ploy

As soon as she saw it on the road, Tricky knew. She went over and looked at it and laughed to herself. They thought Tricky was stupid, they thought she would fall for that. She went to the side of the road and found a stick, and brought it over to the cobbled patch, supposedly revealed after decades of wear.

She poked it and it wobbled. Ha! You didn’t fool Tricky that easily. They liked to employ these traps to try and catch her out, but she knew their game. She’d seen these ones before. Sadly last time it had meant the end of one her lovers who’d not been as clever. She’d tried to warn him, but he hadn’t believed her. He’d thought people couldn’t be that devious, but she knew otherwise. Life had taught her.

There were powerful people out there with access to things only the likes of her knew about. She had an idea how they had gleaned the information, but needed evidence. Could this be evidence?

She poked it again, harder this time and the image on the top broke turning into grey fuzzy lines. She put the stick further in and felt something grip it. People might take this for a monster, but it wasn’t, it was just adapted electronics; remnants from the last century that only few knew how to work.

It was those few she was interested in. She’d acquainted herself with two of them, but there was a third being kept in the shadows by Carter. She would find them, and turn them as she had the other two. Carter always thought he had the upper hand and would catch her out. Tricky chuckled. Not with these cheap tricks; Tricky hadn’t earned her name for nothing.

She stuck her hand in the hole after the stick and grabbed at the metal trap, pulling it up. It came away from its cables easily and the grey image blinked out. She tucked it into her bag for later inspection. It had a projector that might prove useful, and she could always use cabling.

People thought this was trickery and magic, but they had no idea. These were toys compared to the true magic in the universe, something humans had been oblivious to – and even fought against – their entire existence. It’s why she was shunned. But that was just fine with Tricky, it suited her aims and enabled her to live beyond prying eyes – and made it more difficult for the eyes that wanted to pry. They had to resort to these kinds of gimmicks. She laughed at Carter’s attempts, although cautiously. He was getting more blatant; there might come a point where he wouldn’t bother with the illusion anymore.

Tricky was never foolish enough to underestimate her enemy. These were high stakes; if he got his hands on her knowledge ...

Tricky straightened herself up and pulled her coat round her, suddenly cold. That was not a thought worth entertaining. But if he continued on his with such arrogance an opportunity would appear and she would be ready.

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 165

This week's picture prompt is sadly untraceable. It's all over pinterest, but I can't find anyone crediting it. Lots of people calling it street art, but where and by who? I tried loads of foreign sites. Even the Turkey Tribune used this for a poet to write to, but didn't credit the source of the art. Such a shame cuz I love it but I don't know where it is or who did it. 

It took a while to get my writing mind working again, especially with so many distractions going on in my real world, but when I did I went dark - my normal mode - and I rather like how it turned out. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

Speechless

She wanted to speak but couldn’t. Her mouth was open, but she couldn’t get her throat to make a sound – not that it would make a difference if she did, they wouldn’t hear her.

Yet she could hear them, and even feel them touching her nose and lips, marvelling at them, at their perfection encased as they were in concrete. They discussed the artist and how brilliant the lines were; how he had achieved such a believable representation of the real thing, not knowing that it was the real thing, only covered in a layer of quick drying cement.

As for the artist, he believed her dead. He thought he had given her a lethal dose of anaesthesia; he believed the muscle relaxant had not only paralysed her but left her unable to breathe. He’d been wrong. She’d been conscious the whole time, but because he’d glued her eyes shut she’d been unable to let him know – or maybe he had known and that was why he’d glued her eyes shut.

After he’d done what he had wanted to her body he had put her into a mould, one that enabled the outline of her lower facial features to penetrate.

She’d felt the weight of the liquid as it was poured over her, but with her mouth open she’d enabled a small gap to remain, and despite blacking out a few times, when he’d removed the mould and placed her upright, she’d remained alive breathing through a tiny slit.

The only muscles she was able to move were those allowing her to draw in a breath. Not a deep breath, a slither of air that kept her conscious – part of her wished it didn’t.

She didn’t know how much longer she would remain alive – the pain of starvation and the weight of the stone covering her were all consuming – but while people were close by she would keep trying to make a sound – any sound, in the hope the truth of the artist would be revealed.

