Picture it & Write: SCARY STORY

Ermilia’s Picture it & Write.

‘Thirteen boys and thirteen girls signed up for a summer camp on Friday the thirteenth in the year twenty-thirteen. They brought all the equipment and gear they needed for the camp except their wits and their courage. The staff seemed friendly and experienced so parents parted with hugs and kisses, relieved and relaxed. As soon as the last car was out of sight, the staff’s faces began to contort , grinning literally from ear to ear. They peeled off their faces, revealing skeletal structures. The girls screamed while the boys called for Mummy. “We do not come in peace,” their leader said, still grinning. “We are here to conduct experiments on you. We will peel off your faces and gut you like fresh fish.”

Suddenly, an alien craft uncloaked above the terrified children. They were beamed aboard the ship, aliens included, and were never seen or heard from again.’

‘Your story sucks, Daddy,’ cried eight-year-old Anna.

‘Yeah Dad,’ ten-year-old Tommy chimed. ‘I’m not even scared. Mummy, tell us a scary story.’

The two children sat quietly beside the camp fire, setting their marshmallows on fire as their mother began her story.

‘Listen to me, one and all, to my heart-wrenching story. There is a man with a mangled face and sharp, pointed claws, who stalks your dreams at night. The people of Elm Street speak not of him for they fear the mere sound of his name. A name that sounds so strange; the miscreant called Freddy Krueger…’

HAMSTER’S RUN

I lost my job last week, just about the time my divorce was finalized. I was behind in mortgage payments and was given a final notice. My credit cards are maxed out. Today, the IRS decided to dip into my savings account to cover unpaid taxes plus penalty. I feel like a hamster running in a wheel of doom; running, but getting nowhere. My life couldn’t have gotten any worse, except it had. You see, the reason why I was behind in all those payments is because my wife was a shopaholic. Now she’s left me for my best friend. WORD COUNT: 100

Friday Fictioneers is a meme by Madison Woods

Now hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Picture it & Write: DAMSEL OR DAME?

Ermilia’s Picture it & Write.

I sketched her face with the utmost care, inspired by her modest beauty. The mere sight of her had precipitated stirrings within me I could not explain. Her black curly her, her blue eyes, red lips, face pinked up with a dash of blush… She smiled charmingly at me as though she had had a revelation about my thoughts and was in agreement with said notion. I could barely concentrate as smiles were exchanged every now and then. I decided to add a feather to her headgear to give it a graceful look. I’m usually not content with my sketches, but this time I thought highly of what I’d accomplished. With a beaming face, I turned the paper for her perusal. At a glance she shrieked in disgust, walked over to me with her right hand in midair. I barely had the time to extend mine for a misconceived handshake, when I felt the slap on my left cheek. She muttered something in French, which I suppose were obscenities, and walked away pouting. What had I done to deserve this? I took a closer look at the portrait and, in dismay, realized it was an optical illusion. It looked like a young woman from one perspective and an old wrinkled dame from another. Truthfully, I did deserve the slap, I thought to myself.

TRAILBLAZER

The exhaust pipe billowed out cumulonimbus clouds, obscuring everything in front of us. We could barely see, or breathe for that matter. Of all the times the air conditioner could choose to break down…  Overtaking this mechanical chimney on wheels was almost impossible, given the numerous curves on this winding mountainous road. In a sense, we were following the trail of tangible smoke ahead of us. The bus plodded on lopsidedly, swaying from side to side like a drunken sailor on a boat caught in a tempest. Occasionally, the exhaust would cough out a gunshot, much to our amusement. WORD COUNT: 100

Friday Fictioneers is a meme by Madison Woods

Now hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Pictue it & Write: THE LADY IN BLACK

Ermilia’s Picture it & Write.

She walked daintily in the moonlit street; each step calculated, each gentle tread seemingly hovering above the ground. The white gloves hugged her pale skin, giving any passer-by the distinct impression that she wore nothing on her hands, but there was no one but her at that hour to draw such a conclusion. The laced umbrella she carried partly covered her face, leaving only her blond her to recognize her by.

All windows were closed and all lights snuffed out. Only an owl hooted in the night, adding to the eeriness of the chilling howl of the mid-autumn wind. Yet, she was oblivious to all of these. Children slept uneasily, whilst their parents trembled in their beds. No stray dog or cat dared venture the streets in search of a half-decent meal. Each to its hiding place; each to its refuge.  No one, man or animal, dared take a gander, lest their inquisitiveness held them captive to their worst fear.

She walks the streets of the town called New Salem from midnight till dawn same time each year.  They say she lost her lover at sea and was so heart-broken, she never took off her mourning clothes until the day she stepped off a cliff to join her one true love. They say her body was never found, but there were and still are rumours of a certain woman dressed in black who walks the streets the same still night she died over a century ago. They call her The Lady in Black… Or so the folklore goes.

THE UGLY ZERAFFANT

“Does anybody else want to say something?” the psychologist looked around. “I haven’t had any friends since I was a child. The other animals just pointed and laughed. I was jeered at and booed at every gathering. Even my own mother didn’t want me. If I had a nickel for every time she told me to be like my perfect giraffe siblings… ” the zeraffant sobbed, tears streaming down her trunk. “I don’t know who I am anymore.” The platapus duck, elephant seal, leopard seal, spider monkey, tigron and turtle dove, all nodded empathetically, recounting their own episodes of social maladjustment. WORD COUNT: 100 The name was derived as follows: Zebra+tigER+girAFFe+elephANT = ZERAFFANT

Friday Fictioneers is a meme by Madison Woods

Now hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

STILL TAKING POLLS

I’m still taking an opinion poll about WordPress advertising on our blogs without our consent.

Please click here to read more and cast your vote.

This will take less than a minute of your time.

APARTMENT 419

“Nobody rents that apartment,” her raspy voice snapped. “Why not?” Nancy prodded. “Because it’s haunted. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.” “How come?” “There was a fire or something and a newlywed couple got trapped inside,” the old woman chided. “Anyways, they never found their bodies. That’s when strange things started to happen in there.” “What kind of strange things?” “Listen lady, are you here to buy something or just to ask me a bunch of stupid questions?” “No thanks, Ma’am,” she replied. Suddenly, she saw a strange, amorphous figure in the apartment window looking down at her. WORD COUNT: 100

Friday Fictioneers is a meme by Madison Woods

Now hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

PHONE BOOTH

He slipped the coin through the slot, dialed the all so familiar number and waited as the dialing tone tolled. He had made his decision. No more hiding. No more secrets and lies. “Hello sweetheart, can I come over?” his silky voice half-begged. “Who is this?” Sandra queried. “John, is that you? Where are you?” He hung up quickly. What an ass? He felt like kicking himself over and over again. How could he have been so stupid? His knees almost gave way, weakening his resolve to end his marriage. He slotted another coin, this time to end the affair. WORD COUNT: 100

Friday Fictioneers is a meme by Madison Woods

Now hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

AD-FREE OR NOT AD-FREE

One of my friends, who regularly visits my blog, brought the advertisements WordPress puts on our blogs to my attention. Normally, I won’t have a problem with that, but this time, I do.  The situation puts my blog in limbo because I want to keep it ad-free.

WordPress could have, at least, sent all bloggers using wordpress.com emails informing us about these adverts so we could have our say, but nooooooo! They decided it was best to do whatever they wanted with our blogs. By doing this, the message they’re sending us is, ‘We can do whatever we want with your blog and there’s nothing you can do about it’. I believe it’s a matter of propriety that they inform us first.

I don’t know how my fellow bloggers feel about this so I’ll put it to a vote.

Ad-free or not Ad-free? … That is the question.