Category: Weekly Challenge

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-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 Concrete Shoes.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

What were your favorite stories in the Weekly Challenge this week?
	Michael
	Sherry from http://www.sherrydramsey.com/
	Serge
	Sophie
	Ashley
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Terrence from http://www.mcleanweb.ca/neverwas
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com
	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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Michael

I spiral downward as my depression sweeps through my body.
My arms are heavy as if weary of carrying the entire burden of my thoughts.
My legs feel as if they are lifting concrete shoes with each step I take.
I look around me from corner to corner, floor to ceiling as my mind searches for an alternative to the conclusion I’ve reached.
I grow tired of the argument within my head as I reach for resolution.
Finally, relief consumes my being.

Sherry

Every spaceport has its own version of the mob.
The expensive suit had skin like a warthog, but he looked over my webbed fingers and gill-flaps like I had a revolting disease. I could see him thinking “gene-mod freak” but he still loaned me the credits.
And I bet the wrong side and lost them.
So when the cheap suits with big muscles came looking for me, I couldn’t run far. Blow to the head, length of rope, and I woke up at the bottom of the reservoir.
But yeah, I woke up. Gill-flaps. Best gene-mod investment I ever made.

Serge

All she does is shop, he thought, mixing the cement. And nag.
Alex, I need more money to buy this or that.
Alex, I need a new handbag; none of the other 78 match my new cocktail dress.
Sick of it, he did something no man should ever do.
Never give a woman your credit card: she will run you dry.
He couldn’t believe she maxed out his Platinum Express in two hours! TWO HOURS!
Alex, I need new shoes, she said today.
Well, honey, I got you something with a perfect snug fit that will last you a lifetime.

Sophie

I sit at a local bar, waiting for a stranger.
This happens so often I know the outcome by heart.
He’s just outside.
Ring removed, he enters and notices me alone.
After a few drinks and small talk, he excuses himself and looks back, wondering if I’ll still be here when he returns… I will be.
As we leave together he chuckles and asks me what my name is…again. I smile to hide my irritation and say “Sally”.
He doesn’t know that this little liaison will cost him his life…cement shoes in the nearest lake, courtesy of his wife.

Ashley

“So where’s the money you borrowed?” asked the old man.
“You tryin to make me look like a clown?
“How bout I fill some really big clown shoes with concrete, then stick your feet in. Then I drop you in a nice deep river wearing those concrete shoes. Then who look like a clown, eh?”
The kid slapped a twenty into the old man’s hand. “Jeez dad, here’s the money. What’s with all the drama?”
Then she flashed him a smile radiant as sunshine, snatched the money back and prissed right out the door.
Smiling, the old man said, “typical.”

Guy

They where perfectly shaped. They knew they would fit him perfectly. The three friends nodded silently. They would have to wait for night time to secure them to his tiny, pixelated feet. Soon they found him snoring, face down on his typewriter, sleeping soundly. He didn’t wake up when they slipped them on his feet. They took his little boat for a spin and tossed him overboard. He sinked down in the murky waters. “That’s one sound sleeper” said the woman’s cockatoo in laughter. The Podmafia took the boat back ashore and left Mariner at bottom of the Edloe river.

Justin

No Louis, those aren’t concrete shoes, we are a lot more sophisticated in the twenty-fourth and a half century. I put neutronium shoes on those late paying feet of yours. They are extremely heavy, but, you can’t tell yet because that airlock is fitted with an anti-gravity generator. You will be able to though when I press this little button and you get sucked out into space. The extreme gravity of the shoes will crush you! Wait, what are you doing! Don’t turn off the anti-gravity generator!
For eternity, Vinnie knew what it was like to be in Louis’s shoes.

Norval Joe

Two huge men stood in the doorway of the shoe repair shop.
“Joey, Tony, whadaya talking about? You know me, I’m your uncle. I’m just an old shoemaker,” the elderly man plead.
“We have a glue; comes from Germany called Renia multicolle. We have another one, called superset; its an ugly yellow color. The one shoemakers like to use most is call ‘Barge Cement’. I can custom make you some shoes, and I can even cement the soles on, but if you want cement shoes, you gotta talk to somebody else.”
“Give your mother my love.”
“Sheesh, kids these days.”

Terrence

His brother stood, his arms stretched out, “What do you think?”
“I am surprised you have not lost your head,” Raoul rubbed his forehead slowly, “again.”
“You think I need a matching coat?” Raoul shook his head, “A hat then?”
“Where did you get the idea?”
“What? I’ve seen a lot of people wearing them. It’s the latest fashion”
“They were all dead, right?”
“At the bottom of the river, how did you know?”
“You do not think the shoes had something to do with it?”
“I’m not stupid.” Death replied. “They really should have been more careful around water.”

Anima

Some say Italians make the best shoes: supple leather loafers, spiky fashion heels, sturdy Alp summitting boots. I despise concrete shoes…
I prefer abstract footwear, known as shoeness in certain circles. My favorite designer, Lincoln Haddock, conceives shoeness that allows toes to express their individual “phalangeness”. He sees them as splatter-colored chaotic motion ideas for feet. I’ve never seen my Haddock’s, but they go with positively everything, and are always a perfect fit. They feel like walking on the beach, without the grit.
Waiter, can I please order now?
What do you mean, “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service?”

Tom

The Palermo and Sons shingle had hung in the Near Northside neighbor since 1888. Purveyors of fine shoes for a discrete circle of businessmen using a Roman process over 2000 years old. The delicate detaining and classic lines no one who ever stepped into a Palermo shoe ever voiced a complaint. In 1902 Joe Palermo started adding a Portland product to stiffen up the instep. Traditionally the shoes were placed in a white oak barrel lined with straw in the 1930s the barrel was replaced with the now ubiquitous 55 gallon drum proudly baring the Palermo motto: Somnus Cum Piscis

Planet Z

Welcome to the Palace.
That statue of Queen Margaret The Easily Pissed Off consists of 50 tons of steel and 300 tons of concrete. It took 4 years to complete, fabricated off-site and assembled in blocks.
Even though only her upper half is visible, the statue is actually complete. Below ground her body extends, all the way to her royal footwear.
The stairs down to that level are being repaired, the target of an antiroyalist bombing. So, instead, we will proceed to Queen Margaret’s corpse gardens.
Perhaps you will recognize some of the newer residents – those antiroyalist bombers, for instance.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-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 Chicken Nuggets
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Weekly Challenge #144 – Chicken Nuggets
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Johnnie B.
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Michael
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Guy David from http://guydavid.com
	Ashley
	Almo
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com
	Norval Joe from http://norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	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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Anima

Marge drummed her fingers impatiently, leaving greasy splotches on the table, but Marlon wouldn’t be rushed. Her tell was so obvious.
The illicit card game at the Big House Spa happens right after visitation… while the sacks are still hot.
If Marlon played his hand right, he might still turn his fast food Mexican into a decent meal.
Typically the game was small fries, but tonight… Al had ponied up big steaks… Everybody was salivating…
Marlon visualized Lady Luck passing the salt;
“I’ll see your chicken nuggets, and raise you a chalupa… Yeah, baby! Super size me!

Johnnie B.

Tiny, long things are gripping me, wrapping around me with intensity. I”m hot, I”m delicious! I go down into the red abyss, under, and back up. I think of the pleasure I am about to give.
I see the dark opening with a long pink thing inside it. As the pink thing loops itself around me I am immersed in something wet. This is what I was made for! I am sucked in and find myself being torn apart, bit by bit. This is my destiny……..I am the first chicken nugget in little Timmy”s lunch today!

