Category: Weekly Challenge

Weekly Challenge #975 – PICK TWO Silly hat, Brave, The old classic, Challenge, Passed out, Visual

The next topic is It’s me

RICHARD

— Some bad hat —
You had be to either brave or stupid to go out in public wearing it.
It’s not so much the style or design making it inappropriate, or that hats aren’t my thing – I quite like them, really.
Neither is it because it’s a baseball cap… which I’ve always considered ridiculous on anyone no longer a teenager.
It’s the slogan printed on it that makes it a silly hat. If not a downright problematic one.
But, it was a gift from my mum.
And I’d have to be even braver or more stupid not to wear it, knowing she might find out!

LIZZIE

Hot chocolate for 25 cents. Silly hats get an extra free cup. And everyone made an effort. There were hats with books, hats with colorful feathers, hats with numbers, hats with beautiful flowers. But hers was the winning hat. It had happy chirping birds. At first, people thought the birds were tied to the hat. But they weren’t! They were just sitting on it. And they weren’t afraid either. How did you do it, people asked, mesmerized. She just walked around, sipping her extra cup of chocolate slowly and smiling. Animals know. They just know. A smile can do wonders!

TOM

Careful
Tommy wore a brave silly hat. It was made of paper and cotton and
things. It was kind-a pointed and kind-a round. Some thought it well …
silly, others were impressed with the absolute conviction of his choice
to place it on his head while carrying out his daily duties. Later in
life he joined the order and rose rapidly in its ranks. Each level he
reached was met with different silly hat. When Tommy was chosen Pope, he
was given his last brave silly hat. What everyone was not ready for was
the new pope’s name. Judas the first.

SERENDIPIDY

It wouldn’t be long before he passed out, his body was fighting the drugs, but the challenge would eventually prove too much. It was simply a matter of time.
Not that I was about to hang around until he lost consciousness. I had things to do: I had a children’s party to arrange, and shopping to do, and the drugs would do their job, without me being around.
Later, when I returned, and before the kids started to arrive, I’d get to work on preparing the party games.
And he, would make the best game of Operation, they’d ever played!

NORVAL JOE

Billbert turned the TV to the nature channel, hoping the girls would soon get bored and go off to bed. Neither was willing to give up her claim before the other and eventually the two girls fell fast asleep. Feeling it was too much of a challenge to slip out without waking them, he settled in for the night. He would have to brave his parents’ reaction when they found them in the morning, looking like they had all passed out on the couch. Billbert drifted off to a documentary about a lion and his lionesses on the African savanna.

PLANET Z

Every time the teacher called on Billy, he’d pass out and fall on the floor.
He passed out a lot.
The school nurse thought there was a serious problem, but Billy’s parents were Christian Scientists and vegans.
Instead of going to a doctor, they prayed over Billy.
In the end, they prayed over his grave.
The autopsy showed that Billy had severe malnutrition and other developmental problems that could have been easily resolved by adjusting his diet.
Charged with child abuse and murder, the courtroom became a circus.
Freedom of religion, their lawyers said.
At least they never had another kid.

Weekly Challenge #974 – Thousand

The next topic is PICK TWO Silly hat, Brave, The old classic, Challenge, Passed out, Visual

RICHARD

“Hey! My latest post got a thousand likes”
I cast Bob a look of deep derision.
“Mate, that’s nothing. Personally, if I get anything less than a million, I consider it a failure.”
Bob’s face fell, “I don’t know how you do it” he said, “how many did your last post get?”
I thumbed through the screen until I found it, “Two point eight mil… not bad!”
He shrugged.
I gave him a friendly nudge, “Don’t worry mate, you’ll get there one day.”
I doubted it though, as I fired up the bot, gaining another ten thousand likes in seconds.

LIZZIE

Santa was furious. He had finished his route and there were still a thousand gifts in his sleigh. Who messed up? Santa paced left and right, as red as his outfit, throwing his hands in the air. What are the kids going to say? And the parents? They relied on him to deliver the right gifts to the right addresses. The ranting continued on and on until one of the elves whispered “They are for you from us all.” Santa was speechless. He was used to cookies and milk, not real gifts and so beautifully wrapped too! So, he smiled.

LISA

The Secret to a Stress Free Christmas Supermarket Shop
‘Twas the weekend before Christmas and the supermarket felt post-apocalyptic: people grabbing food, shouting: it took a thousand years just to get down one aisle.
A tinny tannoy played ‘I wish it could be Christmas Every Day’.
I shopped and joined a queue: thankfully it didn’t seem long ‘til I reached the conveyer belt. The joy to be unloading my shopping was crushed when I realized I’d forgotten the fucking turkey. I ran back to discover, of course, they’d all gone. Back at the checkout so had my shopping: someone pretending it was theirs had simply paid and left.

