July 2026 finds me sitting in the shade in our garden, grateful for the slight breeze and half drifting off into a heat induced sleep.  It is Sunday and we have just finished a FaceTime call with our family in America.  Again, gratitude for the wonders of modern technology allowing us to keep in touch and part of our g…[Read more]

Sandra, it was lovely to have a glimpse of your writing style, your ‘voice’ in the extract from your WIP.  I love your…[Read more]

Please, therefore,  in 500 words or less let your imaginations run wild conjuring up some MIDSUMMER MAGIC.

Of course, some may prefer to touch on dark magic and that is fine too.

Looking forward to reading your entries.  Jill

June’s prompt will be posted sometime today.  A few ideas are rolling around in my head!  Jill

Now to get the other issues fixed very soon …

I had blood thinners for 6 months as the Lymphoma had caused clots on my lungs, so perhaps your GP might prescribe those?  Just a thought, as every case is different.  Wor…[Read more]

Glad you are seeing progress in several ways.  Long may it continue!

Will be thinking of you on the 11th.  Jill

Oh my goodness, Ath – what a horrendous time you and your wife have been through.  Sending positive vibes and very best wishes for a steady road to recovery.  Be very gentle on yourselves.  Jill

Marie Claire

The sun filtering in through the yellowing net curtains barely lightens the dim, soulless room, mirroring the dullness I feel inside as I watch you staring at me with blank incomprehension.

We have lived…[Read more]

Thank you for the kind comment on my own entry.

Thank you, Terrie for setting this challenge which stretched creativity to meet the four word inclusion criteria.

Thank you, too, for yo…[Read more]

Vulnerable, estranged from her family, unexpectedly out of work and living in poverty in Aberdeen, the Granite City, it was easy for her to understand now why she had been taken in by him.  He was extremely charming and persuasive.  She’d moved into his luxury apartment soon after their first chance meeting.

The first time he hi…[Read more]

All the other entries were so imaginative, well written and enjoyable to read.

Congratulations, Terrie – yours was very clever and truly mad!…[Read more]

Good idea, Libby.  Hope someone might take it on.

493 words excluding title

All those years ago she had been teased relentlessly by friends about her wedding date, the Ides of March.   ‘Beware!’ they had warned her.  ‘You must be mad,’ they said, laughing.

But here the happy couple of that March day were, celebrating a Big O anniversary and enjoying a holiday in t…[Read more]

399 words

Isabel woke from her nap to be greeted by the sweet scent of freesias.  Sunlight was flooding into the bedroom she now occupied in her daughter’s home.  Isabel was very old and frail, but still mentally astute and the scent of the delicate flowers which she had always loved set off a raft of thoughts about love.

She associated f…[Read more]

The New Year came in accompanied by a furious gale.  Undeterred, Eva wrapped up warm and left her husband sleeping off the New Year’s Eve excesses.

She sat on the bench up on the hill which overlooked the northern town where she had lived all her life to this point.  As she mused upon all the happy and sadder ti…[Read more]

Thank you, Libby. It is such a pleasure being part of this online community once more. Jill x

540 words excluding title

Miss Farthing sighed wearily and then screamed ‘Be quiet!’  She could stand it no longer.  This was the last rehearsal of the Nativity play at Priory Primary School before the performance in front of parents and governors and it was utter chaos.  Some children had swapped co…[Read more]

Grandma lifted a pyjama clad Ellie onto her lap and they both warmed their hands by the roaring log fire for a few moments.  Grandma smiled down at Ellie and asked if she was sitting comfortably.  Ellie nodded and snuggled into her Grandma’s warm, plump body a little closer.

‘Then I’ll begin,’ said Grandma in the time honoured t…[Read more]

Thanks, also, to Libby for your considered and c…[Read more]

HALLOWEEN IN NEVERSAY VILLAGE

395 words including title.

Every 31st October the Neversay villagers put on a grand Halloween party  complete with disco, buffet, games and treats for the children.  It saved, they decided long ago, being bothered in their homes by naughty trick and treaters and the c…[Read more]

Libby, as a wr…[Read more]

I rea…[Read more]

Now to work…[Read more]

This is a tale of two halves: two families from which the son of one and a daughter of the other meet, fall in love and marry, thus acquiring Mothers-in-Law and Fathers-in-Law.

This is part of my own life story and that of my husband of fifty-six years; David.

Our relationship began as a teenage…[Read more]