Justin

I sought great wealth by traveling the Feather Trail. Many died in the California Gallus Rush, and for a reason no greater than greed. Boom towns sprung up drawing thousands of people. I prospected with the best of them, and the worst of them. Prospectors killed each other for a single chicken nugget found while panning. Miners died in deep caves searching for cracked eggs. When the Bird Flu struck, entire towns vanished overnight, the inhabitants leaving broken and destitute. I played my cards carefully and am still wealthy, my California Dream Poultry Restaurant’s are doing very well.

Michael

“There are things we must all be concerned with,” spoke the rooster with his cocky attitude.
“I call these my little chicken nuggets of wisdom.”
“It would behoove all of you to store them under your comb.”
The hens in both wings of the barnyard grew attentive as the cock crowed on.
It was so quiet you could hear a feather drop.
“Beware the shadow of big birds.”
“Take flight at the sight of an ax.”
“Finally, remember the white part in our droppings is still chickenshit. Don’t eat it.”

Tom

Lot people thought Einstein was pretty smart. What ya didn’t know was he got a lot of his best ideas from Ralph. Yes Ralph was full of chicken nuggets of wisdom. Einstein took that chicken everywhere On the bus he’d clucked faster faster which as we know led to the theory of special relativity. In fact it was Ralph who managed to scratch in the dirt the secrete name of god, which is stamp on the outer ball of all nuclear devices to initiation critical mass. Niels Bohr was never able to convince Ralph of the merits of scientific determinism.

Caleb

Love is strange. I suppose I don’t have to tell you that but it’s true. So are computers. Tried that computer dating one time. Hooked me up with a woman who could only achieve sexual gratification while listening to Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, which is weird because I can only get off listening to Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. They matched us because we loved German composers so much I guess. We lived together for 14 years, drove all the neighbors crazy with our cacophony of love. She’s gone now. Choked on a chicken nugget, music’s all I have left.

Guy

He was going to get all serious about his writing. He knew he could do it, even if it was only a 100 words story. He knew he could pull this off. Nothing could stand in the way of a decisive, dedicated writer. He rubbed his hands together and smiled in satisfaction. It was time to get to work and write. He opened his web browser and checked out this week’s topic. He stared at the screen for a few seconds. Chicken Nuggets. The topic glared back at him, shaking it’s head and laughing. “Thank you, Norval Joe,” he mattered.

Ashley

Tory and Tasha were waiting when Brian translated back into the contextual time-frame of 2357.
“This trip was unauthorized,” said Tory.
Brian held out a bag and said, “I tried these on an earlier mission. They’re organic, not the reconstituted goo we’re forced to eat.”
Both removed a piece and popped them into their mouths.
A look of wonder overcame each as they chewed.
“They’re called chicken nuggets,” said Brian.
Tory and Tasha said together, “We’re going back.”
Brian watched as his coworkers translated back to 2009, equipped with awesome technology at their disposal and chicken nuggets on their minds.

Almo

A smaller version of the Geneva convention was held outside Arthur Miller Middle School on a Thursday afternoon. It was a brief affair — the buses were coming and no one wanted to have to call his parents to tell them he missed the bus.
“Jujubes?” Jimmy asked.
“In,” said Tommy. “You get like a gazillion of them in a box and you can keep them for weeks.”
The others agreed.
“Chicken Nuggets?” Sarah asked, looking over Jimmy’s shoulder at his checklist.
“Out,” was the resounding chorus.
“They leave grease spots,” Tommy said.
The rules laid down, the date set, the middle school food fight was on.

Jeffrey

The sun belched forth all it’s furry. Sending tons of solar material into space, hurtling toward the Earth. In only a couple of hours the face of the third planet from the sun would feel it’s wrath.
The charged particles raced along, power transmission lines frying everything in there way. The Sad thing was that redundant systems that make the power grid safer on any other day, had cause black outs to ten times the area than normal. The burned out power systems stopped everything from the chicken Nugget fryers to the water pumps so you can flush your toilet.

Norval Joe

My name is Desmond.
I’m four years old and I look like a normal kid.
I have autism.
People say I have beautiful eyes.
My favorite things to do are; run, jump, climb stairs and make lots of noise.
I like to eat chicken nuggets, dinosaur shapes, Triceratops, longnecks, and petri.
I was three years old before I could say 100 different words.
Sometimes when I scream or have a fit at the grocery store, people look at me like I
am being bad. I’m not bad, just loud. Please have patience.
My family loves me.
I love them too.

Planet Z

It’s Eighteen Forty-nine.
Gold fever, they called it.
Every inch of river was panned, every corner of the mountain dug up and sifted through.
You went to sleep, dreaming of that golden nugget the size of your fist.
You wake up, and your pickaxe and gloves are gone.
Maybe your boots, too.
Even if you do strike gold, it doesn’t go far.
Every provisioner charges crazy prices for everything.
Eggs don’t make themselves, and the man with the chickens is the one with the real gold mine.
All us out here in the dirt and outdoors, killing each other.
Fools.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-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 Tidal Wave
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #143?
	Norval Joe from http://norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Michael
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Ashley
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Guy David from http://www.guydavid.com
	Almo
	Mike P. from http://mjpaxton.com/
	Ben
	David
	Martin
	Misty
	Fred
	Robert
	Alan
	Carolyn
	Arthur
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com/
	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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Norval Joe

he stalker followed his prey across the university campus, keeping enough distance behind her to avoid detection. She was young and slender and he ached to hold her in his arms, to wrap his hands around her neck and squeeze the life from her.
He had followed her before and knew her schedule, her routine. Tuesday and Thursday nights, her class would begin in daylight, but would be fully dark when it let out.
A tidal wave of urgency washed over him. Crouching, ready to attack, he saw her, alone, unaware, last to leave Phys Ed 203, advanced kick boxing.

Michael

You walk in.
They suit you up.
There’s all kinds of wires and buttons and lights.
The countdown starts and before you know it ………….
Well, I can only describe it as a virtual tidal wave of pleasure.
I tell you it’s the best government project yet and my wife loves it now that I quit chasing her all the time.
Problem is their stats for a man my age say only 2.6 times a week.
Damn!!
But hey, I’ll take it – whatever they’ll give me.

Tom

Edgar was a Platonic Physicist. If the ocean could product tidal waves, why couldn’t local causality product a time tsunami. Edgar figured a Neutrino event horizon would do the trick. He reverse engineered the dry cleaning tank process by setting up tiny collectors in every dry cleaning business on the planet. After 15 years Edgar located the most likely place the Tsunami would occur The sandstone building on Fourth and Drucker. With thoughts of Nobles dancing through his head artifacts in the tsunami’s wake squarely opened up his head, Edgar was done-in by a Rubik’s cube and a pet rock.

Ashley

As usual, young Poseidon entered the Olympus school bus like a tidal wave, literally.
“Get to a seat, “spat the now wet driver, Lachesis the fate.
First was Aphrodite, Goddess of love, frowning with mascara smeared.
Next was Apollo, sun God, pointing a poison arrow as Poseidon passed grinning with teeth the color of sea foam.
Then past Hephaestus, God of fire, smoldering and smoking.
No young God made room for Poseidon to sit.
Hermes, God of eloquence, stood suddenly and spake, “Go to the back of the bus. You smell of fish.”
Dionysus, God of wine, hiccuped in agreement.

Anima

I stood in the library, consoling Aunt Lois. Uncle Nemo’s legs jutted from beneath the toppled bookcase.
“Poor Nemo, he always had a distant look, like he was scanning the horizon for giant squid. He was fascinated with the ocean, even though he never left Colorado. It made him a little nutty, to be drydocked by mountains; all he dreamed about was sailing the seven seas. This library was filled with charts and tales of pirates, ships and nautical adventure.
Do you think the coroner might be so kind as to put down the cause of death as Title Wave?”