SERENDIPIDY

I was in trouble again.
Everybody else left, and I was alone with teacher. He beckoned me over to his desk, shaking his head.
“Well, you’ve done it again. You’ve let your classmates down, you’ve let me down, but – most of all – you’ve let yourself down. What do you have to say for yourself?”
I remained obstinately silent.
“OK, if that’s how you want to play it. Detention tonight, and a thousand lines: ‘I must not bring knives to school, and I will never do it again.'”
He was right.
I wouldn’t do it again.
Tomorrow, I’d bring a gun.

NORVAL JOE

Billbert had just put on his pajamas when there was a knock at the door.

Sabrina stood in the hallway and Linoliamanda watched from the guest room doorway.

“I’ve told myself a thousand times today that I wasn’t going to bother you, but can I sit by your bed?”

Billbert sighed. “Let’s go downstairs.”

When Sabrina sat next to Billbert and took his hand, Linoliamanda sat on the other side and hugged his arm.

With a girl on one side in lace-edged satin, and the other in velvety cats, Billbert wondered how he had gotten into such a wonderful pickle.

TOM

It was a depression thing.

When my Grandma died we had to go through a mountain stuff. We had to look through every book and magazine because she would slip different amount of money or stocks for ATnT between the pages. After major stiffing a patter emerged. Page numbers match bill denomination. In one book of old German fairy-tales I turn to page one thousand. There staring back at me was Grover Cleveland. It was in mint condition. The bill was a Gold Certificate a yellow boy. Somehow it had escaped Presidential Proclamation 2039 Executive Order 6073 and Executive Order 6102.Grandma was pretty shrewd.

TURA

Thousand
———
The one thousandth Christian, legend has it, was one Simon of Alessos. A year after the crucifixion, he chanced upon a group of Christians preaching in the marketplace. He was so overcome with emotion that he requested baptism, whereupon a great light shone down from heaven, trumpets sounded, and a voice thundered, “Blessings upon thee, Simon, Our one thousandth convert to the True Way! Thou mayest already have won—” But Simon had fled, and lived as a hermit in the heart of the desert the rest of his days.

He is commemorated as the patron saint who protects against spam.

PLANET Z

Rickey Henderson stole over a thousand bases.
He drew hundreds of walks, racked up thousands of hits.
And had the most home runs of any leadoff hitter.
If he got on first, which he did more often than not, he would find a way to get his ass to home plate one way or another.
The dude was a scoring machine, and he knew it, and he let you know.
Holding that golden base over his head, calling himself the greatest ever.
Make the bases as big as mattresses. Ban pitchouts.
It doesn’t matter. Nobody will be better than Rickey.

Weekly Challenge #973 – Gift Cards

The next topic is Thousand

LISA

A Born Showman.
The Star sobbed: she’d wanted to play Mary. So, the spotlight shone on three kings… One shuffled forward and muttered “Gold.” The next stepped forward and shuddered as he tried to keep giggles at bay.
“Frankie’s Sense.” He nudged Frankie who was playing Joseph. Then, the third King.
“I couldn’t find Myrrh. No one anywhere seemed to know what it was.” he said as he moonwalked across the stage.
“So, I got this.”
His hand held aloft; the spotlight swung towards it.
“This…”
He sashayed around the crib
“This Gift Card can be used in every major retailer in Bethlehem.”

NORVAL JOE

When they entered Billbert’s house they found Sabrina in the family room surrounded by shopping bags. She looked up, her eyes bright. “Look Billbert. We bought so many clothes they gave us a $25 gift card.” Her eyes clouded over when she saw Linoliamanda. “What’s she doing here?”

Defensive, Billbert said, “Mandy’s dad’s in a coma and they don’t know when he will wake up. So, I said she could stay here. There are two beds in the guest room, you know.”

Sabrina sighed, holding up a lacy sleep set. “Beggars can’t be choosers. She can wear the cat pajamas.”

SERENDIPIDY

I turned over the next card in the sequence, the six of pentacles.
“Ah”, I murmured, “the gift card”.
His face lit up in expectation as I continued.
“It seems you may receive something of value in the future; I cannot say what that may be, but it could make you a very wealthy man!”
“Tell me more” he begged.
“First, cross my palm with silver… plenty of silver!”
He anxiously paid up, and I turned the next card, which elicited a gasp.
“Death! How unfortunate. Let’s hope your gift comes soon, and you live long enough to enjoy it!”

