Month: September 2016
CB&W: Complementary Pairs
As you know Cee loves to challenge us and this time it’s black and white (or sepia) photo challenge for Two very different things or the number Two.
I know I am late (travel times and network woes to blame). But nevertheless here they are – hope you like 🙂
Did it work? No? Well, how about this one?
Moving on and still sticking to theme of fliers but of the inanimate variety 😉
And on a completely different note – tadaa~~~
Well not quite sure if this fits the bill for they are the same things but you will agree very different? Btw the last photo is a contribution from my kid sister. Pretty soon I expect my family and friends to be out on photo shoots for my blog challenges – how cool is that? 😀
Dont forget to let me know you were here 🙂
SPF: Daffodils
Daffodils
Words 200
“Good morning children. Take out your English Readers and turn to Page 5. Daffodils by…”
“Teacher, what are daffodils?”
“Flowers.”
“What kind of flowers? The red ones that bloom during Holi or…
“I wandered lonely as a cloud…”
“Teacher, why lonely? The other clouds would give it company?”
“We’ll discuss this later Molly.”
“Teacher! What are vales? And isn’t the spelling o’er wrong?
“No Molly. Poets are allowed to write like that.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Enough Molly. A host, of golden daffodils.”
“Host? Are they having a party? How can flowers host a party?”
“It’s not that kind of a host Molly. He means a lot of daffodils.”
Molly subsided. She loved stories. Where was the story here? Why say something but mean something else? How would one understand? What kind of flowers – red or yellow? Ten thousand flowers! She would have loved to see them tossing their heads in sprightly – aha a new word – dance.
“…pay attention Molly…the daffodils beat the sea in their dance of joy.
“But Teacher, that’s not the sea. It is a lake.”
“Hold out your hand! Now get out of class.”
“It’s still a lake.” Molly sniffed as she walked out.
***
PS: Oft this flashes upon my inward eye but I now know what daffodils look like – thanks to Sunday Photo Fiction 😀 Click here for other stories on this prompt
PPS: A partly fictionalized account of my first brush with poetry (not counting nursery rhymes). Opinionated and unimaginative, as an 8 year-old, I couldn’t really grasp the essence of the poem (can’t say much has changed since then). Yet strangely enough, that day is crystal clear – where I sat in class, the teacher, my thoughts (I didn’t say most of these things). I also remember being very skeptical about “Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way.” Flowers didn’t twinkle did they? The last stanza of the poem was (and remains) my favorite – been there, done (doing) that 😉
Corporal punishment was the norm in those days, at least in my first school. Apologies (bouquets, kudos and thanks) are due to my English teacher. She did mistake the lake as the sea. I did raise an objection. But she not only gracefully accepted her oversight but also publicly boosted my morale (and bighead) which could be the reason why that day is so clearly etched in my memory. 😀
Thank you for reading – do share your thoughts and memories of this poem or childhood.
For readers of Moonshine, here's Chapter 88 and Calvin
Changeless
Changeless
Words 100
Her wedding was around the corner. By all counts she should be thrilled. But worry gnawed at her.
“Mamma, why do girls have to leave their home?”
“That’s tradition.”
“Traditions can change.”
“What’s the matter darling? Wedding jitters?”
“No.”
“You do love…?”
“It’s not about me Mamma! How will you live alone?”
“Don’t worry darling. I will manage.”
“But how? It’s always been about me. My health, my education, my career -nothing is about you. Once I leave what will you do?”
“I’ll think of something.”
“Like?”
“Your father needs me.”
“You mean…?
“Yes darling. I will return to Earth.”
***
Written for Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers – a story in 100 words or less. Thanks to Roger Bultot for the photo prompt this week. For other stories on this prompt click here
Thank you for reading – look forward to your comments.
COB # 38: Masters of the Craft
Look who got caught hitching a ride 😀
Bored with the taxiing, they take off, showing us how it is actually done
Lots more photos on Cee’s page
Just 4 Fun #7
Here’s wishing everyone a super week ahead
Over the week, we tend to get a lot of jokes and life philosophies as shares. Some are too good to pass up. Here I share those that appealed to me or tickled my funny bone. Hope you like them too. Please note none of this is stuff is mine – I am just keeping the fun going!
If you too have something worth sharing do leave your link in the comment box or create a pingback to this post.
If you need some more cheering or looking for a few laughs, click here Do check out the video at the end 😀
Have a great week ahead and don’t forget to have some fun too.
Unfazed
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” ― Maya Angelou
For Becca’s Sunday Trees – 254
CFFC: A Purple Theme
This one is a toughie but Cee is rather generous! So here I go laying out the purple carpet 😉
for the gorgeous lady in the purple sari
How about some flowers for the pretty lady?
Err not really purple are they? Let’s round it up with some purple greens and some true homegrown purples by an amazing lady
How could I miss the purple ringed white bloom of the ladyfinger from my one and only mum’s garden?
A close up, just in case you missed the purple ring 😀
Hope you liked my purple collection but the best ones are no doubt at Cee’s page
CWW: On Track of the Train
I just love trains – don’t you? Give me a long train journey, a book in hand, a packet of chips by my side, watching the changing landscape rush by until the chug-chug lullaby rocks you into the land of dreams. And best of all – No meals to worry about, no doorbells to answer, no morning walks or jogs – Oh the pure simple joys of guiltless lolling about 😀
“I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of: for this moment I know where I am going.” ― Anna Funder
“… a woman who was washing clothes in the river during the hottest time of the day ran screaming down the main street in an alarming state of commotion.
“It’s coming,” she finally explained. “Something frightful, like a kitchen dragging a village behind it.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
“It’s not getting from A to B. It’s not the beginning or the destination that counts. It’s the ride in between…This train is alive with things that should be seen and heard. It’s a living, breathing something — you just have to want to learn its rhythm.” ― David Baldacci, The Christmas Train
“Trains are beautiful. They take people to places they’ve never been, faster than they could ever go themselves. Everyone who works on trains knows they have personalities, they’re like people. They have their own mysteries.” ― Sam Starbuck, The Dead Isle
“The train rolled right through dinner and over the sunset and around ten o’clock and into a nap and out the next day…” ― Lindsay Mattick
“The train is a small world moving through a larger world.” ― Elisha Cooper, Train
Hope you enjoyed the ride 🙂
Don’t forget to visit Cee’s blog for her Which Way Photo Challenge for some awesome photos.
FFfAW # 83: View from the Top
View from the Top
Words 168
Microphones were being thrust into his face, “How does it feel to have reached the top? To be where very few have ever been?”
Raj stared at himself onscreen. Were the thudding heart, the screaming nerves and the shakiness discernible?
He didn’t think so as he saw himself flash his famous crooked smile, raise his expensive shades with panache and wave to the hysterical milling crowd.
“Great. Just great.”
What would they have said if he had told them the truth? That he felt no joy in it. That he often wished he were still at the bottom of the ladder, his dreams and innocence intact?
“What message would you like to give to your fans?”
Cherish the little moments, call your mother, play with your children, choose your friends with care, eschew dark corners, treacherous turns and rotting boards. Most of all – beware of your own traitorous hand that rises to strike the fatal blow.
He pumped his fist in the air. “Just go for it!”
***
Written for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers – a story, in 100 – 175 words, based on the photo prompt. Thanks Joy Pixley for the photo 🙂 For more stories on this prompt click here.
Do let me know what you thought of the view from the top!
For readers of Moonshine, here's Chapter 87 and Calvin - this scene may be familiar for many ;)
Stories and more 