Justin

When the giant wave hit the city, a few crazy surfers rode it through the streets. I’m more crazy, I rode it under the streets. I set my board in the sludge and waited for the wave. I heard it first, crashing through the sewer tunnels. When it hit, I rode it, going from side to side to avoid crashing. I avoided pipes and gratings sometimes by inches. The rush was amazing. It became the best ride ever when four Turtles showed up surfing right beside me. No villains around, the only shredders were us shredding the wave. Cowabunga dudes!

Guy David

The waters where gradually rising. I watched as the tide started licking the shore greedily. A tidal wave was rising in me. It has been rising for a while now, giving me a stream of sleepless nights. I took out the pills and started swallowing them one by one, then I waited. I waited for a very long time. Nothing happened.
Later, when I got home, I checked out the label on the packet of pills. It turned out they where manufactured using all natural ingredients. Braving the tide, now I have reached dry land. Went all naturalistic after that.

Almo

Roger swiveled in his chair when he heard the satisfying kerplunk of new e-mail. He enjoyed the sound of the water droplet.
This time it was even better because it was an answer to his advertisement “Will fix any computer for $20.” There was another drop, then another. Roger’s smile faded as trickle of responses increased in volume and frequency.
His little ad had been blogged, Dug, Tweeted and Retweeted
The e-mail kerplunks became a tidal wave. The noise was deafening.
Roger scrambled furiously to quiet the din, but sadly he didn’t how to turn off the sound.

Mike P.

You thought your website was doing fine. You set up hosting, and installed WordPress. Even researched and set up amazing SEO. Then you went on vacation. While you were away, Penny Arcade linked to your site. By then, there was nothing you could do. When you got back from Costa Rica, the first place you went was your server room. You opened the door, a tidal wave of page views flowed out into the hallway, and you spent an hour mopping up the squirming creatures. You knew that the server was dead, turned into a nest for the hive.

Ben Clarke

“What is that?”
“what?”
“Up in the sky.”
“Oh my goodness it looks like a whale.”
“A whale? in the air?”
“Yeah, these young people and their improbability drives.”
“Improbability huh? Well what are we going to do about that whale?”
“Hmm, not much we can do. It is going to fall in that lake over there.”
“But don’t whales live i the ocean?”
“Don’t worry.”
“Why not?”
“It won’t survive the fall, worry about the tidal wave.”

David Tomes

“Ok guys we need to get organized here.”
“What are we trying to accomplish here?”
“You forgotten already? Look we need to all rush forward at the same time.”
“But why?”
“Come on we talked about this, we are trying to take over the world.”
“How we going to do that, we are just krill?”
“That’s why we have to get organized.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We are all going to swim toward Washington DC at the same time and create a tidal wave an wipe’em out.”
“Ok lets go.”
They never saw the whale that swallowed them whole.

Martin Joyce

“This will be the final message from our civilization. It is important that someone know we where here and what we accomplished in our time. Our lives have been spent building thie beautiful world, that our children will never be able to enjoy, after the disaster that is about to befall us. Our scientists saw the disaster coming only a short while ago and told us all to prepare for it. Our world’s about to wiped out. Oh the humanity, tidal wave!”
“Ow that water is hot,” Tom said pulling his big toe back out of the tub.

Misty Fritz

Mortally wounded, and heart sick from the betrayal, King Arthur made is way to the sacred lake. There he’d return the sword from whence it came, and hopefully gain access to Avalon that he might sleep until he was called for again. Nothing disturbed the lake’s surface as he neared. Looking down the goddess saw all of this and more. She watched his life, and failings and knew the price that it has exacted on her. If she did this her vision would be obscured for some time.
“Merlin, what’s that?”
“Surf’s up your highness, tidal wave!”

Fred Hickman

The tidal wave of human bodies rushed forward and there was nothing they could do.
When the sparks began to fly from the stage everyone gasped in anticipation of a pyrotechnic light show. When the fire works lept from the stage to the gutiar, to the gutairist arm everyone realized it was no show. The screams flowed before the bodies but only because the bodies were heavier. All of the bodies moved as one, rising and falling with the pitch of the wailing guitar.
“See Garth, look at this mess. I told you we shouldn’t do the flaming shirt trick.”

Robert Metsker

“We are a document Imaging company right?”
“Yes, Jack, we are why do you ask?”
“Well it just seems rather odd to me that we’d sell this wonderful software that takes digital images of paperwork and turns them into data to be stored a way on some server but we would have a room like this.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? Have you looked around you? I mean look at this. I can’t reach the top of this stack.”
“Don’t touch that.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’d be bad.”
“Whatever.” he said leaning against the stack.
“Tidal Wave!”

Alan Marker

Laurence and Alan worked feverishly to stem the tide of cases that were coming in. Three techs had called in sick leaving only skeleton crew. They joked between calls about The Day That Sysadmins Ruled the World, but It had been a murderous day, and they worked like mad men, but the calls kept coming in.
“Geeze you would think that this was harder than it really is.”
“Right, I think every wacko whoever used their CD-ROM as a cup holder is calling today.”
“Maybe we should just plug the plug.”
“Won’t help, as they say you can’t stop stupid.”

Carolyn Westburg

“I told you to brush the dog.”
“I did.”
“Come on, there is no way this all came from today.”
“I Brushed him, that is my story and I’m sticking to it.”
“That is so typical, a guy that lies and then won’t admit to it. I mean here we are with indisputable evidence, and you won’t even admit that you are wrong.”
“I wouldn’t call it indisputable. A few dog hairs laying around.”
“You call this a few?”
“Ok more than a few.”
“We are floating in a tidal wave of dog hair and you call it a few.”

Arthur Kline

When the giant comet hit the Earth, it caused tidal waves that wiped out coastal cities all around the pacific rim. But, that was only the beginning of the devastation that it caused. The water and air around the site were vaporized and broken into it’s component elements, causing massive explosions, which cascaded to more and more. Resulting in the largest nuclear explosions ever on the face of the planet. Half of what was left of the atmosphere was blown off in to space. Even the dinosaurs could not survive such colossal devastation. I wonder if we, with our wonderful technology will be able to.

Jeffrey

Tom Tossed the gauntlet last week with the stats. Laurence took the gloves off when he laughed at Tom’s stats only having 6 stories. It was a sad day to be sure, when the 100 word stories didn’t even cover my commute time. Ashley was the impetus for the tidal wave to new authors with his tpoic. Since I don’t know any other authors I wrote 10 stories this week. Got a number of people to record for me, and just tossed all to Tom’s stats in the toilet. Giggle giggle snort. I think I cheated on this one. Thanks everyone!

Planet Z

Coming back from the pub’s bathroom, I recited the rhyme:
If it’s brown, flush it down.
If it’s yellow, stay mellow.
“What do you do if it’s green, glows, and has tentacles?” I asked.
The bartender raised an eyebrow.
In a corner booth, Professor Nightshade put down his pipe. He pulled out his Pocket Necronomicon and showed me the page for Shuggoth.
“Evil,” he growled. “We must kill it.”
Two hours later, a tidal wave of shit rolled over South London, driven by an multidimensional explosion.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-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 a combination of: Double Dipping
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #142?
	Ashley
	Guy from http://guydavid.com/
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Anima Zabaleta from http://http.zabbadabba.com/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Norval Joe from www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com
	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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Ashley

“Happy birthday Mr. Thomas,” said Little Johnny.
Mr. Thomas said, “thank you Johnny,” as he opened the bag of chocolate goodies.
“The smaller ones are peanuts, the bigger ones brownie bits. I made the brownies and double dipped each in chocolate myself.”
Mr. Thomas smiled as he popped a brownie bit into his mouth. The smile gone, he swallowed hard, coughing mightily.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Thomas,” said Little Johnny as he headed back to his seat. All the other kids in the class watched with awe.
They already knew, the brownie bits were really deer pellets. A legend was born.

