Daggers!

Went to an even tonight...someone there hated  me so much.  Felt like tiny daggers piercing my skin.  Hatred is such an evil thing.  I don't think I've ever hatred that  strong.  How sad.  For I would have greeted her with love.  I'm so sorry. I pay the Lord help her.

Cancer Free

and on a personal note, todays' colonscopy was perfect..  2 years cancer free. Thank You Lord~

Acrostic

(Acrostic*  (a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in with certain letter in each line form a word or sentence.)

ACROSTIC

By Deborah J Lindsey

“TUNDRA”

Time Unveiled Nature’s Desire:  Reindeer Always

Stephanie Foster smiled.   Truly, this wasn’t her best Acrostic effort but it would have to do.  She was tired.

Her thoughts wandered to Robert. He’d noted her love for puzzles when they first met 6 months ago.  The Acrostic exchange was a delightful game between them.  His words were always thought-provoking and words he knew she would have to research a bit to answer.  Her words. On the other hand, tended to be silly and fun.  Her choice today was simple-just her name, Stephanie.  She was curious to learn what he would do with it.  She thought she was falling in love with him and hoped this might offer a clue to his feelings. It was an opportunity anyway, she thought.

Stephanie glanced at the table where her pager and stethoscope lay ready for a quick retrieval.  She was on-call until 4am.  “On call” meant staying in hospital and that meant grabbing a bite to eat and a nervous nap.

She’d managed a couple of hours this shift and was thankful for a few moments to rest body and spirit.

The call room she’d been assigned to was better than most.  This one had a shower and a door that locked.  Three gray lockers ran down one side of the wall and a worn desk with a folding metal chair filled the corner.  The “bed” was nothing more than a gurney that could be pressed into service at any time.

Stephanie checked her watch, sat up and pulled her crutches into position. She made her way to the desk and flipped through her charts.  She added a notation here and there and a signature where needed then straightened the pile.

She checked her watch again, rose and tossed the salad dish into the trash.  She fished her nurse’s shoe from beneath the gurney with the tip of a crutch and pulled in near.  The other shoe stood alone- stiffly upright and permanently affixed to the flesh-colored prosthesis that served as her other limb.

She’d heard that Robert had a similar shoe.  She could certainty sympathize with him and longed to know the details but knew she would never ask. He would have to share with her in his own time. She wished that he would only trust her.

Stephanie inserted her stump into the prosthesis.  She felt the familiar gush of air as the vacuum took hold. She stood and pressed firmly seating the appliance in place. She opened her locker and stowed her night things on the shelf.  Then propped her crutches against the locker wall.  She took out a clean lab coat and pulled it over her scrubs.  A quick brush to her hair and she was out the door on her way to morning rounds and Robert.

He smiled when he saw her.

“There’s the solution to your Acrostic and my next contribution to the game.”  He winked and quietly slipped two folded notes in her hand.

It was much later in the day before she had a chance to see what

Robert had written. She pulled the notes from her pocket and lay them on the lunch table.

“Stephanie” was written on the outside of one note. She opened that one first.

STEPHANIE,

Some TImes Every Precious Heart Announces New Intentions – Enduring?

Stephanie’s heart soared.  She smiled and carefully re-folded the note.  She held it in her hand a moment and then on impulse, she put it to her lips and kissed it before returning it to her pocket.  

How could things be any better?  She thought as she reached for the remaining note.

Tears filled her eyes as she read Robert’s new Acrostic clue-

"PROSTHESIS"

C Copyright May 2017 by Deborah J Lindsey

a·cros·tic  əˈkrôstik/

noun

1.     a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.

This story resulted from a writing promp:

May 16 word list prompt
You know how it works. Write 300-500 words about any topic as long as you use the following words:

Salad
Shoe

foster
sympathize
tundra
spirit
stethoscope

·       

The Return of The King

Return of the King*

By Deborah J Lindsey

” The King Has Returned,” Emily whispered the tittle into the room.  

She’d never been much for fantasy but this series intrigued her. She couldn’t wait to begin reading it.

“What’s that Dear?”  Agnes looked up inquiringly at her Sister as she stirred her tea.

.

“I said, “The king has returned.” 

“Was he on vacation again?  I’ll swan, these “Big Wigs” are always gone off someplace or another.

Come, sit, have some tea, won’t you?”

Agnes removed the cozy from the pot and began to pour the steaming liquid into a delicate rose patterned cup. Her blue-veined hands trembled slightly with jerky movements, but she finally managed to fill the cup.

