Category: Weekly Challenge

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty Five, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Rusty Steel.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories this week?
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Houston Keys from http://tatertotsforthemasses.blogspot.com
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com
	Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com/
	Tom from http://footnote.libsyn.com
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Daniel from http://dannymachal.com
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Anima

I hunt along the rusty Steel river… Eerie hulks list and careen; weeds grow out of the crazed asphalt. When cars ran out of gas on I-95, travel halted on the east coast. Anything salvageable is long gone.
The seats and mirrors are missing, but the trunk is still latched. How did this get missed by the others? The lock gives, and I find- 2 blankets and a box of powerbars. A corner of the carton is gnawed, but most bars are whole. Enough to trade.
Today is a good day, I think, as the cold sun reflects off my face.

Houston Keys

Hello there everyone this is Republican Chairman Michael Steele in for
Bill Bennett. Let’s go to the phones, Rusty from Lenoir City,
Tennessee, you are on!
Mikey, it’s your brother.
Yo my homie brother! It’s good people realize I DO have street cred. WORD!
No, Mikey, it’s your REAL brother.
I don’t have a biological brother sir, but we are all brothers in the
conservative movement.
Mikey, brothers as in we share a mother. My name is Rusty.
Rusty Steele?
Yes.
Oh lordy lordy, this has to be either a bad joke or a REALLY GREAT one
hundred word story.

Lynda

“Excuse me sir, are you Hattori Hanzo?”
“No.”
“With all due respect, sir, I was here when that lady came in here before and–”
“Yeah, alright, it’s me! What do you want?”
“Well, sir, I was wondering if you could do anything about this sword?”
“Oh…what have you done to it? This is not a disposable weapon, you fool! It is a work of art! My steel must be treated with respect! Oiled, cleaned, kept…out of certain things. Tell me, how did it get into this state?”
“It’s really hard to shower with a sword through my head, sir.”

Justin

Everything changed when the aliens took the moon away. Over time the tides stopped and a desolation crept across the planet. Small teams of aliens arrived to slowly wipe out survivors. They came across a lone clock tower that rose above the ruins. Rhythmic ticking quietly protested alien onslaught. The usurpers of life climbed the tower. In the center was a lone figure, weathered and aged. It raised its ticking eyes to the aliens. They raised their rifles. The figure reached reached to its back and wound up a key. One by one the aliens fell from the tower, dead.

Tom

Rusty Steel played petal guitar for Buck Edward’s Chaparral Stumpers. He hated being on the road so he only played session work on their albums. Buck begged him to come with, it took two guy playing as hard and fast as they could to give the road show that Rusty Steel sound. One year it was DuPre Reinhardt and Blind Willie Lang the next it was Baxter Gibson and Gusty Winds. When Rusty passed away Buck learned the reason he never toured was he just couldn’t bear to be away from his daughters for even one night. That’s a Dad.

Norval Joe

Inigo lay dead, the thrust to his heart so rapid and deadly that little blood oozed from the fatal wound.
It wasn’t a thrust from the shinning, razor-sharp, blade of a master swordsman, like Arnesto Cervantes, nor was it the rusty steel of a clandestine, blackguard, mercenary.
He had no opportunity to use the Agrippa defense and take advantage of uneven ground, or engage in witty banter with his attacker.
He couldn’t thrust his fist into the gaping wound and difiantly challenge his murderer.
Lawrence cut him down with an attack he could not counter; an expletive to the heart.

Daniel

In the onset of winter, the blink of an eye is all the time it takes to split the sternum and pierce the heart.
Four days will have gone by when the maggots and other insects begin to consume the flesh.
Thirty days until the beetles come to feast on the tough dry meat.
One hundred twenty days for the moths and bacteria to consume the remaining hair.
Spring will bring the warm humid rains as summer creeps upon what is left.
Fourteen days more until the steel blade bleeds dark red onto the newly polished and washed bone.
Eternity for the soul to forgive.

Bluesmoke

Don’t bring me any of those shiny steel rods. I like my steel rusty. I like it crunchy. I like steel that makes little popping sounds when I chew. I like that steel that slowly dissolves inside my body, leaving a warm sensation in all the right places. I used to nibble on rocks, but it wasn’t the same. Tiny pieces would get stuck in my teeth. Would take hours clearing. It was messy, and the taste was kind of stale. Now I’m on a steel diet. I’m telling you – rusty steel is the way to go. It’s the best.

Planet Z

We made the worker drones with simple carbon steel.
Planned obsolescence for a rainy planet. They lock up before they achieve individual intelligence.
Stainless steel wouldn’t have rusted as quickly. The same goes for zinc-electroplated.
So when chrome and zinc inventories were short last month, we knew something was up.
“Follow The Energy” is my first rule.
Three unauthorized taps from the solar halo grid.
Deep underground, scrap metal and drones were melted down and rebuilt with the stronger steels.
The Robot Army, waiting silently for the command to strike.
And so, by pushing a button, I give it.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty Four, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Howl at the moon, I demand a recount, The fencing master, Matzo tower, The end is near..
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories this week?
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com/
	Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com/
	Mike P from http://mjpaxton.com
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com/
	Michael S
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Tom from http://footnote.libsyn.com
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Anima

“I demand a recount,” howled the fencing master to the moon-faced giant. Two men sit amidst sundry dismembered body parts; The Turk cradles the wounded Spaniard, the Dread Pirate Roberts.
“Si, Fezzik, recuentame the gory details…”
“Of how you spilled Selkirk’s entrails?”
“And the queen, she is still in power?”
“Safely hidden in the Matzo Tower.”
“Fezzik, you’ve a way with the rhymes.”
“Then pay me in ducats and not with dimes….”
“It’s ok Inigo. I will take you to Miracle Max.
I will carry you, just relax”
“Bah Fezzik! Set me down! Your end is near my face.”

Caleb

All the fencing master’s fences are torn down in her dreams. As she drifts through azure clouds of twilight the matzo tower howls at the moon.
She dives headfirst from the stars into a warm pink ocean that smells of mushroom soup and swims deeper and deeper into the night’s milky center.
A kamikaze swarm of calendar page paper airplanes swoops up from the world of the rising sun and they strafe her with appointments and torpedo her with meetings.
And when she feels the end is near she screams, “I demand a recount” and wakes up back in Kansas.

Jeffrey

“So Brad, what do you want to do tonight?”
“Well I was thinking that we would head into town and, whoa, um I think the end is near.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well there are ten people over there howling at the moon.”
“Ten, really? I demand a recount.”
“Alright, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. So I exaggerated you are right, there are only seven”
“See nothing to worry about, you always do that, you worry too much. now if there were a fencing master, or if we were near a Matzo tower, then I’d be worried.”

Justin

Listen to those wolves howl at the moon Snail Eater, they must be, oh, what’s this? Wasn’t there a sword in this stone? There is a hole for one. I had best put my spare sword in there in case anyone needs it. There is that Arthur kid. Abra-cadabra invisible on!
“I need a sword for tomorrow, hey, a stone with an emergency sword in it!”
He took the sword. I’m all out of spares. I wonder who took the previous one? I should remember tomorrow, but I had too much to drink after the joust! Something historic happened tomorrow.
—
Where did I put Snail eater? I had him in my pocket. How do you lose a purple snake.
What’s that commotion at the joust?
“I pulled this sword from that stone yesterday!”
“Not possible, I pulled this sword from it last night. Look, there is Merlin, he’ll know!”
Hmm, what? Oh, the sword. What is your name, man?
“Quillwyvern.”
And your’s young man?
“Pendragon.”
Which was it, I can’t remember?
What was that, you’re mumbling?
Oh, sorry. Pendragon is the king!
“What? But I took the sword from ow, something bit me!”
Oh, there you are, come back here!
—
“Merlin, aren’t you going to teach me to fight with this sword?”
Hmm, what? Oh, sorry, I’m still trying to find my pet.
“But,”
Oh, fine. I remember you convincing me, so lets get to it. Swing at me.
“Where is your sword?”
Oh, yes, that might have ended badly. Here we go, swing!
A good defense is to deflect a sword down to the ground, then stomp it, breaking it!
“Great, you broke my sword.”
Oh, yes, terribly sorry. Ah, take this coupon to the lake. I have a friend there who makes good swords.
“Watery Tart Sword Cleaning?”
—
Hello Lancelot!
“What are you making?”
A matzo tower! You see I’m using this strawberry jam to hold the crackers together.
“Interesting, is it for the masquerade?”
Yes, would you like to try, oh, hello Guinevere!
“Hello Merlin, Lancelot. What is this amazing tower?”
“Merlin is making a cracker tower for the masquerade!”
“Oh, may we try some?”
Certainly!
“Here you go, m’lady.”
“Thanks!”
“This is delicious Merlin, wouldn’t you say, Guinevere?”
“Yes, I would, but, we should go.”
“Yes, m’lady!”
Hmm, why were they looking each other like that? Now, more jam. Hey, this isn’t strawberry, it’s love preserves!
—
The lines of battle were drawn, truce only held in place by this; so long as no one pulled a blade from its sheath, uneasy soldiers would stay their hands from shedding blood. Hot breath puffed into the air as wary soldiers eyed those they might soon kill or be felled by.
One such knight stood gazing across the field of battle, a whisper of motion at his feet. A purple snake slithered towards his brother in arms beside him. He drew his sword and struck the snake down. Both armies charged. The end of Arthur’s reign was at hand.