Guy David

You have to double dip it. Once is not enough. Once won’t get you the texture, the finesse. It has to be dipped twice, then it has be be rolled over three times and wrapped around that other part five times. The topping comes next. That has to circle the whole thing ten times. Circle it eleven times and you destroy the balance. Circle it nine times, and the taste is ruined. When it’s done, don’t just eat it. Savor it. Treasure it. Enjoy every tiny bite, every twinkle of taste. Enjoy it for what it is – your life giver.

Tom

Timmy the typewriting monkey was double dipping. He had an exclusive contract with Crap Publishing Houston TX. But unknown to the firm Timmy had sold a story to Ben and Jerry Press, which was being serialized in Vanity Fair. The story was entitled: Our American Cousin. In the final installment the old rail splitter having been mortally wounding by the villain TollBooth in a mix of fever and lust rips open the bodice of his morning wife thus exposing twin scoops of Mary Todd just as Abe expires. Crap Publishing has taken legal acts, but at present is spanking their monkey.

Anima

Howard has incredible luck; so much, you’d think he’s double dipped in it.
Spying twenty dollars on the ground, Howard stooped to pick it up; his hand
was crushed by the scuffed leather shoe of Brad Pitt.
Mind if I take that? I have a family to support.
When he was stranded on the highway, Prof. Ado Bayero, king of the Nigerian
scams, stopped to help. Howard got arrested as an accomplice when Vice
pulled up.
Don’t even ask about his dates.
Is Howard’s luck changing? Today he found a four-leaf clover; there were no
falling anvils to been seen…

Justin

This weird scientist reunion is ok. It’s good to see some of my old friends
and all, but some can be such plonkers! Bloody Time Traveler over there, he
keeps jumping back in time to steal all the snacks. He’s a real git. And
there, Captain Nemo, he’s playing with a little toy sub in the punch bowl,
what a sod! Oh, yes, there, Doctor Jekyll, as if he haven’t all seen the
‘now I’m Jekyll, now I’m Hyde, trick.Bugger. Oi, look there! Willy just
double dipped a candy cane into the chocolate fondue fountain. He’s such a
Wonka!

Norval Joe

He had heard of double dipped chocolates, Sienfields’ double dipper faux pas, and
even a double dipper recession. He had never imagined double dipped hosiery.
Dilbert Doublet, a particle engineer, hadn’t worn a matched pair of socks in forty
years.
Dilbert took long, hollow, nano fibers and immersed them, twice, in a polarized
ionic solution. When woven into the fabric of cloth the fibers could be given ionic
signatures.
Dilbert Doublets Double Dipped nano socks, activated by heat from the dryer, will
magnetically find their mates to come out as a matched pair.
Coming soon to a store near you.

Planet Z

Poisoning apples for Halloween is a lost art.
Not only do you dip them in the poison twice, but you need to let the first coating of poison dry before applying the second.
Nobody gives out apples anymore.
It’s all pre-packaged candy these days. Cheap and simple, no fuss.
Still, every now and then, I’ll buy an apple from the grocery store, work my magic on it, and put it back.
My son wants to follow in my footsteps, but he does it with lemons and oranges
That just poisons the outer peel.
Oh well. Maybe one day he’ll learn.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty-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 a combination of: Thumpin
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories in Weekly Challenge #141?
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Snipe from http://mjpaxton.com/
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Ashley
	Jeffrey from http://GreatHites.blogspot.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

Hey man, can joo help me? I need a thumpin…
A thumping? Are you sure?
Si! A thumpin! I wanna… Ai ai ai! What was dat for? Why joo hit me?
You said you wanted a thumping. I grew up with 3 older brothers, so I’m always glad to administer a well placed thump, ‘sides, you practically begged me for it.
Joo is crazy. I need a THUM-PIN! Joo know, de pointy ting to stick up notícias! So I can sell a guitarra.
Ah! What you want is a thumbtack Sorry José. Just take one from these flyers over here.

Justin

Above and below the neighbors were loud. A rumbling bass below, heavy thumps above. I bought the seeds from an old crone at the Saturday market. I planted one in two different pots. I put skin flakes in the soil. Drops of blood went in the water. When the plants were a foot tall, I pushed some discarded human teeth wrapped in human hair to the roots and watered the plant with pure blood. I gave one to each of the noisy neighbors. The plants flourished overnight. In the morning, I heard some short screams, then nothing. Finally, some quiet.

Tom

At the Northwest pillar of the Eiffel Tower is the only public toilet within a quarter mile radius. While waiting for my traveling companion a woman dress in vaguely arab attire approved me asking in halted English if I was an American. She opens a fold piece of paper I note the phrase “no money is six month” and “child with Leukemia”. I open my wallet all I got are 50s and 5s. As I hand her one moving at me from my far right a second women open a fold piece of paper will even sadder tale. I reach in pull out a second five and tell her she better not have a third sister.

Caleb

Another night and Bambi couldn’t sleep because Thumper was thumpin’ again. Bambi understood that Thumper was a rabbit but they were still in their Freshman year of college and Thumper already had 72 kids. How could Bambi ever take any doe back to their dorm with all those kids running around and thumper thumping all the time like that? Eventually he snapped. The lack of sleep, the pressure, the unresolved mother issues all collapsed onto him at once so he took a rifle up to the bell tower Nobody could understand it, Bambi had always been such a dear.

Snipe

The Hamper kids had always been inseparable. So when Bumpin had the bright idea to knock over the local bank, he knew Bouncin, Thumpin and Grindin would be along for the ride. Everything went smoothly until the getaway, when it all went wrong. Thumpin jumped on the bumper of the accelerating car. An eager deputy got off an unlucky shot, and Thumpin went down. The car screeched to a halt. His brothers walked back, and stood by while the paramedics worked. Then the three went to a shared cell, and Thumpin was alone for the first time in his life.

Norval Joe

Wolf-guards sat on each side of the stockade door, squatting like gargoyles. Large wolves heads rested on the knees of the oversized humanoid bodies where they crouched.
Through the darkness lambada, the half-orc, crept, step by step, slowly, between the guards. Their eyes shut, nostrils flaring, searching for the scent of humans.
With the strength of an orc and the agility of a human he silently picked the lock and eased the door open.
Through the gloom, he found the form of the outlaw leader. It was a woman’s form.
Lambada lisped under his breath, “Me think thumpin not right.”

Ashley

Sylvester had always been the laughing stock of Fairhaven. Someone would tell him a story and his reply would always be, “Ain’t that thumpin,” which brought great laughter from the locals. Sylvester took it with a smile.
One day, a ticket bought locally hit the Powerball jackpot. Sylvester dropped out of sight shortly thereafter.
Due to the economy and mismanagement of funds, the town went belly-up. Fairhaven was later purchased by a mysterious financier at bankruptcy court.
One week later, all the residents were evicted and the town razed. “Now ain’t that really thumpin,” said Sylvester with a huge smile.

Jeffrey

“Thumpin.”
“That’s not my name.”
“Whatever, just get over here.”
“My name is not Thumpin.”
“I heard you. Just get over here, and bring that stool.”
“Not until you get my name right. I’m the proud son of great dwarf the people we’ve been here for thousands of years.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard it before. But right now I’m the queen and well you are not. So get over here Thumbkin son of Thorkin servant of my older brother, and bring that stool so I can rest my feet.”

Guy David

It was a party like no other. You had to wear a black tie and drink your martini, but the rest of your clothes… those you would often take off during an evening of a-humpin’ and a-thumpin’. The party would then turn into a mess of arms and legs, intertwined in an imbroglio of ecstatic people. No one would notice as the floor would slowly rise and the beast that dwells in the ceiling would swallow the whole mess, then spit everyone out again, laughing. That’s when the party at The Black Tie Martini Club would really begin.