RICHARD

— Gift card —
It was the usual pointless question.
“So what do you want for Christmas?”
Every year the same irritating question, and my answer, the same as always: “I don’t know. There’s nothing I want or need.”
It drew the usual, predictable response. “You’re hopeless dad, at least give us some ideas.”
“Just get me a gift card then.”
And so, come Christmas Day, that’s exactly what I got: A gift card, just like last year, and the year before that, as far back as I can remember.
And, as always, it ended up unused in the drawer with all the others.

TOM

That is remembered lives.

Gail was Linda’s matron of honor. As a courtesy I volunteer to take wedding photos. The groom, Jack Darkhand, gave me an Amazon Gift Card. Never cashed it in. Lived in my wallet till my wallet was stolen. While I still retained ownership, for time to time I’d take it out and give it a look. Did that for his first child, then his second. Did that when he got sacked from a tech job in Seattle for have XY chroms. Took it out during his wake. Show it to Linda, told her I think I’m just going to keep this.

LIZZIE

She loved adventure! She hated books. But the damn gift card said “Books”. At the bookstore, she looked lost. So, the bookseller said, “We have some mystery packs.” Well, OK… “A mystery pack, it is.” When she opened the pack, it was… let’s just say a surprising pack. You had to call a series of phone numbers to get the pick-up locations. The first one was called “Whispers Among the Gravestones” and the pick-up point was the local abandoned cemetery. Who would’ve thought that books could be so interesting after all? She would take some pepper spray, just in case.

PLANET Z

I always thought it strange when my father would give out store gift cards as tips instead of cash.
Until I saw him grabbing a stack of them at Target and putting them in his pocket.
Without activating them at the register.
Technically, it’s not illegal to hand them out.
Maybe it’s a form of fraud if he’s claiming they have value.
He did this for years, handing out worthless cards.
After I grew up and moved out, and he got forgetful, he did this scam at the same place more than once.
And no restaurant would seat him again.

Weekly Challenge #972 – Mister Right

The next topic is Gift Card

LIZZIE

Mr. Right lived in the lighthouse across the street. The place was hideous and no one ever visited it. Mr. Right was the typical know-it-all. When proven wrong, he’d blatantly lie. Everyone hated him, everyone except his neighbor who’d often ask to see the gallery because, as he said, “he enjoyed the fresh air”. And he tried, he tried many times. Mr. Right knew the neighbor wanted the lighthouse. Some plan to increase the flow of tourists and become the mayor. It turned out, Mr. Right wasn’t Mr. Stupid so he never stood alone on that balcony with Mr. Ambitious.

RICHARD

– Mister Right –
She peered at me critically over the top of her horn-rimmed glasses.
“It’s Mister, right?”
I was confused.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.”
She sat back and sighed, folding her arms.
“Your personal pronouns! You need to tell me how to address you. I’ve learned the hard way not to make assumptions!”
“Ah, right”, I nodded, “yes, it’s Mister. Mister is just fine.”
She turned back to her keyboard, and tapped a few keys. “We’re done.”
I stood up, and glanced at her name badge, “Well, thank you, Miss Philpot.”
“It’s Mister!” She snapped, with a frown.

TOM

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Men are searching the world for the perfect woman. Women not so much, with a choice between the perfect haircut or the perfect Mr. Right, you known in your heart, a reasonable quaff, wins hands down. It would be great if Mr. Right was a hairdresser, not likely. Wasn’t that the central plot of the film Shampoo. Let’s get back to that perfect Mr. Right crossing the globe in search of Miss Right, as always, don’t rule out Mrs. Right. Hell it’s American, it’s what we do. The weary Mr. Right will wander before her without her taking a step.

NORVAL JOE

Walking along the dark street, Linoliamanda suddenly asked, “Why were you staring at those teenage volunteers?”

Not realizing she had noticed, he stammered, “Well. I guess I was thinking. Those girls are so pretty, they would never notice a scrawny kid like me.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?” she asked.

Then he really stammered, “Um. Yeah. Sure. Why?”

“Daddy’s older than Mother and he said he’s amazed that Mother would love an ugly old man like him. And she says, she always knew he was Mr. Right.” Linoliamnada stopped Billbert. “The right girl will always love you, no matter what.”

SERENDIPIDY

He always had to be Mr Right.
Always holding the moral high ground, always the one to win an argument, never one to back down or give way.
He was arrogant, uncompromising and incapable of admitting defeat.
It was these qualities that attracted me to him.
Don’t misunderstand me; it wasn’t that I like those sort of character traits – no, I loathe them with a passion, but he was precisely the sort of person that I love to put firmly in their place.
And that place, was six feet underground.
You really can’t say I was in the wrong.
Right?

