Unlike other demons who required fancy rituals, sacrifices, and strange geometric patterns drawn on the floor, Agarro Darkshade had an ad in the yellow pages. Forgoing the traditional fireball, he preferred to knock on the front door. He also didn’t require souls or other rare artifacts for payment, he just traded in cash. No checks or credit cards, he wasn’t set up for that. He also didn’t practice dark magic. There was enough of that going about. Most of the time he’d snap his fingers to clean a house, fix a clanky air-conditioning system, or get a car running again.
Heist
Hampton Maddox drew the short straw and earned the role of getaway driver for the heist. The thing is, he didn’t know whether he should wear a mask or not. I mean, sitting there in a car in a mask is kind of suspicious, but if there are cameras on the street, they’ll clearly identify him. So he split the difference and put on nose glasses with a Groucho mustache. A cigar completed the ensemble. However, when the gang ran out of the bank, he forgot how to unlock the doors. He rolled down the windows though. That’s sorta worked.
Sixgun McGinty
Sixgun McGinty had an itchy trigger finger. Thankfully itchy trigger fingers are covered by the gunslinger union medical plan. Doc Walker gave him some pills and a cream and advised him to wear thin gloves for a few weeks. His condition significantly improved and instead of prematurely blowing away deputies and sheriffs and Marshalls, he shot them at a more reasonable and decent pace. Not that the law men ever felt like that. They felt like they were shot and bleeding out, which they did. McGinty then complained of a sore throat, but they still put a rope around it.
Weekly challenge #1051 – An empty cup
- Lisa
- Lizzie
- Richard
- Serendipidy
- Tom
- Norval Joe
- Planet Z
LISA
Thirsty
The cup was plastic
The cup was white
The cup was just out of reach.
She attempted to lean
She tried a shuffle
Her thirst grew but still the little cup just sat on her table
A nurse passed the end of her bed and she tried to talk, tried to nod, to groan but the nurse was reading some notes so didn’t notice and left the ward.
A cough tickled at her parched throat and lurched her body forward, knocking the cup over. Spilling the contents. The empty cup lay on the hospital floor, waiting to be thrown away.
LIZZIE
The café was still closed. “The clients are outside.” The stress. Let them wait, said the manager. Wait?! The clients will leave. The manager, furious, slammed the door open, letting a flood of people in. “Line up, ladies and gentlemen.” Some of the clients left. And like so, day after day, the café went bankrupt. “Now we’re unemployed.” The manager sneered. “I’ve got a job for you.” The staff looked surprised. “I have a… parallel business in the basement.” Six people were counting bills. Millions. “Where is this money coming from?!” The manager smiled. “No one knows.” And he winked.
RICHARD
Unpredictable
The old woman stared into the empty cup before looking up at me curiously.
“Young man,” she said – I liked that – “I have never seen a pattern like this before. It is hard to know exactly what the tea leaves are saying.
On the one hand, I see them spell success, wealth and power, on the other… well, shall we just say the future doesn’t look quite so bright?”
I was annoyed. I hadn’t crossed her palm with silver for that.
I grabbed the cup and looked inside.
I saw exactly what the leaves were saying.
My teabag had split!
SERENDIPIDY
An empty cup.
A dead body.
I know what you’re thinking. I poisoned him, right?
You’re wrong, that was the last thing on my mind when he woke me this morning with a cup of tea.
It was a thoughtful gesture.
But, he didn’t really think it through.
I don’t drink tea first thing in the morning; and if I did, believe me, it wouldn’t be black, with two sugars.
I drink coffee.
And without my morning coffee, I get very grumpy indeed.
He knew that, and still he gave me tea. Black, with two sugars.
So, I strangled him.
TOM
And left the cup unreconciled.
The empty tea cup sits to my left. Victorian blue edged in gold-leaf, hell 30% of the thing in gold-leaf. The handle done in a Greek revile manner that is known as Colonial. Echoing the silver work of Revere I found it at the back of Diann’s China cabinet. A tiny item in the mass of object that must not find new homes. It screams of drawing room pretension, so unlike the woman who last owned it. More Tupperware than China, more dairy queen than Hight tea. It is doubtful I will ever have cause to fill it with tea.