Mike P

Though Matzo Tower was almost four miles away, the spire’s oppressive
presence hushed the small party’s conversation. Montoya, the fencing
master, crouched by the fire. “What do the sticks tell you?” he
asked.
The fortune teller gazed at the twigs she had scattered. “A warrior
will howl at the moon. Find the hand that lies in the shadow of the
light. In the eye of the husband of the eye of the cow. The end is
near. Mists of dreams drip along the nascent echo and love no more.
End of line.”
Montoya frowned thoughtfully. “Can I demand a recount?”

Lynda

When I was young the local fencing master paid my family twenty dollars to take me off their hands, shutting me away in a tower made of matzo to keep me pure. It had no shower.
On an expedition to procure a rare foil, the crazy bastard was bitten by a werewolf who had taken a fancy to me. Ten years without a shower has its consequences.
So you see, that’s why I’m eating my way out of this place. They’ll be arguing over who scored more hits until the moon goes dark, I’ve had it with both of them.

Michael S

“Ron, every time one of these women let me feel their breast while I’m dancing with them I’ll lean back and howl at the moon.”
“All right Gary start with Jim’s girlfriend. Give him a high five when you pass him. He’s on his way over here now.”
“Hey Ron, what’s up?”
“I’m just watching Gary dancing with your woman.”
“Yeah, Gary is such a moron. Look at him over there with his head laid back howling like a dog. The lady’s won’t put up with that.”
“Now look at him Ron. He’s over there trying to dance with your wife.”

Norval Joe

“Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die!”
He couldn’t help it; He read the book three times and watched the movie countless more; each time he stepped forward to face an opponent, the thought came to mind, and he smiled.
He saluted his opponent. At the word ‘fence’ he advanced three quick leaps to stop, unable to attack.
A shy freshman at the Junior College, he took beginning fencing to meet girls, but could never bring himself to poke them in the breasts.
Defeated, he smiled, and moved the foil to his right hand.

Tom

Arnesto Cervantes, the fencing master, backed the mayor of New Barcelona up the matzo staircase, up the matzo tower. The duel was a result of a Edloe Island election. “I demand a recount.” yelled the Mayor. A thrust on top the matzo sent Cervantes reeling backwards. The Mayor’s blade glowed in the moonlight set to send Cevantes to his maker. A howl at the moon broke the still a gargoyle swooped in and lay teeth to the Mayor’s ass. The winged angel of death drove the mayor inches above Arnesto’s head. “The end was near.” Mused Mayor by default Cervantes.

Guy David

Howl at the moon
The moon is rising. I’m tired. Haven’t slept for days. If I go to sleep, the howling starts inside my head, an inhuman howl, like that of an animal. I’m scared. I’m scared because I know… I know the animal of my dreams is coming after me. He’s coming to get me, devour me. What – you don’t believe me? Take a look. Yes. Take a look into my eyes. You see it? You see it spreading like a disease? Wait until you go to sleep, then your animal would come out… the howling would begin… then you’ll see… believe me.
***
I demand a recount
The edge of the city. I stand here hesitating, not sure if I should go forwards or stay. I go, not looking back. I count my steps as I walk, remembering how the clouds came. I’ve seen it on the net. It was all over YouTube, cities falling, crumbling to dust until nothing was left. One by one, websites disappeared. Our connection to the outside world… I’m not sure there’s anything left, but I’m going to find out. I’m counting my steps. One, two, three, or is it four? I think I missed a few steps. I demand a recount.
***
The fencing master
I live by the sword. I crush my opponents like mosquitos, like bugs. I despise them. All of them. They have no class, no elegance. Look at them, clumsily trying to attack. I dance around them. I’m an artist. They are merely amateurs. There is this new guy. Here he comes. Can’t wait to show him the tip of my sword. Up close. Here we go. What’s that? How could he get away with that? I don’t believe it. That’s not fair. You cheated. I know you cheated. I’m going to prove it. You’ll be sorry. I demand a rematch.
***
Matzo tower
“What have you done to my tower?” asked the midget butler with the cigar in a horrified shriek. The robot, built from the remains of his sister Cee looked at him and smiled, showing two line of white teeth. The robot seemed to be missing one of her teeth. “What, don’t you like it?” she asked. “No, I don’t. It’s too mechanical. Please put it back the way you found it.” The mechanical Cee just smiled and said “Sorry, but we are all out of matzo.” With that, she pushed the midget butler back into oblivion, where he came from.
***
The end is near
Both kids stared at the last of the chicken wings. They knew the minute one of them raises his eyes, it’s the end of that chicken, so they continued staring at it with the intensity of laser beams gnawing a hole through a Klingon vessel. This continued for what seemed like hours, though it was probably more like five minutes. “Mike, Stuart,” the voice of their mother called all of a sudden. They lifted their eyes just for a second, but that was enough. When their eyes where back on the plate, the chicken wing was gone. Their father belched.

Planet Z

The condescending prick fencing master patted me on the back.
If he says “for a werewolf” I will tear his throat out.
I am tired of his patronizing tone.
Sure enough, he starts with “For a werewolf, fought well” and my claws
slash through his neck.
My parents locked me in this tower to keep the monster at bay, but they
gave me fencing and riding lessons in an attempt to civilize me.
I resist the urge to howl in victory. Instead, I count the coins from his
purse.
I count them again. Just enough to get me to Vienna.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty Three, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Swimming in De Nile.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories from Weekly Challenge #153?
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Guy from http://guydavid.com/
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com
	Justin from http://thespaceturtle.com
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Houston Keys from http://tatertotsforthemasses.blogspot.com
	Mike from http://mjpaxton.com
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Tom

Alma Sue Louise, that was her conformation name, was a deeply devoted catholic had that amazing logical off twitch which allowed her to believe in spite of all mounding evidence that her husband Leroy Michael Joseph was cheating on her with no less that her childhood friend Mary Margaret Xavier Sullivan.
“Girl” said her mother, “if you believe that man
of yours is faithful youall is treading water in Egypt.”
”
What Momma?”
“Yous is swimming in de Nile.”
“I don’t know how to swimming.”
“Lordie child
“I’m going to have to drop you
“in Jean-Paul Sartre end of de pool.”

Guy David

The young princess went skinny dipping in the river, when she spotted a small ark flouting on it. She fished it and found a crying baby inside. She got home and asked her father, The Pharaoh, if she could keep him. “Sure” her father said, “As long as you take him for walks. I don’t want him shitting all over my palace.” She thanked him and decided to name the baby. At first she thought of calling him Moses since in her language it meant “the one that got fished from the river”, but then she just called him Fiddo.

Caleb

While swimming in the nile
I met a crocodile
As our eyes met
Down the bank he swept
He gave me such a smile.
I thought then how I’d wish
I’d not had so much fish
Down in my guts
With wine and nuts
To make a croc’s stuffed dish
The croc began to swim
With vigor and with vim
On up to me
I tried to flee
And pleaded unto him
The croc said pleased to meet you
Now I’m not here to eat you
You won’t be gored
By the tourism board
I’m simply here to greet you

Lynda

In the summer of 1927 I was part of an expedition to uncover the lost temple of
Sobek-Ra, the crocodile god of Egypt. It was hot inside the tombs, but it was even
hotter outside. At the end of the day we’d wash the sand and sweat off in the
river, ignoring the warnings of the locals about what lay beneath the surface. I
was the only only one to survive.
I still hear the sound when I try to sleep. Those days were called the roaring
twenties for a reason, just not the reason anyone wants to admit.

