Mystery Theater

A Picture Story from Portrait of Words

Check in there to find other Portrait of Words stories.

Mystery Theater

Welcome my dear reader to another exciting episode of “Spider Web Mystery Theater”
This is the place where the supernatural becomes the natural and you could become a frog.
As we open our creaking door we see Emma and Ella
Twin sisters on their way to the Halloween Concert of Ghouls at the somewhat scary Community Concert Hall.Tonight we are told odd mannequins will walk among the audience.
Who knows what they will do.
There will be vampires and werewolves and evil things that go bump in the night.
But most frightening of all this man
The long dead serial killer of old ladies will suddenly appear. He , now one of the long undead dead, will kill again.
But our two ladies are not afraid. They stopped in the lobby and armed themselves with a supply of magic bubble gum.It is guaranteed to keep all supernatural things away and our ladies are chewing up a storm.
The show begins, lightning flashes, strange things walk among the audience and stranger things play eerie music on stage.
When it over our friends Emma and Ella have disappeared . They will never be seen again.
Before we close the creaking door let us remind you that no matter what it says on the machine bubble gum does not protect against the undead. ( Maniacal laugh is heard as sound of the creaking door fills the air)

Raven's Challenge 87

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: plumber, autograph, Florence Nightengale, a chill wind’s a blowing, watering hole, sleek, triplets, backwards, surface tension, parrot
And for the mini: Free estimates,French fries, carpet, Braille, silver-tongued bandit

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

It has been a hard week for Agent 012. He has been to a small town in Michigan called Pigeon Falls where he was just hours behind the international terrorist Haz-mat. There some lady named Nancy wanted him to stay while she printed out his picture and had him autograph it. She had never seen a green man before.
Then he was in New Jersey where it was discovered that shortly before he arrived Haz-mat had purchased a number of small pipe sections just right for pipe bombs. In the shop a parrot kept saying “ a chill wind’s a blowing over the old watering hole.” The constant repetition made him nervous.
A matchbook left at the plumber's shop offering free estimates on carpets took him to the Florence Nightengale carpet shop. There the owner Augustus Braille told him that Haz-mat had purchased a small length of sleek carpet.
He gave him a real buy on it because the weave was backwards. It meant the surface tension on the rug would attract dirt instead of repel it. But Haz-mat didn’t seem to care.
After the carpet shop he took a break at the Silver Tongued Bandit Restaurant and had a hamburger and French Fries. He called home and found out his sister had delivered triplets. He certainly didn’t expect that.
But now he had to face the fact that there was terrorist with all the supplies he needed to make a number of pipe bombs. This was getting scary.
At that point he got a call saying that Haz-mat’s car had been sighted in front of the Almost True Hardware Store.
“Timers”, Agent 012 thought.” He still needs timers.”
This did not look like a good day for our somewhat green agent.

The ten word challenge-Cabin Delivery ?

Lilly watched the bug walk backwards on the water. She had read somewhere that it was surface tension that made the bug’s walking like that possible. Henry Plumber said “ Wrap yourself in a blanket dear a chill wind’s a blowing.” She didn’t want a blanket she wanted Florence Nightengale to come and hold her hand while she had the baby.
This was the last place in the world she wanted to be when the baby came. At least she wasn’t having triplets like her sister.
If only she hadn’t pushed Henry to take her to Mudville to get that autograph of Fransico Parrot. It sure didn’t seem important now. Then she let Henry talk her into stopping at the cabin by the watering hole to make sure it was ready for deer season. Who could have known the car would get stuck and strand them there? He had, of course, left his sleek new mobile phone at home which left no way to call for help.
Henry settled her in the one big soft chair and covered her with his warmest blanket. Then he made a roaring fire in the big old wood stove. When it was really burning well he threw in a couple of logs that looked pretty wet and closed the stove door. Then he went outside and she heard him climbing on the roof. About a half hour later he came back into the cabin smiling and about a half hour after that the rangers came.
“Yep!, I still know Morse code “, he said.