NORVAL JOE
“Why are we at Bobby’s house?” Sabrina asked Billbert’s mother as they navigated through the trash in the front yard.
Mrs. Weinerheimer kicked an empty paper cup with her toe. “Look at this mess. Children’s protective service is coming here in the morning. If we don’t get their house straightened up, Bobby and Patrick will be removed from the home before they’re able to verify our story.”
Surprised to find them on her porch this late, Bobby still invited them in.
“Do you need something?” she asked.
“Yes,” Joan said. “But first we need to get your house cleaned up.”
PLANET Z
Ollie, the owner of the company, would put a cup on the floor and practice his golf putting in his office. His son, Richard, had the whole back wall of his office taken out and he would practice like he was on the driving range. The factory floor was pretty large, but the ball tended to ricochet off the machinery and the employees. They’ve got hard hats, said, Richard, teeing up another ball. Ollie, ever the diplomat, offered hazard pay to anybody who took a golf ball to the head. It’s not like Richard isn’t shouting fore, right? He said.
Turkey
Frederick maintained the boiling oil over the entryway at the Duke’s castle. But he used the finest cooking oil of the kingdom, and he had a side business of making skewers of tempura, vegetables and chicken. It was quite the lucrative venture. On Thanksgiving, he would deep fry turkeys. The Duke really enjoyed deep fried turkey, and he gave Frederick a promotion. Frederick‘s assistant, then took over the oil duties, but the next Thanksgiving he forgot to thaw the turkey and when they were dropped in to the cauldron, the ice flashed to steam and scalded everyone in the tower.
Boiling oil
When it came to jobs at the castle, a lot of the guards were jealous of Frederick. He was in charge of the night shift for the boiling oil that they could pour over enemy soldiers coming through the main entrance. with the castle being in northern Denmark, and it’s cold climate, Frederick was warm in winter while the archers on the parapets had to wrap themselves in multiple elk skins. Then the Duke remodeled the entrance to use interchangeable archers to fire through murder holes. Frederick was not so good with a bow and arrow, and he was downsized.
Bird Tongues
More and more football players are suffering the effects of multiple concussions and brain damage. Despite tougher rules and tougher helmets, weak schools and brains still end up damaged. Thankfully, there’s an endless supply of guys willing to make millions at the expense of their long-term health. Scientists look to nature for Solutions. The woodpecker has a tongue so long, it wraps around its brain while it’s bashing its head against a tree. Genetically engineering a football player with such a long tongue might be difficult, but I’m sure that the cheerleaders and the players baby mamas would approve.
Silver
Jenny saw the silver picture frames at an estate sale. There weren’t any pictures in them. Which meant the family wanted the photos but not the frames which is strange, I mean, they’re silver, but maybe they just needed the money. Or maybe they bought the frames but never got around to putting pictures in them. Or they took the pictures out to put into a photo album. Her mind raced with possibilities, telling stories and stories about stories. She bought them for really cheap, went to a jewelry store, and sold them for their silver. For a good price.
Latest model
The Robo corporation releases new models every year. The latest, Trixie, is a rather versatile model that can handle most tasks. Unlike their Heather or Yoko, it can handle domestic housework, babysitting, offshore oil rig maintenance, and some surgical procedures. The Eloise, which was recalled recently, was only in limited release and despite several firmware updates, never quite could get the hang of yoga or crochet. And the less said about Cynthia, the better. When I last heard, the class action lawsuit had been settled with the victims or their families. What a nasty piece of work that Cynthia was.
Have you met Jesus
A pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses girls were at the door, asking me if I wanted to go to church with them to learn about Jesus Christ. I told them that they’re at the wrong house. Jesus Christ lives next-door. They didn’t believe me, so I walked over next door with them and knocked, and Jesus opened the door and said hey. The two girls were absolutely stunned. I said hey dude. Can I get my lawnmower back? Jesus shrugged and told his voice assistant to open the garage. The girls just stood there, I went and got my lawnmower back.