She tried not to think about the other statues he’d shown her that night as they’d wandered around the exhibition he’d held at his mansion. She’d been so star struck by this famous artist taking an interest in her, ignoring his other guests and lavishing his attention on her. He’d talked about her wonderful features, comparing them to his other sculptures, pointing them out. All of them displayed various women’s body parts: a bent knee and a top of the thigh on one piece of wall, a shoulder and ear on another. She’d admired the detail, right down to texture and curve. She’d had no idea.

Now she knew she wasn’t the only one, but how many more were there? His pieces were sent all over the world. If she could shudder at the thought she would, but it faded as she blacked out once more – maybe for the final time. She could only hope.

Mid-Week flash on hiatus until September 9th!

With having bought a new house, & all the renovation work we are doing and moving at the end of this month, I am sorry to say that I have to put #MidWeekFlash on hiatus until the middle of August. My head is so full I just can't quite manage it at the moment.

This is only the second time I have done this - last time was back in 2017 (wow I've been doing this for longer than I thought!).

Apologies to recent joiners, but DO feel free to write for ANY of the previous posts (including this picture). There are no time limits on these challenges and you will find all previous photos in the photo album (now called Media in the new interface), including the link to the post on the blog.

Sleep available at a rock bottom price.

It's not often I share the promotions I take part in on my blog - usually I share them on twitter or via my newsletter, but it's also not often I promote this book at such a low price.

I have joined 80+ authors over on Book Funnel, and taken part in the July Beach Reads promotion. All of the books are Women's Fiction and fall under family dramas - although genres vary within that.  

My novel, Sleep, a Psychological Thriller, is available for $.99/£.99 through this promotion for the entire month of July.

This is only the second time I've priced it this low, and it will be a while before I do it again, so snap it up while you can and feel free to pass it on to others.

<click on the book cover to go to the link>

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 164

This week's photo prompt is from Horror writer Mark Cassell. I found the angle interesting.

He says: 'Location research snappoids (this really should be a word). I have a main character who runs from a cosmic nightmare on this very spot here in Dungeness.'

Dungeness is on the south coast of England (in Kent). 

I've gone dark with this story, because, afterall, Mark is a horror writer. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

Feed

It slithered over the edge of the boat it had been hiding in. It could see another boat nearby but knew it didn’t contain what it sought. It needed more than just the remains of the sea crustaceans in the old nets; it needed something warm, something living.

It crept up the beach toward the sound of voices. Daylight was dimming; it could stay invisible among the stones and get closer. They weren’t paying attention, too caught up in their argument. It edged round behind the woman.

‘But why do we always have to come here?’

‘For privacy, you know how my mum is.’

‘She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you.’

‘It’s not that. She’s just a little possessive that’s all.’

‘It’s peculiar if you ask me.’

‘That’s my mum you’re talking about ...’

‘So?’

‘She’s just looking out for me.’

‘So you agree with her, I’m not good enough for you?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘Sounds like it to me.’

‘Why? Cuz I won’t let you bash my mum?’

‘I’m not bashing her. I just think she needs to stop treating you as a little boy. You’re a grown man.’

‘She’s my mum; I’ll always be her little boy.’

‘She needs to get a life.’

‘Oi! That’s enough, alright?’

‘I just don’t know why we always have to come to the beach and freeze our arses off.’

‘Where else do you suggest we go? It’s not like your house is any better with your brother and your dad hanging around, making leery comments. And I don’t have the cash at the moment to be going to the cafe or the pub every time.’

‘If it’s so hard maybe we shouldn’t bother.’

‘Oh you want to break up now, do you?’

‘I didn’t say that.’

In the brief pause of awkwardness, it took the opportunity to get up close and personal. It slithered up the back of the woman, and she shivered.

‘What?’

‘Just suddenly feel cold up my back, that’s all.’

‘Come closer then, and I’ll get you warm.’

They huddled up together, the man putting his arms round the woman. She moved her head in close. Then they looked at each other and made contact with their mouths, perfect for its intention.

It moved up round the woman’s neck, enjoying the sudden heat that had taken over her body, and latched onto the vein throbbing on the side of her neck, drinking deep until it merged with her.

The man cried out and pulled his face off the woman’s, his hand trying to stem the flow of blood coming from his mouth. He tried to speak but couldn’t form his words properly.

‘wah ooo ooo at foor, my ung!’

The woman grinned, then lunged at him, this time taking more than his tongue.

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 163

This week's photo is from a Russian photographer called Mikhael. They've got some really great photos. I wasn't sure which one to pic, but I thought this offered the most. They called this one Global Warming.

