Month: June 2024

Writing, Non-Fiction, Sunday's Six Sentence Story

Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt – Hermit

Tessa

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link up at Wednesday’s post. Link goes live at 6:00 pm through Saturday late…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers.

PROMPT WORD:  HERMIT

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Over my lifetime of nearly 70 years, I have been called a hermit by so many people, including my family. I cherish my independence and prefer to stay to myself and be alone. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but my family disagrees with me. 

I was a teenager when I was first called a hermit, as my parents insisted that I go outside and play with the other children. They didn’t like that I preferred to stay inside the house and just read my books, immersing myself in someone else’s life. As a hermit, I didn’t care to be with other people, and the constant bickering about it would get to me.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#FOWC, #MVB-PROMPT, #threethingschallenge, Fiction, Prompt, Rag Tag Community, Rag Tag Daily Prompt, The Daily Spur, Word of the Day Challenge, Writing

6 Daily Writing Prompts, including Fandango and The Three Things Challenge

Tessa

Today’s post includes 6 daily writing prompts.

Fandango’s One Word Challenge. The word is layout.

The Three Things Challenge #741. The three words are draw, drawer and drawn.

The Word of the Day Challenge. The word is discover.

The RagTag Community daily challenge. The word is feed.

The Daily Spur daily challenge. The word is hostile.

My Vivid Blog daily challenge. The word is tired.

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I sat at my desk to draw the layout of my room. I had most of it drawn, but I still had to include the chest of drawers somewhere.

I was tired and still had to feed the workers, helping paint the room, and set it up. I had better get started on lunch before I discovered just how hostile this bunch of helpers could be. The easiest thing would be to order pizza and soda. There would be very little to clean up, and we could return to work immediately.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

Writing, Non-Fiction, Prompt, Weekend Writing Prompt, #Weekly prompts Weekend Challenge

The Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – One Day

Tessa

I used The Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge. Today’s word is One Day.

This weekend, partner Gerry and I are challenging you to use The ‘One Day’ Prompt. 

Back in April, Gerry and I trialled our new monthly challenge, the ‘One Day’ prompt. Today, we are happy to announce it will become an end-of-month fixture. Thank you for making it successful.

All you need to do to participate is include the words One Day in your response. Hopefully, our flexible prompt might suit whatever you have waiting in the wings.

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I hope that I will finally get the message one day. It seems that I don’t get to go to bed on time. Every night, I come up with a different reason for going to bed late. I am so tired every morning that I fall asleep while eating breakfast. That is bad enough, but if I am holding my juice glass, I spill it everywhere. You would think I would learn by now not to pick up the glass while I am so tired.

**********

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

Fiction, Mindlovemisery's Menagerie, Photo Prompt, Prompt, Saturday Mix, Writing

Puzzle This – Saturday Mix, 29 June 2024

Tessa

Rules for this prompt!

Welcome to the Saturday Mix – Puzzle This, 29 June 2024!
You will be given one piece of a puzzle. Use the picture parts or clues contained within the piece to craft your response. It is your choice whether you use poetry or prose.

Your puzzle piece this week is:

Use this creatively in your response.

Good luck with your ‘Puzzle This’ – I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Don’t forget to tag ‘Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie’, ‘Saturday Mix’, and hashtag #PuzzleThis.

As always, make sure you link to your fabulous creation via the comments or pingback.

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The drivers with their horses and carriages waited for a customer to approach them. The air was cold, so they had heavy blankets to cover their riders. A lone man approached one of the drivers and said, “Are you available for a long ride? I want to take my girlfriend on a long drive and then stop so I can propose to her.”

“Oh, yes, sir, I can do that. How romantic. Where do you want me to stop?”

“Can you just drive for 45 minutes and then stop? I will know why you are stopping, but she won’t. It will be a surprise for her.” 

“I will take you over by the waterfall. I don’t think they are frozen yet. That is the most romantic spot in the park.”

“That sounds wonderful. Let me get her out of the car and bring her over. Don’t take another customer. Here, I will pay you now, so you won’t need to take another passenger.” He handed over the money to cover the ride. The driver took the money and got a warm blanket to cover them with. 