The mini challenge- Silver Tongue Indeed

Paul Plumber was often called the silver-tongued bandit because of his ability to get ridiculous amounts for the stuff he sold at his store “ Everything and the Kitchen Sink”. For example he sold a wooden plate of wooden French fries, each one hand painted, for $ 80. And he sold a worn welcome carpet that said “ WELCOME we give FREE ESTIMATES for $ 159. But perhaps the best example of his ability is his selling a pile of Braille books to a gentleman who couldn’t read Braille and wasn’t blind. He got $205.10 for the pile. He convinced the man, a Doctor that he should put them in his waiting room as a service to his blind patients.
Paul always greeted new customers with the of the story of his birth , only slightly embellished. It seems he was born in a cabin in the far North. His parents were trapped there by a blizzard. When the blizzard ended his father climbed up on the roof of the cabin and using his jacket to cover and uncover the stove pipe sent an SOS that was read by the Ranger Station. The Ranger came through the snow with a dog sled and arrived just in time to deliver the baby. His mother said that just as his head came into sight the sun broke through the clouds and a ray of light like a halo shown upon his head. She knew right then he was blessed by God so she called him Paul after the great apostle.
The story was only slightly embellished if you ignore the fact that his birth certificate says he was born in the Mudville hospital with Dr. Raymond Pullman in attendance.

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

Flash 55-Mary Poppins

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story:


Mary Poppins traveled to Hollywood, where she opened a shop on Sunset Boulevard as a fortune-teller.

She always received a very strong premonition whenever someone was about to have an onset of bad breath. In order to publicize her success at this, she had a sign above her door,

reading: Super California Mystic Expert Halitosis.




Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the thirtieth chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood.

The entire story to date is HERE
The most recent chapters are HERE

Good King Underwear had his throne back but with the loss of the Gray Knight only 3 Knights were left. In the First Chair was the Knight in Shining Armour. In the second the Knight with one leg and one arm. Sir Laughsalot was still assigned the twelfth chair. It was a very lonely square table.

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

Quilly 34

It is a Quilly day. Time to take Quilly’s three words for the day and write a story.Today we have three words from Quilly Click on the word for a definition:

The 3WT #34 words will be:suffarcinate; spiscious; & tristifical
All of Quilly's words may be found HERE

Light at Last?

Detective Mallory looked at his tristifical clue board that had lead to his days of grieving. But now he had added another board and suffarcinated it with new clues. There were the phone records of the three victims. There was the common number that appeared on all three sets of records in both their incoming and outgoing calls.
Mallory felt really alive as some things began to come together. The number belonged to the “ Ostrich Development Corporation”. The owner of that corporation was hidden . It was owned by a dummy corporation that was owned by a dummy corporation. Somebody was covering his tracks well.
So Mallory called in some favors and finally ended up with the name of the one man on top the pyramid . It was Alexander Foxco, the great Oil Tycoon.
Then Mallory went to the jail to talk to Josh. He asked him if there was oil on his property. Josh said “ I don’t think so unless that spiscious dark stuff that floats on the little pond is oil.
Now Mallory was sure he knew the killer or at least who paid the killer but proving it was something else. All the potential witnesses were the victims . Everything he had was conjecture.
But he went to the DA anyway. She laughed at him. Told him his friendship was clouding his judgment. She was going ahead and putting Josh on trial.
Going back to the office and acting on a gut level hunch he pulled the DA’s phone records., which if she ever fpound out would give her ample cause to fire him.
But what he expected to find he found. Now he needed a plan.

To be continued next Thursday
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And of course with Quilly's words comes the required quivel.
There is poetry which a few people do well.
Then there is poetic drivel which is more fun and has its own experts.
But below them all is Quivel
Remember to write quivel you must write something that looks like a poem, any style , but is so bad that if it was printed in a book of poetry a true poetic zoilist would tear it out and burn it.
In other words if it contains Quilly's words and looks like a really bad poem it is really good Quivel. Here then is today's quivel.

