Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL MY BLOGGING BUDDIES!

My favorite picture of Cait at Halloween. She wanted to be the Little Mermaid that year

This is one of my favorites. Cait and her dorm mate. What were they? I'll let Cait's Facebook Status from that day explain:

Cait: we're the girls that brought extra clothing for the ones who forgot theirs....we're fighting the stereotype that girls are expected to dress like skanks for Halloween : )

Hope everyone has a frightfully good Halloween!

Saturday Centus - Haints

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny... What are you doing to us? It's time for Saturday Centus, hosted by our lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. You know the routine, Jenny gives us a prompt and we write a fun little story of 100 words or less. Every week, I struggle keeping my word count down. Slave and sweat over which of my sweet little words are going to the recycling bin. Well, this week Jenny threw us a curve ball. We only get 50 words. Now how on earth are we supposed to tell a story in 50 words or less? Good grief, I use more words than that on my grocery list! Guess this is our trick for Halloween. I'm going to give it the old college try. The prompt is in blue font. Make sure to visit all the links, I'm sure you'll find some treats there!


The old Civil War depot was haunted. Everyone knew that. Frankie went in anyway. You can't ignore a triple dog dare! After the longest 30 minutes in history, he emerged. Shaking, but with a victorious smile on his impish face. "Come on Frankie, what happened?" He just smirked and said
"Abraham Lincoln was a lot shorter then I thought he would be..."

Saturday Centus - Just Another Scary Story

Why are we up so bright and early on a Saturday morning? It's time to participate in Saturday Centus, hosted by the lovely Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent. Jenny provides us with a writing prompt, and we conjure up a story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. No pictures, no videos, and no vulgarity or profanity! And we must use the prompt EXACTLY as written. No cute little writer's tricks of splitting the prompt! This week's prompt is "This is the scariest story I've ever heard...". It will be interesting to see what our little band of Centusians comes up with. If you're not familiar with this weekly event, you are in for a real treat - and perhaps some tricks as well! Make sure to visit all the links, there is some amazing talent out there. And Jenny keeps the link live all week, so you have plenty of time to use your imagination, spin a yarn and join us!

Here's a spooky little short for Halloween, enjoy!

The wind howled through trees, restless banshees prowling the night. Windows rattled with every clap of thunder, lightening providing glimpses of the raging storm. Ten teenage girls giggled and screamed as branches scratched against the clapboards, the old house groaning as it settled in for the night.

Sarah's mom smiled as she listened from the top of the stairs. She was so glad that she had rescued the old Hoffman place from the wrecking ball, ignoring the superstitions of the townspeople.

The lights went out just as Sarah started to speak "This is the scariest story I've ever heard...". Her mom felt a cold hand on her shoulder...

Saturday Centus - Trick or Treat!

It's Saturday which can only mean one thing. Time to visit Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent for Saturday Centus. Just in case you've been off in Siberia or something, these are the rules. Our lovely hostess provides us with a prompt. We then struggle to write a micro story of 100 words or less (exclusive of the prompt) - no profanity, no pictures and the prompt must be used in it's entirety and intact. This is a great way to see what editors have to endure on a daily basis!

Since it's October, the ghouls and ghosties are out and about. Oh wait, that's just a group of Centusians moaning over which words to delete from their story! Seriously, it's harder than you think. I'm just writing along, and when I stop to check my word count, I'm usually over 100 words before I'm anywhere near done writing.

This week's prompt was provided by our lovely Miss Anna and it's very appropriate to the season. Here's my take on it, the prompt is in bold font. Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to visit all the links. And check back throughout the week, the link stays live until next Friday evening. You don't want to miss any of the amazing writers who participate!


Cindy was so mad she could spit! The boys got to run wild on Halloween, while she had to trick or treat with daddy.

She was almost 10, for goodness sake. Why couldn't she go with the boys? Running through the spooky old graveyard, playing tricks on crazy ole Miss Harriet. Dang it, she would show them.

Stomping up the stairs, Cindy opened the door to the attic. Found the musty old uniform and slipped it on. A few dabs of ketchup and she was ready.

" "Trick or treat!" they shouted as the door opened..."

The screams of those boys were worth every lick she knew she had coming...

Saturday Centus - With Apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary

Time to let the imagination run free once again. It's Saturday Centus time, hosted by the always gracious Jenny Matlock. Jenny provides us with a prompt, and her merry band of Centusians writes a micro story of 100 words or less, exclusive of the prompt. The only rules are to use the prompt in it's entirety exactly as written. No splitting the prompt! It's ok to split infinitives, but DO NOT split the prompt! Also, no pictures and no profanity. This is not the place for your R rated meanderings :)

This weeks prompt: "If I had a hammer..."

