My 3 Year anniversary on WordPress.

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com 3 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

I have received a message from WordPress wishing me a Happy Anniversary.

It was three years ago today that I started my Blog.

I had just begun a creative writing course and I wanted an outlet for my writing, I’d read an article that mentioned WordPress and this seemed like fate was giving me a nudge.

I am a bit of a technophobe and yet WordPress made it all easy.

It’s been a strange journey the last three years but I have come so far.

I admit that my initial energy has turned rather lukewarm and I am not writing as much lately, but I do hope that this changes soon and I start getting into a better routine with more time for writing.

I will be posting some of my earliest posts. It will be interesting to see if my writing style has developed at all 🙂

Thank you to all my followers for joining me on my journey.

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/03/07/lukewarm/

FOWC with Fandango — Article

50 Word Thursday #111 – A World without the Word.

And the words: “Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.”
― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

He glanced out of the narrow window at the ships anchored in the harbour. This was the scene that had greeted his eyes every day of his life and it had inspired him to write several novels. Many of his books had Piracy as the main theme. He’d written many of the men who had come off those ships into his novels, embellished to represent a pirate king or a kidnapped victim.

The book he was currently working on was particularly challenging. It was a story or revenge and books about vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule. However, he also knew that brevity was key. People’s attention spans nowadays were shorter and novels were often half the size they used to be. He decided to use a mechanism that was the retreat of many authors faced with this problem. He would use flashback to condense a long time into a handful of pages.

He began writing furiously and with a smile he placed his pen down at the end. He knew he’d penned another great novel. If only there were enough people around who could actually read. The Covid pandemic had killed all the teachers.

[200 Words]

This story was written for the 50 Word Thursday Challenge.

https://talesfromthemindofkristian.wordpress.com/2021/02/18/50-word-thursday-111/

I have also included the following word prompts:

FOWC with Fandango — Retreat

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/rdp-wednesday-brevity/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/theme-2/

Multiple Word Prompt Story – A Body In Victorian London.

His body lay in the gutter. He could feel the hard cobblestones, but the discomfort they caused was nothing next to the pain of the wound in his side. Stabbed by a Knife. It was Ironic he should end this way, bleeding to death in the street. The rain washed the blood away and with it, his life ebbed.

He took one last look at the London street, lit by gaslight that guttered in its glass lamp.

It was the last thing he saw. His London.

50 Word Thursday #110 – All part of the Service – A macabre Valentines story.

And the words:
“Some days expand, Mona thought; their seams stretch and they hold more than a day’s worth of time.” – This Must Be The Place – Kate Racculia

It seemed like the perfect Valentine’s day. Her boyfriend had paid for a night in a luxury hotel in a picturesque village and also a chauffeur to drive them to a local beauty spot.

He had woken her early and they had sat on their balcony and watched the sun rise and shared a bar of chocolate, not quite all of which melted in their mouths.

After breakfast, the driver had arrived with a huge grin on his face. There was something about him Mona did not like, something they preyed on her mind. He seemed quite jolly as he drove them to a remote and secluded place where a long stretch of sand met the sea. He even sang to them. Mona hoped that this was part of the service because she didn’t think it was worth paying extra for. She could only take so much more of ‘Spanish eyes’ sung just off key.

Some days expand, Mona thought; their seams stretch and they hold more than a day’s worth of time.

Then things started to go wrong. After taking just one sip of champagne, her boyfriend began to choke and passed out.

As she tried to resuscitate him, she looked over at the chauffeur who was still grinning.

“How can you be so cheery at time like this?” she shouted.

“Oh, I just love my job and my hobby” he replied.

“And what’s your hobby then?” Mona asked, with some trepidation.

“Butcher” he replied as the axe swung.

[250 Words]

This story was written for the 50 Word Thursday Challenge, hosted by Deb Whittam.

You have until Wednesday if you want to take part, click on the link.

https://debbiewhittam.wordpress.com/2021/02/12/50-word-thursday-110/

I have also included the following word prompts:

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/02/14/mind/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/02/13/cheery/

FOWC with Fandango — Village

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/02/14/rdp-sunday-chocolate/

50 Word Thursday # 109 – Without an Apple.

and here are the words:
‘Although it was a simple thing to be doing, something strange was happening.’
– Paulo Coelho – The Valkyries

I’d decided to make the most of my freedom. I’d no lectures today, no tutorials or dreary sessions in the library reading about Einstein’s theory of relativity. This was my first real day of freedom since lockdown had ended and that deadly virus, so persistent, had finally rescinded to controllable levels.

It had left it scars. I still avoided crowds where possible and I don’t think any of us would ever feel the same again.

Today I went to Greenwich to bask in the history or my scientific forebears. I’d wandered around the observatory where scientists of old had gazed through their telescope and seen the glories of a distant planet.

Then I sat and had a picnic on the green.

I gazed in dreamy contemplation across at the building in the distance topped by a triangle, really a pyramid and although it was a simple thing to be doing, something strange was happening.

It seemed as though those scientists who had walked this ground were passing on their knowledge and mixed with my own studies of theoretical physics I suddenly had a ‘Eureka’ moment and, without an apple like Newton, I had worked out how to travel through time!.

[200 words]

This story was written for the 50 Word Thursday challenge posted last week. Today is the last opportunity to take part.

https://talesfromthemindofkristian.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/50-word-thursday-109/

I have also included the following word prompts:

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2021/02/10/rdp-wednesday-triangle/

FOWC with Fandango — Planet

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/02/10/persistent/

50 Word Thursday # 108 – The Loot

And the words:

” … grabbed the pistol from me and fired it into the couch.” – Louisiana Longshot – Jana DeLeon

We sneaked into the old place careful not to make any sounds that may awaken the neighbours. Most of the folks who lived round here were practically in their grave, and the person who used to live in this bungalow had already gone on ahead.