Anima

“Momma Neith, is it October yet? I want a tasty tourist…”
“Sssh… No tears, Sobek. Big crocs don’t cry. Look! The feluccas are coming
down river. Be still… Go with the flow. Lower your head more… just nostrils
out of the water.”
“There’s one… the lady trailing her fingers in the water…”
“No, she’ll never go swimming and She looks too old anyway… keep on looking.
Let’s wait for a boat filled with young people. Listen for the loudest one.
Tourists rarely pay attention to anything floating quietly, plus, they find
the Egyptian sun so hot…”
“I am a log…”

Jeff

there are only so many things one person can do, no matter how hard
that person works. I was living proof of that. Here I was, I thought
I had it all under control. My wife was happy, my kids were happy, my
boss was happy. Heck most days I was pretty sure that I was happy.
Then we had to get the swimming pool, the pool was great the kids
loved it. Then came the lap machine, one that makes a current. The
all stood and laughed cranking, that was when I realized I was
swimming in de Nile.

Justin

When Discovery Channel scientists developed a camera that could see into
ancient times, current archeology became a thing of the past. The first
documentary, Egypt, broadcast live.
Many amazing discoveries were made about ancient Egypt. It was a very
nihilistic society. Activities at a bath proved that Chiropractic care
already existed. It was even discovered there was a sales team that sold
giant stones and involved higher ranked salesmen taking part of lower ranked
salesman’s earnings, it was the first pyramid scheme. The most amazing
discovery revealed that Pharaohs were buried with sweet lozenges to help
deal with their sarcophagus.

Norval Joe

Michael Phelps likes to do everything fast. Whether it is chopping vegetables, signing autographs or learning to speak Chinese, with Rosetta Stone.
On a flight to Europe the in-flight movie was Crocodile Dundee, and that gave him an idea. Redirecting his return flight through Egypt he went to the Nile to show Paul Hogan what he was made of. In his speedo, he jumped in to outswim the crocodiles.
His goal was to beat the records he set in the 2008 summer Olympics. Instead, in London, in 2012, he’ll be in the paralympics, competing as a double, below knee, amputee.

Houston Keys

You ask ME about swimming in de Nile?
I did it once, but only once. Leeches and creepy crawlies in my nether
regions convinced me to give it up. Besides camel dung and plagues and
all that other stuff takes away from the fun.
Sometimes de Nile isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I used to watch my
buddies swim, but some seasons all they could do was wallow in it as
there wasn’t enough crap to actually swim in.
Well, enough wool gathering about my own youthful indiscretions.
I prefer to let the president swim in it now.

Mike P

Deanna Nile had become a celebrity at age 17, when her first CD
dropped and sixth grade girls went nuts. Her parents hired bodyguards
to protect her from the loonies, but they had limits. When she snuck
off and met her dealer, her guards didn’t know where she was. Nobody
did, except for the dealer. And Harry, her “number one fan.” The
bodyguards found Deanna in the alley behind the club 15 minutes too
late, her blood pooling on the ground. Cockroaches were swarming, and
as it began to rain it seemed as if they were swimming in De Nile.

Planet Z

Once, long ago, Egypt boasted many rivers.
One by one, these rivers were picked up and hauled away by various conquerors.
Dragged before royal courts in chains, forced to bow before kings, used for sport and pleasure.
Louis the Sixteenth powered his fountains with The River Anubis.
Pretty soon, all that was left was the Nile.
Too valuable to lose, Nasser ordered the construction of the Aswan Dam for its protection.
It’s worked well. Until today.
Our team is ready and waiting in Sudan, and with one word, the trap will be unleashed.
So, President Mubarak, about that billion dollars?

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty Two, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s The Wikipedia Wildcard.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Weekly Challenge #152 – who had the best stories?
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Guy from http://guydavid.com/
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com/
	Michael S.
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com/
	Ashley Story #1
	Ashley Story #2
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

I forgot Caleb in the first poll version, so votes are reset.
Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Tom

Its a crate diggers Concerto, jazz pulled long and hard through a hip hop ringer washer. Looping breaks of Johnny Hammond, Morricone, Ellington and session men who smoked up the room with Coltrane, A Love Supreme. A mix of a man with a thousand names takeN one from a man of a thousand faces, Lord Quas. Otis Jackson Oxnard’s own Madlib DJ supreme. Its a blunt indulgent work without the hope of salvation but on its cover the Via Crucis, The Stabat Mater Dolorosa, thorn crowned hound, pluck chicken of god, and an Aunt Jemima Benedictine mocking the fourth Station.

Guy David

Plutonium trifluoride is not to be trifled with. Those violet crystals are investigated as a source of nuclear energy in some well known laboratories by respected scientists, but that’s not their real power. Mixed with the right ingredients using the right combinations of words whispered in exactly the right intonations, great things could be accomplished, sinister things too. Structures can be changed, tissue morphed into shapes. You see that little green monkey over there? That was my assistant. You better excel in your tasks here. I’ve got many of those violet crystals left, and I know how to use them.

Lynda

Hello and welcome to the 2009 Speedway Ekstraliga! It is jam-packed tonight! Poles from pole to pole have come to witness an exciting rematch between Atlas Wroclaw and
Lotos Gdansk! Neither team did very well last season, but they don’t that stop
them!
As they round the far turn–what’s this? Jason Crump has stood up on his motorbike
and is turning to drive directly into the path of the other riders!
He’s holding something…wait…it’s a sports drink! The other riders are grabbing
the bottles tossed by Crump. I seem to be watching an advertisement. The race
hasn’t started yet.

Michael S.

“Hello everyone and welcome to our annual bat convention.”
“The big topic this year is the newly discovered variety in the bat kingdom,
the “baseball bat”.”
“This is not your typical Gray, Indiana or Virginia big-eared bat.”
“It is found, for the most part, around the Louisville area.”
“As you can see in the slides it is a very muscular mammal as if it is on
steroids.”
“We invite you to swing by our area here in the front and throw as many
questions as possible at us.”
“Together we will build a knowledge base for our new friend the baseball bat.”

Justin

At Hoover Dam Dr. Hudson reached out with his energy-sense and saw the
ambient energy with second sight. Using ethereal fingers he grasped the
energy in handfuls, stuffing them into a pocket inside himself. He went as
fast as he could to win the Power Plant to Power Plant Worldwide
Teleportation Race. His destination was the Pyhäkoski hydro-electric power
plant in Muhos, Finland. He burst himself in to tiny particles and shot
them across the planet with sheer force of will. He reassembled himself atop
the power plant. “Hurrata” the crowds cheered. Dr. Hudson had finally
reached the Finnish line.

Caleb

Deus Meus
we need someone to pay us
cuz all we ever hoped to be
was students at St anthony’s
Deus Meus
Come and join the craze
We gotta get some kind of start
to get an educated heart
don’t wanna be no fool
in a public school
in the town of suffolk
all us kids are really fucked
unless we’re paying catholics
Deus Meus
We don’t mind the gays
if with priests we get defensive
our tuition’s more expensive
Deus Meus
we need someone to pay us
cuz all we ever hoped to be
was students at st anthony

Ashley

I’ve always loved making it on trains. But my favorite has to be the South Wind. That happy jaunt from Chicago to Miami was always the best. That’s where I lost my cherry. The wife and I later became charter members of the streamliners club back in 1953. Nothing says loving like making whoopee on a moving train. Our little group found the big O in more sleeping cars than I can count. We would have reconsummated our 50^th wedding anniversary aboard the South Wind, but the streamliner was renamed the Floridian. In the end, we used the dryer instead.
I’ve always loved making it on trains. The South Wind passenger train was definitely my favorite because it was my first. My wife and I joined the streamliners club shortly thereafter. As charter members there wasn’t a passenger train that was safe. Even though that was decades ago, we still get after it when the surviving members of the club can get together. Times change but thanks to Viagra the club still keeps it up. Now, where’s that damn train, it’s late. Whatever happened to following a schedule? I just took my last pill and time’s running out to perform.

Anima

Behind me are the Izubra cataracts. The Vlach, native to the Carpathian
basin, have protected these rugged, pristine waterways for thousands of
years; It is an ancient obligation for them.
The waterfalls of Serbia are portals to MiddleEarth, the land of the
dwarves. The Vlach owe their allegiance, repayment for assistance in
driving out invaders during the Roman conquest of this region. In exchange
for magical arms, they promised to protect the secret entrances hidden
behind these tumbling waters.
The latest intruders aren’t as tough as the Romans. Extreme kayakers’ double
paddles are pitiful when matched against a spiked halberd.