My take. Hope you enjoy!

The sun was slowly sinking as I made my last turn around the square. Grand old buildings stood sentinel, Victorian dowagers passing judgment on every passing citizen. A sudden breeze whispered through fallen leaves on the courthouse lawn. What a glorious evening for a stroll through this beautiful old town. Peaking into gleaming shop windows, I admired the artwork at the gallery, the book display at the corner book shop. I crossed the empty street to see what had moved into the old Hoffmeier building. A candy shop! The window beckoned, displaying a veritable wonderland of luscious hand dipped chocolates. If I had a hammer ...

Please make sure to stop by Jenny's and read all the links. There are some really amazing writers participating in Saturday Centus every week!

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Saturday Centus - A Scary Story

Time to put on the old creative hat and get writing - it's Saturday Centus time! By now, you know the routine, right? Our lovely hostess, Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent, provides us with a prompt and we write a micro story of 100 words or less exclusive of the prompt. Simple, right? Not so much. And this week, she's shaking things up again. No written prompt, we are to use a picture instead. Normally we are not allowed to use pictures in our posts. But since the picture is the prompt, I'm going to to be an anarchist and break that rule. The prompt for this week:

I was hoping to be able to add to this story (thank cj for prompting me) and I think I managed it.

My take on the prompt:

The screen door slamming sounded like a gunshot in the old house. Charlee jumped, flour floating to the floor, ghosts in the October breeze. Little Frank ran into the kitchen, jumping up and down like a pogo stick. "Aunt Charlee, I'm going to pick pumpkins for Jr. He said he'd pay me and some other kids a dime for every good one!" Charlee untied her apron, turning toward the boy. "Child, we've talked about this. You aren't to go anywhere near the Ewell place. Jr. is a bad man. I don't want you talking to him."

Roy would handle this ...


Make sure to stop by and visit all the links. There are some amazing writers participating in this meme every week. And since the posts are so short, you can read them all!

I've been tagged - a story by 28 authors!

Illustration courtesy of Wilkepedia Commons

I've been tagged! Now this is an interesting concept. Tom at Sophisticated Lunacy has tagged me to participate in a meme started by The Kid in the Front Row which is called "A 30 Sentence Kid In The Front Row Story, by 28 Authors." Want to see the rules? Click here.
Basically, the "Kid" starts and ends the story. The rest of us complete it one sentence at a time. I apologize for the delay in responding to this, we were in Dallas for the weekend and did not have time for blogging - it was OU weekend after all! So without further ado, here is my contribution at #10. I'm tagging Jeff at TennesseeMudbug to continue the story.

1. Jane never expected to visit Belarus, but it was the only possible solution after what had happened.

2. Her lonely planet guide had advised her that it was a great place for birdwatching- so she packed her binoculars- Todd would have been proud, had he not been lying in a coma.

3. Poor Todd; Jane remembered the incident so well: he had spotted a rare long-whiskered owlet, had ran out into the street to snap a photo, and had thusly been hit by an ice cream truck.

4. Except the ice cream truck was actually a roasted salmon!

5. Upon seeing this strange occurrence, a Portuguese fisherman who happened to be standing on the other side of the street (and who was also, coincidentally, the resident expert on salmon) ran to scene and called 911, prompting Todd's speedy - albeit smelly - rescue.

6. Naturally, Jane was distraught over the entire salmon/ice-cream truck affair , moreover considering that she was the one who had wanted the photo of that owlet; they were both avid birdwatchers, but she was particularly fond of the owlet.

7. She had gone off owlets since then, and as she checked into the little hotel by the river, she wondered if she could find solace in the azure tit, a beautiful bird that, while easily spotted and hardly rare, at least had a name that sometimes made her giggle.

8. Surrounded by beautiful little azure tits as she wrote in her journal to un-bird-en herself of thoughts of fish, and fowl, and Todd (who was slowly recovering, and would join her soon); and as room service arrived with her vegetarian plate; her phone vibrated, signaling a text....

9. Alas, the careful study of azure tits would have to wait as an urgent text message from the manager of the treatment center where Todd was hospitalized informed her that something truly extraordinary was happening to him

10. Please return to hospital stat - patient awake, agitated, requesting nurse to masticate and regurgitate his dinner - wings noted sprouting from back, need your expertise in birds ASAP!
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30. The three of them left as quickly as they could and vowed never to return again, especially if Jane was in town.