The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2023 Daily Prompt – Jan. 14th

LindaGHill said :”Welcome to the Daily 2023 Just Jot it January Prompt and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for SATURDAY, JANUARY 14th! Well, so far, so good. I’m doing pretty well keeping up with the prompts this year by staying ahead of the game. There’s something to be said for taking the pressure off by being prepared. “

 Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 14th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “once upon a time.” Start your post with “Once upon a time,” then write whatever comes to you, whether it be fact or fiction. Have fun!

Once upon a time

Image Found  Here 

Once apon a time there was a young prince, named Bonniface. His  family  had  reigned over  their  kingdom  for  a  thousand  years!! Sadly the  present  king ( Bonniface’s dad) was   not  the  best  with  the  royal  purse  and  right  now  the  kingdom  was  deeply  in  the  red!  The  King  and  Queen  after much deliberation  decided  Bonniface should  marry Princess  Precious  from  the  the  kingdom  next  door  but one.

Well  that  was  not  so  bad  she  was  quiet  a  looker! So  it  was  a light  and happy  heart  that  he  set  off to meet  Precious. All went well on his arrival until after dinner whilst having   drink out on  the palace  veranda  that  Precious  showed  her  true  colours.

She  told  Bonniface   that  if  he  wished  to  marry  her  he  had  to carry  out  some  quests  for  her, to  prove  his  worth.

Poor  Bonniface   had  spent  the  last  two  years, getting  water  from  the  Well of  Life, crystals  from the  Mountains of  Doom and  three  scales  from a  living  dragon (  boy  that  was hard!) and  now  he was  supposed  to  getting  a  lock  of  hair  from a fairy!

Night  was falling  and  Bonniface  was hungry  and  so  was his  horse. As they  rounded  the  bend  Bonniface  saw  tiny  twinkling  lights  up  ahead. Ah!  he  thought  perhaps  there is  a chance  of  shelter  and  food, his  horse  (  who I  have  not  introduced  yet, named Jet, due  to his  colour) thought  exactly  the  same .

Nearing  the  lights the Prince  and  horse  were  amazed  to  see  that  they  were  surrounded  twinkling  fairies! They  were  really  so  enchanting  and  beautiful. The  Prince stood  stock  still  and  opened  mouthed. The  tiny  and  beautiful  faires  danced  all around  him. All  the  warnings  he  had  been  given  about  this  sort  of  thing totally  disappeared from his  mind  and  he  forgot  the rain and  the  tiredness  and  smiled !

A beautiful  soft  voice  from  behind  him made  him spin  round .

Image  Found  Here 

There in front of  him  was  the  most  beautiful  Fairy Prince, blonde  hair,  blue  eyes, red lips  and  equally  as  tall as  himself.  Bonniface  was  smitten . “Prince  Bonniface I  assume” said  the  silver tongued  Fairy Prince, ( he really did have a  silver  coloured  tongue). “I  have  had  my  eye on  you  for  several  months  now”  The  Fairy  Prince  smiled  and  bowed  very  low  taking  a  good  look  at  the  bedraggled  Bonniface  as  he  straighten up. Bonniface  was  still dumbstruck.

Well  the  Fairy  Prince  persuaded  Prince  Bonniface   to  stay  for  dinner  and  for decency’s sake  I  shall not  mention  what  happened  after  dinner   but  boy  it  was  hot and  joy  reigned  supreme!

In  the  morning  the  Fairy Prince  invited  Prince  Bonniface  to  stay  with  him  forever, apparently  if  he  stayed  he  would  become  a fairy  too  and  be  married  to  the  Fairy  Prince. It  took  Bonniface  a  split  second  to  weigh  up  the  pros  and  cons  of  life with the  Fairy  Prince  or  Princess Precious…… Yup  he  stayed  and  he  and  the Fairy  Prince lived  happily  ever  after. Well I  say  happily  ever after  they  did  have  their  ups  and  downs  and  Bonniface  found  himself  in  the  body  of  a  frog   more  than once   but  he  and  his  Prince  never  slept on  an  argument and  they always  made up  before sunset . They  had  lots of  fun  and  glorious sex  and  Bonniface   never  had  to  go  on  anymore  quests!