Norval Joe
http://www.withoutsanctuary.org

It looked like the entire town came out for the event. There was a carnival
atmosphere in the town square. People just like us gathered to view the lynching.
See, here’s the postcard. The black man raped a white girl; no one is sure who the
girl is, but there were plenty of white witnesses. There was a grim fascination as
they hauled him up and some commented and even laughed at how he thrashed about.
They mutilated his body afterwards. It didn’t seem right, what they did. But they
were good people who did it, people just like us.

Planet Z

She’s a pretty thing. Not pretty enough to strip anymore, but she had smarts enough to become a nurse.
I know she doesn’t love me. Who cares? My damn family hates her. A lot.
They should. If we get married, she gets everything.
Good.
Candlelight.
Wine.
The best sheets on my bed, the one I’ve been confined to for the last three years.
I pick up the ring. It’s gigantic. I hold it out.
And… that’s when… when…
The big one hits.
She screams, grabs the ring, and puts it on.
My damn family will get everything. Except that ring.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty One, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s What would Gandhi do?.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #151?
	Lance from http://writingdad.livejournal.com
	Ishtar
	Ashley
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com/
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Elisson from http://elisson1.blogspot.com
	Norval Joe from http://norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com
	Daniel from http://dannymachal.com
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Ishtar

The release of dreams is a powerful thing.
In her sleep she can see the truth before her eyes. Light
is sweeter, the air is cleaner. She is free. Able to live the life
she should have been. The body she should have felt.
It always starts like this. Though the night joy has become real.
But it has to end. The Darkness Begins.
She is standing on an edge. Real life takes her back.
Never can she be real. Her body screams. Eyes awaken to her
true form. Male or Female or Both.
Is she Transgender or something more.

Lance

I’ve tried to live my life according to the dictates of the prophet, but it’s a different world than the one he grew up in and I sometimes wonder what he’d make of it. Between the rogue AIs, the gengineered plagues, and the hairdressers’ militia, pacifism has had a rough go in the last few years.
But I have tried. I’ve tried very hard.
Still, when the horde of mutant zombies came shambling through my normally quiet neighbourhood this morning, I opened fire along with everyone else. Non-violent? Well, not exactly, but what do you think Ghandi would have done?

Ashley

Randy asked, “Would Gandhi do this?”
“Who the hell’s that,” responded Jerry?
“He was this wise religious leader in India.”
“Well, he’s not here now. Even if he was, he could still bite my ass. I don’t care, I’m doin it.”
Jerry leapt atop the cab of the truck and began surfing as they barreled down the dirt road leaving behind a huge dust storm. Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes and over the hood went Jerry head first.
Everyone in the truck roared with laughter.
“Unless Gandhi drank alot, I know he wouldn’t have done that, “howled Randy.

Guy David

I named my monkey Gandhi because of his habit of turning the other cheek. Other monkeys would charge at him, attack him but he would just stand there smiling his little monkey smile, holding his hand out to them. Eventually, they just tore him to pieces. I still miss the little fellow. Sometimes, when things go crazy at work, I think to myself “What would my little Gandhi do?”, then I remember how he ended up and I just eliminate my fellow hairless white monkeys. I use presentations and flow charts, but it amounts to the same. No one survives.

Caleb

There were puppets of puppies on the parapet
Where the two toucan armies boldly met
And the general said aloud
Through a cotton candy cloud
Upon the fury of his forces, he was sure to bet.
Freely flying down there came a cockatoo
Whose flapping fluttered feathers all were painted blue
He asked those lousy leaders what would Ghandi do
The avians abated while the moon arose
And peacefully they pondered what Ghandi would’ve chose
And as the last blue light of day blissfully floated away
Those warring tribes, they did decide, to fight each other anyway.
Toucans are schmucks.9

Lynda

I love Ben Kingsley SO much. He made me appreciate that Gandhi guy and what he did for the world and all. I mean, I learned more about Gandhi from that movie than I ever learned in whatever that class was I took with Chelsea, back when we were first learning to text.
Ben Kingsley had me arrested after I jumped out of his shower to ask why he had all those men shooting at Robert Redford in Sneakers when Robert Redford just wants to save the arctic.
I’m not mad, though, I think Gandhi wouldn’t be mad, I guess.

Anima

What would Gandhi do, if he came face to face with a dragon, armed only with a boy scout manual and a piñata costume?
Please so kind as to light the fire for our tea.
There should be twigs, I know, but all I have is this book.
Do you like it? The colours are a bit gaudy, but my dhoti is at the cleaners. And I had nothing else to wear.
My opinion of the British? Their behaviour to both dragons and Indians is loutish.
Struck a nerve, have I? It appears you have set the woods on fire.

Elisson

He had lived for years as an ascetic, simultaneously carving out a place for himself in history as a politician-philosopher, proponent of Satyagraha.
Satyagraha. It was oxymoronic, this concept of nonviolent resistance. Oxymoronic but effective. The British Raj was finished.
He fingered his homespun loincloth, deep in contemplation. Is this how I want to be remembered? A wizened little man in a fucking diaper? What about my dream of being in a Bollywood musical? I can cut a rug with the best of ’em… even if it’s an Oriental rug!
Two weeks later, the Gandhi Dancers made their historic debut.

Norval Joe

The president of the United Federation of Callisto watched the invading fleet from Ganymede landing their ships on the fragile surface of his moon. They were here to enslave more of his people; unwary farmers in the upper tunnels were the likely victims. Their common ancestors came from Earth 500 million years ago; libraries deep within Callisto’s tunnel system held records of their histories. Ganymede must not know of Earth’s ancient social reforms; or not care. Soon, he must make a decision; continued non-violent civil disobedience or military retaliation. He re-read the launch protocol to initiate an inter-moon nuclear assault.
How about…It oozed down…

Tom

A Russian professor, a Hindi businessman, and an American politician walk into a bar. Each has paid a inordinate amount of cash for an artifact belonging to their hero to compete in a high stakes competition. The bartender turns to the Russian asks “What would Lenin do?” The professor takes out the pen writes out a manifesto.” The bartender turns to the Hindi asks “What would Gandhi do?” The businessman places spectacles on this noses and gets his Satyagraha on. Suddenly the American appears a bit worried. “What’s with Dick Cheney?” asks the Hindi. “Oh he’s got George Washington’s catheter.”

Justin

Greg sat in the bunker. His real name was Ghandi. He hated having that name. Let’s see the real Ghandi passively resist the onslaught of robots and their flailing … an idea struck.
Resistors were installed on the power grid. Human devices didn’t draw anywhere as much energy as the robots did, and the robots range is limited by the energy grid. Surgical strikes made regions of blackouts surrounding the human bases. The robots were lured by the powered bases, but going through the blackouts drained them. The resistors prevented them recharging. That’s when the resistance became anything but passive.

Daniel

I hate it when they write checks for the littlest things. I would gladly pay with my own cash if it got this damn line moving. You know the type. Eighty year old woman who buys chewing gum on Super Bowl Sunday an hour before kick off, always has the audacity to write a fucking check. This broad is probably going to break her hip in the parking lot, what does she care about Doublemint Wrigleys? Even Gandhi would lay her out cold. One good bash to the head with her own cane should do it. The only difference between Gandhi, and me? I wouldn’t kick my own ass after.

Planet Z

Yus! The question was never “What would Gandhi Do?” but instead “What wouldn’t Gandhi do?”
I have movie reels in my closet the Crown took when they were assassinating that saw-ed off rabblerouser’s character.
He was a hero to millions and his name, golden, but boy did he like to use his bullwhip.
Elephants never forgot Gandhi. Watch them back away… priceless!
That woman right there? My grandmother. She was such a hottie!
The stories are true that he made his own clothes.
Ever seen a handspun cotton gimp costume?
We’ll watch Reel 17 tonight and you’ll see for yourself.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Fifty, where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Just let me touch it….
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories from Weekly Challenge #150?
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com
	Ashley
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com
	Almo
	Michael
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com
	Norval from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com
	Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com/
	Sougent from http://sladventures.sougent.com/
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Tom
Swahili -English Dictionary

The light chocolate horizon was broken by a rather tall Acacia. The sun rose brightly over the savanna, over the Acacias. It was here Ymoja Nzambi stood gazing at the bloody work of her brother Ogun. He dropped the impala with a single blow. A hunter at last he thought. “Tu utakodi mimi shika swala!” implored Ymoja. Ogun ignore her until he heard her draw her knife. “Shaka” whispered Ymoja. “Nya” cursed Ogun” Tomba …. Vikuto.” enda mbio enda bullet ama pigano?” inquired Ymoja. “Panda mti.” And up the Acacia they scrabbled. They watched sadly as Vikuto consumed the Swala.

