Day: June 4, 2024

Fiction, Photo Challenge, Photo Prompt, Prompt, Writing

Photo Challenge #518

Tessa

Use the above image as inspiration for a poem or short story.

Alternatively, if you are an artist or photographer, use this as an opportunity to showcase your own work.

You have 1 week to complete this challenge.

When you’re done, TAG the post ‘Photo Challenge’ and ‘Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie.’ Create a pingback and add your link to the comments for others to read.

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Mind Love Misery’s Menagerie’s Instructions

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Audition!

By Tessa Dean June 2024

I wandered around backstage before the auctions started. I was here to audition and was supposed to be outside in the line waiting to get in, but I slipped through the entrance and made it backstage without anyone seeing me. I looked at the set I was on. I wondered what show they were using this one for. 

It had a psychedelic-patterned floor, and red curtains lined the makeshift walls, creating a corridor. I looked around at the other sets and then snuck into an office, looking for a script or a poster for the show. I was really curious about this brightly colored set, and it would be great if it were part of the show I was auditioning for. 

I heard voices and looked for somewhere to hide. I ended up behind the curtains in the makeshift corridor. Little did I know that my feet were sticking out. Suddenly, the curtain was flung open, and I was in full sight of a small crowd. 

“What are you doing here?” the man in charge said. “The auditions haven’t started yet, and you are supposed to be out in the line formed at the side door.”

“Umm, I was just curious. I wanted to see the scenery. I meant no harm.”

“Please go back out in line and make sure you go to the end of the line. No cutting in front of anyone.”

“Yes, sir,” I mumbled as I started to make my way back outside.

When my turn came to enter the building, I walked inside and hoped no one would recognize me. My audition went on without so much as a remark about them seeing me inside, so I hoped I was in the clear, and it wouldn’t hurt my audition.

“You there,” I hear as I wait for the final announcement. “You were the one wandering around back here. We have decided to disqualify you for trespassing. There wasn’t a good reason for you to be inside the building wandering around unescorted.”

“But, sir, I was curious and didn’t see any harm in looking around. Please don’t disqualify me for that. If I wasn’t any good, I could see you disqualifying me, but not simply because I was curious about the sets.”

They talked and finally decided. “Okay, since you were one of our favorites, we will allow you to audition for the second round, but no more sneaking around.”

I thanked them with a smile of relief and joined the group for the second audition.

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

#Simply6Minutes, Non-Fiction, Prompt, Writing

Simply 6 Minutes – Welcome to the Challenge: 06/04/2024

Tessa

Rules for the prompt!

Welcome to the 6-minute challenge!

Today’s prompt is:

Image source: slappy2982

This is a picture of someone who got a haircut in the shape of a rat on the back of their head.

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This is a 6 minute rough draft for the photo prompt.

My 9-year-old son wore his hair short with a long tail down the back. There was nothing fancy about his hair at all. He simply liked having the tail, and it was usually pretty messy. My husband always threatened to shave his whole head if he didn’t take the time to straighten up his messy hair. I didn’t particularly mind it myself. My husband simply didn’t like long hair, but a tail was just a small section of long hair. His whole head was not long like the rock stars wore it, so I didn’t see the problem. 

As he got older, his hair began to curl. He had gotten his father’s curly hair. His father hated his curls and wore his hair pretty short, so you couldn’t really see the curls so much.

Once my son turned 18, he was tired of dealing with the curls, and one day, he simply shaved his whole head. I was shocked initially, but I liked his bald head much better. It also made him look older.

**********174 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, #FSS, #threethingschallenge, Fiction, Prompt, Word of the Day Challenge, Writing

Fandango’s Story Starter #152 And One Word Challenge, Plus The Three Things Challenge and The Word of the Day

Tessa

Fandango’s Story Starter

It’s time for my weekly Story Starter prompt. Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (my time), I’m going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.

This week’s Story Starter teaser is:

Anna always hated chocolate, so she was surprised and a little confused to find herself standing outside of the quaint chocolate shop on the outskirts of town.

If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.

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Fandango’s One Word Challenge – Omit

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Di’s Three Things Challenge #M715

Your three words today are:
CATCH
LOOP
PIN

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Word of the Day Challenge – Sponsor

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Chocolate

By Tessa Dean June 2024

Anna always hated chocolate, so she was surprised and a little confused to find herself standing outside of the quaint chocolate shop on the outskirts of town. She strongly desired chocolate right now as she surveyed the shop before her. She is surprised at the depth of her sudden desire. She is on her way to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, and she is looking forward to talking to her sponsor as she has been having a strong desire to drink this week. Now, the desire for chocolate is just as strong. What is going on?

Despite not having any money, Anna’s desire for chocolate was so intense that she found herself stepping into the shop. She decided to take a risk and help herself to a few bars of chocolate, opening her purse to prepare for the theft. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this. The tension in the air is palpable She hoped no one would catch her during her lapse while breaking the law. 

Making a loop around the shop, she looked to see what she wanted and whether she could feasibly slip it into her purse without getting caught. While making room in her purse, the pin she had been wearing earlier stuck her in the finger. “Ow,” she shouted.  She looked around to see if either of the two employees was paying her any attention. They seemed to be focused on something on the counter in front of them. She headed to the back of the store.

With a quick, nervous glance, Anna grabbed two candy bars and hurriedly stuffed them into her purse. She sauntered to the door, her heart pounding in her chest, half expecting to be stopped. When she stepped onto the street, a wave of relief washed over her, and she quickly made her way to the church for the AA meeting.

She approaches Darla and starts to tell her about her strong desire to drink this week and how she has managed to avoid taking a drink so far. She omits telling her about her strong desire for chocolate since she has always hated it. She still has no idea why she is desiring it now.

Her conscience begins to bother her. She spills the story of her shoplifting to her sponsor, and Darla tries to calm her down. “You have a choice,” she says. “You can go back to the store and confess to the employees what you did, or you can ignore it, and perhaps the stolen chocolate will keep you from taking a drink, which is very important at this point that you make it through without taking a drink.” 

According to Darla, the stolen chocolate is the least of her problems right now. Anna tries to relax and thanks Darla for talking her out of another drink. She is unsure of why she has the sudden desire to drink but wants to keep her record clean. She has almost made it to a year of not drinking. It would be a shame to break that streak now. She sits down next to Darla and prepares for the meeting to start. Her desire for a drink diminishes as she listens to the others talk.

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