Jet  became a unicorn  and  was  very  popular  because   he  was  the only  black  unicorn in existence!

image  found  here 

Prince Bonniface’s  parents  suddenly  came  into  money  and  his  younger brother  Bob  became  the  next in  line  (  Bob  was an accountant   so  the  kingdom was in  safe  hands)

Image  found  here 

Princess Precious, well after  a  year or  two  decided  that Bonniface was  not  coming  back so  she  married  Prince  Rufus  of  some  other  Kingdom and  after  an uneasy  start  they  fell in  love  and  she  become  half  decent !

I  won’t  say  they  all  lived  happily  ever after   because  let us   get  real  no one  does  not  even in real  fairytales.   But  these  guys  above  made  a pretty  good  fists of  it!

******

This is a rewrite of a post I did in 2017.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 25, 2021

Badge by Shelley Krupa.

Our lovely host LindaGHill has given us this week’s prompt for SoCs.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “near/far.” Use “near,” use “far,” use them both if you’d like. In fact, if you start your post with one and end with the other, you get bonus points! Enjoy!

Photo by Tomaz Barcellos on Pexels.com

Far away in the land of never never lived Princess Charmless. Unlike all her princess sisters Charmless was far from beautiful, far from dainty and far from demure. In fact she was so far from being princess like she was often mistaken for one of the commoners. She was, though the nearest to kind in her whole family.

Now near to the castle there was a blacksmith’s forge and that’s where Charmless loved to spend her days, getting hot and dirty helping old Dan the blacksmith. Dan knew exactly who she was but chose not to let on because he was so pleased to have a young and healthy assistant.

Charmless was never happier than when busy at the forge. The King and Queen knew where Charmless was and were happy to know she was, safe and near unlike when she was younger and running off near and far!

One day Prince Charming from a neighbouring kingdom had need to visit the forge. He came in dressed in all his finery and was immediately taken by the unglamorous but cute assistant.

Well so far we have Prince Charming and Princess Charmless thrown together by fate. … Well I am running out of time so to cut a very long and involved story short , they fell in love and got married and bought a nice little castle near both kingdoms. They lived happily ever after.

Oh! They had a huge wedding and their friends came from far and near!

K.L.Caley’s#writephoto : Subsea.

For visually challenged writers, the image shows a speckled fish emerging from a pot in an underwater scene.

Subsea – Image by KL Caley

This is not a good look, Morgarna thought to herself. As she left one amphorae to investigate the next! It was empty too, she was beginning to lose her patience.
Merlin had tricked her again, he’d said, “beautiful clear waters, warmth and sun, sea and plenty to drink, what’s not to like” no mention of being under water with no hope of getting out, and instead of white rum ..water, salt water.
No Merlin owed her this time he’d gone too far, why was it always her that got the dirty end of the stick?
As Morgarna flipped back and forth she was, rather reluctantly, impressed with her swimming skills, very agile she mused.
Just as she was about to give up she saw it, a perfectly round golden sphere, the golden pearl of Atlantis.
There it was floating Infront of the amphora on the right. Okay all she had to do was capture it then job done and she’d make sure Merlin paid for it!
As she was wondering just how a fish might catch and transport a golden pearl, she saw a large fish approaching fast. He didn’t look like he was going to ask her out to dinner. He was looking at her as if she was the dinner.
Without thinking Morgarna swallowed the pearl, and darted off upward! The large fish was in hot persuit and gaining.
Come on thought Morgarna where are you. As she swerved this way and that feeling the large fish snapping at her tail she thought of all the ways she was going to make Merlin pay!
Then she felt sharp teeth gripping her tail, a slight panic began to rise somewhere inside the body she was in. (hard to tell where when it’s not your body)
Just as she decided she’d better make a few “Mea Culpas” she saw the anomaly inches away. With all her might Morgarna threw herself into it.

