Last week's winner, @sparrownotes24, is this week's prompt-picker and judge.
Here it is:
Remember to check the rules.
Have your 100 - 200 words submitted by 12:00am Friday, May 31, US EDST.
We want anything and everything: poetry, prose, fanfic, OF.
JUST GET WRITING!
Leave your entry as a comment - include your word count, and your twitter handle if you have one.
FYI - entries that exceed (or are under) the word limits will not be considered by the judge.
@shellisthimbles
ReplyDelete137 ineligible words
----------------------
I toe the water. It’s cold.
She laughs at me. “You get used to it. Just jump in.”
She paddles her legs and the ripples spread across the surface of the pool until they crash upon its pavered edge.
“Come on.”
I shake my head but there’s no conviction in the movement. She’s always had me wrapped around her pinky finger. Me, and everybody else.
She’s that girl. You know the one. She’s everything that ends with –est.
Brightest, prettiest, kindest, cleverest. Happiest. Sweetest.
You want to hate her but you can’t.
“Get in here!” Water splashes from her fingertips. She doesn’t wet me, though.
She’s the bravest, too, but she’s generous with her courage.
“You can do it.” She gives me those words and I can fly.
I jump.
It’s cold.
She’s laughing.
It’s worth it.
@moonlit__girl
ReplyDelete196 words
the first time he spoke to her
she was red and stuttery,
alternately wringing her hands
and twisting her hair,
eyes fixed on the ground.
she had every single nervous habit
he had ever seen,
plus a few he hadn’t.
he offered to carry her books,
walk her to class,
buy her lunch,
take her to the movies-
all to no avail.
she whispered her excuses and
turned away, tripping
on the smooth linoleum,
swinging her arms
without any sort of cadence.
the others gave up after realizing
that her lack of interest in
“forming connections”
was not
just her being “shy”.
she put substantial effort into being alone.
she didn’t like to be noticed,
even by tall boys with
dark hair and
light eyes.
he went to the lake
to clear his head
of the awkward girl
with sea-green eyes and mossy hair
who only ever whispered “no.”
she went to the lake
as therapy
to calm her nerves and
find the ease that only came
when she was immersed
in water.
he watched, mouth agape, as
she swam fluidly, gracefully, easily-
all the “lys” that she wasn’t, ever.
that night he dreamt of mermaids.
Sherbert20111 on FF
ReplyDeleteWordcount 200
The sea is riches of blue, the colour gemstones couldn’t match if they tried. A rainbow twinkles in the light patter of raindrops pebbling the surface.
“Ever swum in the rain? she called, swinging her arms back to dive.” A sob bleeds through my words. “I don’t think you should, I warned her. It’s too shallow, you’ll hit your head.”
“And then what happened, Sir? I know this must be difficult for you.”
“I looked away for a second, I swear, only a second. I went to get the foam noodle, because I don’t swim well. I was going to go down the steps at the stern and paddle around to where she was.”
“And that’s when you found her?”
“Yes Officer, the anchor….I…oh God” I stumble to the rail and retch over the side, into the peacefully undulating waves. There is no sign of red anywhere now, just endless blue.
A comforting hand pats my back. “The boat belongs to your fiancées Father is that correct?”
I nod jerkily, here comes the one I’ve been waiting for. I have to get my reaction just right.
“And are you aware that Miss Wells recently changed her will in your favour?”
Word count: 200 words, on the nose
ReplyDeleteTwitter handle: @AnnaLund2011
TRIGGER WARNING
~~~~~~~~~
I’m running after the ball. How am I to know it’s ending up in the pool? I am only three years old, and it BOUNCES. So beautiful, it bounces in every color of the rainbow.
I just giggle and run.
Mom is tired. She usually watches more closely by the pool, but today she’s dozing off, because my brother kept her up all night. He’s going to get teeth, they say. That hurts, they say.