A Sad Goodbye

It was a tristifical day in the neighborhood
Mr. Rogers was gone for good
Suffarcinated his train and rode away
Spiscious tears were shed that day
His risible words no longer spoken
Our little hearts were broken
On that really hitonious day
When Mr. Rogers went away

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

Raven's Challenge 86

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: Incensed, sidewinder, bogus, conniption, Haz-mat, conniving, customize, perforated, zeal, rolling off a log
And for the mini: abstemious, chlorophyll, origami, cheerleader, dung beetle

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Agent 012 still a light green was called into the Agency. Homeland Security wants them to help in finding Nazeeh Haz-mat
A leading terrorist who is now rumored to be in the United States. It is believed he is here conniving to purchase a sidewinder missile from an illegal arms dealer. He is described as having the zeal of a cheerleader trying to change the momentum of the game. He has the tattoo of a dung beetle on his left arm just below the elbow. He has an abstemious diet free of alcohol and fat foods and has suffered from a perforated ulcer. He can customize a disguise as easy as rolling off a log. But sometimes you can see through his bogus identity because he absentmindedly makes little origami dung beetles. He is known as becoming easily incensed and may throw a conniption fit if crossed. At such times he kills and leaves no witnesses.
Agent 012 looked at the description and thought “This is a guy you want to send an agent as green as chlorophyll out after. I wonder what he thinks of green people?’
They set Agent 012 up as an illegal arms dealer in New York and let out the word he had a contact with a sidewinder missile supplier.
Now he had to wait and see what happens.
It might even be a good day.

The ten word challenge-Truth Above All

The head of the local Haz-mat team became incensed almost to the point of having a conniption as he analyzed the soil around the former sidewinder missile plant. Ted was not just another government bureaucrat but a committed ecologist who brought real zeal to the job. He knew that the owners of the plant were conniving with some of his superiors to “customize” the report so everything would look better than it was. They wanted him to turn in bogus figures. It would be as easy as rolling off a log they said. But not for him. He believed in truth and the public’s right to know.
But now he was angry and scared. He had received a picture of himself in the mail perforated with a hundred little holes and the words scrawled across the front “the truth can kill.”
He thought for a long time and then he dialed the local TV station. “I have an important story for you”, he began but at that point the phone went dead and the lights flickered out.
The found his body the next day . He was shot in the head and his apartment was ransacked.
Two days later his agency submitted the bogus report complete with the made up numbers.

The mini challenge- Truth Wins

The manager of WWTT TV opened the box that came to him in the morning mail the top part of the box was filled with dozens of chlorophyll colored origami dung beetles. He hoped this was not another add for some abstemious diet product or book. He hated it when they wanted him to be a cheerleader for those things. Removing the dung beetles he found a letter from his friend Ted. The station had just done a piece on his murder telling how the police had no clues and no leads.
Below the letter were recordings and video tapes, copies of lab tests and a password to a secret website.
The editor of the local paper had received a similar package.
That night both the Station and the paper broke the story. The story of cover ups and lies. The story of approval by high ranking officials of patently illegal acts.
Out of the expose came indictments, prison sentences and the beginning of the clean up of the site.
Ted’s killing was traced to a man hired by his boss to shut him up at all costs. Both the killer and the boss were tried and convicted.
The town had a martyr that would be remembered for years. He gave up his life for the truth.

The Conductor

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story:

It was the last performance of the season,

Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which required extra effort from the basses at the end.

They were all plastered.

Then he knocked over his music stand.

As he stood in front of his orchestra,

it was the bottom of the 9th, no score and the basses were loaded.

Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the twenty ninth chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood. The ballad of the throne taken from the palace archives.
The entire story to date is HERE
The most recent chapters are HERE


The Gray Knight sat in his thatched roof cottage drinking beer.
Above him, in the loft, he had stowed the king's precious golden throne.
He was laughing when the ceiling gave way and the throne crushed him to death.
There is a moral to this story
People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones.