Planet Z

Satchmo died on a Monday, we bury him on Sunday.
No preacher for the service, no band.
Just Coffin Jack Thumper.
He starts with a few taps, a few slaps.
Bang! Bam! Slam!
The lid flies open.
Bam bam bam!
He’s pounding the wood so hard, the body’s shaking… Leaping up… Dancing to the
beat.
The floor shakes. The rafters sway.
Thumper’s got Satchmo dancin one last time.
Hallelujah!

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Forty 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 a combination of: Lambada, Dragon Burgers, Coal, Bail, and Wrapping Paper
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories in Weekly Challenge #140?
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Uva Oxide from http://lost3dent.blogspot.com/
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com
	Justin http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Brad Z from http://mutecow.net
	CeN from http://censtwocents.blogspot.com/
	Ashley
	Tom from http://midi.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):

---

Caleb

They say you have to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run. And so far that has been good advice, for me anyway. But as yet nobody’s ever told me when to scream dragon burgers while dancing the lambada and wrapping a bail of coal in paper, setting it ablaze and pouring a pint of papaya liqueur down my trousers.
I can tell you this. You really shouldn’t do it in the library, or church and especially not in any International Airport. Tomorrow, I’m trying Dow Chemicals.

Uva

Triumphant ! mutant mouse cut the dragon’s stomach open with his laser wand as if it were wrapping paper and extracted the dragon burger – double peopled crispy as bacon stomach to stomach as if dancing the lambada with a bail of coal speckled charred cabbage as a bun.
Mouse recognized the crazy lab-techs who had made him what he is, the ultimate soldier, bred to be in a disposable army, to fight wars in place of men of the future, sent back with the dragons they had made in the future to fight them, to the past avenge their makers.

Norval Joe

The others thought the half-orc was stupid and eyed him surreptitiously where he sat turning dragon burgers on the coals of the campfire.
“Lambada, you stupid oaf, is the food ready yet?” One of the group sneered. The outlaws had enlisted the half-orc to help rescue their leader from the king’s prison. The leaders bail had been set higher than the outlaws could afford.
Lambada would be unrecognizable to the wolf-guards trained to scent on humans.
The outlaws thought Lambada was stupid, and deaf as well.
The king pays better.
They would get their leaders head back, in wrapping paper.

Justin

I’m at the Dragon Inn eating a burger. A bard strums up a lively lambada. Several of the drunker patrons sweep up barmaids into dances. In a small brown paper wrapped box is a diamond ring. I hand it to Iliza as she passes by with a few empty tankards. She opens it and gasps, then slaps my face. I pick the ring up. The wizard who’d sold it said the diamond was magical and would turn into a less stable form if my love had been unfaithful to me. Pocketing the coal ring, I decide it’s time to bail.

Anima

No bail, Jingle. 11 months hard labor at the Kringle Coal Mines.
With all that is going on in the world, I’m gonna need more stockpiles for next year.
From now on, when I say jump, you ask “how high”.
When I say dance, you’re gonna lambada like Carmen Miranda.
And when I ask for a dragon burger, you better not bring me reindeer sausage.
You should have thought twice about sponsoring Christo on his wrapping paper installation at the North Pole. I find his art so bulgar.
You’re about to learn: No one messes with the Jolly Fat Man.

Brad Z

Dragon’s guarding the treasure right…what does Fred throw at it….A piece of coal! My Gods did that thing get mad.
“Nother Dragon Burger?”
Aye….hey Lambada told ya not to put those on.
Magic dancing shoes aye. Had a cousin put on magic boxing gloves once. We used a roll of bail ta tie him up with until the wizard got them off him.
What happened to the gloves?
Some diplomats had gathered for a peace treaty in this village so we wrapped the gloves in paper and gave them as a gift. Nice war resulted from that.

Cen

I stood on the porch as the uniformed man gave me the news.
We were being evacuated; it was the only hope for survival.
On my left, Mr. and Mrs. Jones were doing the lambada in the yard, apparently deciding to stay behind.
On my right, old man Smith, sipping a milkshake and holding a Dragon Burger still in the wrapping paper.
I stepped slowly onto the almost empty bus, apparently very few felt the need to bail.
The sky turned orange as we drove away and I realized a lump of coal would never mean the same thing again.

Ashley

Ring
“Hello.
Oh God, what a night.
I went to the party dressed as a present, covered with wrapping paper.
My date went as a chunk of coal. What was I thinking?
I did the lambada at the party. Thank God I didn’t go commando.
My date got into a fight with Mickey Mouse and I was too just damn drunk to bail her out. I didn’t really like her anyway.
Then, I had a dragon burger at home and it gave me the shits.
God, what a night. I’ll never do that again.
Alright, talk to you later.”
Click

Tom

Maurice had been trafficking Whitby Jet cross The Wired for 40 cycles. The Red Judge allowed him to place property in lieu of incarceration in keeping with the 12th century Statute of Westminster. This was timely Maurice was competing in the Strong Hit Brazilian dance finales. The Victorla keep skipping back to track one on The Best of Cream, but this just caused Red to laugh and fall all over Maurice flapper beads flying in the wind. After hours of toughing bellies Red said. “Let’s get some charbroiled Smaug,” “Don’t forget the pickles.” Oh the horror life in a Tiny Mud.

Guy David

Little Timmy opened the wrapping paper to find out Santa has left him with a lump of coal. This made him so happy he just had to dance the Lambada. “I could use this to start a little barbecue at the schoolyard” he said happily, “I could even bring my favorite beef, Dragon Burgers.” His parents had to bail him out again, though they should have been used to it by now. Only last year, he scorched Santa’s beard after he gave him a barbie doll by mistake and the year before that he put fire crackers up the chimney.

Planet Z

We put word out on the wire that all ten terrorists were dead.
Nine bodies stacked in the the morgue.
“Want to join them?” I told the detainee.
He spat in my face, so I took out a cordless drill.
The torture worked. We were getting the detainee to talk.
One problem – our translators were worthless.
Lambada dancing in Fallujah.
Delivery of Dragon Burgers, distribute to agents
Whisper of Coal, pile up the hay bail and hoe-down
Check the Wrapping Paper for the signal key
Obviously they’re using nonsense code words.
Pass me a fresh drill bit.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Thirty-Ninewhere 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 Oh, the horror!.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #139?
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com/
	Norval Joe from http://www.novalsoutlook.blogspot.com/
	Mike P. from http://mjpaxton.com/
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogpspot.com/
	Cenedra from http://censtwocents.blogspot.com/
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Brad Z. from http://mutecow.net/
	Ashley
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Guy from http://www.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):

---

Caleb

Mrs. Claus had had just about enough of Santa’s priceless collection of Victorian erotica. She didn’t mind him spicing things up a bit now and then; after over 200 years of marriage who wouldn’t? His not having time for her from October through most of January left her ready to submit to almost any perversion. Sure, she could dabble with the occasional elf or two but it wasn’t the same as having that big belly slapping her ass like a bowl full of jelly. So when she caught him ‘reading’ the story of O she shredded it. “O? The horror!”

Norval Joe

Lori checked her lipstick in the mirror of the hotel bathroom. Her 25th reunion was going to be a hit.
She wasn’t obese in high school, but she was chubby enough to make her color guard uniform stretch past the point of flattering. Oh, the horrors she faced in high school.
A Phd in partical physics, a strict diet and lots of exercise had transformed her into a svelt, but extremely intelligent, seductress.
She walked into the banquet room to the astonished smiles of her former classmates. Her form-fitting silk dress was tucked neatly into the back of her panyhose.

Mike P.

I met Mr. Roosevelt in Cuba. He took me to New York and the White House as friend and advisor, and then to Africa as a hunting companion.
It was in Mombasa that we heard the natives speaking of “zombeys.” A shaman told us of an undiscovered island, far to the east, that was home to these creatures. Maps were sketched out, and we sighted the place within five days.
Three days later, we returned from a fruitless excursion to find a lifeless crowd shambling about the camp.
“Oh,” I said.
Mr. Roosevelt nodded, loading a shotgun. “There’s the horror.”