Did I cry when I got teeth? No, I think I have ALWAYS had teeth. For as long as I can remember, there have always been teeth in my mouth, for biting into both candy and apples.
As I look up through the water, I see her legs over the side of the pool. I don’t think she saw me going in after the ball. I sank like a stone.
I’m watching the corner wall of the pool, down by the bottom. There are beautiful tiles here, shiny and blue.
I think she needs to come in and get me soon, because I can’t swim. I wasn’t wearing my arm-rings.
That is the last I ever see of her. Of anything.
It’s all blue now.
~~~~~~~~~
WOW That gripped my heart!!
DeleteMission accomplished, then!
Delete@bkhchica
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 153
Your shirt hits the sand first, quickly followed by your shorts. I stare, confounded.
“W...w...what are you doing?”
You chuckle, “Isn’t it obvious? I’m swimming.”
You’re body turns toward me and my breath hitches. Your boxers land with a swish beside your other close and I’m rendered speechless.
Sleek muscles and taut flesh tease my eyes as they make there way to something I’ve never seen before. The sight that they find makes me gasp and you laugh harder at my incoherent babbling.
Running into the water, you turn when its waist deep to ask, “Care to join me?” with a wiggle of your brow.
My fingers shake as they remove my clothing, leaving it in heaps beside yours.
I tentatively join you in the depths of the saltwater, sighing in relief when your lips finally meet mine and I feel your flesh against mine.
It's everything I’d dreamed of.
I'm embarrassed my typos... Sorry guys! clothes, not close...
Delete@SerendipitousMC
ReplyDeleteWord count: 199 *whew!*
***
All year, she waited for summer – for the sun to grow hotter and stay longer, for the woolens to get stashed away in favor of cotton, and for the annual ritual of uncovering the pool.
This morning, she literally kicked her husband out of bed. “You feed the kids,” she grumbled, grabbing her bathing suit and shedding her pajamas. No shower, no brushing teeth, no breakfast yet; just a much-needed baptism.
The water had cooled overnight but the air was heavy and humid, so the chill might be welcome. She approached the diving board and made a run for it. The water exploded around her and she gasped; she’d underestimated the cold and its pungent needles on her skin.
But this was her hour and she would enjoy it. She stayed submerged as long as she could, floating like the priestess of Avalon, lazily kicking her feet. How soon before a child would run out calling for her, or her husband would appear to ask, “Which cereal should they eat?”
She shook her head, her hair moving like fauna, hoping the water could wash away those thoughts so she could hang on to this delicious weightlessness a little longer.
I think you capture EVERYTHING in your piece with your use of the word "baptism." It reveals the exact type of ceremony this first dip is, and the reverence she feels for it. Brilliant.
DeleteThank you, Fred. You really "got" what I was going for in this fic. :)))
Delete200 words exactly!
ReplyDeleteYou chuckle as I cling to your shoulders, shivering. “Just relax. I’ve got you.”
“Promise you won’t let go?”
“I promise. You’ll be fine. The water will support you.”
Taking a deep breath, my heart pounding, I lean back and try to relax. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the lapping of the water, the warm sunshine, the soft breeze. You make me dizzy, standing so close, your hands splayed underneath me.
“Now, paddle your hands and feet slowly, just enough to help you stay afloat. And don’t forget to breathe!”
I do as you say, trusting you implicitly. I’ve always trusted you. I always will.
You move one hand from my back, placing it gently on my stomach to balance me. Startled, butterflies swarm my belly and my eyes dart up to laughing emerald eyes.
“Breathe, sweet girl. You’re doing great.”
You have no idea the effect your voice, smile, and touch has on me. Mama says it’s just a crush, but I know better. You’re my whole world. I’ll do anything to have you close to me, even pretend I can’t swim.
I wonder what I can get you to teach me next. A girl can dream, right?
@CrackedFic
ReplyDelete199 words
***
I cannot stop. No one can stop. The light calls and we go because we cannot undo what has been done.
The world ended long before we knew it.