PLANET Z

Every time we come across a mass grave, we excavate the site and sort out the bodies.
The few with identification, we send to the agents to contact any remaining family for handling and burial.
The many without, we take DNA samples and cross-reference genetic markers with genealogy databases.
Most families ended up in the same mass graves, so there’s a lot of dead ends.
There’s not much money and jewelry left to loot. The regime cleaned them out pretty thoroughly.
After all is said and done, we put the bodies back in the site and place a stone monument.

Weekly Challenge #971 – Arrested

The next topic is Mister Right

LISA

A New Lead
“Come, look through the window. The curtains are pulled they won’t see you… just peep through the gap.”
A portable TV. Black and White. The picture is fuzzy and keeps rolling.
“Police in Wiltshire have today arrested a man in connection with the disappearance of Katy Creasy.” It’s so loud we hear it from outside.
A school photo appears on the screen.
“Come forward, can you see?” Katy is there at a table; she’s sobbing silently and a man leans forward to wipe away her tears and laughs. He laughs loud enough to drown out the sound of the TV.

LIZZIE

“He was arrested for playing awful music on the freaking harp.”
“What’s that?”
“Crappy music?”
“No. That word…”
“Harp?”
“Yes.”
“It’s that musical instrument!”
“Ah. What happened to the harp?”
“What do you mean?”
“He was arrested. And the harp?”
“How do I know what happened to the harp?!”
“Was it a big harp or a small harp?”
“It was an I-don’t-care-harp.” ”
“Testy, just asking.”
“I’ll have to bond him out.”
“Why?”
“OMG, have you been paying attention to anything at all? The gold is in the harp.”
“Now I’m confused, how can that be an I-don’t-care-harp then?”
“OK, bye.”

RICHARD

Innocent?
It was all a bit of a shock.
I was minding my own business, watching TV with a nice hot cup of tea when they kicked the door in.
Next thing I know, I’m in handcuffs, being bundled into the back of a police van, with all the neighbours looking on with interest.
Arrested.
And I had no idea why.
Of course, I protested my innocence, but they wouldn’t have it, not until the Superintendent turned up, to inform them they were supposed to raid the house at number one, The Avenue.
I’m number ten, but the zero fell off!

SERENDIPIDY

I don’t really like to think of it as ending a life.
Oh, I know that’s exactly what it is, whether you call it murder, assassination or plain and simple killing, but personally, I don’t think those words adequately express the fullness of what I do.
Snuffing out a life in its prime is more than just a simple ending: It’s denying someone of their future and their potential. Those things they might have done and achieved, will now never happen. The difference they could have made to the world is forever lost.
So, I prefer the term…
Arrested development.

NORVAL JOE

“Mother. I want to see Daddy,” Linoliamanda begged.

Her mother blinked back tears. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. These are their rules. I’m sure he’s in good hands and I’ll have him call you as soon as he wakes up.”

Billbert tipped his head toward the exit. “Come on, Mandy. I know the ICU staff from personal experience. If you step on the wrong nurse’s toes, they might try to have you arrested. It’s late. Let’s walk to my house and I can ask my mom to make us something to eat.”

Her chin quivering, Linoliamanda hugged her mother before following Billbert.

TOM

Kid have you rehabilitated yourself.

My first year in high school was in 1969. Lot of stuff was fraying at the edge of society. Into this mix came the Album Alice’s Restaurant. Central theme of the whole side of the record was wound about our hero getting arrested for dumping garbage. In terms of the narrative arch this landing point was theater of the absurd. It didn’t stop there. By the end of the song the question lay at: are you moral enough to kill mothers and babies after littering. Five years later the war was no less absurd and arrested was still a question.

PLANET Z

Rico wasn’t the only dealer in school, but he had the best stuff at great prices.
And he didn’t stab anyone, unlike Julio and Manuel.
We all knew his story about coming from LA was bullshit.
So, it wasn’t a surprise when he disappeared from school along with a dozen kids.
Jessie saw cops at Rico’s house and others.
And none of them came back that year, or the next.
Which was great for me, because I filled the void.
I had enough for State, but as long as the border’s closed, Yale and Princeton are in my budget now.

Weekly Challenge #970 – PICK TWO Scorpion, Walking on eggshells, Turn, High pitched, News, Craftsmanship

The next topic is Arrested

TURA

Walking on eggshells; Scorpion

———

To test an aspiring ninja, the floor of a corridor is covered with eggshell halves glued in place, a live scorpion under each one. The candidate must traverse the corridor naked.

Some really can walk on the eggshells without breaking them. Some leap from wall to wall, never touching the floor. Some cling to the roof beams. And of course, some fail.

