ThinkWrite Challenge LXXIII

Question

Write a story using the following words:

cactus
dice
eternal
fiddle
hairnet
monkey
nonsense
pickle
print
sandals

You can write in any form and about any topic. I'd prefer a funny story, but it's not a requirement. Use exactly 198 words. And don't forget to have fun!

The challenge ends in 2 weeks.

Comments

Just wondering before I post, does it matter if it's the plural of the word?

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You can use any form of the word. I should have specified that in the description. Thanks for pointing it out.

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OK, thanks!

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Since the word limit is so specific, do works like "a" and "to" etc count?

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Yes, because it's easiest to just do the "word count" action in Word. If you had to exclude words, you'd have to count them manually. And the specific word count is just there to make you edit your work, it's not really important what the number is. What I mean is, it wouldn't make any difference if I said "No, don't count those", because it would have the same effect on your writing, you'd still have to make it exactly x number of words. Okay, maybe I over-explained that. =P

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Oh well, this one would of been so much fun to do- I am too late for it and maybe it might be reposted again one of these times ;o) I like the word challenge ones and this one has a lot of humor in it from the words on the list; I think anyway. LOL

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You can still write a reply, if you think it's fun. :) I'd love to see your response.

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Thanks, will just put one in then- appreciate it and it was fun, too.

Answer 1

Mom padded into the room in sandals and a hairnet. In her hand, she held a cactus nuzzled up to her chest like it was the most important thing in the world. As if she owed her eternal love and gratitude to it. And in her mind, she probably did.

This nonsense started eight years ago. The first to go was her fiddle. She had played it every day for twenty-two years and then one day she locked it up in the basement. Then she started eating pickles - we all knew she used to hate pickles.

Mom tells us that the dice of fate did this on purpose. They have been kind to her, so she says, in getting the monkey of remembrance off her back. But we all wish she would react the way she used to; with anger and disappointment at the realization that she had forgotten another thing she used to hold close.

When we saw the name of the disease in print, our eyes filled with tears of relief. This wasn’t an isolated case. People went through this every day. We weren’t alone! But then we saw what the next sentence said. Incurable.

Comments

It took me a moment to fully grasp the story and now that I have all I can say is it's absolutely beautiful. And not only is it well thought, it's also very well written. I feel really privileged getting to read such good responses. Keep it up!

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Thanks, Spots!

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It was a close call, but I finally decided on this one. The torch is yours.

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Awesome - thanks so much! =D

Answer 2

Cauldron

The sandals sent up small clouds of dust as she paced the floor, nine steps clockwise, twenty seven anti-clockwise. Focus. Such things were not found in print and she had inherited hers from her great aunt. Focus. The pages were brown and tattered, but they were special, they were hers and that was important. Focus. Cactus dice and monkey nuts, was it all nonsense? Focus. This time she had remembered the hairnet, it was so unfortunate when a stray hair was added. Focus.

Heat gently and stir occasionally, but you had to wait. Wait. A long wait. She took up the old fiddle from the corner and sat down on a hard chair. Focus. Toss the feathers, that was six minutes, she would play it three times. Old Nick played the fiddle they said and such tunes were said to raise the devil. Focus. The tune was as old as life itself, it was eternal music and it always helped.

Old witch! She’d give them old witch. Carefully she ladled the dull brown, steaming mess into hot jars and closed the lids. All done! Old Witch’s Kitchen Special Pickle; the townies would pay $10 a jar! Wicked!

Comments

Absolutely loved it!

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Glad you enjoyed it. I realy liked getting the twist in the ending!

Answer 3

It was a toss of the dice whether or not my monkey and I could pull this off. I was fiddling around putting pen to paper so that I could print out the process of making cactus wine. Others preferred pickled cactus the wine was my preference.

 

I couldn’t wait to start- getting it all written down and making my way to the desert to collect the cactus for the recipe.

 

I knew I needed a hairnet, not for my hair but for straining the cacti pulp for wine. Either this or cheesecloth would do but having a new hairnet handy, this is what I used.

 

I removed my sandals; it would be utter nonsense to wear them to the desert. All of those eternal grains of sand and of course rattlers as well. It was the wisest decision, so I laced up my hiking boots.

 

My monkey, Nonsense, hopped atop my shoulders and I grabbed my knapsack packing a knife and set out to the desert. Moral: Cactus not pickled nor gathered with hairnets and sandals, and Nonsense the Monkey; is an eternal toss of the dice to not fiddle around and print it out first

Comments

That was great! It would definitely be in the run for the winning story. Bonus for using the words two or more times, at least most of them.
There's a sentence in the third paragraph that says "knowing I needed". Either I'm missing something, or that's supposed to be "I knew I needed". You probably just changed your mind about where you were going with it.

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Thanks, Spots!
It was fun and when I saw the list of words it was like I knew where to go with them all LOL- fixed the suggested edit and also changed 'Morale' to Moral ;p)