They had been riding for around 45 minutes when the driver pulled up to the waterfall and stopped the carriage. He turned around to await further instructions. The man, his heart pounding with nervous anticipation, stepped out of the carriage and turned toward his girlfriend. He got down on one knee and said, “Sharon, will you marry me? I love you and want you to be my wife.”

Startled, she didn’t say anything at first. She just looked at him. He pulled out a ring box and opened it to show her the ring. She was still speechless. “I don’t know, Jason. I don’t think my parents would approve.” 

Now, he was speechless. “What do you mean? Are you saying no?”

“I am afraid I can’t say yes at this point. My parents don’t like you. My dad just told me the other day how he felt about us. I was going to break up with you after tonight’s date.”

“But, Sharon, we don’t need their approval. We are both adults.”

“Jason, I would never do something my parents don’t approve of. I can’t marry you, I am sorry. We are breaking up. Please take me home.”

The driver felt sorry for the guy. He had to be embarrassed at this point and now they had a long drive back to his car.

The man returned to the carriage and motioned for the driver to take them back. He was embarrassed and hurt. Plus, he didn’t have the money for the ring and didn’t know if the jeweler would take it back. Probably not, though, since he had it engraved with the date and proclaimed his love for her. He should have listened to his friends. They had warned him about her, but he didn’t want to believe them. Now he was alone and stuck with a ring he couldn’t afford and couldn’t do anything with. He would have to talk to the jeweler about the engraving. If he could remove it, he would never do that again. While they drove, he Googled engraving a ring and could he engrave over it. He found out he might be able to get it removed depending on the material the ring was made out of. He had to hope it was removable. He didn’t look at Sharon and called a cab for her when they got back to his car. He wasn’t driving her home. He couldn’t wait to get out of her sight. He paid for the cab in advance and left him a tip, so she didn’t have to pay for it once she got home. Her dad would be mad enough that he sent her home alone in a cab, but he couldn’t be around her any longer.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

Fiction, Prompt, Weekend Writing Prompt, Writing

Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt #370 – Pirate

Tessa

Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt Rules:

Pirate!

By Tessa Dean June 2024

“So, Sammi, what do you want to be for Halloween this year?” her mother asked the five-year-old girl as they stood before a row of costumes at the costume store.

Sammi grabbed a costume bag off the hook and said, “I want to be a pirate, Mommy.”

“Sammi, you’re a girl, and girls can’t be pirates.”

“I want to be a pirate,” she said, her voice filled with determination. “Look at this cool bird.”

*****74 words*****

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#FOWC, #MVB-PROMPT, #TheDailySpur, #threethingschallenge, Fiction, Prompt, Rag Tag Community, Rag Tag Daily Prompt, The Daily Spur, Word of the Day Challenge, Writing

6 Daily Writing Prompts, including Fandango and The Three Things Challenge

Tessa

Today’s post includes 6 daily writing prompts.

Fandango’s One Word Challenge. The word is cruise.

The Three Things Challenge #740. The three words are pact, pack, and pocket.

The Word of the Day Challenge. The word is private.

The RagTag Community daily challenge. The word is language.

The Daily Spur daily challenge. The word is understand.

My Vivid Blog daily challenge. The word is fragile.

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Sally was eagerly finishing the packing for her first private cruise with just her boyfriend. They were about to embark on a journey around the islands in a private sailboat. They were filled with anticipation, hoping to use this time to deepen their relationship and to understand the language of the islanders when they landed on each island they planned to visit. They made a pact to use the islander’s language as they sailed and landed on each island for a visit. 

Sally checked her pocket to make sure her ring was in there. She didn’t wear it around her family as they hadn’t told them about their engagement yet. She would put it on the moment they set sail.

Sally was torn. She wanted to take her angel collection on board the boat with them, but the pieces were fragile, and she feared they would break. She didn’t want to be without them for the few weeks they would be gone, but she couldn’t take the chance on any of them breaking. She would be heartbroken. The collection was from her boyfriend and their family. They all knew how she felt about angels. She believed in guardian angels and had to believe her guardian angel would be there for her on the trip, providing comfort and protection.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

Can You Tell A Story In..., Fiction, Prompt, Writing

Can You Tell A Story In…

Tessa

Esther’s Rules:

Can you tell a story in 28 words? You must use the following words somewhere in the story:

  • PILLOW
  • LOOT
  • SLIME
  • BALLROOM
  • SACRED

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Ronald stuffed the sacred loot in pillows in the ballroom. His hands were covered in slime, as he had searched the pigpen for the loot according to Ralph.