I trained for months running on hot gravel to harden my soles, then marched straight down the corridor, trampling eggshells and scorpions alike.

They grudgingly passed me, but next year, they replaced the scorpions by razor-sharp, poisoned caltrops.

LIZZIE

It was on the news. They had finally killed him. A candle was lit in a memorial of sorts by the people, just in case. The Scorpion wasn’t happy. When he blew out the candle, no one reacted. It was the wind, they thought. But when he kicked the memorial setup, everyone scattered. Respect, he thought, respect. He was THE Scorpion after all. The kicking seemed to work. So, he kicked a trashcan nearby but the damn thing hit him on the face. A few kids started laughing. The nerve. Being a ghost is such a difficult thing these days.

RICHARD

– Sting in the tail –
A sudden, high pitched scream came from the kitchen.
‘Oh dear, maybe I should have warned her’, I thought, getting up to investigate.
“Just what is that?” she hissed, pointing at the box on the kitchen table.
“It’s a box”, I responded.
“And, what’s that inside the box?”
I sighed, “It’s a scorpion”.
This was obviously not explanation enough, so I forged ahead…
“I thought I’d have a go at keeping unusual pets, and you have to admit he’s a bit unusual!”
She remained unimpressed. “But, why a scorpion, of all things?”
I smiled wickedly. “It reminded me of you!”

TOM

I’m waking on eggshells, don’t that feel fine.

Welcome to 2345 Walking on Eggshells Championship. The news in this year’s completion is the addition of Microsoft Scorpions. After the commissioner allowed electric alligators, it only seems sporting to include semi-venomous insects. Also of note is the craftsmanship of the eggs themselves have been turned over the Blue People’s Republic of China who breed the last surviving chicken. Despite high pitched warning at the Texas Chicken Ranch their clucker was kill crossing the road. Eyewitness state I appear he was trying to get to the other-side. Let’s turn it over to Durant Durant on the field of broken dreams.

LISA

A Robin’s Egg
The crows circling overhead were so loud she didn’t hear the crunch as she walked but she felt the broken shell underfoot, a different sensation after the soft pad of moss.
A brief glimpse was all it took to recognise a robin’s egg. Its contents had probably been a foxes breakfast. She scooped up the delicate pieces and dropped them onto a horse chestnut leaf in her basket.
Later, after drying them on a windowsill she ground them to a fine powder: the robin brought news from the other side and this shell would be well used in many potions.

SERENDIPIDY

I thought I’d give woodworking a try as a new hobby, so I bought myself a lathe and some tools.
To my surprise, learning how to turn wood wasn’t at all difficult, and I very quickly became something of an expert at the craft.
Take a look at my latest creation: Now, that’s craftsmanship. A beautifully balanced, and absolutely gorgeously proportioned maple baseball bat.
It almost seems a shame to stud it with nails and shroud it in razor wire, although that’s a necessary evil.
Only then will it be fit for purpose.
Can I try it out on you?

NORVAL JOE

For hours, every time a patient was called back, Mrs. Withybottom stood, walked to the admission counter to glare at the nurse, turn and come back to her chair.

Linoliamanda patted her mother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mother. There has to be some news soon.”

A doctor in green scrubs approached. “Mrs. Withybottom. I’m Dr. Netheregions, the attending physician. Your husband is in an induced coma as we try to reduce the pressure on his brain from bleeding. He has been moved to the ICU. You can see him now, but I’m sorry to say, children under 16 are not allowed.”

ROSE

Jason crawled to the kitchen to keep his back from scraping the ceiling. He knew he was too tall, and that it was unlikely he would find a place comfortable for him – too expensive. He picked up an egg, careful of the way it distorted when rotated as he cracked it over a thin frying pan.

The Y-axis compression reached 300%, but thankfully it stopped there. How and why the error had occurred was lost to time now. Jason only wished the safeguards keeping humans from shrinking applied to the environments. Or maybe that they weren’t there at all.

PLANET Z

Usually I trim my nails down every few days, but now and then I let them grow for a week or two.
Seeing the white ends is strange to me.
How my fingertips feel when I scratch my nose or type on a keyboard.
Scraping a bit of food from a tooth.
I try to be careful when I trim them.
Half my life, I’ve had to bandage a fingertip because of an infection on one side or the other.
Squeezing it out, washing it out, wrapping it up.
And the not-so-gentile reminder every time I type and feel it.

