Raven's Challenge 88

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: Cute, come with me to the Casba, bloodhound, respiration, Facebook, Canada Geese, modern, gravity, spider webs, sea shells
And for the mini: curiosity killed the cat, charming Victorian, railroad tracks, tower, salt and pepper

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Agent 012 , now just slightly green , had reached his destination which was a restaurant designed to look like a mid-Eastern club. Over the door , supposedly to add to the atmosphere, was a sign that said “ Come with me to the Casba”.
He entered to discover the designers had failed and it was a hitonious almost risible imitation. As he sat waiting for the informant he wondered why informants never met in charming Victorian style restaurants with mellifluous music playing.
Becoming bored he played with the salt and pepper shakers which were shaped like little camels.
He looked up as a ugly old man entered, looked around, and then came to sit with Agent 012 at the table.
“ Do you have any sea shells for sale?” the old man asked.
“ Curiosity killed the cat” , Agent 012 replied.
The old man then sounding as if he had a respiration problem gave him directions to the Spider Webs Tower. And assured him that what he wanted would be there.
As he left Agent 012 wondered why informants were always ugly and never cute. He also realized that he knew the address he had been given. It was just across the railroad tracks from the Facebook Computer Center and three buildings over from his favorite tragematopolist’s shop. But now that he had the information like a bloodhound catching the scent he was out and after Haz-mat.
When he reached his destination there was a flock of Canada Geese flying overhead and he wondered if that was a good or bad omen. The Spider Webs Tower itself was one of those truly modern buildings that seemed to defy gravity. The best of science and architecture had gone into that building but Agent 012 couldn’t help but think that a few well placed explosives and it defied gravity no longer. Perhaps in a world of people like Haz-mat that would always be the ineluctable conclusion. But not if he could stop it.
He had no idea what kind of day this would be.

The ten word challenge-Climb of Fame

Gloria was all the way up to the $60,000 question on the Quiz show “ Climb the Money Ladder” when they asked her in what movie does the phrase “Come with me to the Casba” appear? She had no idea. That one never showed up on Facebook and she wasn’t a movie goer or TV watcher. She was a modern internet person after all.
By this point she had answered a difficult question on the migration pattern of Canada Geese and a slightly easier one on the composition of spider webs. She had had no trouble on the easy questions about bloodhounds and sea shells.
Now she didn’t know the answer and that left her with that horrible choice. She could quit and take the $30,000 she had already won or she could climb the ladder. Her respiration quickened and her pulse increased. She had promised herself that she would not try the ladder but $30,000 was at stake . Could she come that close and just walk away ? She looked at the ladder . It didn’t seem impossible to climb to the step marked $ 60,000 and then holding on with one hand retrieve the paper with the answer on it. Of course the ladder was at an angle and she had to climb up the underside. Gravity would be trying to pull her off the ladder and down to the floor. But then she couldn’t really fall. They had that harness on her and if she left go she would be floating. But that’s when the camera zeroed in on the poor person. You don’t look cute hanging in the air just having lost all the money. She knew all of that. She told herself again I promised not to climb. I promised myself. Then she turned and pushed the green button. They began to strap the harness on her.

The mini challenge- Winning?

The salt and pepper shakers were shouting at each other.
“ Curiosity killed the cat”, said the salt shaker. In a high pitched voice.
“ But satisfaction brought her back” said the pepper shaker in a low throaty voice.
On and on they went.
She shook her head trying to clear the images and the voices. She wanted to know where she was and how she got there. On the wall directly across from the end of the bed was a large oil painting of a charming Victorian tower flanked by railroad tracks. She knew she didn’t own a painting like that. She looked down at the bed all her coverings were white. Where were the delightful rainbow sheets she had just put on the beds last week? Where was she.
Just then the door opened an a nurse entered. “ Finally your awake “ she said. You have been in a semi-coma. For a week. You kept saying cat so we sent somebody to your house and your cat has been fed every day.
As the nurse went on memories came flooding back. She saw herself climbing the ladder. She held on with one hand. She grabbed the right answer with the other. Then everything went black.
“Nurse, Nurse” she said “ Did I win”?

An After Thought

The two writers looked at the pile of papers spread out on the table before them. They were filled with notes and stage directions for their latest made for TV movie. Bob, the head writer. Says “ It is shaping up nicely. The graphics boys are having a field day with the salt and pepper shakers and the Director has everything pretty will blocked out. But we still don’t have an ending”

Winning Sort Of

Fred says “We could have the nurse answer her question by saying “ Concerning that miss I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is you lost your grip and while you were hanging there the cable snapped and you fell forty feet to the stage where you broke your leg and suffered a concussion. So you didn’t win. But the good news is that between the lawyers and the insurance company your going to come away with a lot more money than you would have won.”

Losing Sort Of

Bob says “ I hate to reward her greed. We could have the nurse respond
“Concerning that miss I have some good news and some bad news.. The good news is you you made it to the floor. Then you decided to quit. They gave you the check for $60,000 and you went home. There you interrupted a thief robbing your house who hit you on the head giving you the concussion and putting you into the coma. The police did catch the young man. But the bad news is that you have no health insurance and this hospital stay is going to use up all your winnings and you will still owe the hospital.”
If we use this ending it’s a little help for the President’s health care effort. We liberals have to stick together,

You Decide

Maybe we should do both endings then run them by a test panel and then pick the one to use when Boxed at Home runs it.


Of course the dragons were busy today you can see them HERE.