Landing with a splosh on the Laboratory carpet, naked as the day she was born and with a medium sized fish attached to her bum. She looked up and saw a shocked Merlin looking down on her!
He reached out to help her up but she batted his hand away. Removing the fish gently from her behind she got up and relocated it in the large fish tank by the coffee machine.
“Did you get it?” asked Merlin ..
“Oh! Thanks Hun, yes I am okay, soaking bloody wet and my hair will take ages to recover from the sea water! Plus I have a bruised arse! ” Morgarna hissed.
“Yes I know” Merlin replied, “but did you get it.”
“Of course I did” she replied grimacing. “Can I see it?” Merlin was getting irritated now.
A smile crossed Morgarna’s face. “Yes in a couple of days time….it’s in my tummy, it needs to be digested and expelled, then sweetie you can have it …and clean it!” Morgarna ended on a shout.
Turning on her heal she marched off to the bathroom calling over her shoulder, “anything but fish and chips for dinner …. Hun.”
Merlin watch her gorgeous back disappear into the bathroom, he smiled to himself and grabbed the car keys.
Later on the sofa enjoying her second Bacrdi and coke Morgarna felt movement in her gut…. She decided not to tell Merlin yet…. He could stew a while! “

******

THIS IS PART OF K.L. CALEYS #WRITEPHOTO.

K. L. Caley’s #writephoto. Community.

For visually challenged writers, the image shows a collection of toy people all gathered around a sign with the word “Community” on it

Community – Image by KL Caley

Well 15 months on and still the pandemic was causing havoc. Most people had to work from home. For many this meant long days and nights alone with a computer screen. For Pete it had become depressing, soul destroying.
He made sure he got out for at least an hour’s walk everyday, he used his exercise bike in the evening, had his shopping delivered and made sure he cooked good healthy food.
When he could, he’d get out and meet friends…… That had been impossible during the early lockdowns. Things were finally beginning to come together and ease for now ( no one could be sure what the the next few weeks could bring.)
Pete opened his daily meeting, only to be greeted by empty screens on mute. In the beginning everyone had been eager to join in the meetings, screens and sound on. Slowly they had all withdrawn.
“Come on guys I am bending over backwards to help you guys… For pity’s sake cut me me some slack!” Pete shouted.
Slowly screens filled with his techs and engineers and program architects.
He smiled “hi guys we have the big boss joing us today!”
Just then the boss appeared on his screen.
“Right guys we want you all back in the office for the end of September, three days a week.”
Pete could not control himself he jumped up clapping and cheering! It broke the ice everyone laughed! The boss smile and asked Pete was he pleased!
Pete thanked goodness an end was in sight and that he’d got dressed properly this morning.
Later that day when the team signed in for their next meeting they all looked askance at Pete’s square.. there was a white edged, grey, board with the word Community on it and infront a collection of five toy figures doing different things.
After a second or two Pete’s face appeared….”that’s us guys we are a team, we are a community! Keep those screens on , unmute your devices. Let’s communicate let’s rebond.”

********

This is part of K.L.Caleys #writephoto.

#writephoto: Swan.

Its Thursday again and time for KL’s #writephoto.

For visually challenged writers, the image shows a swan in grassland staring at a small dog with a red

The Dog and the Swan – KL Caley.

The meeting of eyes
Lines drawn in the sand.
Quickly the hackles rise
This scenario was unplanned.

Stock still turned to stone
Silent warnings exchanged
Freeze, that neck can break bone.
Show no fear, best keep out of range.

Ben, Ben come to me, hear
Human, alert you can’t trust them.
Oh! Safety my two legs is near.
Yes indeed time for me to fly.

KL Caley at Novel Ideas has offered to take on Sue Vincent’s #writephoto weekly challenge now Sue has moved on to a higher plain.

April 22: Flash Fiction Challenge

April 22, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about earthing. Put a character’s hands, feet or body and soul into the earth. Who needs recharging? What happens between the interaction? Go where the prompt leads!

For this prompt I have imagined a letter from Mother Nature/ Earth/ Gaia to us all. This is part of the Carrot Ranch Challenge.