Weekly Challenge #969 – Mind

The next topic is PICK TWO Scorpion, Walking on eggshells, Turn, High pitched, News, Craftsmanship

RICHARD

— In the eye of the beholder —
“Well, really! Do you mind?”
The exclamation caught me by surprise, I turned around, white stick exploring the floor between us.
“Oh!” An embarrassed pause. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise.”
I cocked my head slightly, “My apologies, I seem to have startled you, miss. Is there something wrong?”
In a friendlier tone, she replied. “It’s just that, well I think you may have taken a wrong turn… Not your fault, at all, of course!”
“Oh?”
“Well, this is actually the ladies’ changing room.”
I apologised profusely and allowed her to escort me out.
She really believed I was blind!

SERENDIPIDY

How do I deal with it?
I suppose it’s really just a state of mind. Call it professional detachment if you will.
I guess it’s no different to being a medic, or cop or doing any of those jobs that exposes you to terrible experiences. You don’t allow yourself to become emotionally involved, you concentrate on the job at hand, and don’t let it get in to your psyche.
Then again, who am I kidding?
I don’t have to deal with it, because I thoroughly enjoy what I do!
But, you won’t enjoy it, when I do it to you!

LISA

A Meeting of Minds
Derek wasn’t traditionally good looking, but he was a successful hypnotist and that had brought considerable wealth. Heidi was a supermodel. The most beautiful face of 1972, 73 and 74. She had a body to match but no personality.
Heidi was attracted to Derek’s wealth initially. Then he did his finest work: making her attracted only to him, a mind control trick that would ensure she never looked again at another man – she was completely under his spell.
Derek aged well; unlike Heidi. She became a bitter hateful woman. And as he’d ensured, she never looked at another man again.

TOM

SomeThing

It wasn’t Billy wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. As a child he had a fever that messed up his hearing. What he heard often seem by other as quite amusing. Take his belove Grandma. She would tell him to Mind his manners. Billy heard Mine his manners. Confusing how you could execute this, Billy did his best to compile. He had quite a deep hole in the backyard, before Grandma looked over the edge and declare that his manners were quite exemplary. Later in life Billy founded the Manners Mining Company who hold the mining right on Mars.

NORVAL JOE

The butler walked into the waiting room and seeing them sitting along the wall, approached. “Is there any word on Mr. Withybottom, madam?”

“No John,” she said wearily. “We don’t know how long it will take to get results. Why don’t you take Linoliamanda and head home.”

“Really Mother. I don’t mind waiting here with you,” Linoliamanda said with a sideways scowl at the butler. “If it gets late, I can walk to Billbert’s house, and his parents can take me home.”

Perkins looked unhappy but nodded. “As you wish, Madam. I will wait for your call at the manor.”

PLANET Z

They say that the last thing that goes through a bug’s mind when it hits the windshield is its ass.
You could say the same about Andy Parker, the first man to ride on a rocket sled.
After multiple experiments with cadavers and animals, the scientists wanted to test rapid acceleration and deceleration on a living human.
The staff who volunteered drew straws, and Andy got the short straw.
The ink was barely dry on his contract and life insurance policy when the rockets fired up and the brakes were released.
What his actual last thoughts were, nobody will know.

Weekly Challenge #968 – Blood Test

The next topic is Mind

RICARD

— ​Bloods —
I swear that when you reach a certain age, it gives doctors a licence to prescribe a whole range of medicines they’ve been itching to give you for years.
So they ask you to pop in for a blood test.
A simple blood test. Nothing to worry about – just routine. Give us a call in a week and we’ll have your results.
Those results, once you reach that magic age, open the floodgates to a catalogue of woes – diabetes, heart problems, cholesterol, cancer… You name it, and you’ve probably got it.
Not me.
I switched my son’s samples for mine.

TANGENT

The world was due for cancer screening. A century prior, it had barely survived. From the fallout, symptoms were documented, and as the years of testing passed, the world was content that it would not return. Attention turned to its autoimmune disease. If left untreated, fever would come, and kill. A screening was missed while the autoimmune treatment plan was drafted, but the symptoms were minor, and the world was content.

The cancer, it turns out, had returned. Its presence accelerated the autoimmune disease, and the fever had started.

The world is dying, but it has survived worse. Have hope.

LISA

Six Months
It wasn’t the result anyone would have wanted. But there it was, unquestionable. She shunned all treatment feeling if it was her ‘time to go’ she should leave with grace. She contemplated speeding things up but didn’t want to leave anyone a mess.
She swapped a Netflix series for a brisk walk, a pint for a green smoothie, stopped smoking and started yoga.
So, sixth months turned to sixteen, turned to sixty.
She survived decades; then died as she crossed the road whilst engrossed in an article about a blood test mix up in her area, all those years ago.