Justin

It all started when Elmo wound up in the hospital.
“I was in an alley on my way to talk to Oscar in his new can when I was attacked by something round!”
Next, the Cookie Monster was mugged outside his home.
“It stole my cookies!”
The crime rate was on the rise.
“Three mugging, ah ah ah. Four muggings, ah ah ah.”
Police detectives soon found that these crimes happened on days brought by the letter O. Kermit had this comment:
“The horror of it all was that “O” had always been so polite. We never would have suspected.”

Jeff

“Ice Fishing? You brought me ice fishing?”
“Yes, well you said you wanted to get away from it all.”
“Yeah, but I meant I wanted a vacation.”
“But dear, this is a vacation. We’re out in the wilderness, enjoying all that mother nature had to offer.”
“If this is all she has to offer, I want my money back.”
“Dear, that is the wonder of this vacation it was nearly free, and in a bad economy, it is perfect.”
“Great I am stuck out here, with Charles Swab. Why can’t you do anything right for a change?”
“Oh the horror.”

Cenedra

I watched in horror as he handled the flesh of a dead animal as though it was an everyday occurrence. My eyes fixated on the bright red fluid dripping onto the table.
My mind wanted to scream, but there were no words. My eyes followed yet another red drop as it fell, almost in slow motion, and splattered below him. Plop.
The disgust must have shown on my face because he paused and scowled at me “What’s the matter with you?”
“I can’t believe you put ketchup on your hot dog.” I said and licked mustard off my bottom lip.

Anima

What is wrong with people?
Can’t they take a hint? There are No Trespassing signs… A girl scout hung in effigy….
Satyr lawn ornaments dancing around a pentagram torched in the grass…
What’s it take to be left in peace?
Oh the horror, they are traipsing up my drive, thru the allée made of impaled real estate agents and vacuum cleaner salesmen. They’ve passed my menacing hellhound…
Who are they? A pox on these doorknockers I say!
Yes…?
Ma’mm, we’ve come to nominate your gingerbread house to the historical society…
Oh… Well then, my dearies, won’t you please come in?

Brad Z

Slowly, mother nature is spreading terror across the nation. State by state, the weather reporters track it’s progress. Unable to stop it they speak of the horrors of the ice fog that is coming. City by city it spreads closer. The local weather reporters warn of the dangers to follow in the morning before I click the TV off and fall asleep. In the morning, the closings scroll across the bottom of the screen. Wiping sleep from my eyes I look to see if today will be a snow day. Oh, the horror, everyone gets to stay home but me!

Ashley

Charles’ life was great. He had a dream job, a marriage of twelve years to a content wife and four amazing children.
There was even time for other women.
Charles whistled as he added more lewdness to an already quite lewd email and hit send. An automated reply quickly popped up.
He abruptly noticed the name of the reply and froze. It was his wife’s work account. Somehow, he’d sent the email to the wrong address.
As Charles sat in shock at his computer, a favorite phrase of his mother’s came to him, “Son, if you play you pay.”

Tom

“Spiritus Mundi” screamed Klatu.
Gort shrugs his shoulders.
“It is the gyre of this stony sleep we must dispel” railed Klatu.
“The falcon can not hear the falconer.”
Lacking all conviction Gort move its slow thighs.
“Wait surely some revelation is at hand!”
“The worst are full of passionate intensity.”
About Klatu the tiny metal bugs chewed.
“Things fall apart” stated the robot
a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun.
“Klatu, the center cannot hold.”
He grabbed Gort whispering
“Gort Klaatu barada nikto”
The beast knew
its hour come round at last,
Slouched towards Bethlehem
to settle a score

Guy David

It was laundry day. Harry memorized the instructions ahead of time. He just knew he would be able to operate the washing machine with ease this time. Margaret watched him like a vulture. He shivered. One mistake and he is toast. He put the clothes in the machine, turned the knobs, pushed the button and watched as they started spinning. There was nothing to do but wait now.
Later, when the cycle was finished, he took out the clothes under Margaret’s watching eyes, intending to hang them on the laundry line but… Oh, the horror! – they all turned out green.

Planet Z

O, the horror.
The studio is unhappy with my latest picture, so they want me to appear in a fundraiser for childrens’ diseases.
I asked which disease was it for – I’m a great fan of any disease or form of death, really.
Can we raise money to give away guillotines for tots? Or how about high-powered explosive candies?
Guns. Kids love guns. And they’re very dangerous when put in the hands of a child.
The studio was mortified. They’re sending some singer in my place – Michael Jackson or something.
They’ll have a great time with him, I’m sure.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Thirty-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 A Flashing Red Light.
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #138?
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com/
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com/
	Mike P.
	Guy David from http://www.guydavid.com/
	Caleb from http://blacktiemartiniclub.com
	Brad Z from http://mutecow.net
	Byz from http://eatonbennett.blogspot.com/
	Ashley
	Almo
	Justin from http://www.thebeandom.com/spaceturtle
	Jeff Hite from http://greathites.blogspot.com/
	Norval Joe from http://www.novalsoutlook.blogspot.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

There. Mari put a last wrap of electrical tape on the splice and flipped on the main breaker.
Jeff was the perfect prince on their first date, bringing her flowers and complimenting her haircut. Their second date was also good, but it went downhill after that. First it was going Dutch to the basketball game; now, Jeff was your typical boy leech.
Last week, he said he wanted to date others.
What a relief! thought Mari.
Could she make sure no one else would be fooled by Jeff’s charms?
The flashing red light on his porch should be warning enough…

Tom

The flashing red lights reflected off the splitter windshield. He hit the speed dial to Tom. The persistent answered machine pulsed out on income call screened till later. Tom’s attention was drawn to the flash red light on the coffeemaker. “Where the Hell was Jim?” he opening the door to catch a glimpse of red trail lights. Rain pounded down on the porch, but Gloria’s jet rose above the storm. A strobing red light barely visible to both Jim and Tom trail off into the north. Her thoughts were of them, but the flash red oxygen light drove them off.

Mike P

Beep. Beep. Beep.
Andy sat in the dark, eyes fixed on the answering machine by the door. The flashing red light ticked away, like a hospital monitor counting down to the death of his heart.
One new message. One new message. One new message.
Andy knew what it would say. Harriet had also sent an email, a registered letter, and a singing telegram. Every time the message was the same.
“Got the job, moving to Portland. It was fun while it lasted.”
As long as he didn’t listen to the message, Andy could pretend it hadn’t happened.
Beep. Beep. Beep.

Guy David

My son rejoiced in his new computer screen. That was exactly what he wanted for his 12th birthday. Maple Story never looked better on his screen. He continued with his game play, face intent with concentration, commenting on his intricate game strategies from time to time. I listened, savoring his young wisdom. Much later, when I finally convinced him to shut down his computer and go to sleep, I noticed the power button was flashing a small red light, and I knew my son would surf the virtual worlds of tomorrow, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Caleb

There’s a flashing red light
That blinks through the night
Illuminating my whole house
Is it a neon sign?
Have I lost my mind
An overturned laser jet mouse?
Maybe it’s a cyborg
A wants me to die borg
Assassinated by some robotic louse
Maybe it’s a fairy
All crinkly and hairy
And wearing a gossamer blouse
There’s a flashing red light
That blinks through the night
Illuminating my whole head
Maybe it’s the end
I’ve gone round the bend
It’s a light to tell me that I’m dead
Hey Shakespeare! Wake up! You passed out on your blackberry again!

Brad Z

As I neared the village destruction upon the lands increased. The villagers had contacted me to save them but it appears that I arrived to late. Ruins filled what was once a peaceful community. In the distance, behind the village, stood the black mountain, home of the black sorcerer and his evil hordes. A mighty howl came from the pair of hellhounds galloping at my side followed by the roar of the giant tiger that ran with them. Battle would begin soon.
The flashing red lights filled my vision as I rolled over.
“Crap, the power went off last night.”