I have used this prompt to try and thrash out some ideas I am working for a novel I am writing. I think it works quite well with the picture.

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

The Tree

‘What is this place?’

‘This is how the world would look, Michael, if I hadn’t continued with what I had started.’

‘What ravaged by drought?’

‘Yes, and famine and pestilence.’

‘But that tree is surviving.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Have you looked closely?’

Michael lifted himself up from his prone position, and pulled himself further up the incline. He had no strength for anything more. He was totally spent. Days of shifting from time to time, parallel to parallel, place to place. He was confused, disorientated, and exhausted mentally and physically. He had no idea when he last ate or when he last had something to drink. It took all that he had left to crawl on the dried cracked ground.

‘It’s a mirage, isn’t it?’

‘It could be, or it could be a figment.’

‘What’s the difference?’

‘The difference is whether you believe this place is real or not.’

Michael’s mind swam. ‘Why are you playing with me? Why all these riddles?’

‘I need you to understand why I do the things I do. If you don’t understand, how can you continue it?’

‘I don’t want to continue it, I want to end it.’

‘Then this is the end.’

‘But the tree?’

‘Arh, then there is hope. The tree typifies all your hopes and dreams. Everything you wish this place would be, that you wish life would be, but it can’t survive in a barren, desert. It needs water, it needs sustenance. We all do. And most of all it needs roots.’

‘Please just get to the point.’ Michael was parched. He was struggling to swallow. He just wanted to go home and have a long, cool drink. It’s all he could think about.

‘You ask me why I do what I do. I do what I do to sustain worlds; to keep people safe. Give them somewhere to belong, to exist, to stay put. If I don’t do that, then what you have experienced is what happens.’

‘But you caused it. You caused the imbalance by uprooting them all in the first place. Everything was fine and balanced before you came along and ruined it.’

‘Ruined, Michael, really? Are you sure? I simply found a way outside of it, a way to work around it. A way to influence it, and bring a different kind of balance; a way to stop the self-destruction.’

‘Self-destruction? But you push people out of it, you knock them through like dominos falling: one steps into another, and into another, until it doesn’t stop, it goes on forever.’

‘But it doesn’t, Michael, your own world proves that. And here, Michael, look around you, do you see those dominos here? Are they falling here?’

‘No, there’s nothing here. This is the world after you ravaged it.’

‘Me? You think I did all this? You think I’m capable of it? I have my fun and games, but to bring a world to the brink like this takes a collective, Michael.  It takes mankind.’

‘But the tree?’ Michael couldn’t take his eyes off it. ‘How can the tree exist here?’

‘It’s a good question, Michael, it exists because you want it to.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘What you believe is what will be in this time and space, Michael, it’s that simple.’

‘Nothing is that simple.’

‘Really? Try it.’

And then Michael was there, standing in front of the tree and touching it. It was real, it was here, and he was standing under it. It began to rain. Water poured through the leaves, and he opened his mouth to drink.

‘See? It sustains you. You believed it could, so it did. Just like I believed I could be outside of the worlds and I was – just as you have been in your pursuit of me. You can have whatever you want.’

‘But I just want to go home and be left alone.’

‘Really, Michael? Twice now you have come to find me; twice now you have wanted answers.’

‘But all you do is taunt me, and torture me.’

‘You do that yourself, because you won’t accept your future, your legacy. Let me give it to you.’

Michael wanted to keep resisting but he knew The Jester spoke the truth. In the end it was inevitable.

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 162

This week's photo is from Polish photographer Leszek Paradowski. They have some incredible art. Definitely worth checking them out. 

I've gone super short this week. This was really all I had - and saw when I got this pic. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

Consciousness

He cast it again over the water in the hope that it would remain aloft this time and not sink as it had done previously, poisoning itself with contaminated water and not succeeding in its journey to be all that it could.

He tried his hardest to guide it and aid it to its full, limitless potential, but if its vibration became too low, he couldn’t stop it dipping into the water and taking on weight that would only pull it down further.

It was hard juggling these worlds. Some rose higher than others and he marvelled at their beauty but others refused to allow themselves to climb and insisted on becoming bogged down in external, mindless distractions, refusing to see the light within and sustain it.

If enough ascended they would gather and create an interconnected labyrinth of consciousness, as he had always meant them to be. He hoped this one would join it, eventually.