JaneShuff

*content warning for a bit of gore down at the end*

All Woods

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. One led to autumn, calm and chilly, its last bronzed leaf picked by a wind still echoing with residual birdsong. The other to darkness, cloaked in mist, where naked trees loomed overhead like a canopy of murderers, intentions ill. The signpost…[Read more]

Halfway through the month and still loads of time to get an entry in to this month’s comp.

If you have a setting waiting to be explored, a weird and wonderful character aching to be brought to life, a misbelief to be addressed, or general mayhem, murder and malice, now’s your chance.

Don’t be shy…

I remember …

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood …

except it wasn’t the wood that was yellow but the fallen leaves, many of which were tinged with gingerbread brown. And it wasn’t a road they covered but a track. At least, one was a track. Green grass centred and, from the narrowness of then wet mud indentations, cartwheeled. Which thought too…[Read more]

Ah yes, I wondered about the various roles of garnet @seagreen after I’d started looking it up. I’d no idea. It’s very interesting. Geology in general, not just the applied stuff, always feels like a significant gap in my knowledge.

Those rigs have a fascination even for a landlubber like me. The meeting of elements perhaps. At sea but fixed -…[Read more]

That’s interesting @knickylaurelle – makes me enjoy the piece even more. I think it’s hard to write well about one’s own experiences – at least I find it so!

@Seagreen, the ‘lightweight’ of your entry was in the well-chosen words; that they so well-expressed the solidity, the impact of that moment was the really clever bit. Thank you for this explanation.

You know, I’m always surprised when I win the monthly comp (not that it happens often!) but never more so than this time. Such strong entries – I did feel mine was a little lightweight in comparison.

Thank you, @Libby, for hosting the comp and for such fabulous feedback, and thanks to Ath, Sandra, Squidge and Knicky for making me work harder to…[Read more]

Thank you for hosting this month’s comp, Libby, and for your thoughtful words on my piece. And congratulations, Seagreen, I thought your piece was wonderfully evocative. I enjoyed each entry for this month.

@Libby Grit was about my rather difficult pregnancy, and how the only peace and pleasure I found (from the daily waves of nausea and hostile…[Read more]

Libby, thanks for a super topic and the fabulous reviews. Seagreen, a well-deserved win.

Brilliantly well done Seagreen, and thank you Libby for the challenge, your insightful comments and for picking my favourite as winner, though all were enjoyable variations on the theme.

Wow! This is the best collection of stories I’ve read in response to a single competition. They’re a joy to read and completely daunting to judge.

What impressed me most, on top of all the individual skills displayed, is that every piece is such a distinct rendition of the author’s voice. I’ve read most of you before and could recognise you in…[Read more]