Can you believe that 2020 is almost half over already? I can hardly believe that another week is over already. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m at home instead of being out and about. The stores are probably already stocking up on Halloween costumes and candy, and nobody wants to see that.
My house has apparently gotten tired of having me around and seems to be plotting against me. First it was the dishwasher. Then the sprinkler system. The refrigerator has been making an odd moaning noise that either means one of the belts is wearing out or I accidentally closed a ghost in there with the frozen foods. Today the automatic garage door decided to get into the act, making it’s own odd noise that, if memory serves me correctly, means that the main spring is about to go at any minute. Or maybe the garage was just annoyed that I left the house to buy groceries today. Hard to tell.
I fixed the dishwasher–thanks to the help of a couple of YouTube videos–and I think I’ve finally found someone to come and take care of the multiple issues with the sprinkler system. Now I just need to hear back from the garage door maintenance folks and all (except my bank account) should be on the road to recovery. I’m ignoring the refrigerator noise for now and keeping my fingers crossed.
To take my mind of my plotting house, I think I’ll make a nice root beer float (wouldn’t want that ice cream to go to waste if the refrigerator goes out) and give today’s writing prompt and random words a try after work today.
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 takes up a new cause?
Feel free to interpret the “What” any way you choose (or ignore it completely) and include any (or all) of the following random words:
habit absorb airship endless
frisky eraser weird hideaway
bouncy bludgeon groaning future
tooth elegant vibrator crab
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 
Oh, a root beer float would really hit the spot about right now. I wonder what I could do with a fridge ghost? I may have some words for you Monday; no promises.
I wondered if I could use up all the words in one sentence and in less than 15 minutes. Yes, I can! All the words (although some of them in different forms) in 9 minutes flat. 🙂 Mind you, not that it makes any sense. But it’s one sentence, in less than 15 minutes.
The Engagement Party
My sister, eager to absorb endless adventures, held up the elegant vibrator, available only at the Bouncy Crab, and bludgeoned her future husband, the toothsome Sir Thorn, with it, who, groaning in exasperation, then trotted friskily to his weird hideaway on the airship, thus erasing centuries of habit for the Thorn family.
LOL, that is fantastic!! If you’ll excuse the pun, a sex toy shop willing to mention crabs has got a lot of balls.
Very clever, Kay. I’m in awe of your sentencing-skills.
I only have the beginning to a story here, and didn’t use all the words, but I think I’m going to work on this a little more.
Never, I repeat never buy a ship on Airbay. I think that’s where our endless problems began. If only we’d bought a used airship from a nice little old lady who only used it on Leap Years to visit her kids in Alpha, we could have avoided the whole mess. But, no. Simon saw the Kestrel’s Delight on Airbay and fell in love with the advertising copy.
Now, it’s not my habit to leave Earth. But our daughter had gone to Gamma to study the Winking Leafhoppers they have over there, and I fell in love. There’s a lot of illegal trade in Winking Leafhoppers – they are very pretty little things about the size of a hairclip, and love living in human hair. Think of a tiny crab, but bejeweled with naturally phosphorent crystals. They hate space travel and only 10 percent survive the flight, and no one knows how to breed them in captivity, so they are dying out. Simon and I retired from eco-mercenary-ing when the kids started school, but we’d both kept our hand in, so to speak. We could coax eggs from all sorts of xeno-biology imported to Earth, and bludgeon the eco-traders who ran afoul of the law with court orders or a small bomb in their accounting offices, if necessary.
So, we got the used VW airship from Airbay (sold by a nice little old stoner who only used it for smoking ancient herbs in sub-orbit to keep his wife off his back, or so he said). But it had problems. The engine was frisky, but the anti-gravity was lethargic. Every 20 minutes, almost on the dot, but never quite, we’d float at half gravity for a variable time period of 5 seconds to 15 minutes. It got quite bouncy, and as soon as we were used to that, we got dropped to gravity and a half for three seconds before returning to normal. It was hell when we were washing dishes.
Oh, and the kitchen! The dishwasher was fine, but the fridge groaned like a ghost. We needed three weeks of chilled and frozen supplies for the trip to Gamma, but the fridge began acting peculiar in four days out – just as we had passed Earth customs and exit fees and gotten into the inter-stellar free zone. Day five is when Simon and I got into our first argument.
“Andesite!” Simon yelled from the cockpit. I knew he was annoyed when he used my birth name. “You’ve got to stop using the ‘wave in the kitchen. It’s sucking up too much energy and messing with the guidance systems.”
I quickly turned off the ‘wave and pulled out my cup of hot milk. The milk was suspiciously lumpy, and that’s when I knew it had gone bad. I was staring into a cup of curds and whey.
“Simon, when you’ve got through the next exit and you are back on autopilot, I need you to come and look at the fridge. The milk’s bad.”
Very fun, Michaeline. I’m glad you got a chance to play along today. I especially loved “Airbay”.
Can’t wait to hear what happens next.
What a fun story, Michaeline! Keep going with it, please! I loved the contrast between the space travel and soured milk. You can never escape household problems!