2023 Writing Prompts

Abracadabra!

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Experience Halloween Photo Challenge: MASK

RDP  Wednesday: OVERDUE

Yesterday I went in for an overdue hair appointment.

You might say I traded one mask for another.

As you can see, I needed some work. Well. I needed a lot of work.

I’ve been putting it off because I am going to some Halloween events with my granddaughter next week so I let things go over the summer.

Me
A.M. Moscoso

Tuesday afternoon I appeared in  Michael Dean’s doorway  just as a rip roaring rainstorm hit- no kidding, it was raining like the dickens. A pile of water logged red and gold maple leaves followed me over the threshold as I made my soggy, yet dramatic entrance.

When Mick saw me  in all of my October storm looking  glory, he didn’t bat an eye, he didn’t say what the heck. Cool as a cucumber he motioned me to the chair. He draped a black cloth over my shoulders and the he told me to sit. He stepped behind, me he looked up and then he looked at the back of my head and nodded.

Like the reincarnation of Harry Houdini himself Mick waved his  magician’s wand  scissors all around my head and when he we done he said. ” Perfect. “

Then he went to the backroom and mixed a magical potion. He  came back wearing a black apron and then he meticulously painted charms on patterns all over my hair.

When he was done with that he sat me under the dryer and tried to boil my brains in my skull.

After a spell he told me to stand, so  me and my unboiled brains did as he requested because who doesn’t do what a Magician says in the middle of a magic trick? Not this girl. That’s for sure.

Me
A.M. Moscoso

As the shop  lights flashed, as the wind and the rain were pounding against the windows and rattling the door,

he took away the wrap, he fluffed up my hair and then I turned to the mirror and

My hairstylist is a Magician- FOR REAL! I told you didn’t I?

AI Art by Cursejourney

Nah, he didn’t turn me into a demon lady, I asked but no dice.

There is a limit to his magic, he claims.

Me
A.M. Moscoso

But I don’t believe that one bit.

Winston’s Mom

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A few years ago I made a promise to myself- it was a goal and it was important to me to meet it.

Because I was being treated for severe depression, I went through a phase where I didn’t want be be around people. I didn’t like them and hearing anyone breath or chew their food or swallow their coffee set my teeth on edge.

So anytime I had to interact with another human being and they would start to talk to me , I would lean forward a little and cock my head to the side ( I learned that from my dog, he looks friendly when he does that )  I would focus on the spot between their eyes, smile, nod and squint.

People liked that squinty eyed thing. Personally I think it’s creepy.

Pretty soon I got so tired of doing the same thing, over and over again- plus those signals actually work– they tell people you are engaged and present and totally focused on them and their concerns.

DOH!!!!

I was torn, do I go through life looking down or just over a person’s shoulder when I wanted to avoided making eye contact- or do I want to go through life acting like some warm hearted person who cared about every word that fell out of  your mouth when I most certainly did not feel that way.

Still if you do something over and over again it becomes a habit.

The end result was, I felt like ” Dexter ” the serial killer from the TV show who went through his life acting human because he knew how inhuman he really was.

Then one day I was at the Dog Park with Hamish when a lady with a beautiful Chocolate Lab ( like Hamish ) walked through the gate. She let her dog off of his leash and he ran to Hamish., They sniffed noses and ran off together.

” Have fun Winston!” she called.

Then she sat right next to me.

I liked the dog’s name but of course I didn’t say that- I never initiated conversations back then.

I was writing some notes for what I wanted to post on my blog and she leaned in a bit and asked me, ” what are you writing about- ”

I looked up.

She looked at the spot between my eyes.

She smiled, she squinted, and then she rushed on- ” I’m just curious. You look so intense. But you’re smiling so- I’m such a busy body. ‘ the smile was gone and she looked down to her feet.

I wanted to get up and move. I wanted to pretend I was having a heart attack. But I couldn’t. Her dog’s named was Winston and she had told him to have fun.

That’s when I thought it would be nice to let go of my routine. It was tiring. It made me feel hallow.

I told her it was okay. I showed her what I had written. ” You can take a look. It’s going on my blog tonight anyway. ”

She read what I had down so far and then she handed it back to me. ” That’s like a Twilight Zone story- but scarier. I love it. But I wouldn’t have guessed that’s what you were writing. You look so sweet and you’re so friendly. ”

What Winston’s Mom said pricked at my conscious.I felt bad that I had been hoodwinking people into thinking I cared about them and what they thought.

