Hi there. Welcome to another Friday. I hope yours was a good one.
When not working this week I tried to spend less time watching the news and more time outside or doing something creative. The past weeks of wet and then sunny weather have resulted in a yard in bloom. My two climbing roses seem to be doing their best to take over the house. They’ve grown up over the edge of the roof and now one bush is sending out a shoot aiming for the neighbor’s house. I’m curious to see how this will all wind up.
For now, the yard has a wonderful springtime smell and lots of color. Well, lots of one color. I swear I planted flowers of a variety of colors, but they all seem to be varying shades of pink, with the exception of a bit of lavender. I know the hydrangeas change color, depending on the acidity of the soil, but I don’t know about the rest. Whatever the explanation, the yard is pretty and is nice to sit out on the deck in the sunshine and enjoy the view.
From a creativity standpoint, I made “sneeze” masks last week from random material from the craft cupboard and now I’m making a quilt top out of all the random-random pieces left. I haven’t done any quilting in a while, so we’ll just have to wait and see how that all works out.
For now, I think it’s time to engage in a little creativity of the writing type. I’ve been having fun playing along with our Friday sprints (though often not until Wednesdays), so after my post-work walk around the block later this evening I’m going to see what I can to with today’s writing prompt and random words.
Care to join me?
For those of you working away on a story (whether a first draft or a polished version on its way to publication), if you’re not feeling random, we’d love to hear a bit – whether it’s a scene, a paragraph, or even a phrase that you are especially pleased with and would like to share.
If you don’t have a story in progress, or just want to work on something new, I hope either today’s random words or writing prompt will catch your creative fancy.
Ready?
What if: “Your character rescued a stray?
Feel free to interpret the “What if” any way you choose (or ignore it completely) and include any (or all) of the following random words:
extravagant disobey poet believing
abandoned humming sharp lion
blaze allow diplomacy human
seed appalling broken pocket
I look forward to seeing your stories in the comments. If you’re not feeling in the writing mood today, or don’t have time, feel free to post suggestions you might have for future “what-if” prompts. Ideas are always welcome.
Happy writing to all!
Eight Ladies Writing 
Your garden sounds so lovely, I put a bit of it in the sprint. Enjoy the nice weather, Elizabeth!
In the Garden
The garden was ablaze with extravagant pink and lavender blooms, the humming birds thrusting their sharp little beaks into the sweet array, when Amorette Wilkens stepped outside, and in so doing, disobeyed her parents.
They had forbidden her to see the Poet, believing him to be an unsuitable suitor. He was, of course. Amorette allowed that he’d never be able to support her in the style to which she was accustomed, but then again, he wouldn’t live in their pockets, either. Marriage to the Poet would have some compensations.
The garden was in an appalling state of trim, although the flowers were pretty. What was most astonishing about it, however, was the enormous, tawny lion sitting in the middle of the patch of lawn. At first, Amorette was taken aback, but the lion didn’t look particularly fierce. In fact, the poor thing looked a bit seedy, sort of broken and abandoned. As though even a third-rate circus couldn’t find room for this moth-eaten remnant of the animal kingdom.
“Hello,” Amorette said, striving for diplomacy. “What brings you here?”
“Don’t you recognize me?” said the lion. “I used to be human.”
Amorette recognized the voice. It was the Poet! Her parents, using every means at their disposal to thwart an elopement, had changed him into a lion.
How like them.
“You look hungry,” Amorette said. “Father has some steaks he was planning to grill tonight; you can have those. And Mother just had the sofa recovered; I’m sure you’ll find that comfortable. Why don’t you come inside?”
“Thank you,” the Poet said, rising majestically. “I believe I shall.”
Fun sprint, Kay. I love how Amorette takes the whole Poet-into-a-Lion transformation in stride. I’m guessing her parents are going to regret the transformation though, or at least the loss of the steaks and the impact on the sofa aspects. 🙂
I’m thinking the parents will ultimately be very unhappy with a lion for a long-term houseguest. They’ll wish they had just agreed to the marriage.