Uncle Peter had never cared for a soul except himself. We knew that because when our parents died and they’d asked him in their will to look after them, he’d just packed us off to the orphanage.

Now we figured we’d be entitled to his cash. He’d hardly been a good example of a generous man and we suspected his cash was around somewhere.

I stood there with my gun in my hand and asked my brother, “Where do you think he’s hidden the loot then?”

He grabbed the pistol from me and fired it into the couch.

“Right here” he replied.

He was right.

[150 Words]

Written for the 50 Word Thursday Challenge

https://debbiewhittam.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/50-word-thursday-108/

Including the following word prompts:

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/02/03/generous-2/

FOWC with Fandango — Example

50 Word Thursday # 107 – An Obscure Dream

And the Words: “It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.” – H.G Wells, The Time Machine

She woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. The dream had been so real. She shook her boyfriend awake, who was snoring beside her and described her dream.

“I dreamt I saw a church with an obscure 8-sided tower. A priest came running after me and told me it was the end of the world. People started screaming and the sky turned black.”

Her boyfriend responded sarcastically, “It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.”

The next day they left their hotel room to explore the town and walked down a side street they’d never been before. Her boyfriend held her hand tightly, in his overly protective way that she hadn’t made an issue of, but she stared back in amazement at the obscure 8-sided church tower and she knew what was going to happen next.

[150 Words]

This story was written for the 50 Word Thursday Challenge:

https://talesfromthemindofkristian.wordpress.com/2021/01/21/50-word-thursday-107/

And I also included the following word prompts:

Obscure

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/comeuppance/

FOWC with Fandango — Issue

50 Word Thursday #106 – Step Right Up

And the words:
“I stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.” – Louisiana Longshot – Jana DeLeon

“Step right up folks and shake hands with the star of our show” She said.

When it comes to making a fool of myself, I’m a pundit.

I stood right up and she laughed.

“I stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.” 

Behind me a queue was forming.

[50 Words]

This was written for the 50 word Thursday Challenge

https://debbiewhittam.wordpress.com/2021/01/15/50-word-thursday-106/

I have also included the following word prompts:

FOWC with Fandango — Pundit

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/01/20/queue/

50 Word Thursday # 105 – A Summer Surprise.

 

And the Words: “I have to remind myself to breathe – almost to remind my heart to beat!” – Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

 

“I have to remind myself to breathe – almost to remind my heart
to beat!”

I said to my boyfriend standing
next to me.

As I stood looking out at that dazzling white snow, I couldn’t believe my
eyes.

What a delight and a surprise for a fourth of July Celebration.

[50 Words]

This story was written for the 50 Word Thursday Challenge:

https://talesfromthemindofkristian.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/50-word-thursday-105/

I have also included the following word prompts:

https://fivedotoh.com/2021/01/13/fowc-with-fandango-delight/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/dazzling/

Multiple Word Prompt Story – A Manifestation of the Truth.

I wrote this story a while ago but thought it deserved another viewing. Although it should come with a warning, it’s not for the fainthearted. 😉

This story was written in response to the following word prompts:

Firstly the three things challenge from The Haunted Wordsmith:

https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com/2018/10/24/daily-writing-challenge-24/

Corpse, Murder, Greenhouse

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/24/manifestation/

Manifestation

https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/10/24/your-daily-word-prompt-frighten-october-24-2018/

Frighten

FOWC with Fandango — Abstract

Abstract

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2021/01/09/warning/

“I think it is a simple manifestation of some kind of spirit,” he said removing his special ‘ghost detecting’ glasses.

Suzie glared at him “Are you trying to frighten me? What is this manifestation doing in my greenhouse anyway?”

Dr Finklefoss detected the aggression in her voice and rightly put it down to a response from feeling anxious. Fear of the supernatural was a common thing. He experienced it every day among the ill-educated and narrow-minded people he was forced to deal with.

He preferred working with the spirits rather than the living. Dead people were much easier to get on with.

“I would suspect that the murder took place in your greenhouse and that would explain why tools and plants get thrown around and why your glass panes are frequently broken. It will explain why there is a distinct cold zone in the middle of it too. This is where the poor young woman was killed.”

If she’d been anxious before, the look she gave him now was positively terrified.

“What murder, what are you talking about?” she shouted.

“You hired me to find out why you were getting these strange occurrences? Surely you must have suspected a supernatural reason and yet now you are acting like I am lying to you. She cannot harm you. All she wants is to tell us what happened to her. She is going to lead me to where her corpse is buried. She only wants the truth.”

Dr Finklefoss followed the spirit as it led him on a long and abstract path through the woods.

Suzie followed some way behind, her steps were strangely laboured.

As the spectral form stopped above a mound of disturbed earth, Dr Finklefoss realised that this spirit had not been dead that long at all. The spirits face distorted, a look of shock and fear marred the young girls face. She pointed behind him in warning, but it was too late. He felt the hard whack of the iron shovel as it caved in the back of his head. Then nothing.

Suzie dropped the shovel and watched the man bleed to death. A cold smile curled the corner of her lips. “There are some truths that I’d rather were kept hidden, thank you, Doctor.”

She returned to the house and resumed the identity of her wealthy sister, who no one suspected had a twin sister kept locked away in an institution. Well, she’d been locked away until last week, anyway and now she was enjoying herself for the first time in ages.

Copyright: Kristian Fogarty 24/October/2018