I  really did believe I was happy when I first started acting the part of a happy go lucky chatty person- but in truth, it was all an act keep the human race at arms length. But to be perfectly honest, since that day Winston’s mom and I actually became friends- I wanted to be that person-

For Real.

33 Messages

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Inspired by Fandango’s Story Starter#118– When she looked at her cellphone, she was shocked to see she had 33 voicemail messages

Photographer Unknown

Carline Broom was all alone in her dark  Mother’s living room watching the rain beat against the side window when she heard her phone go off.

It was on the flower table near the front door  buzzing like an angry bee and she had left it on vibrate so it was dancing too. It didn’t ring though. She had turned the ringer off because she had driven over here and everyone knows you shouldn’t use your phone when driving.

She didn’t feel like answering it right now anyway.  The rain had gone from a mist to a down pour and the streets were filling up with water. At this exact moment in time all Carline wanted to do was watch the rain come down and she wanted to watch the sky fill up relentlessly with dark black clouds.

She wondered if there would be thunder and lightning too.

Her phone sat there behind her, quiet as a mouse and just as she was about to give it faint praise for remaining still  it started to  buzz and danced again.

Carline drifted over to the table and looked down on her phone- she had 33 messages- more then half of them had come in this morning.

” Well.” Carline said to her phone. ” Well. ‘

” Where is that thing? ” she heard her Mom say,  from the kitchen. ” Whose damn

phone is that? ”

Carline told her Mom, ” it’s mine. ”

Fiona  brushed by Carline to the flower table, she picked up Carline’s phone and then she dropped it- the phone missed the table and hit the floor and Carline guessed the screen was probably cracked now.

Her Mom walked to the window where Carline was watching the storm rage and Fiona said to her own reflection, ” I’m sorry you aren’t here to see this storm Carline, you’d have loved it. ”

Carline turned and looked at her Mother, then she turned back to the window and watched the rainfall.

”  There are  33 messages on your phone Carline- I’m sorry you won’t be here to pick them up.  The jackass that hit you  when he answered his phone, I’ll bet he’s picking up his messages today. I’ll bet he’s surfing the net and playing wordle too. Bastard. May he rot in Hell. ”

Her phone buzzed from the floor.

Carline did wonder who would be calling her, and where they were calling her from and she hoped they weren’t driving through this storm wondering  why she wasn’t answering her phone.

Photographer Unknown

 

 

Garvy Myles Fell

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Inspired by the Experience Writing Visual Prompt Dimensions” by Alex Andreev

Dimensions”
Artist: Alex Andreev

As Garvy Myles and his brick apartment building  fell from the sky and the world around him flipped and tumbled from side to side , Garvy Myles kept his balance, he remaind upright, Garvy Myles was as sure footed as a mountain goat and he remained steady and calm  on his own two feet.

Garvy Myles was very pleased for himself.

As the world crashed downwards, and it would keep crashing upside down for as long as  the Earth called the Universe it’s home, Garvy knew from his perch he would be safe, he would remain strong and steady on his own two feet.

But then something happened that shook Garvy Myles to his core.

Did this Earth shattering event happen an hour after the word  turned upside down and fell ? A month later?  A thousand years from now? Does the date matter ? I don’t  think it does. What is important is that there  came a day when Garvy Myles saw a car speeding below his perch.

The car was upright, it was moving forward, it was racing for it’s life , it knew where it was going even as the world crashed around it upside down and rained  chunks  of shattered homes ariound it.

Garvy held onto the railing, he leaned over as far as he dared and he willed his building-which in another life had been called View Ridge Heights- to dive now,  to move quickly- this instant -as the racing car passed directly beneath him.

As Garvy’s building continued to crash, upside down a little faster then it had been movie before,  he saw the car racing away from him.

It was upright, it was moving foward, it’s wheels  were holding firm to the road beneath it

Garvy watched the car until  it out of his sight. Then he feel to his knees and as he clutched the railing  he felt a little less steady on his feet. He definately felt a little less sure of himself.

Then  he wept and he bellowed in rage and he would keep raging until the Universe his world called it’s home was no more.