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

Mallory crawls on

It is a Quilly day. Time to take Quilly’s three words for the day and write a story.Today we have three words from Quilly Click on the word for a definition:

The 3WT #33 words will be: maleolent; xenization; & pigritude.
All of Quilly's words may be found HERE

Detective Mallory sat in his office head in hand. His friend Josh had been indicted and now the local paper was calling for a quick trial. The entire episode had a maleolent feel about it. There had been no pigritude on the part of his men or himself but still he had made no breakthrough . One might even dare to say he didn’t have a clue. He was missing something. He had to be.
That’s when he had one of those light bulb moments. “Motive” he thought. “ Where’s the motive? If somebody was out to frame Josh what was their motive?”
He went down to the jail to question Josh. He explained to Josh that this was an official questioning and he could have his lawyer present if he desired.
Josh explained that he didn’t have a lawyer yet. He was going to have to sell his house to get a good lawyer. He went on to say he should have sold it when investment broker Hudson Smith offered him twice as much as it was worth. Now he would be lucky to get full value out of it.
Mallory immediately asked when the offer had been made for the house and was told three weeks before all this nonsense began. He had called every day for a week hoping Josh would change his mind.
Then Judge Woody called and told him they might have to condemn his place for some legal reason or another. Josh told him he would take his chances in court.
Mallory then asked if anybody else was interested in the house. Josh said that the bank President himself had called saying it was the ideal place for a summer house and offering him more than Hudson Smith.
At the end of the questioning Mallory felt better . In fact for the first time in weeks he lost his feeling of xenization.

To be continued next Thursday

########################################################

And of course with Quilly's words comes the required quivel.
There is poetry which a few people do well.
Then there is poetic drivel which is more fun and has its own experts.
But below them all is Quivel
Remember to write quivel you must write something that looks like a poem, any style , but is so bad that if it was printed in a book of poetry a true poetic zoilist would tear it out and burn it.
In other words if it contains Quilly's words and looks like a really bad poem it is really good Quivel. Here then is today's quivel.

Death

The final road to death is one of xenization.
The thought of which leads to frustration
It is not pigritude that pulls you down
Wrapped in a maleolent hospital gown
Your mind now filled with divagations
Living on hitonious inter-venous rations
It would be risable, it really would
If laugh through the pain we could
Murklins we move ourselves along
Until we hear the mellifluous song
Then comes the isangelous voice
Alone no more we rejoice.

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

Idioms Galore

Jientje at Heaven is in Belgium, hosts these picture idioms.

Hit the Books
Means to study extra hard, especially for a test.

Pick up your ears.
Means to listen very carefully.

Since this is the last day and I have one left over I am putting that one up as well...

Keep your chin up.
Means to remain joyful in a tough situation.

Thank you Jientje for hosting this meme.

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

A Fairy Story ?

A Picture Story from Portrait of Words

Check in there to find other Portrait of Words stories.

A Priest that Listens

Father Alstair W. Muggins looked out the window of his new home.

From there he could see the fine old church of which he was now the rector.
And beyond that the cemetery.
From the window on the other side he could see the Greek temple like edifice built by some past king and now part of the public park system.
Everything seemed so ideal that he had no idea why he was here. His job was to help troubled parishes. This one had gone through three priests in two years, one had left the priesthood and two were receiving psychiatric treatment.
But everything seemed fine. He had met with the Vestry and they were fine reasonable people except for the question of night meetings and night services. They told him that once the sun sets nobody will come anywhere near the Church. It seems there is some kind of monster under the old stone bridge that that leads over the creek and into the cemetery and it comes out at night.
So he did what any rational priest would do he went and sat on the bridge as it got dark. Soon there was an odd noise and then a little three foot creature stood before him.
But instead of running away or screaming he said to the creature " What are you? You aren't a Troll, a Gremlin, a Fairy, an Elf, A Leprechaun , or even a Drow. So why are you running around scaring my people?"
The little being answered , " My father was a fairy and my mother was a troll. I suppose that makes me a faool or a trairy. I got lonely after a hundred years of living alone under the bridge. I just want somebody to talk to."
Father Alstair smiled for he was a very good listener. He made a deal with Durban , that was the name of the faool . He would sit down to tea with him in the rectory every Tuesday and Saturday night if he would cease all other apperances. With great joy Durban accepted.
Father then invited the congregation to an exercism on the old bridge and promised there would be no more monsters.
He was indeed the right man for the job thanks to his mother reading him all those fairy stories when he was young and teaching him about the little folk.
Someday he would have to invite some of his fairy friends from his last parish to meet Durban.