She calls us one by one. The light. She calls so sweetly.
My mother answered the call on June 12, 2007. My father a year and two days after that. My brother and my teachers and and my soccer coach and everyone I had ever known and would never know, now. They answered the call of the light.
I am the last.
I had fantasies of remaining. I would resist. It was just a light. The ships had landed oh so long ago, when I was a little girl.
Visitors from another world, they said. How exciting, they said.
Backdrops, they'd become.
Then the calling began.
It calls from the water. From the ships, submerged. A tunnel of lights.
On the day of my rebirth the light calls and I go. I strip my clothes and I toe the water and I submerge and I drift feet first toward the light and it is warm and it welcomes me with shadows on my body.
The light. She welcomes. So sweetly.
196 words
ReplyDelete@lellabeth
I fell for ugly words and scarred knuckles.
I fell for a man who loved me in ways that showed no love at all.
I fell, and there’s no way to get back up.
I am tired of days spent hiding bruises or thinking of excuses.
I am every domestic violence warning personified, and I wonder how I got so lost.
No more. This is the day I reclaim ownership of myself.
I feel nothing but peace as my feet step from the dock.
There is a splash as I hit the water, then silence as it laps around my limbs.
For a split-second, I float.
Then the river's current kicks in and the weight of the rocks in my pocket drags me down into the waves.
Murky green-blue darkens into black the further downstream I travel. My lungs burn until I breathe, and then the deluge makes them ache.
Life has been hard, yet my death will come easily.
The water is cold but I can feel the warmth from the sun all around me.
I smile when I realise the last thing to hit my face will be the light and not your fist.
I like this one!
Delete@Twilightladies1
ReplyDeleteWord Count 200
I sit on the edge of the pool, my feet dangling in the water as you continue your swim. You don’t notice me, but then I wonder if you ever have.
Small waves ripple across the water as you turn at the opposite end and begin to swim towards me.
With strong, confident strokes you reach me quickly.
I expect you to continue swimming but you surprise me by coming to stand between my legs. Your fingers brush against me leaving goosebumps in their wake.
My heart begins to pound. I wasn’t expecting to talk about it.
Tears form and I have to blink quickly to keep them back. I don’t know how I’ll cope if you tell me to leave.
My foolish decision has pushed you away. The one thing I was trying to avoid.
“What was that earlier?”
Unable to meet your intense gaze, I look down at the water. “I-I don’t know. I thought you wanted me to.”
I shudder as I remember you pushing me away. Fearing your rejection, I just ran.
“You think I didn’t want to?”
I shrug.
“You don’t know anything.”
You pull me into the water and crush your lips against mine.
@bigblueboat
ReplyDelete200 words
******************
They said there was no hope. They said I’d never feel them again. Never walk. Never run. Never even stand. One of them even had the nerve to say he doubted I’d be able to sit without being strapped in.
He blew into my life and told them all they were wrong, that we would prove them wrong. I desperately clung to his words, his hope.
A week later he introduced me to torture.
The water and devices helped keep me afloat and rebuild the muscles. I never thought I’d be so tired after splashing around for a few minutes.
Minutes reluctantly became hours before exhaustion hit.
I stopped cringing at the wrinkled skin and green hair and noticed the toned muscles redefine my body. One doctor after the next started to change their minds, agreeing that maybe he was right.
Yesterday I took my first step on land in over a year. I had almost collapsed overcome with joy, his arms wrapping around me keeping me upright.
As I float around today killing time before physiotherapy starts, I enjoy the feel of the water dripping down one leg as I lift it above the water’s surface.
Feeling had returned.
i love this
Delete@moonlit__girl
Thanks!
Delete~Kate
@megan_timms
ReplyDeleteWord count 199
She smells of tequila and tanning oil, her scent all around me as she plants sloppy kisses all over my chest.
Naked, saved for the silly high heels adorning her feet. Her long hair flows over her shoulders, hiding the swell of her breasts. She giggles, racing away as I pinch her ass.