Byz

Christmas was too close! Loneliness, the only prospect on the horizon,
made the confines of his room all the more unbearable.
How long had it been since he’d slept without dreaming, getting lost in
nightmares as old as himself?
His companion, a flashing red light outside his bedroom
window, blinked solidly through the night. Never deserting him for
someone more handsome or with more money. Not like Charlene had.
He wondered how she was. Maybe she was still living and the other guy
hadn’t got sick of her and bumped her off. Maybe she’d gotten lucky even
if he hadn’t.

Ashley

The Perp said, “I’m innocent.”
“Sure,” replied Officer Jenkins. “You flashed ladies wearing only a red blinking light over your crotch yelling eat me I’m wholesome?”
“Not flashed, blinked. I wore a light.”
“Let’s just say the arrest was in the spirit of the law, okay.”
Later at the cell, Jenkins announced, “be sure to show them why you’re here.” Several of the occupants turned, obviously interested.
“You really aren’t going to leave me here, are you?” asked the Perp.
“Absolutely not,” said Jenkins closing the door and heading towards the stairs, “and to all a good night.”

Almo

The ’72 Impala left a plume of dust as it came over the hill toward home. It was an incredible panorama. If you weren’t from there. If you didn’t grow up wishing you could see Wal-Mart instead of sagebrush.
The town was one intersection. Big enough for a post office, a barking dog, a closed restaurant and his house.
He enjoyed telling people where he was from.
“Nowhere,” he’d say. “Nowhere, Colorado.”
That was the best part.
He stopped at the intersection. There was a traffic signal.
“A flashing red light?” he thought. “Progress.”
He couldn’t see another car.

Justin

The console lit up; a blinking red light. God knew it was coming, it was inevitable. While free will was better, it was messy. The tree stood in the middle of Eden, Adam and Eve forbidden to eat of it. They did, though. It was time to go down and see them. Things were about to change forever. At least He had known it was coming. His other idea was to put a red button that would blow up the planet. Unlike the forbidden fruit, a red button would have been pressed far sooner with no tempter required at all.

Jeff Hite

“Hey, what is that?”
“What’s what?”
“That flashy thing over there?”
“You you mean the flashing red light?”
“Yeah that’s the one.”
“Oh that’s usually really bad?”
“Bad? What do you mean bad?”
“Yeah it usually means the engine is about to flame out and we are going to start falling like a stone.”
“Oh yeah? So what does it mean now?”
“Hmm let me see. Oh yeah, that the engine is about to flame out and that we are going to start falling like a stone.”
“Oh ok.”
“Engine flame out… loss of forward momentum…prepare for crash landing.”
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Norval Joe

Higgs Boson aimed his galactic cruiser at the cosmic microwave background.
His new blink-drive harnessed the power of nuclear fusion to slip him through the fabric of the space-time continuum.
The reactor thrummed with energy and the ship disappeared. Like a rock skipped across a pond it winked in and out of existence along the programmed trajectory.
Eventually, the energy dissipated enough for the ship to wink in and coast at sub light speed, while the engine primed for its next ignition.
As he began the ignition sequence, a flashing red light warned, his mission was coming to an end.

Planet Z

I am the Clerk of the Court, as my father was and his fathers before him.
I tend the Justice Machine, the final thread holding civilization together, surviving the Apocalypse left to us from our disagreeable ancestors.
The defendant, the witnesses, and the sheriff give their testimony before the altar.
I then push the button, and we watch the light.
Will it turn green or remain red?
I know the answer. It will be red.
It is always red. It will always be red.
There is no Justice in the world.
There never has been. And there never will be.

Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Thirty-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 Blow Pops and Water
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #137?
	Tom
	Norval Joe
	Justin from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr_Zu6vxWEo
	Anima Zabaleta from http://http.zabbadabba.com/
	Eva Moon from http://evamoon.net/
	Byz
	Guy David from http://www.guydavid.com
	Ashley
	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):

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TOM

They drained the water out of the pool, then pulled Bruce onto the deck. In spite of being very dead and very wet Bruce had a exceedingly large smile on his face due to a number of blow pops shoveled into his month. Lt. Roveochvski thumbed through his copy of The Guinness Book of World Record under lollipops filled with bubble gum. “It says 14 by Lionel Mountbatten of Sheffield.” The forensic guy pulled out 16 pops. “Seems he literally gummed himself to death, should have stuck to cigarettes probably lived longer.” Roveochvski popped a lifesaver and tagged the toe.

NORVAL JOE

The Brain sat beside the hospital bed of his life long companion, Pinky.
He stroked the silky fur between Pinky’s large floppy ears to calm his thrashing in his pain killer induced delirium.
Developmentally delayed from birth, Pinky developed juvenal diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, hemophilia and teenage onset bi-polar depression.
The final insult came with HIV tainted blood from a transfusion.
Pinky opened his watery eyes and gazed sightlessly at his friend.
“Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?” “I think so Brain, but I forgot the blow pops and water.”
Desolate, Brain lowered his head and cried.

JUSTIN

The humpback whale lay on the Oregon Coast, fins flopping. An accident by someone watching whale and not the road caused a truckload of blow pops spilled all over. Someone had an idea. Soon spectators chewed on the blow pops and got the gum ready. When there was a huge glob of gum, they carefully put it in one of the whale’s blowholes. Then they hooked a mix of oxygen and helium to the other blowhole. The bubble formed from the blowhole and the whale floated and was guided by a kite flying expert back to sea. Pop! Splash! Freedom.

ANIMA

Kellie loves to knit. Really makes the needles fly.
First it was scarves for friends,
then more difficult techniques, like felting and spinning her own yarns.
Once she went experimental, I don’t know of anything she didn’t try to knit.
Dad got slippers knit from the skins of organic banana peels;
Jenna, a blanket made of bank statements,
I received a barbed wire hobo bag.
But not every project was successful…
Kellie wore a SWEET cotton candy cardigan, with blow pops for buttons, to the church picnic.
Needless to say, she was a big hit at the water balloon toss.

EVA MOON

The popping bubble sounds were coming in a steady, unbroken stream at last.
The rush of pleasure at his accomplishment almost overshadowed the pounding headache.
Zoran was a master clarinetist, but one skill eluded him: circular breathing. Without it he couldn’t play continuously. Until now.
The old methods are often the best: Want to learn circular breathing? Get a glass of water and a straw. Have your teacher stand behind you with a stick. Blow bubbles in the water. When the bubbles stop, you get whacked with the stick.
Trust me, in no time at all the bubbles don’t stop.

BYZ

Ten years old and full of mischief, Lara, wandered along the sidewalk with her lollipop jammed into her mouth. A Blow Pop to be exact. Temptation had greedily lured her into stealing money for the favored sweet. Her conscience pricking her just enough to take the edge off her blissful state.
Rounding the corner, her young body ran smack into a huge man. Looking up she saw a policeman.
Her mouth opening on a shriek saw the coveted Blow Pop fall into a puddle of muddy looking water.
Instantly her mom’s words, “crime doesn’t pay”, ran guiltily through her mind.

GUY DAVID

The packet of Cherry Flavored Charms Blow Pops was half buried in the water. Little Linda bent over and tried to pick it up. It was stuck. The kid pulled at it. The packet seemed to pull back at her. She pulled harder. The packet also pulled harder until it knocked Linda off her feet and started dragging her into the water. Linda just wouldn’t let go. She really wanted those colorful yummy looking lollipops. Eventually, she was pulled right into the water where a shark with a fishing rod put her in a basket and walked away with her.