Anima

You know how they say you should trust your inner voice? What do you do when it mutters foreign gibberish?
¡Ai caramba! Dejame tocarlo…
I ransack my brain for the dregs of my college Spanish to figure out what I am saying.
Just let me touch it…
Worse, we start to argue…
No, that’s not a good idea…
¡Por qué no?! ¡Eres tan miedoso! Scardeypants!
That did it. I reach out my hand… touching the bushy caterpillar of Frida Kahlo’s eyebrow. Immediately it transforms into a vivid blue butterfly and flutters away.
Damn, that’s good Mescal. Self, pour another round!

Guy David

“But… can you do it?” I asked, eyeing his suspiciously. I never liked those federal types. I always suspected them of being oblivious of the consequences. “Nothing to it” said the man in the black overcoat. I checked my watch. It was nearly time now. “Just let me touch it one last time” I asked. “Sure” he said, “Just don’t break it.” The Pterospondylus egg lay before me. I touched it gently, then they took it and rolled it into the incubator. As I watched the egg in the incubator, I envisioned a future where flying dinosaurs grace our skies.

Ashley

The car swerved violently to miss the animal. No such luck. Both mother and daughter went to have a look.
“Mommy is it dead? Can I touch it pleeeaaasssseee,” begged the little girl?
“No. Just look at that thing, all grey and scaly. We don’t know where it’s been.”
Suddenly a bright beam knocked them both unconscious. A large and small alien exited a spaceship hissing back and forth.
Translation:
“May I examine with tactile function? Or procure one,” queried the small alien?
“Negative. Return to the vessel. They will recover shortly. I must decontaminate your sibling prior to retrieval.”

Jeff

“Alright I need a full report, what happened here.”
“Well sir, I am not quite sure, but the basics.”
“Just tell me what happened private, the world is in ruins and it started in this room.”
“Well sir, there was this little kid.”
“A little kid?”
“Yeah she was running around and asking about everything.”
“A little kid? Here?”
“Bring your child to work day. Well she just kept saying she just wanted to touch the button. We didn’t think it would do anything since you have to push both.”
“Didn’t you read the memo about the safeties being removed?”

Almo

God gave Adam and Eve the guided tour of the Garden of Eden. “Look,” God said, “the ground rules are simple. Eat anything you want, all you want without guilt, except for the stuff on this tree.”
God pointed at the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve’s eyes got big.
“Hey, listen up,” God said, raising his voice. “Even the chimps can follow this rule.”
“Just let me touch it,” Adam said, and he began to move his finger closer and closer to the forbidden fruit.
“Adam, don’t be a putz,” God said, and smacked Adam’s hand away. He saw this would not be good.

Michael

“If you just let me touch it and hold it I know I can make it smaller and it won’t be hard any more.”
She acts like she knows everything.
She pulls this little prank every time there’s a crowd.
To hell with her – I’ll go along one more time.
I reach down into my cup and grab the biggest one I can find.
But I ask you, what’s so damned magical about holding an ice cube until it melts?

Lynda

“Just let me touch it,” you said.
“It’s so cute,” you said.
“I’ll be really careful,” you said.
Back in my day, bombs had fierce shit painted on them. Tigers, sharks, naked broads, things with teeth! We could insult the bastards we were gonna kill, none of this cutesy pastel non-threatening shit like big-eyed bunnies and daisies. “Have a nice afterlife!”
Can’t have menacing looking instruments of doom these days.
A bomb’s a bomb, Jenkins. Triggers and wires and death. Totally non-huggable.
I hope you’re happy.
Oh that’s right, you’re fried to a crisp.
Where the hell is my leg?

Norval

Approaching the shop, he knew that the object was inside. Its power drew him, and he knew, once inside, his time was limited. He greeted the shopkeeper behind the workbench.
“You have a device; small, green, with runic script across it?”
Surprised, he answered “Yes” and produced it from a cabinet.
“May I hold it?” he asked.
“It’s been in my family for centuries,” the shopkeeper replied, hesitating.
“Just let me touch it,” He nearly screamed in desperation.
Stepping back, the shopkeeper cowered.
He knew that he had lost his one chance as he felt his body becoming less substantial

Justin

“Please, can I touch it, just once?”
Timmy’s father shook his head gravely.
“It must’nt ever be opened. To avoid temptation, you mustn’t touch it.”
Timmy kept staring.
“Pay it no mind. We must guard it, but we needn’t stare at it.”
His father slept. Timmy stared at it, then touched it.
Open me!
The voice was so beautiful he couldn’t resist it. He flipped the lid off of the Pandoraingles cylinder. A hollow echo sounded as potato crisps of burdensome labor, ill, and disease escaped.
His father awoke.
“What have you done! Once you pop, the evil don’t stop!”

Sougent

Can I touch it? Huh? Can I, can I? Huh? Can I?
Please let me touch it, I wanna touch it. Can I, can I? Please?
You never let me touch it, I wanna touch it. Can I touch it?
Pleeeese let me touch it.
I just wanna touch it once, please, please, please, can I touch it?
I don’t like you, you’re mean, you never let me touch it. All I
wanna do is touch it.
I won’t hurt it, please let me touch it.
But Willie, you ain’t got no hands.
Just let me touch it…….pleeeeeese.

Planet Z

Slip the surly bonds of Earth, President Reagan said, and touch the face of God.
That was my father up there, the whole world watching him die.
It has taken me years, but I am ready to go to space, to ascend to the heavens and touch that face.
Can I touch it? Will I reach where my father before me failed?
Or will my own son watch my demise among the clouds, luring him into the sky as my father did to me?
Just let me touch it, and wipe away that final tear forever.
From my own face.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-Nine where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Mothballs.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #149?
	Danny from http://dannymachal.com
	Lynda from http://sisterpepperspray.blogspot.com
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com/
	Norval Joe
	Ashley
	Justin from http://www.thespaceturtle.com
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Danny

Ricky the mouse had light brown fur and oversized pink ears, he hated
them, but his wife found them adorable.
He would scurry about during the night, gathering scraps of food, and
bits of cloth for his wife and two baby daughters. They lived behind
the clothes dryer, it wasn’t much, but it was home.
Ricky also had an adventurous side to him, and while exploring the
attic, he came across a dead moth next to a delicious trinket of
cake.
He took the cake back home, where the mouse family feasted on the
funny smelling and tasting morsel.
“Hey Jim, how is your mouse problem?” Steve asked.
“They’re gone man, it is like they up and died.”

Lynda

The apple falls from my hand as the familiar smell brings it all back to me,
Stewie Norton fumbling with my blouse in the dark, the pawing of his grandmother’s cat at the door.
Nearly given away by the meows of a tabby.
I pick my fruit up off the floor of aisle seven with one last glance at the box of mothballs next to the Yahrtzeit candles under the mop display and turn away from my dark, dirty past.
Things were so much simpler then, no courtship, just a quickie in the closet.
Young love behind old men’s suits.

Guy David

The old man smelled of naphthalin. I could smell him all the way to where I was standing. I lighted a cigarette and moved towards him. He wrinkled his nose at me and pointed at the sign. “No smoking here” he said. I shrugged, puffed a cloud of smoke at him. At this he started couching and sneezing. Snot came out his nose. I lighted him with my cigarette lighter. As his overcoat dissolved by the fire I could see many naphthalin mothballs dissolving in his pockets. “So, that’s where the smell was coming from” I said through his screams.

Norval Joe

In South Africa in 1927 a political cartoon appeared in the news papers showing the ghost of a serviceman walking across the the waves of a beach, and on the beach a soldiers tin helmet with a bullet hole in it with the word forgetfulness underneath. The picture was titled, ‘The Tin Hat’. The country was moved to create an organization to remember and support veterans and their families and formed, ‘The Memorable Order of Tin Hats.’ The buildings where they held their monthly meetings became known as M.O.T.H. Halls. Their annual gala events with music and dance, MOTH Balls.

