Weekly Challenge #94 – Pen and Ink

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Welcome to the Ninety-Fourth Weekly Challenge, 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 selected by Tom of Footnote.
It’s Pen and Ink
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which stories were the best from Weekly Challenge #94
Laieanna from Hodgepodge Point
Tom from Footnote Podcast
Storm Thunders from The Eye of the Storm
Guy David from Guy David dot com
Terry the Old Coot
Houston Keys from Tater Tots For The Masses
Elisson from blog d’Elisson
Caleb from Black Tie Martini Club Oddcast
Planet Z
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com


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


LAIEANNA

The shopkeeper pulled a pen and inkwell from under the glass counter.
“Take this and use your favorite pad of paper to draw your dreams.”
The shopkeeper packed up the merchandise and handed it over to Fiona.
“Just remember the potency wears off within hours. Go home and
imagine.”
Fiona did just that, only to return to the shop minutes before
closing. The shopkeeper looked up at her strange new companion and
smiled. “How did it go?”
“Huge problem!” Fiona huffed, “He’s perfect except he’s purple! It
won’t wash off.”
“That’s what you get for drawing on frilly colored paper.”

TOM

The nuns said the uses of a ball point would ruin my penmanship that vessel sailed long before the world was burred in BICS. The ball of ADD Dyslexic contrails which is my brain never got the hang of laying pen to paper. I was never patient enough to master the Zen of pen and ink. It was always about whole body mechanics from the finger to shoulder. It was about a floating perpendicularity as precise as Marine Drill Sargent. But most important is was the feel for metal gently biting the surface of pulp a conscience contact with externality

STORM

I dream in colors
to the rhythm of the needle against their skin
Tapping
Trapping ink beneath the layers
Freeing secrets
The bells jingle. Usually they come asking for butterflies or skulls or lovers’ names. I look over to see another who’s heard the whispered rumors and come seeking. My inks mix with their blood, creating colors and lines showing the indelible marks within… Inner beauty, hidden scars, buried secrets… My pen flows, illuminating their truths.
This one I refuse. I speak her name aloud, shocking tears from him.
“I will not damn. Make amends before you face my needles.”

GUY DAVID

My pen is bleeding blue
Blue ink of pain pouring rain
Where does all this sadness come from
Time have sharpened the pencil
Wrote my life and laughed
And now my pen is bleeding red
A scream of anguish
The rage of time passing
And the stone wall
Unbreakable wall
My pen is bleeding blue
Blue ink of pain pouring rain
On wet paper
The wetness of tears
Maybe I could drown like Alice
Maybe disappear
But where would I go
Can’t run away from my past
So I stay in the present
Bleeding the blue blood of a pen

TERRY

Day 1 ” May 13, 2012
I have found myself alive and still breathing after crash landing on the planet Mars. I think the cause was a malfunction of the guidance system in the ship’s main computer.
The craft is a total wreck; it has spilt up into several sections with parts of it burning after spotting signs of smoke on the horizon.
My command module has sustained damage, but seems to be still pressurized and I have enough water and air for several days.
With the other wreckage burning, I have to assume that there is oxygen in the atmosphere, Now all I need to know is how much and how to extract it. I have tuned my radio, which looks as if it is still functioning; to S.O.S. But, only god knows if anyone will hear it.
My next chore is to suit up and explore the wreckage for usable equipment; I wish I only had pen and ink to set this record down on paper.
This is Captain Josh Jones, Earth Space Command, signing off.

HOUSTON

Hello my name is Stephen Hawking and Houston has asked me to resort to
pen and ink and recite some of my original poetry.
Her skin glistened in the moonlight,
My heartbeat quickened as I soaked in her beauty.
My wandering gaze moved from her lips,
To her plunging neckline,
To her”
Steve, Man, sorry, this just isn’t working.
What do you mean?
It just sounds, I don’t know” Creepy
FINE! JERK! The next time you need assistance with astrophysical
theory you may go elsewhere you small minded, cube dwelling, thick
browed technical support drone!
Uh. OK. Thanks anyway Steve.

ELISSON

A few cycles ago, I was glimming the morning Speedtext, where I saw the
most intriguing ad:
PORTABLE INFORMATION STORAGE SYSTEM
requires no batteries, stores images or alphanumeric characters with
equal ease. Data retrieval uses principle of SELECTIVE REFLECTION” in
conjunction with electromagnetic radiation source (not included). Access
any part of your database with simple manual operation! Available
preprogrammed with large variety of software.
Store below 451″F.
I had to have one! I scanned my credichip and waited for the transmuter
to zoop it.
It was a “book.” I was mesmerized. What primitive beauty!
The “pen” and “ink” come tomorrow.

