Athelstone

What a well-deserved winner, Seagreen. Such beautiful writing.

Thank you, Richard, for the prompt.

Oof. Yes. Gaiman. I think a lot of people I know are particularly hurt by that one because he appeared to be a writer of such humanity. I didn’t read anything of his that I didn’t like, and connect with in some way. At first, I did allow myself to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not for very long, and I’m not sure there’s any doubt now…[Read more]

Oh, my. Four entries, all excellent, all completely different from each other. For such a small community, whar a range of talents we have.

Terrie, your gallop through the various endings we meet in life was entertaining and thought-provoking, with a nice humorous squib at the end to round things off.

Libby, I applaud your courage in essaying…[Read more]

UNTITLED – 350 words

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Lumpy pillows in torn, unidentifiable protective fabric, stuffed into too-small pillow cases. A saggy, foam mattress, plastic-coated and marinated in dilute bleach. A side-room with a window looking onto the whitewashed wall on the other side of the hospital and a door that opens d…[Read more]

impromptu

you’ll come to a bad end, said my dad in our hallway, in his pyjamas, hands at his sides, knuckles curled, though – as far as I know – he never raised his fists, and what’s more he was too clever for cliché most of the time, but that evening when I came home from the gig with a scent of sweat and beer, I was grinning, shifting from foo…[Read more]

I asked it for a 200-word synopsis for my 2,200-word Den Challenge story (which I haven’t posted on the Den yet). The result was mostly a true reflection of the story – about 90% right I’d say. It had the minor character’s motivations wrong; they went in the opposite direction to what I’d written, unless of course I haven’t described them clearly…[Read more]

This is very interesting, Ath. Have you tried giving it a word count, e.g. to produce a 300-word synopsis?

ODDS AND ENDINGS IN MY LIFE, INCLUDING THE STICKY ONES. .

For me the phrase ‘the end’ invokes a variety of feelings.

Some, such as the end of a candle or bit of soap are not memorable. Those endings flash out of existence in a blink of thoughtlessness, never to be recalled again.

However, dancing along the polar opposite to that, there are…[Read more]

Regrettably late to this – and non-participant – but what a joy to catch up with those that did make the effort- thank you @ Richard and @Terrie

My offering was much  the same  Richard.

I thought about all the things  that cause me difficulty  – didn’t know how to start  writing about it  and  ended up  making myself smile with a bit of  fun.

Thanks, Ath. I should maybe point out that ‘the protagonist’ is in fact me. The brief didn’t say it had to be fiction, and my effort isn’t. I really am building, slowly and very carefully, a huge model car.

Thank you for posting this, Ath. Christmas has been so busy I’ve only just read it. It’s a touching story.

<p style=”text-align: center;”>DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY IN MY LIFE</p>
<p style=”text-align: center;”>(when it gets difficult  – make it  rhyme )</p>
I find it difficult to hide the truth, or say things that are untrue.

I can’t fit inside a kayak, or paddle a canoe.

I can’t crochet anything or mend my pushbike brake

and bouncing on a tramp…[Read more]