She's been making eyes at me all week across the pool. Teasing me, sauntering past my sun lounger, tight little body in a skimpy white bikini, all curvy and slick with oil.
I was watching her through the mask of my sunglasses.
Last night, I pulled her away from her friends. We walked the beach; kissed under the stars. We talked for hours, her honey-sweet voice pulling me in deeper with every syllable.
She's adorable.
Tonight, she's clumsy, the tequila shots causing her to stumble and giggle.
"Let's go skinny dipping!"
I hurriedly shed my shorts, I'm hard already at the sight of her naked ass and the anticipation of things to come.
It happens fast.
She slips, an ankle twisting at an odd angle.
A shriek.
A splash.
Silence hangs in the air as I rush to the pool.
The clear water turns red.
PM me at Pinkcookie fanfiction.net
ReplyDelete200 words
The hike was hot and long but a dip into the cool, blue lake would be well worth it. Breaking through the brush, the lake appeared. A tall, curving sliding board jutted over the water. I shimmied out of my clothes, climbed the slide and yelled bloody murder as the hot surface burned my exposed derriere.
The velocity of my slide was no match for my silky bikini ties and I ended up in the water stark naked. Surfacing I saw a man in knee deep water wearing board shorts on his tall lanky frame, my bikini bottom on his index finger and a lascivious smirk on his handsome face. “Lose something baby?” he inquired.
Oh snap! Nothing annoyed me more than being called baby! My top was floating nearby, so I tied it on. Then, I swam over to Smirky McSmirk to retrieve my bottom. Reaching shallow water, I stood, snatched my bottom, turned around and tied it on. Suddenly, his hot breath fanned across my neck and I found myself in his arms and kissing passionately, my feet kicking in the water with abandon. “I never do a good deed without collecting my reward, baby!” “Okay,” I simpered.
@ordinary_vamp
ReplyDelete192
~:~
Crystal-clear water and white sand
Bleeds into the murky underneath
And everywhere that surrounds me.
Seaweed tickles my legs as I kick and
Push out, push passed, push outside
What I know
Who I am.
I swim until scales rub
Against my skin.
The indifferent fish unused to me
As I move away.
I am comforted by the endless depths underneath
And the inky blackness of the water
Until—
Scales do not brush my legs but clasp it,
Dig deep and pull
I do not swallow air but water, so much
Water until I am a part of the sea.
It is not blackness that invades my vision
But white, so bright as I
Choke
Gasp
Scream
And blend with the water more
Until—
My face is grasped
Hard lips press against mine
And two claws dig deep on each
Side of my neck
And drag.
Air floods my system, blessed relief
The whiteness leaves my vision
I am able to see.
Her hair is chaos and glass-bottle green
Scales shield her body ending in a tail
And hands—ten fingers
Tipped with my blood
That dissipates in the water.
“Hello, pet.”
@CallMePagliacci. 200 words.
ReplyDeleteWriting is like
Bodysurfing.
When I was young,
I’d go to the beach.
I lived in a beach town.
I’d trek over the hot-melty pavement
The asphalt sinking beneath my sandaled feet
Dragging my boogie board behind me.
It was swirly pink and purple
And too big.
I’d kick off the sandals when the sand got too soft,
And try to dodge sand-stickers
And usually fail.
I just wanted to get in the water,
In the waves,
With my boogie board.
Set free,
I’d run —
Run —
Down to the water,
To the bathwater-warm Gulf.
I’d launch myself over the breaking wave
Push my board in front of me
Brace for impact
Be slammed against the swirly pink-and-purple foam.
Then the waiting began.
Let the waves pulse beneath me.
Failed attempt and failed attempt to catch a good one.
Finally, finally, it’d come.
A good wave.
The sand would be sucked away from my toes.
The ocean pulled legs to the sea
Pushed my back toward the shore.
I’d shove off,
Kicking, kicking, kicking.