My Children

I tried to warn you, painted warnings on walls and billboards with letters 20ft tall screamed, shouted and made a fuss.No one listens at all.The blooms are out in winter and summer flowers peek in spring. Snow falls in summer and sometimes in spring.You’re heading for another drought your reservoirs  almost dry yet you let precious water waste. It’s starting with the the smaller things but soon you will suffer too. This green planet that you call home is dieing. I’m so tired and you just ignore my warning.  From a dieing Mother nature.

April 1: Flash Fiction Challenge: Swift Passage.

April 1 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a swift passage. You can take inspiration from any source. Who is going where and why. What makes it swift? Go where the prompt leads!.

I wrote this in honour of Sue Vincent. You can read her beautiful blog here.

The candle flickered her spirit left. Free from earth’s tethers and life’s pain she breathed again. Across the night sky lit by stars she flashed around the planet spreading love as she went. 

Alighting on her Moors, her spirit’s home. The stones welcomed her with love, they knew her worth. Cold winds could not chill her just carry her wisdom. 

Behind she left us grieving, family and friends alike. Her legacy will last forever as will the hole she left in our hearts. My last email to her said “sleep well.” Sue’s passage after death was swift to bliss.

Charli’s Carrot Ranch 

Well Done to Everyone Involved With The Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic.

On February 1st, the Carrot Ranch team set a competition and fundraiser for one of our finest, Sue Vincent. Using one of her photos for inspiration. The brief was to write a 99 word piece of Flash Fiction or 99 Syllable Poem and keep it under wraps until the winners were announced.

You can find all the entries, winners and judges picks here
Congratulations and well done everybody.

I did get placed but I was delighted to be Judge, Geoff Lepard’s pick. All entries were judged anonymously. Thank you Geoff and team for the advice.

Here is my Entry.

No place like home.

They had spent the last five years searching for the perfect place to settle. Travelling to several planets and even one other galaxy but nothing suited.

So their hearts lifted at the sight of the valley. The elders raised their hands prononucing "This is the perfect place, protected by mountains with it’s own water supply. Even a few remaining buildings."

A voice from the back chirped up.. "That’s where we started from, I can see my house" There was hush, a sharp intake of breath. "As we have always said" their elders smiled. "There is no place like home"

©Sue Vincent

A new Home for Sue Vincent’s #writephoto. The first Challenge Behind the Door.

KL Caley at Novel Ideas has offered to take on Sue Vincent’s #writephoto as a weekly challenge now it has become too difficult for Sue to continue.

K.L. said : “I am sure so many of you will already know this wonderful story but a little over five years ago, the wonderful Sue Vincent of Daily Echo (and The Silent Eye) posted the most intriguing image:”

Beyond the Door – Image by Sue Vincent

The convent was surrounded by an ancient stone wall. For centuries there was no entrance or exit gate or door. Novices when first admitted had to use an old wooden ladder and take a leap of faith to enter. Food supplies and correspondence was pullyed over the walls by means of bucket and rope.

The nuns lived a complentative life, growing what they could and tending their animals and themselves with the minimum of contact with outside world. The had a well, a library, a hospital and they were self-sufficient. They survived plagues, the Refermation, world wars and up until now any influence from the modern world.

Suddenly one day the sound of stones being chiseled could be heard in the nearby fields. The press and media were alerted and rushed to see and report on what was happening. Over night a beautiful round door appeared in the wall.

The door was opened once, briefly, by a tiny little Nun who looked escance at the gathered media. She shook her head, slammed the door shut and locked it. Things carried on just as before. After a while the media gave up on the story.

Dinner Debate. Carrot Ranch Prompt for 4/3/21

March 4, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes sweet potatoes. It can be part of a recipe, meal, or used as a nickname. Where do sweet potatoes take you? The grocery store? The garden? Mars? Go where the prompt leads!

The Carrot Ranch.

Dinner Debate

Are there sweet potatoes in this stew?

Yes I put two large ones in.

Well where are they?

They must of boiled away to mush, because you can see the colour and feel their texture.

But I like to see them physically cut them and chew them.

Okay I can fix that I can cook a couple more and pop them in before I dish up. Anything else need adding.

No there’s plenty of spuds, parsnips, swede, leeks and carrots.

How was dinner?.

There was a lot of sweet potato in it.

What? really! You’ve got to be joking!