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

Raven's Challenge 85

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: early morning light, Pinocchio, mist, leaves, sandy, coffee, walking, traffic, pray, stomach
And for the mini: train, art, admirable, cotton, fluffy

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

In the early morning light Agent 012 looked less like a green man from space and more like a sick human being as he had breakfast coffee with his wife. Soon his boys would be getting up and his stomach knotted up at the thought.
“It’s a good job” he thought.” that I’m not Pinocchio as my nose would be ten feet long with all the lies I need to tell to explain why I’m green.” He had concocted a story about touching something in the basement of the store where he worked and had caught a fungus infection that turned him green. Then before they could really think it through he would offer to take them to the carnival where they could ride the rides and get some fluffy cotton candy. He was admirable in his ability to lie , for him it was a real art. Still he thought that he should pray that the boys will believe him. So he did.
By the time the boys got up the morning mist had lifted and he could see the sandy spots in the back yard where lawn was supposed to be. He couldn’t remember which boy was supposed to have fixed those while he was gone but this was not the time to holler at them. He leaves the entire problem for a time when he will no longer be green.
Traffic was sparse in the morning and soon they were walking around the carnival grounds. The younger son wanted to ride he train that went all the way around the carnival passing through several fake tunnels. The older boy wanted to ride the rides that cause adults to heave. Both got what they wanted.
The boys were having a great time but Agent 012 was getting snide comments like “ Hey buddy you escape from the freak show?” and “ Where did you park your saucer”. He was so happy when it was time to go home.
But on the way a policeman stopped him for driving too fast and asked to see his driver's license. He was then told to get out of the car as the man on the license wasn’t green.
This was not going to be his day.

The ten word challenge-Bad Morning

Wilhelm V. Pinocchio or Sandy as his friends called him was having coffee when the phone rang. The message he received caused his eyes to mist . He rushed out into the early morning light waking as fast as he could to the car. As he leaves he begins to pray that traffic will be light so he can reach her before she dies. His stomach churns as he thinks of Nancy, the love of his life, falling from her balcony to the ground below. Every bone broken the hospital said. No chance of recovery the hospital said. Would die soon the hospital said.
He picked up speed. He had to get there. He had to tell her he loved her. He was so glad that traffic was moving so fast.

The mini challenge- A New Begining

It was the worst accident in the history of the county, fifty five injured , twenty seven dead, thirty one cars involved. The freeway was filled with commuters rushing to meet the Bluebird Morning Special train. It was always on time and it never waited for anybody , not even the regulars. In some sense they were to blame for the accident. The city’s leading art critic died that morning on his way to work. He left a wife and three kids.
The response of the emergency center was admirable. Two helicopters hauled the living, as soon as they were located, to the nearest hospital. Ambulances arrived to take the less badly injured to the hospital as well. It was some time before the dead were removed.
He awoke feeling like he was floating on fluffy cotton, the result of the shot the nurse gave him to kill his pain. They had decided when he was brought in that he had no chance so they made him as comfortable as possible and moved him into a room with another dying patient. They figured she wouldn’t mind and they needed every space in the emergency room for the ones that could be helped.
He forced his eyes to open and he looked over at the bed next to his. Nancy he said and extend an arm.
Sandy she said pushing her broken bones to make contact. They joined hands and together they died.
Their entwined souls rose slowly from their bodies moving toward heaven.