**********28 words**********

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

Fiction, Haiku, Moonwashed Weekly Prompt, Photo Challenge, Photo Prompt, Prompt, Writing

Moonwashed Weekly Prompt – Sultry Dreams

Tessa

Eugi’s Prompt

tropical islands

palm trees lining the sky line

sultry dreams are born

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Your Weekly Prompt – Sultry Dreams

Let the prompt word and/or image inspire you!

Prompt contributions can be any variation of the prompt and/or image.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#WeekendCoffeeShare, Non-Fiction, Prompt, Writing

June 28, 2024 Weekend Coffee Share

Tessa

Natalie’s Guidelines and newest post is here.

Coffee, Pen, Notebook, Caffeine, Cup
Picture compliments of Pixabay.com

Thanks to Natalie, the Explorer, for hosting this prompt.

Grab a chair and something to drink. If you were here, I would tell you that they have now fired the head of the nursing department as well as the administrative executive. They are on a roll here. She not only threw quite a fit, tossing things around, etc., but she snuck back in that night and tried to get one of the residents to help her get to the head of dietary. Interesting turn of events. We don’t know what happened, but we wonder if all the complaints about her at the resident meeting gave them their ammunition to fire her as well. All the nurses who were quitting balamed it on this woman so maybe with that and all our complaints they decided to do something about it. This puts a lot of work on the second in command who has had to take over running the nursing department every time we lose a head nurse. She always steps up to the plate and I hope they appreciate her. She still has her own job to do plus run the department.

The food is starting to become a little better. We actually got sausages cooked that were juicy and soft rather then hard, burned and impossible to eat. Its a beginning. They also served the meal on time for once, actually it was all three meals yesterday. The normal cook wasn’t there and the head of dietary cooked and served the meals. Hopefully he will be made to start doing his job correctly. The food he cooks is terrible and always late. Most of us can’t stand him. We wouldn’t mind seeing him let go. We also don’t get a variety of foods. It is the same stuff every week and mainly chicken. Sometimes we have chicken for 2 meals or even 3 if we have chicken sausage for breakfast. I know chicken is cheaper, but variety is necessary at times.

My memoir is still coming along. I think I have 9 chapters done and finally written to where I am happy with them. Perhaps I can finally move on to the next chapter in line. Some chapters I have started writing and some are partly done and some are finally completely done. Interesting way to write something.

It is almost time for a new perm, but not yet. I still have some curl left in my hair from the last one. I got it cut and styled today.

Another weekend has come and I am sure it will pass quickly. Enjoy your summer everyone.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com

#SoCS, Fiction, Prompt, Writing

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 29, 2024

Tessa

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“Hey, Mom, what came first? The chicken or the egg?” my 10-year-old son asked as we were coloring eggs for Easter. “The teacher asked us just before we left for the weekend.”

It was one of those moments that made me realize how much I cherish our time together, just the two of us exploring the world and its mysteries. 

I lifted another egg out of one of the cups of colored water. It was a light, rosy color. I put it back in to make it darker. “Well, Sean, I could Google it and see what the answer they give is. Put your eggs in the cups, and we’ll look it up.”

We started the computer, logged in, and made a Google request for which came first: the chicken or the egg. We received this answer from Google: *The age-old riddle has finally been settled. Eggs are much older than chickens. Dinosaurs laid eggs, the fish that first crawled out of the sea laid eggs, and the weird articulated monsters that swam in the warm shallow seas of the Cambrian Period 500 million years ago also laid eggs.*

“Well, that’s an answer. I suppose the answer will always be a mystery, never to be solved.”

We headed back to the kitchen, took the eggs out of the cups, and repeated the process all over again until all the eggs were colored and decorated.

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Linda’s Rules for #SoCS!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “chicken or egg.” Use the “which came first” conundrum in your post, whether about the chicken and the egg or about a real-life situation that fits the question. Or just talk about chickens and eggs! Enjoy!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! 
https://www.quaintrevival.com/

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com