CALEB

Hey Merle, come here! What”s all that ink doing in the pig pen?
That aint Ink, Jocephus, that”s oil!
Oil?
Black Gold, Texas Tea, Well the first thing you know ole Jed”s a Millionaire, OIL man!
Okay” So uh Merle, What”s all that oil doing in the pig pen?
Well either we struck oil and we”re going to be filthy rich and never have to work another day in our lives or one of the robotic pigs has blown a gasket. Now which do you think it is?
Aw Merle, those goddamn robotic pigs are more trouble than they”re worth.

PLANET Z

Back in the wild days of the Wordslingers, pens for hire would ride the range, silver pocket protectors in their button-down shirt pockets.
They’d square off on Main Street at high noon, standing there tall, staring each other down.
Their fingers twitching at their sides, ready to reach for their magnificent pens…
All around, the townspeople watched, the local newspaper’s literary critic measuring out column space for the loser.
They draw! Ink flies! Harsh words are exchanged!
One man goes down! Get this man an editor!
He arrives too late.
The victor bows his head, and writes the epitaph.

Keyboard Shake

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Ever turn your keyboard over and shake it?
Usually, just hair and dust fall out.
However, it’s somewhat unusual for an living octopus to fall out.
I carried the odd creature to the sink and filled the sink up with water.
The octopus crawled around, exploring its new environment with its suckered tentacles.
How long had it been in my keyboard?
How did it get in my keyboard?
I don’t remember dropping an octopus in my keyboard.
I called the manufacturer… they had strict octopus-prevention procedures in place.
What will I do with it?
Hey, anybody need a pet octopus?

Shopping List

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My shopping list is on the New York Times Bestseller’s List.
I don’t know what happened, but I got a call from a reporter asking me questions about being an author, and I had no idea what was going on.
Oprah, Good Morning America, Regis… they all want to talk to me.
I don’t know what’s so compelling about my shopping list, but I guess it touched a whole bunch of people.
One critic claims that I plagiarized my list. Another says that it was ghostwritten.
All I know is that I really need milk, eggs, butter, and trash bags.

Bad Blocks

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I scan the memory, block by block, looking for segment errors.
The scan is clear, but I know that there’s a bad block in there somewhere.
I run it again. Still clear.
Then I shift the program to a different location. The exposed virus crawls block-by-block back underneath it like a cockroach scuttling back under a refrigerator that’s been moved.
Gotcha!
I run the scanner again, this time from an external address.
All clear on the memory space.
And that’s what my lawyer said when they found the virus running free, carried out of the blocks by my memory scanner.

Iris

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Just as some women light up a room, Iris scented up a room with her peculiar aroma.
For some reason, Iris liked to spray herself with water from a handheld mister and then dust herself from head to toe with powdered cinnamon.
She said that she learned this from her mother, although her mother used nutmeg.
Iris preferred cinnamon to nutmeg.
At parties, people would look around for the air freshener or the scented candle.
Iris would smile, knowing they’d eventually figure out it was her.
She’d dip her fingers in their coffee, and they’d sip her up with glee.

Breaking Glass

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Moishe was always breaking glass.
Schlomo was always gluing glass pieces together to make beautiful art.
Moishe and Schlomo were the perfect team.
Sure, Schlomo needed Moishe, but Moishe needed Schlomo because Schlomo amazing glass artworks were beautiful enough to convince someone that it was okay that their window got smashed.
When Moishe got married, Schlomo glued the crushed wineglass into a beautiful swan and presented it to the bride.
He kept one piece for himself, which later that evening, he used to cut his own throat.
Oy gevalt, what a mess! Hierschel, what gets blood out of a carpet?

Secretaries

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When I have a choice, I’ll always pick the ugly secretary.
It’s been my lifelong experience that pretty secretaries can get by on their wonderful looks, but ugly secretaries have to be good at what they do.
It has also been my experience that pretty receptionists are utterly useless. Nobody wants them as a secretary, so they stick them up front to greet people.
There are no ugly receptionists. Well, in a way, there are.
In those cases, they’re meant to be security guards. Not exactly a friendly reception, but very useful, as my experience and two broken legs suggest.