Ashley

President elect Ronald Reagan awoke abruptly arose from bed and quickly dressed in robe and slippers. Upon entering his personal office, he sat and picked up the telephone.
“Please connect me with Navy Secretary John Lehmann. Thank you,” said the president waiting patiently.
“John,” began President Reagan, “I apologize for calling so early. I may have an idea for the cold war problem. I agree that the navy must be built up. Let’s start by recommissioning and retrofitting the Iowa class destroyers. Yes, they’re currently mothballed. Listen carefully John, start gathering support. We’re about to spend some serious taxpayer money.”

Justin

I found an interesting Asian book in my grandparents attic. My grandmother is full-blooded Japanese, my grandfather married her after World War II. She brought many things when she moved to America. When I was young she taught me Japanese.
I’m walking in a circle under a bare lightbulb, reading. I can’t seem to move away, even though the light is too harsh.
As I examine the pages, realization comes.
It claims that if you eat an animal’s testicles, you will gain its powers.
I chew on an old sweater and wish I had read that before eating those mothballs.

Anima

Thor sweetie….
Here’s your list of honey-do’s: The screens need to be taken down at
Bilskirner, and doesn’t your hammer Mjollnir have autoreturn on it? It
is still by the front door where you tossed it when you came in. And ,
please, please put out some mothballs around the garden. I read in the
Godesses Home Journal that the naphthalene has some effect against
snakes. Maybe then we will be rid of Jormungand. The humans are
complaining he is putting a squeeze on Midgard…
Ja, you betcha, Sif. I’ll get right on that…
Doesn’t she know it’s Ragnarok this weekend?

Tom

My Aunts in-laws owned the apartment building she lived. Her family lived on the second floor. His parents lived on the first floor. Everything in my aunt’s apartment was ultramodern, Scandinavian design, color TV, the works. The Dulles’s apartment was like stepping into a time machine. Bathtub with feet, lace doilies on Reichsdeputationshauptschluss upholstering, tintypes and the most confusing antiquity “mothballs” “Yahh” said Augie ” Dayst coom from the real big moths.” Lizzie slapped Augie and muttered something is Swabian. She also had to slap my brother Lenny in the head to dislodge one he popped in his mouth.

Caleb

Frank got into the funeral business because he loved cock. Murder or grave robbing was too weird even for him but nobody requests a bottomless open casket, so he could eat as much cock as he could harvest.
As he cut the pants off a young suicide he was shocked to see the boy was a eunuch. There was plenty of mouth-watering man meat but no scrotum. As frank wiped his mouth he realized. The boy hadn’t jumped off the roof to kill himself, he was drawn inexorably to fly toward the full moon by his little teensy moth-balls.
Freak.

Planet Z

Cast aside for videogames and action figures, Raggedy Ann and Andy gave up on society.
They sealed themselves in Ziploc bags filled with mothballs, determined to sleep through this modern technological obsession.
After a thousand years, the seal on the bag broke, and Andy was yanked out of his plastic cocoon.
He opened his button eyes to see:
A dirty hand.
A ragged child.
A face, covered with scars and scabs.
Giggling. Laughter.
Would he be treasured? Loved?
Andy’s cotton heart sank as the child threw him to his dog.
His shredded body would lie in pieces among Ann’s tatters.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-Eight where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Gladiolas.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #148?
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Daniel from http://dannymachal.com>
	Serge
	Almo
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com/
	Ashley
	Michael S.
	Eva Moon from http://evamoon.net/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Jeff Hite from http://greathites.blogspot.com/
	Norval Joe from http://www.novalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Mike P. from http://mjpaxton.com
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Tom

Mrs. Patterson escorted Mary Todd once more through the garden they had planted at Bellevue Place. “Do write me when the Gladiolas are in bloom.” said Mrs. Lincoln. “Assuredly, Mrs. Lincoln and the plans for the plant food are still your wishes?” Mrs. Lincoln spit on the ground and whispered Robert’s name. As her carriage roll out the gate on that Autumn day she mused how uneventful that Sept 11th morning felt. Years late when Robert’s coffin lid was closed, he was not within but being carted away to Bellevue in a wheel barrel. Robert would make the Gladiolas bloom.

Daniel

Hosokawa got eye level with his foe and moved closer to take in the evil essence.
His weapon poised to run through the foul being, he closed his eyes.
Hosokawa breathed in deep. “Ahh, I can smell your fear, my enemy.”
“You shiver and quake at your impending doom.”
“Be at peace, for I will give you the honor a mortal adversary deserves.”
The swift blow of a trained Samurai master was designed for one thing, ending life.
He hoisted the weed out of his flower bed and into his pail.
Even Samurai gardeners keep their skills battle ready.

Serge

She would always get buckets of exotic flowers but he gave her just one.
“Gladiola’s?” She snorted surprised, but unimpressed. “Old ladies’ flowers.”
He had dissapeared from her life but she had kept the flower. It was a
present she had learnt to appreciate with age. Now old, but still alone, she
sat in her kitchen and looked at the only true companion in her life – the
flower. Its palette of colours as fresh as ever, unchanged. Now… it truly
was an old lady’s flower.

Almo

The father looked down at his wife in the hospital bed as she cradled the
newborn daughter. “Don’t do it,” he admonished. “She will always hate you
for it.” But his wife was determined and the baby was named “Gladiolas
Messmer.”
Twenty years passed.
At Harvard’s graduation, their daughter accepted her degrees in physics and
mathematics.Gladiolas came offstage and hugged her handsome boyfriend.
She looked at her parents and said, “I have always hated you because of my
name.”
The father turned to his wife and said, “See?”
“Nick and I are getting married,” the girl said.” I am going to be Gladiolas
Heimendinger.”

Anima

Welcome to Hexalia’s Exotics!
I need a special arrangement…
Yes? What mood do you want? Is it business? Here is a lovely formal design.
Lost love reunited perhaps? Pink roses are perfect…
Friends tell me you deal in emotional blooms…
Certainly! Currently I have spears of Gladiolas, Madilolas, and Egadiolas.
Anything more dark or sinister? It’s for the rehearsal dinner of my ex and her new trophy partner…
Might I suggest a centerpiece of Callow Lilies, Shunflowers and Penury Blossums…
with sprigs of Purple Violence at each place setting… bouquets to end any relationship in 90 days or less, guaranteed.

Guy David

A sword lily at my door step. Note says “all shell be avenged”. Going about my business. An accountant by trade, taking care of costumer finance, lost in a world of numbers. Always lost in numbers. Staying up late. Sound of the door opening. Looking up. Young Ophelia at the door, in one hand a sword lily, at the other a sword. A quick step, sword piercing my heart. “Two makes a glow. Three breaks the balance” she says. I remember her body crushing into the river. Close my eyes. “I shell be back” I mutter under my last breath.

Ashley

“Hey Hank, guess what Eric just got his old lady for Valentines Day,
“said Randy.
“What, “ answered Hank?
“He said glad Iolaus!”
“What the hell, “choked Hank swallowing chewing tobacco juice?
“You know, Iolaus, from Hercules, the TV show with the big-boobed
chicks. I asked what a TV show character being happy has to do with
Valentines Day.”
“Well, what’d he say,” asked Hank?
“He just shook his head and walked off, that dumb redneck. Man, if I
ever get that ignorant, put a bullet in me, will ya,” asked Randy?
“No problem,” said Hank spitting on the ground.

Michael S.

OK. I gave into my wife always wanting me to learn to dance.
I now know how to waltz, bunnyhop, cha-cha and jitterbug. I’ve even learned
the hardest one of them all. The ola.
That dance has the steps of all the others all rolled into one.
It makes my wife so very happy. I heard her tell her mother the other day,
“I’m so glad he olas.”

Eva Moon

Alma stared at the floral arrangement he’d sent, awed by his mastery
of the symbolic language of flowers. The messages were clear:
gardenias for secret love, gladiolas for love at first sight, ivy for
fidelity, yellow roses for perfect love and peonies for wedded bliss.
It was a proposal in petals! Her eyes misted and her hand trembled as
she dialed the phone to tell him yes, yes, yes.
Earlier, at the florist:
“Nice choice. Special occasion?”
“Nah. There’s a big golf tournament the weekend of her sister’s
wedding. I need to soften her up before I drop the bomb.”

Justin

The cute little lamb chewed on the blood gladiola that had been planted by
an occult member of the ‘Save The Fluffy Animals Foundation.’ As it
swallowed the crimson petals, its eyes glazed to a solid black and single
strands of wool turned scarlet. The lamb raised its head to the sky and let
forth a dread bleat that rent a fluffy white cloud asunder. It entered the
farmhouse.
Finding the clippers, it wielded them in bloodshot tendrils of wool.
From inside the house came cries that fractured the calm silence of the
meadow, screams of the farmer’s sheared terror.