SERENDIPIDY

To give them their due, they were very thorough.
They took swabs, they dusted for prints, they took hundreds of high resolution photographs.
And they found nothing.
Just the blood test to go.
I held my breath, and waited as they sprayed Luminol over every surface they could find.
They turned on the blacklights… And still found nothing.
Not a smear, not a spot, not even the slightest indication of blood anywhere.
I’d done my job well.
And, if they couldn’t find any sign of the murders, I was pretty certain there was no chance of them finding the bodies!

LIZZIE

She was in the tub. Went for a swim, someone joked. The blood test was inconclusive. Are you sure it was a person? He nodded. Melted in that tub, someone joked. It wasn’t funny. Where did he get the blood from then? The wall. Plenty of it. The acid took care of the rest. And now? Now, it was in their hands. That’s why you’re cops, he said, I’m just the coroner. Well, the blood wasn’t hers. It was his. That damn pocket knife he used to slit her throat first. Good thing no one noticed that he kept saying she.

NORVAL JOE

Linoliamanda, her mother and Billbert waited in the front lobby of the hospital while they admitted Mr. Withybottom. The nurse told them it would be an hour or more while he got his blood test, xrays, and possibly an MRI of his head, so they might as well get comfortable.

A group of teenage volunteers surrounded a small table, chatting, and waiting for their turn to push a patient or carry flowers to a room.

They were mostly girls and Billbert considered how some were very shapely, like Sabrina. While others had hardly any shape at all, more like Linolamanda.

TOM

Often discovery in less than amazing.

It was discovered in remote corner of Anatolia. Bronze Gears festooned with Lapis lazuli. After cursor inspection a sweeping claim was made, this was the world’s oldest safe. X-rays of the interior while clearly showing all the working part didn’t offer a clue how to open. In the heart of the safe was signal sheet of parchment. 10 years of exploring different methodologies the safe finally swung open. The Parchment took another 10 years to decipher. Seems the glyphs on the parchment were the combination to the safe. It ended up in a museum the parchment taped to the side.

968

There can only be one

Two go in, one walks out. Imagine the duel in Dune. Two form circling. Muscles coiled like steel springs. A fury of jabs failing to hit the mark. Glancing blows drawn no blood. Sweat rolling of arm. Finally, a countermove brings the point to the skin of the neck, but not quick enough. With a roll to the right and dropping to one knee she finds the tiniest of open. S jabs and press the plunger. Red fills the crystal chamber. The crowd screams. It is over, the blood test has been fulfilled. This one hell of a Nursing School.

PLANET Z

I order a lot of things online, and I get a lot of packages.
On recycling day, there’s a stack of cardboard boxes and padded envelopes on the corner.
Sometimes, I mail things out.
Warranty cards, returns.
Tests my doctor orders for this or that.
Most tests I take at the corner clinic, but some are tests I can smear some blood on a card and mail back to the lab.
Most bill my insurance, others take a credit card.
One lab requires that I write checks.
If they can’t process a credit card, how will they process my blood?

Weekly Challenge #967 – Safe

The next topic is Blood test

NORVAL JOE

With her husband safe and sound inside the ambulance and speeding away to the hospital, Mrs. Withybottom wrung her hands together and looked around. “I think I should go to the hospital to be with Thurgrave.”

The butler put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll drive you, Mitzi. I mean, Madam. Then I can return and keep an eye on your daughter.”

“No way,” Mandy said. “I’m coming with you to the hospital.” She grabbed Billbert’s hand and dragged him to the old Cadillac.

In the huge back seat, she whispered to Billbert, “I don’t like, or trust, that man.”

LISA

The School Run
Belle ran for the bus: could still feel his touch as he’d brushed passed her, his foetid breath was inside her nostrils. Panic built inside.
She cursed the dark, she cursed her shoes, she cursed her heavy bag. Breathless. Stitch stabbing at her sides. She just wanted to be home but the bus doors closed as she neared the stop. With a final frantic push she ran desperately, arm out, thankfully the driver saw her and waited.
Belle sat on the bus feeling safe at last, panted, closed her eyes.
She didn’t see him get on at the next stop.

SERENDIPIDY

I know you do all the right things.
The whole thing about not inviting me across your threshold; how you check for my reflection in mirrors, and the way you keep a wooden stake within arm’s reach, just in case.
And you really can’t hide the stench of that garlic necklace.
You think you’re safe, don’t you?
But, here’s the thing: Everything you think you know about vampires, you learned from fiction.
Just because you read it in a book, or saw it in the movies, doesn’t mean it’s true.
And, by the way, we love a bright, sunny day!