Weekly Challenge #93 – Hygenic Products

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Welcome to the Ninety-Third Weekly Challenge, 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 selected by Duckyfresh Watanabe.
It’s Hygenic Products
The excellent theme music is by Guy David
VOTING

Which were the best stories in Weekly Challenge #93?
Tom from Footnote
Guy David from Sixteenth
Daphne Abernathy of Going Broke
Kelly Burt from Come Let Me Whisper
Laieanna from Hodgepodge Point
Caleb from Black Tie Martini Club
Planet Z
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com


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


TOM

Initially Jane loved Sammy for his impeccable cleanliness. He looked a lot like David Bowie in the Man who fell to earth. He had nearly every possible hygienic product imaginable. The Michael Jackson high speed nostril clippers, the Arnold Schwarzenegger govonator bikini waxer, Martha Stewart ankle hair remover. Sammy went as far as to have had his sweat glands surgically rerouted. It just might have worked between them if Sammy hadn”t take it just one step to far. Jane hurriedly throw all her clothes into overnight and raced out the door just after she saw Sammy bent over engaged in a tough on Monica Lewinsky extra contoured butt fosse.

DAPHNE

Have you ever watched an 18-Wheeler over turn? I don’t mean seeing the after effects of the helpless trailer on its side and the contents all over the road. I mean seeing it take an off-ramp too fast, tipping over on to two wheels and then come tumbling over with such a crash that the back doors burst open and the contents go everywhere. Well I have, and right now my car is covered in Hygienic Products… so I’m going to be a little late for work.

GUY DAVID

Lony was lazing on the sofa with me, when that salesman came knocking at our door. “Keep yourselves clean ladies, with the latest Crapking Super Hygienic cleansing products”. So much dirty sales talk.
We decided to have fun a little, but Lony got a little rusty since Droma barbecued her, so she turned him into an elf by mistake, while trying to turn him into a pile of dirty socks for our cat, Footnote. Now, imagine an elf, trying to go door to door, selling hygienic products. I just had to do something, so, I turned him into a frog.

KELLY BURT

I was a little concerned when I first left a toothbrush, but he took it well. Then I left some underwear. This was also tolerated. I assumed all was well– I assumed. That was my first mistake. The problem arose when I decided to leave my own personal “hygienic products”. I left my brand of toothpaste and hair products. This pissed him off. He decided that I didn’t like his products, therefore this was a personal attack on him. I’m glad I didn’t leave any tampons. I really would’ve been frighten if he had an opinion on my feminine products.

LAIEANNA

“I am the baddest dog around. No human tells me what to do.”
“Ha, you wish. All cats top you. We’re cunning and never ever do
what we’re told.”
“I’ll prove it! I’ll steal food off the table.”
“I’ll walk on the counters.”
“Oh. Oh! I’ll dig holes in the yard.”
“I’ll eat their goldfish.”
“I’ll chew up their house shoes.”
“I’ll shred the curtains.”
“I’ll bark all night.”
“I’ll pee throughout the house.”
“Well, I’ll drag whatever’s in the bathroom garbage all over the carpet.”
“It’s the wrong time of the month for that! You win, you disgusting animal.”

CALEB

The Following story is true nothing has been changed to protect the innocent.
In 2001 American Hygiene Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Disposable Soft Goods International, purchased the assets of Drypers Corporation following their announced bankruptcy of October 2000, substantially increasing the sales of the company in North America.
The integration of the acquisition was successfully completed in the first quarter of 2002 and the combined Net Sales for Year End 2002 were in excess of 160 million dollars. Other major North Amrerican acquisitions included Dafoe & Dafoe international in 1987, DrySec in 1993, and Universal Converters in 1997.

PLANET Z

My name is Doctor Johnson N. Johnson, and I invented the cotton swab.
No need to thank me. Just knowing you’re using them in good health is reward enough.
Since then, I’ve invented many hygienic products.
But I have a secret. A dark secret.
Late at night, in my factory, I take off my lab coat and all my other garments and I roll around naked in the cotton bails.
So soft. So luxurious. Such a delight.
Don’t think the worse of me. Come down to my factory, feel for yourself.
It’s not a perversion! It’s Heaven, I tell you!

Katy Can

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If something’s broken, Katy can fix it.
Katy can fix anything.
Bicycles. Lawnmowers. Machine guns.
Just give it to her and leave her alone.
At the last possible moment, when you’re about ready to give up, she’ll tap you on the shoulder and say it’s done.
She never fails.
Now, you can’t ask her to build something from scratch. That, she can’t do.
Or, more precisely, she won’t do.
But fixing things that are broken, that’s what she does.
And does well.
So would you still like us to bring you a doctor, or shall we ask Katy?
Thought so.

Fiddle

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If hillbillies call a violin a fiddle, what do they call themselves a cello?
Truth is, hillbilly ain’t seen no cellos never. But they always a first time.
First time a hillbilly seen himself a cello, he thought it warn’t nothin’ but a big ol fiddle for a big ol giant.
So the hillbilly think himself a big man, all hillbilly do, put the cello up at his fool neck and he try to play the thing fiddle-like.
Yeah, he break his neck, fall down dead right there, cello fallin on him.
They says a giant kilt him dead, sir.