Jeffrey

It wasn’t every day a hero was woken up from suspended animation.
Then, today was not just any day, it would be the trail for all
humanity. They would be found guilty of course, how else could the
aliens plan to take the planet away.
“Are you ready for this Kildorn?”
“Was created for this.”
“Do you remember the plan?”
“Go in disrupt the trial and kill the head judge.”
“Right just go in and chop his head off then everyone will realize we
can beat them.”
“But did we have to name them Gladiolas, I feel like a gardner.”

Norval Joe

The teenage boy didn’t care that he trampled the old woman’s gladiolus; prize
winning plants that she had spent years, even decades, propagating.
Hers was the only house in the neighborhood, as yet, untagged by the street gang.
One hand held the waist of his baggy pants, the other hand shook the can of spray
paint.
In his excitement he didn’t notice the tingling of his legs. Sudden shocking pain
wracked him as vines tore into the flesh of his legs. The plants rose up and pulled
him to the earth.
By morning the ground was smooth, the flowerbed undisturbed.

Mike P.

Batman hung against the wall, bound by a thorned vine.
“Did you know that many plants reproduce sexually?” Poison Ivy teased.
“They have male parts,” she ran her fingers across his chest, “and
female parts.” She turned and walked away, hips swaying suggestively.
“Insects pick up pollen from male parts, and then rub against the
fertile female parts.”
Batman knew he had to stay focused. He began cataloging the plants in
the room. Nightshade. Caladium. Hemlock. Foxglove. Gladiolas. Aloe.
“Enh, screw it.” Ivy laid a poisoned kiss on Batman. He noticed a wall
of Lipstick Vine, and then passed out.

Planet Z

His latest experiment gone awry, Voltmaster called for the healer.
Her apprentice, nothing more than a shambling green robe, examined the wounded electromage. She took notes, rapidly communicating with a broken shard of mirror.
“Healer Twelvetrees commands a tea of mint and gladiolas,” she said. “Drink what you can fresh, and pour the rest on the burns.”
The Voltmaster agreed and paid the healer with a spool of precious copper wire.
“An antiseptic,” she said. “Nice craftsmanship.”
She loaded it on to her butterfly chariot, snapped her bony fingers, and rose slowly from the ancient castle.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-Seven where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Running With The Cool Kids.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which stories were the best of Weekly Challenge #147?
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Daily Panic from http://adayonorbedge.blogspot.com/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Daphne from http://daphneandtamara.libsyn.com/
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com
	Ashley
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com
	Terrence from http://www.mcleanweb.ca/neverwas
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Mike P. from http://mjpaxton.com
	Michael S.
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

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Caleb

In my rural high school the cool kids were all Jesus freaks but I couldn’t stop from asking, “if Jesus wanted to get his message to mankind, why’d it take hundreds of years to reach western Europe and another thousand to reach the new world? The cool kids just told me to shut it.
But when Shiva, The Destroyer, came to Monroe High wielding swords of flame to mow down the nonbelievers; I found myself running for my life with the cool kids.
Down to the Burger Shack. Gotta have one last bacon double cheeseburger before converting to Hinduism. OM

Daily Panic

In the fifth grade, he smoked cigarettes. He was the first guy to date a girl. All of his friends were cool; hanging with them just happened. We all rode our bicycles together in the neighborhood. By the eighth grade, the cool kids had older siblings that had driver’s license. From riding bikes to riding in cars, the cool kids went places. Boundaries pushed. We all felt bigger than life, rules or guidance.
Today grown up, those cool kids are still cool. We are parents, policemen, fire fighters, film makers, school teachers, coaches, and fifth grade smoker became a mayor.

Justin

When I was too young to remember, my parents took me to Nepal. A goat-herder found me wrapped in blankets, my parents outside the tent, dead from sickness. He took me in and raised me as his own. I was about seven when the village was slaughtered by raiders. I nearly died from exposure in the Himalayas, where I had fled when the village was ignited. I was rescued by a yeti. I was treated like an outcast for a while by the other yeti children, but before long I was playing with them like I was one of them.

Daphne

Susan spent the summer making herself over. She saved up enough money and got a new clothes, shoes and make-up. She spent her evenings trying on outfits until she got it just right. The first day of school was coming and she was ready for it. Well almost ready. Due to a freak storm it was 25 degrees and very icy on that day. Susan didn’t care she was wearing her outfit as is, no coat, no boots. The bus stop was cold and icy. She learned running with the cool kids can lead to frostbite and sprained ankles.

Guy David

I had to join the party, I mean, let’s face it… they had the best ice suits around. Their agenda didn’t matter. What mattered was their beautiful blue skins, the rolling popsicle hairs of the candidates. I just wanted to be one of them. I went through the ritual acceptance ceremony, then I was in, fitted with my very own shiny ice suit. I was in, then we got elected.
Later that year, after the country was ruined by the war I decided to drop my membership. The red devils where the new cool kids, so I joined them instead.

Ashley

“If you want to keep running with the cool kids, you’ll stop thinking and just throw it,” said Jake.
I closed my eyes and heaved, then ran for my life with the rest. Glancing back, I saw Jessica covered in eggs and weeping.
About twenty years later I looked her up to tell her I was sorry and that I didn’t deserve her forgiveness.
She responded by offering compassion and, after awhile, her heart.
In high school I treated Jessica with scorn. If the fates allow, I will happily spend the rest of my life treating her like a queen.

Norval Joe

I was in high school in the late 70’s.
We had all the normal cliques; jocks, rah-rahs, burn outs, geeks, band freaks, drama fags, born agains, and student government.
There was some crossover; jocks in student government, burn outs in drama, and lots of geeks in the band. Whether you felt you were running with the cool kids or not, was mostly your own psychology.
There was one girl, named Janine, that was always alone; in class, at lunch and walking home.
I regret that I was too absorbed in my own psychology to make her welcome in our crowd.

Terrence

They all line up at the starting line. The boy stands in the first lane, ready for the gun to fire.
Bang!
The boy takes off, his legs pumping, ignoring the crashing and snapping sounds behind him as the finish line gets closer with each stride. His heart beats heavy and his shoes pound down into the ground. Sweat rolls down his face as he breaks the tape. Raising his arms in victory the boy yells out a cheer.
“I win!”
Looking back he sees the broken stick arms and snapped carrot noses. No snowman will ever out run him.

Tom

Jimmy was buck naked. He had just moved to Juno so badly wanted to fit in he was willing to join in the 1000 yard dash in the snow. Unfortunately for Jimmy and the other cool kids it was also the local wolf pack’s Run For Hungry 500 yard dash. The scene was like a arctic San Fermín. Fur and flesh snow and blood. Jimmy would have made it to the safety of the gym if only he had been able to get around Sarah Palin. Seem she’s a better shot from a plane then the ground. Too bad Jimmy.

Anima

Abe was stumped.
The Ball was his invitation into “polite society”, and he wanted to make a good first impression. Growing up in rural Kentucky, Abe had never “run with the cool kids”. Here it was Thursday, and he still hadn’t decided on a date for the weekend.
There was saucy Rebecca Stevens, with her fiery wit, or social Mary Todd, with a sweet temperament and a rich daddy.
Scratching the stubble on his chin, Abe reached into his pocket, pulled out a penny, and flicked it in the air.
“Heads it’s Mary, Tails, ‘Becca,” he said, smirking to himself.

Mike P.

In any social circle, you have to start at the bottom and work your
way up. It’s no different with the cool kids.
You have to start out working the water stops. For a while, you’re
doing nothing but filling cups with water and Gatorade.
After a year or so, you’re allowed to jog along with them and wipe
sweat off their foreheads.
Two or three years of that, and they’ll let you help them quick-change
into fresh running shorts (preventing chafing is key).
At that point, you’re no more than a decade from running with the cool kids.

Michael S.

I’ve always been a jogger and since I sweat in a snowball fight it stands to reason I’ve always been a sweater.
The older I get the more I sweat but I’ve noticed this young crowd doesn’t sweat a drop.
How do they do that?
I also noticed they invite me to jog with them.
It makes them look good and makes me look like I’m the only one really working on the task at hand.
Me ……….. I call it running with the cool kids.