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

A Laughing 55

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story:

George wanted his friends to laugh.
He really did.
Laughter he heard was good medicine and his friends were always sick.
So he thought and thought then sent ten different puns to his friends with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh.

Very sadly
no pun in ten did.

Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the twenty sixth chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood. The ballad of the throne taken from the palace archives.
The entire story to date is HERE
The most recent chapters are HERE

King Underware looked for his chair
For his Golden Throne not there
Such a thing who would dare?
Made the great King start to swear
Scream and holler pull his hair
But our sneaky Knight didn't care
He took it to his lair
Stowed it in the attic square
It's more than Laughsalot can bear

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

Mallory Works On

It is a Quilly day. Time to take Quilly’s three words for the day and write a story.Today we have three words from Quilly Click on the word for a definition:

The 3WT #30 words will be: tenellous; utible; & nubivagant.
All of Quilly's words may be found HERE

Detective Mallory watched as the hang glider flew like a nubivagant bird over the courthouse. For a moment it took his mind off the fact the DA had told him to go ahead with his investigation as it might make her case more utible but she was going ahead with the indictment of Josh. He was at the courthouse to present evidence that would lead to that indictment. He didn’t want to be there Josh was one of his oldest fiends and he had a tenellous spot for the guy but you did what the job required. If he wanted to help Josh it would not be by preventing an indictment but by finding out who did the murder before the trial and he fully intended to do that.
Judith had given him a description of the guy who paid her in cash to chase Josh. He had her sit down with an artist friend, they didn’t have a police sketch artist, and she described him and the artist tried to sketch the man from her description. The results were not at all promising.
But then Mallory remembered the guy had approached her in the bar and the bar had security cameras. If he was lucky he might get a look at him on the tape from that day. He immediately went to the bar and pulled the tape for the day of the supposed meeting . He was in luck. There was the man meeting with Judith and the picture was clear enough for an identification. The identification came as a real shock. It was the third victim the investment broker Hudson Smith. Whoever was behind all of this had tied up a loose end.
Detective Mallory was back to square one. He had not a single clue as to who was behind all of this. His crime board had lots of things on it but he couldn’t put them together in any way that pointed to the killer.
He decided he needed to clear his head so he went for a walk which just happened to end at the tragematopolist where he bought a pound of head clearing chocolates.
There had to be something he was missing.
To be continued next Thursday

And of course with Quilly's words comes the required quivel.
There is poetry which a few people do well.
Then there is poetic drivel which is more fun and has its own experts.
But below them all is Quivel
Remember to write quivel you must write something that looks like a poem, any style , but is so bad that if it was printed in a book of poetry a true poetic zoilist would tear it out and burn it.
In other words if it contains Quilly's words and looks like a really bad poem it is really good Quivel. Here then is today's quivel.

At Last He Flies

A utible thing a glider is
This one was really his
His nubivagant dreams
And his flying schemes
Were coming true
Soaring in the blue
This despite his tenellous butt
And the feeling in his gut

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

Drops of Idioms

Jientje at Heaven is in Belgium, hosts these picture idioms.

I dropped everything today and worked on these idioms.

A Drop in the Bucket:

A very small part of something big or whole.

Origin:From the Bible, Isaiah 40:15 (King James Version):
"Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing."

At The Drop Of A Hat:

Willing to do something immediately.

Origin:his phrase probably alludes to signaling the start of a race or other contest by dropping a hat. [Late 1800s]

The dragons decided to try this today you can see them HERE.