Pushed, pulled.
Hit the wave just right.
Stomach fluttering, whoosh.
Pushed-pulled on that aquatic curve
Until earth was under me again.
Writing is like
Bodysurfing.
PM MizzFictionista on FF.net
ReplyDelete200 words
"Daddy!" she screams, flailing in the pool. "Daddy!"
He pulls the little girl into his arms and chuckles softly. "I'm here, pumpkin."
She leans into his embrace, burying her face against his chest.
"I can't do it, Daddy," she whispers quietly, ashamed.
"You know," he responds in an equally soft voice. "I used to be scared of the water too."
"You were?" The girl peeks up at her father through her lashes, still clinging to him for dear life.
He nods. "You know what my Daddy told me?"
Bright blue eyes meet his, waiting for an answer.
"He told me that sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of courage."
The girl wrinkles her nose. "What's co--courage?" she asks.
He presses a kiss to her forehead. "It means to be brave."
Tilting her head, she voices a question. "Like Mommy?"
A small smile graces his lips, thoughts of his late wife entering his mind. "Yes, pumpkin. Just like Mommy."
The girl loosens her grip, cautiously testing the water, and leans back.
Moments later, she’s floating at the surface as she claps her hands with glee. "Daddy, I did it!"
He flashes a wide grin. "I always knew you could."
Beautiful. Soulful. Sad and moving toward happy. Twenty seconds of courage, indeed. Well done.
Delete@ordinary_vamp
ReplyDelete157 --> All italicized lines, words or phrases are from Adrienne Rich's poem "Diving into the Wreck" (1973).
~:~
ribs and ghosts
and my lone flashlight haunt this spot
of myths
old women, strong women made it here
trapped, now, by stories and tradition
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
but what is one without the other?
interlocked, intertwined: the myths,
the stories,
define and become the truth.
the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body
the differences glimmer in the darkness
with her pale chest, unprotected,
and face unforgiving and fierce,
regardless
those that made it here, stay here
whose stories begin to illuminate
and i—
i will make it to the surface
break the surface
and share.
i, who made it with a sharp knife
a map and a loaded camera
will reveal
the haunted ribs of disaster
of the myths
i will break the ribs and their assertion
and set free the haunted
and the haunters.
@boomboom_jones
ReplyDeleteWord Count: 200
“Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to believe with your eyes. Do not think. There is no room for doubt in this place of extraordinary wishes. Sixteen coins, if you please.
“Go on, look up. Higher, higher. Do you see her? She’s fast, that one. Go on, reach. Reach higher!
“You, sir! Yes, you with dark hair in the brown tweed coat. Stretch your arm above your head as far as you can. Go on, let your fingers touch. It’s warm, isn’t it? How is the water up there, you ask? Why, that’s magic, sir. Yes, yes it is. Quick, quick! She’s coming!
“She’s beautiful, is she not? Oh, I see your smile, sir. You’re wondering how it is that we stand below and not a drop spills. Not a drop, no no. Dry as a bone you are. Believe with your eyes, sir. Watch her swim. Watch now, before you miss her, for she is a piece of art. A Picasso, a Rembrandt! Her beauty is her grace and her grace is your undoing. She is a wild animal not to be tamed. No, sir, you cannot have her, I say. No, sir, no. She is your fantastical dream.”
@femme_mal
ReplyDelete108 words
_________
She fluttered in the murky fluid, quietly waiting for twilight to dissipate into the water below. Stars arched above, milky as they ghosted the song of spheres.
A fetal wait once floated her before a beginning. This, too, was a pause before inception of something yet unknown. She let her thoughts drift fluently away from origin, opening to a nascent genesis.
There, now—
The water rippled toward her, at the surface and below. Pressure built within her as the interval’s end approached. A wake forms; she bobs, without anchor, free—
He grasps her hand as he reaches her side with effortless strokes.
I’m here, love. Let’s go home.
We’ll begin again.