ASHLEY

The kid took two licks of the tootsie roll blow pop and accidentally dropped it.
“How many licks to get to the middle?” he exclaimed.
An owl silently swooped down on the fallen blow pop and bit it in half.
Unfortunately for the owl, he just crashed a pool party complete with swimmin pool, slip-n-slide and a sundry of water balloons.
Some of the other kids started pelting the owl with water balloons. The owl turned his head completely around startling the kids, then silently flew back into the woods, blow pop in tow.
“So it takes three licks, “sighed the kid.

CALEB

“Robot, is Stacy home yet?”
“In the Garden, Sir”
“Did you get the stuff for the play date tomorrow?”
“stuff, Sir?”
“The shopping list I left on the fridge for you!”
“You did not specify…”
“It doesn’t matter what size water, half liter, 20 Ounces, whatever”
“You did not specify…”
“What kind of lollipop? They’re kids it doesn’t matter. Cherry, Strawberry, Schnozzberry for all they care!”
“You did not specify it was a Shopping List, Sir”
“What the hell else…?”
Just then Stacy ran in saying she’d seen her dad lying dead in the pool with no pants on, smiling

PLANET Z

Just a kid, a stupid kid, a drug runner who didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell to get out of the ghetto, he tagged the bricks with shapes and colors because he didn’t know how to read, didn’t know how to write, didn’t know how to think, didn’t have a future, ran to the dealer and said “Tucker want two kilo blow, Pops.” and the dealer smacked him hard, hard enough to knock out a rotten tooth and make his eyes water “Don’t you call me Pops, I ain’t your poppa, I just fucked your momma, boy.”

WARNING: After the rookies, I get off on a rather perturbed rant over something Steven the Nuclear Man said on his Ideatrash blog in reference to a simple question I asked on Twitter.
If you don’t want to deal with the politics, religion, he-said-she-said or risk having your head cut off for thinking for yourself, please feel free to skip that section.
The rant begins at 12 minutes. Jeffrey’s tale begins at 16 minutes and 28 seconds.

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Welcome to the Weekly Challenge Number One Hundred And Thirty-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 Thankful
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories of Weekly Challenge #136?
	Anima from http://zabbadabba.com
	Justin from http://water.cc/
	Tom from http://midi.libsyn.com
	Byz from http://eatonbennett.blogspot.com/
	Hattie
	Mary from http://randomness-of-me-blog.blogspot.com/
	Norval Joe from http://www.norvalsoutlook.blogspot.com
	Jeffrey from http://greathites.blogspot.com/
	Ashley
	Guy 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):

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Anima

I reckon I’s got a moment to ruminate…
Lemme see: January, I got T-boned: but Insurance bought me a new used Chevrolet. It don’t burn half the oil the Dodge did!
That there windstorm peeled off the trailer roof and Jimmy put in a fancy skylight. So what if it leaks a little;
Summer drought killed off the grass, so the yard never needs mowing;
And today, a mechanical on this here aeroplane gives me 90 minutes of peace from my whiney sister-in-law.
Indeed, Sugar, I’s thankful for the tarnished linings of all them dark, brooding clouds.

Justin

Every day Abana carries the ten gallon water jug to the well, stands in line, fills the jug when it is her turn, then carries it home. She has to only walk one mile each way. She used to have to walk four miles there and back again. Abana is eleven. She had a brother. He was only four when he died from drinking dirty water. That was before a well was built in their own town, before they could get clean water every day. People who cared donated money to build the well. Abana is thankful for clean water.

Tom

I’ve had a second job for years. I drive around behind Brink’s Armored cars and wait for money to fall out. Been doing it for 40 years, have this friend who owns a used car lot, use a different car each day. Not that hard to do, just a few hour each workday. Came close once or twice over the years. A door swung open, a guy drove off and left a bag behind, but to date no money has hit the road yet. I’m still hopeful. And thankful that Americans is a land where trucks filled with money drive around.

Byz

The door slammed shut in Lola’s face. Could she cope with another pubescent teenager?
Memories of past rebellions sent her pulse rate soaring. A simple request to hang out the washing had caused the girl to turn on her. Was obedience too much to expect?
Five kids had already traveled this route, happily causing chaos. Thankfully, each one had survived puberty’s rite of passage and eventually grown up.
All too familiar tears stung the back of her eyes and throat, reminding just how tough it could get. She would have to be the strong one, for her daughter and herself.

Hattie

Sally pulled the yellow cashmere scarf off her neck and tossed it on the floor in the front hall. She pulled off her wool pea coat and let it fall into a heap. Right foot then left foot she kicked off her pointy toed heels. In stockinged feet, Sally shuffled into the kitchen and poured herself a celebratory glass of chardonnay. The telephone rang as she enjoyed the last drop. Caller ID revealed it was him. She let it ring. The papers were signed today. She didn’t have to answer. What a feeling! Finally free!

Jeffrey

We watched for a very long time until we realized what was happening. The Humans were gathering for their yearly sustenance. We had watched them gather for much smaller in take of sustenance before, but this seems to be their main feeding. It will be interesting to see how they will in take so much of what they call food. We have dissected several of them and know that their internal organs could never process so much at one time. We will move in closer, and see what we can hear. I’m thankful that there will be no dissection tonight.

Norval Joe

A tree is cut down.
Shining with tinsel and lights
It lives forever.
Anticipation.
There will be no sleep tonight.
Santa comes and goes.
Thoughtfully chosen,
Paper, silver, red and gold
gifts under the tree.
A stupid toy mouse.
Nardo knocks over the tree.
They should learn from this.
The kids are all here.
Thankful to be together
Christmas day begins.
Babies first Christmas.
She plays with bows and paper
The toys are ignored.
Traditional game,
Men and boys in the back yard
The boys win again.
Worn out already,
The baby sleeps in his arms,
Grandad takes a nap.

Mary

“What’s an eight letter word for ‘expressive of gratitude’?”
“Are you still messing with that crossword? Don’t you realize how much we need to get done?”
“Fourth letter is ‘N’.”
“We’ve got to get this whole house clean. Why’d we buy such a big house?”
“Ends in ‘L’.”
“I hope I bought enough food. I can’t believe the entire family is coming to dinner.”
“It might start with ‘T’.”
“At least nobody’s in the hospital this year.”
“That’s it! Thanks honey!”
“What?”
“The word is T-H-A-N-K-F-U-L, and you just made me realize how much I have to be thankful for.”

Ashley

She froze, focused on the dark form standing before her, steadied her breathing and prepared to fire.
Before she could squeeze the trigger, Jacome stepped from the shadow of a tree and raised his hand, weapon pointed to the ground.
Rica said, “You had better be thankful you’re not a regular. Your ass was about to be toast.”
Replied Jacome,” I could say the same.”
On a precipice far above, a regular sniper eased off the safety and caressed the trigger once, then again.
After awhile, the jungle slowly began to come back to life, for the short term anyway.

Guy

The ceremony of “The Thankful” was about to begin. “We have so much to be thankful for” said Kurt, their leader. Simon brought the wine. Berta brought the cheese and the crackers. They all span around in the circle and chanted, then Emily threw red flowers into the air. Everyone cheered. “It’s like a wedding” laughed Amanda in joy, “it’s the ultimate binding.” Someone opened the campaign and they all toasted, then it was time. “Bring her” cried out Kurt, holding the sacrificial knife. There was a murmur, then a stunned silence as they realized the forgot the sacrificial virgin.

Planet Z

Of all the Care Bears, Thankful Bear was the most quiet.
When someone did something for him, a simple heartfelt “Thank you” sufficed.
Any more than that would be seen as obnoxious or disingenuous, he thought.
Sure, he was thankful for every day he lived, every meal he ate, and every night he slept somewhere warm and safe.
He didn’t need to shout it out every time he felt it like all the other babbling Care Bears.
His attitude on gratitude didn’t make for good film, so he was cut after the first season.
For that, he was thankful, too.