Raven's Challenge 84

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: plaster, cottage cheese, hallowed, hard working, food for thought, blood drive, broken finger, ceiling fan, pastry chef, production
And for the mini: the sky is falling, variations on a theme, bravery, powder puff, empty soda bottles

The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Knowing that you only have a couple hours to live can cause the mind to become crystal clear and it certainly did for Agent 012. Left not right he thought and stamped his left foot down so hard that the plaster on the ceiling of the room below shook and the ceiling fan broke loose. In the room where he was prisoner the cottage cheese and the empty soda bottles jiggled off the corner table unto the floor.
From the end of his shoe a tiny dart flew into the leg of the CEO killer and down he went.
Then he banged his left elbow against the chair and hollered “ Agent in need of assistance. Butterfly poison.” then he waited.
Now his head was spinning and he thought “ the sky is falling” as he began to pass out. Just then the door burst open and two agents entered the room and rushed over to give him a shot of the antidote to the poison.
Two hours later he was standing at the Agency receiving another medal for bravery and being pointed to as what a hard working Agent should be like. Please note that was be like and not look like.
In the holding cell downstairs the CEO killer was threatening to sue over the broken finger he got when he passed out and was demanding a lawyer. He probably wouldn’t volunteer to take part in the Agency blood drive in place of Agent 012 who couldn’t until both poison and antidote had cleared his blood stream. But they would ask him anyway as it would give him food for thought. It might even shut him up for a while.
Agent 012 was supposed to go with his wife to a Powder Puff production “ The Hallowed Halls of the Pastry Chef” this evening but he was not sure she would want to go with a green man.. The production was one of four variations on a theme being done by Powder Puff. The theme being murder.
If the green wore off fast enough he could take her to one of the others.
Except for being green it was not a bad day.

The ten word challenge- Hallowed Ground

The plaster was falling off the wall in places in the little cottage where the hard working old pastry chef lived. It was hot and the ceiling fan had long ago ceased working. He had never really looked at his cottage before as he worked all day and into the night. He was at home now only because he had a broken finger which prevented the production of his masterpieces. As he ate his simple meal of ham and cottage cheese he had both time and food for thought.
Why didn’t he retire? He had more than enough money in the bank. He could move away and buy a decent house. He could live the comfortable life. He might even teach cooking classes at some two year college. Why did he stay here ?
Even as he asked the questions he knew the answer. He stayed because this was hallowed ground. His father's father’s father was born here as was each subsequent father . He was born here. His son was born here. Of course his wife had taken the kid and left saying she couldn’t live in a dump like this. So he could be the last.
Tomorrow he would go and give blood at the blood drive then come back to the cottage. He would check and make sure the will could be found and then take the poison. He would die here.

The mini challenge- The Cycle of Life

Nicholas Thromby the 8th was as lazy a man as one could find anywhere. He had tried writing but his book “ Variations on a Theme-The Sky is Falling” never found a publisher. He was so desperate that he went to see the lawyer about his grandfather’s will. Living in that stupid cottage looked better and better. According to the will each month he lived in the cottage he would get a substantial allowance. He needed the money and if it took this extreme act of bravery to get it he was willing. His own father had disowned him calling him a lazy no good powder puff. But his family could be good for something.
The first month he moved into the cottage he paid to have it cleaned. All of the empty soda bottles were taken away. He wondered how much soda did his grandfather drink anyway.
The next month he had the walls replastered.
The month after that he pulled the ceiling fan and put in an air-conditioning system. If he had to live there he could be comfortable.
At that point he explained to his live in girl friend that if they married and she had a child in the cottage the allowance would be greatly increased. So they married and had a child. It was a wonderful little boy.
They hired a nanny to take care of it and for fourteen days each month they traveled and had fun. The little boy grew and finding his great grandfather’s recipes and with nothing else to do he became a great pastry cook. He loved the little cottage and treated it as hallowed ground. He knew the family history by heart. When his parents died in the crash he continued to live there.
The plaster was falling off the wall in places in the little cottage where the old pastry cook lived. It was hot and the air conditioning had long ago ceased to work. He had never really looked at the cottage before as he worked all day and into the night. He was at home now only because he had a broken arm which prevented the production of his masterpieces. As he ate his simple meal of ham and cottage cheese he had both time and food for thought. ……...

And like his great grandfather he would die there.

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

Realy Important man-55

Flash Fiction 55
Friday 55 Flash Fiction is brought to you by G-man (Mr Knowitall). The idea is you write a story in exactly 55 words. If you want to take part pop over and let G-man know when you've posted your 55.Here is today's story:

The Really Important Man

He worked with some of the best weekly programs.
Usually you only read his name in the credits.