Planet Z

Valentine’s Day in the embryo vault, buried below what’s left of the Antarctic frost.
There are nine redundant monitoring systems. When all nine find a fault, it is repaired. When one finds a fault or fails to find a fault with the others, it is repaired by the engineering robots.
We put these systems on a combination of solar and wind power. It runs on its own, keeping the children of the future cyrogenically protected from what their ancestors are doing to the present.
But in true short-sighted fashion, we have yet to build the revival and automated nanny systems.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-Six where I post a topic and then challenge you to come up with a 100 word story based on that topic.
The topic this week was… was…. um…
It’s Animal Cruelty.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories in Weekly Challenge #146?
	Sherry from http://www.sherrydramsey.com/
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com
	Justin http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Jeffrey from Http://greathites.blogspot.com
	Hedgie
	Serge
	Ashley
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Michael S.
	Michael P.
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Norval Joe from http://norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Terrence from http://www.mcleanweb.ca/neverwas
	Planet Z
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Go ahead and listen to them and then vote for your favorites (multiple selections are allowed):

---

Sherry

Someone warned them.
By the time we arrived, the perpetrators had fled, leaving those poor
creatures behind. You couldn’t call them pets. Victims, maybe. Experiments.
We opened the cages, coaxed the survivors out. They were cold, shivering.
We wrapped them in blankets and led them to the waiting vans.
A female watched me with eyes that were not quite ready to trust. “Will you
catch them?” she whispered.
I shrugged. “They’re sly. If they don’t want to be caught…”
She stared into the passing forest, wondering, perhaps, if her torturers
watched from the shadows. “I hate cats.”

Tom

In 1979 I was going through a nasty divorce. Having a great deal of aggression and time on my hands I started hanging out in a “d&d” pub next to the university. At the F Bandersnatch pub they played a version of the game laid out by members of the Society For Creative Anachronism. Three nights a week I’d hack and slash assorted monsters into the wee hours of the night. The DM was rather fond of hybrid beasts call ducks. The story goes they were either humans cursed with feathers or birds cursed with intell- igence. Talk about animal cruelty.

Guy David

The forest whispered to Anna. She crawled dipper into the closet. The
forest creatures where coming for her, and she knew they where going
to skin her alive, then tear her apart limb by limb. She was
terrified, but she was also prepared. She clutched the little device
the strange man of the forest gave her and activated it. The closet
started to spin around her, became a blur, then it disappeared
altogether. She was no longer there. The forest creatures would have
to feed on some other poor soul today. She thanked the spirit of
human ingenuity for teleports.

Justin

While filming the Brazilian Drought, a wild dog attacked my wheelchair bound brother. Before it ripped out his throat, I killed it with a shovel. A spying environmentalist became outraged. Security removed him. Later, he took a shot at me while I was birdwatching alone near the São Francisco River. While chasing me, he cut his leg. I saw them just under the surface of a shallow section of a creek. I climbed a tree and tossed my binoculars across the water. He waded in, thinking I’d crossed. The blood enticed the hungry piranhas, which took most of his leg.

Jeff

Mad Scientists get a bad wrap for many things. Bringing down bridges, thwarting the hopes of some goodie-two-shoes want-a-be hero. But mostly we get blamed when anything goes wrong. Well I for one am not getting blamed this time. I am not going down for this one. Some fool over at the palace decided it would be a good idea not to let any of the slaves go, and now there are frog and gnats and locust everywhere. Talk about cruelty to animals, what are those things supposed to eat. I tell you it’s like someone brought down the wrath of God.

Hedgie

Andy awoke, hungover, and walked toward the kitchen. The coffee can was
empty. He dressed, deciding on a Starbucks run, went to the front door and
turned the knob. It wouldn’t open. A noise was outside. Voices without
words. The windows were covered with wood. What the hell was going on
here? Andy looked up in a panic. Metal bars replaced his roof. The clouds
were dark promising rain. He also noticed something else. Hundreds of eyes
peered down on him. Bodies and faces covered with fur, feathers and scales
stared and pointed at the human in his natural habitat.

Serge

The eyes, unblinking and unfocused, stared at him from beneath the
transparent crust. Its last flight had been cut abruptly short by a simple
lifeless stone. The boy did not find the bird until next morning. It had
fallen into the pond just a meter away from the shore. Curious, he touched
the frozen wing sticking out from underneath the ice – a strange and
unfamiliar feeling grew inside him. At home he smashed the sling into the
wall in silent anger and cried. He would go back many times until the spring
thaw, when the bird was no longer there.

Ashley

Back when I was in high school, I used to trap. Yes, we’re talking
double spring steel traps for small fur-bearing animals, raccoons and
nutria mostly. When I left for Army basic training, I stopped trapping.
When I returned and entered college, I found that I no longer had the
urge to run a trap line. Nothing against trappers, but I remember just
too many toes left in sprung traps. There is no doubt animals suffer
when caught in a leg trap. Though I still enjoy looking at tracks on the
creek, trapping no longer holds any appeal for me.

Anima

Canines and Felines of the jury:
Ignore your emotions. Only weigh the evidence when deciding about William
Wegman.
Consider how he tortured Man and Fay Ray for years, isolating them from
their pack,
anthropomorphing them… robbing them of their canine dignity.
Wegman exploited the Rays from early puppyhood to their last days,
expecting, no, DEMANDING obedience. He dressed them for his perverted
pleasures, and profited from his dogsploitation!
You’ve seen the photos – hundreds of them. Recall the haunted looks, the
humiliating postures, the demoralization of these once proud dogs.…
Let justice be served – Find Wegman guilty of Gross Animal Cruelty!

Michael S.

I drag my human along when we go for a walk.
I bark at the empty closet and my human gets scared and jumps up to
investigate.
I lift my leg and mark my territory when my human visits a friend.
I chase the garbage truck and the mailman with total disregard for my human
begging me to stop.
Sure it’s a bit mean, maybe even spiteful but I don’t think we should call
it animal cruelty. That’s a bit too strong if you ask me.

Mike P.

Jeanine the Badger stepped to the edge of the platform. “Residents of
the forest! Witness what we do today! The Kingfisher beyond the river
has sentenced Brian the Squirrel to be beheaded for the following
crimes: Theft. Kidnapping. Impersonating a representative of the
crown.”
Brian smirked. His favorites were coming up.
“Willful disobedience of gravity. And selling fruit and nuts without a
license.” Jeanine nodded at the hooded executioner. The cobra
attempted to lift the axe, but was unable to actually grasp it. He
looked helplessly at Jeanine. She growled.
Animal cruelty is often prevented by lack of opposable thumbs.

Caleb

if you go out in the woods today
You’re in for a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You’d better go in disguise.
For every bear there ever was
Will gather for certain, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears go ethnic cleansing.
battle time for teddy bears,
Those horrid teddy bears are having a bloody time today.
Killing Feeding unawares,
see them murder ing each other for holiday.
See them ripping eyeballs out.
They love to scream and shout.
And eat the other bears.
then there’s no more teddy bears
Because they all are dead

Norval Joe

There was tension in the break room. Finally, Tom spoke, ” I realize there is public
concern about animal cruelty, but I have a job to do. It’s Disney’s fault! He
animated animals and gave them human emotion. Now everyone expects dogs and mice to
think and feel like people.
“First, we can’t have alcohol on the job. Then they take away tobacco and ethnic
stereotypes. Well, let the script writers figure out how to eliminate violence and
still have a show.”
Tom stood. Jerry and Spike just rolled their eyes as they followed him back to the
sound stage.

Terence

One would think than having read the good book you would know what was going
to happen, but Raoul knew better. After all he had been written out;
however, not even Raoul had expected the end to come in the form of a pink
monkey.
‘You came.’ Death turned his horse towards Raoul.
“I’m still one of the five horsemen.” There were however only four of them
on horseback. “What happened to your horse?”
“They took him away. They did not understand that I’m famine; people have a
certain expectation of my horse. They however said it was animal cruelty.”

Planet Z

Octopus are intelligent creatures.
They are also quite delicious.
Some people don’t like it when intelligent creatures are used for food, so that’s why I developed “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Octopus.”
It has all the flavor and texture of octopus without the guilt of eating an intelligent creature.
Instead, we use a blend of puppies, kittens, and other natural ingredients to achieve a consistent and realistic octopus experience..
To get the puppies and kittens the right texture, we have to mash them alive with concrete blocks..
They’re cute, sure, but not intelligent. Kinda dumb, really.
And quite delicious.

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