LIZZIE

You’ll be safe, he said. But nothing was further from the truth. I wasn’t safe at all. The irony, the sarcasm, the criticism, the mockery. Day after day. I was not safe. When I left, I left for good. I walked away and became invisible. I changed my name. I hid myself among strangers. My looks, my job. Everything changed. The day he knocked on my door, I just had to get rid of him. The strangers understood. The cops are still looking for him. He’s in the Madden’s crypt, in Mrs. Madden’s coffin. He’ll be safe there… or not!

RICHARD

Uncle Simeon
We were clearing out Uncle Simeon’s house after he passed. To say he was a bit of a hoarder was something of an understatement. The whole house was crammed to the rafters with junk.
Well, most of it was junk.
There were a couple of antiques, here and there, but nothing of any real value.
Oh, and there was a safe.
An old-fashioned, solid steel affair that defied all our attempts to open it.
In the end, we took it to a blacksmith, who cut it open with an oxy-acetylene torch.
Of course, it was crammed full of junk!

PLANET Z

The realtor told me to get a fireproof safe for important documents, so I bought the most sturdy and reliable safe with an ironclad warranty and guarantee.
Then I dropped all my important documents in there… my mortgage, my insurance plan, all my medical stuff for tax purposes.
And I locked it up.
Problem is, I’ve forgotten the passcode on it.
And I left the emergency keys inside.
The safecracker I hired can’t bust it open.
I’d call the company to get a technician out, but their number is written on the warranty.
Which is locked inside of the safe.

Weekly Challenge #965 – Classical Music

The next topic is PICK TWO Throwaway, Flight, Once more with passion!, Blood pressure, Engine, Roast

RICHARD

– ​Mr Dobbs –
I first encountered classical music in primary school. As we gathered together for morning assembly, Mr Dobbs – one of the teachers – would play something from his own collection to accompany us.
The name of the piece, composer and date were always written on a flipchart on the stage, and I soon knew a bunch by heart.
As for Mr Dobbs: We derived endless pleasure, watching him bob about to the music, humming along to the tunes, oblivious to our stares.
These days, if I hear one of those pieces. I picture Mr Dobbs, and I bob along, just like him.

LIZZIE

She couldn’t find her violin. She shuffled through the pile of bags waiting to be placed in the train. Where’s the violin? Where is it? She ran around like a lunatic, grabbing people’s arms and repeating the question over and over again. In the distance, a man walked away with a violin case. Why not? She had rejected him. She had mocked him, saying she had played him like a fiddle. Really? So, he was taking the fiddle. No more fiddling with people’s feelings. She would have to face the music, and it wouldn’t be the classical version of it.

TOM

By far the best piano movement

I tend to like more modern Classic music. And I am partial to works with piano and full orchestra. Wedding Day at Troldhaugen by Edvard Grieg. Erik Satie Gymnopédie No. 1. Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saëns. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Liszt Les Préludes, symphonic poem No 3, S 97 1. Hans Zimmer’s Time from Inception. All excellent works, but for me the work that moves be the deepest is Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10. The first movement is like a runaway train. It sores upward taking my soul with it. Pure Bliss.

SERENDIPIDY

It’s a fact that music can influence the manner in which we approach activities.
I’m told that many surgeons like to have classical music piped into theatre when they’re conducting surgery. Apparently it promotes calm and helps them to focus on the job at hand.
Athletes train to upbeat, motivational songs, and we’re advised to avoid playing loud, heavy rock music when driving, since it promotes speed and risk-taking.
Personally, I like to listen to thrash metal, when I’m conducting surgery.
Not because I like it, or I’m a sloppy worker.
But it’s perfect for drowning out the screams!

NORVAL JOE

The gravel crunched beneath Billbert’s feet as he walked from the road to the Withybottom’s mansion. He could see from the steps that the front door stood slightly open.

At the doorstep Billbert heard classical music filtering down from the upper floor. He poked his head inside and called, “Mandi. Are you here?”

Rapid footsteps hurried down the stairs and Linoliamanda was shooshing Billbert with a finger to her lips. “Daddy’s asleep and mother doesn’t want us to wake him.”

Billbert shook his head. “I can’t believe you still have him at home. He needs to be in the hospital.”

PLANET Z

The terraforming vessels landed and remade the planet, taking centuries to clear the alien landscape and chemistry, replacing it with the species and oceans and forests of home.
Fabrication vessels landed, mining ores, building machinery and housing.
A sleeper vessel landed next.
Environment-suited experts tested the atmosphere and soil to confirm habitability.
Confirmed. Success.
The rest of the colony ships landed, and the new population set about populating their new home.
One administrator went to his terminal and requested Bach.
But all that played was static.
It would be decades before the request was received, and many more for fulfillment.