But he was on the Letterman show talking to the star.

He had the star in stitches.

He was very, very good at what he did.

His work made the show.

He was a truly great

tailor.

Since I discovered it was okay I am writing a second flash 55 which will be a continuous story but a complete story every week. Here then is the twenty sixth chapter in the exciting ongoing adventures of Sir Laughsalot and Robberhood
The entire story to date is HERE
The most recent chapters are HERE

Sir Laughsalot knows who is robbing the castle of good King Underwear
Tis another noble Knight.
The knight robs by dark of night.
But Sir Laughsalot will never tell.
He is prevented by the code.
It is an ancient code.
Every knight is bound by it.
It is the code of the thin metal line.

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

Quilly 3WT #31

It is a Quilly day. Time to take Quilly’s three words for the day and write a story.Today we have three words from Quilly Click on the word for a definition:

The 3WT #31 words will be: misqueme; tragematopolist; & vacivity

The story to this point is here

Poor Detective Mallory was upset by the vacivity in his head where there should be solutions. He knew his friend Josh was innocent but everything pointed to his guilt. He didn’t want to openly misqueme the DA but she had ordered him to end his investigation and he just couldn't. But now he was keeping things as quiet as possible.
On his way to interview Judith for the second time he stopped at the tragematopolist to feed his one addiction. He just loved candy, any kind of candy. It relaxed his mind or at least that’s what he had convinced himself. Today he picked up a pound of really good chocolates which were almost gone by the time he reached Judith’s modest little home.
She seemed surprised to see him. “ I thought the case was pretty much closed .” she said.
“ That’s before I discovered you weren’t altogether honest with me.” he responded.
Then he went on to tell her he knew of her bacchante. reputation and that she was better known as Mellisa. He explained to her that lying to a police officer could cause her some real trouble.
At that point she broke down crying. “ It wasn’t my idea “ , she sobbed.” This guy came to me in the bar and offered me good money to quit the bar, change back to my real name, and chase Josh. It was more money than I ever had so I agreed . What would you expect me to do. Besides he said my chasing Josh would give the poor guy an alibi when he needed one. I didn’t know people were going to get murdered.”
On the way back to the office he stopped at the tragematopolist and got another pound of chocolates. He was going to need them. The vacivity in his head was filling up. But the new information could both hurt and help Josh. He needed to do a full investigation of the mysterious man who paid off Judith. But to do so he had to openly pursue the case and that would misqueme his boss the DA. He needed to convince the DA that this new evidence could help cement her case if they could show that Josh had arranged an alibi.
To be continued next Thursday.

And of course with Quilly's words comes the required quivel.
There is poetry which a few people do well.
Then there is poetic drivel which is more fun and has its own experts.
But below them all is Quivel
Remember to write quivel you must write something that looks like a poem, any style , but is so bad that if it was printed in a book of poetry a true poetic zoilist would tear it out and burn it.
In other words if it contains Quilly's words and looks like a really bad poem it is really good Quivel. Here then is today's quivel.

When Thin is Bad

The poor old tragematopolist
Could no longer exist
In a world where candy
Was a misqueme not dandy
They really hated him
A world set on thin
This vacivity of mind
To him was not kind

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

Apple Chips

Jientje at Heaven is in Belgium, hosts these picture idioms.

Apple of My Eye:
Someone who is cherished above all others.
( Which of course is Betty)

The saying originally meant the central aperture of the eye, presumably because apples were the most common sphere-shaped object around.
It first appeared in Old English in work attributed to King Aelfred (the Great) of Wessex, AD 885, called Gregory's Pastoral Care.

and

A Chip On Your Shoulder:
Being upset for something that happened in the past.
The phrase 'a chip on one's shoulder' is reported as originating with the nineteenth century U.S. practice of spoiling for a fight by carrying a chip of wood on one's shoulder, daring others to knock it off.