“Honey? Lemon?  Just the thing for your sore throat.”  Agnes smiled and held out a plate to her sister.

.

Emily accepted the plate then sat it down again.  The lemons were unevenly sliced-one side thin, the other thick. 

“Honey?”

“No, thanks.”   Emily smiled.

The honey was a sticky plastic bear with a squeeze top.

How did we get so old? Emily wondered. 

A gentle breeze waltzed in from the open window causing the curtains to billow.  Emily watched the dust particles dance in the air then fall like misty fluffs of fine white dandruff. 

The hired girl would have to go.  She was just plain lazy. Truth be told, she probably watched while poor Agnes struggled to slice those lemons. 

Emily took a sip of tea then set the cup down again to float in an Earl Grey saucer sea.

She sighed and wished she lived in a utopia- somewhere like The Shire. She thought   she would very much enjoy living in a quaint Hobbit House.

C Copyright April, 2017 by Deborah J Lindsey

*Return of the King* 
(The Return of the King is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, )

Choose your own combo prompt for 4/13/2017:
choose 3 or more

A>  First line :"The king has returned!"
B> Genre : Fantasy
C> Situation : an Argument
D> Dialog only
E> Must use the following words: vacation, lazy, utopia, dandruff, sore throat, tea, jerky
F> Most not use the words: royalty, sovereign, usurper, duke, crown, thrown, magic sword.

Double Dog Dare

Double Dog Dare

By Deborah J Lindsey

“I double-dog-dare-ya!”  The challenge was issued and could not be denied.  A mob of 10-year-olds encircled me and I could see more coming.  The older ones nearby took interest and were advancing in quick-step.

“Jump! Jump!”  voices chanted.

 I was old Now, how could I manage?

The ropes beat a rhythm on the pavement and seemed to drum remembered skills into my brain.

Hot Pepper!  Double-Dutch!

Then with nothing left to do, I jumped.

                                                                  C Copyright April. 2017 by Deborah  J Lindsey

Last Line Prompt:  with nothing left to do, I jumped.

"Elementary, My Deaar Watson"

4/10 Word List Prompt

Write what ever you want. About 300-500 words. You must use these words (of note, you may change the tense.)

Croak 
Tiger
Chartreuse 
Tweet
Sunday 
Disgruntled
Elementary 
Oil

“Elementary, My Dear Watson”

    By Deborah J Lindsey

My real name is Sue Watson.  Online, I’m “Sweet Sue”. Tweeting is new but so far, my witty posts haven’t generated followers.  Well, I do have three- a car dealership in Florida. a time-share venture, and some guy who calls himself, “Ed, the Sheep-Shearer.” 

I don’t want millions-just a couple of hundred and they only need pretend to like my stories.

Writers MUST have feed-back!  We crave it!  It’s butter for our bread, oil for our vinegar, and looney for our tune!

Finally, I became so distressed, I changed my name to “Disgruntled Tweeter.”

Sunday was my day of rest but Monday morning, I logged in early to check for results.

Followers equaled seven! 

The same three were listed, of course and there was a message from Ed asking if I was allergic to wool.  I didn’t reply but went straight to the new ones. 

“Melon-Collie”?   Perhaps, a sad famer who grew melons and loved big dogs?  Click.

 “Ed, the Sheep Shearer 2”.  He included his phone number. Click.

“Cat Lady Blanche” with a dozen smiling cats.  Click.

The Final posting was from ”Chartreuse  Tiger”.  I was intrigued!  Chartreuse was spelled correctly and that didn’t happen often.  His page was full of tigers and old-fashioned greeting cards.  I especially liked a card with a google-eyed frog holding a large red heart.  The caption read, “Don’t Make Me Croak!  Be My Valentine”.  I was smiling by the time I reached his favorite quote and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I saw it.  It read 

“Elementary, My Dear Watson”.

C Copyright April. 2017 By Deborah J Lindsey 

The Jordan River

The Jordan River

By Deborah J Lindsey

"Why did you bring us to the river?!"

“It’s a river isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but this is the Jordan River.   We only come here for baptisms and such.”

“That’s correct enough, Brother Bethel.”

“But this here is “horror-suspense” writing week.  You just can’t jump in with gospels and church doings.”

“Brother Bethel, Good People of Batesville, be it known this day, I am a-jumping in- and I am a-jumping in with both feet.”

“Go on Preacher, jump in!  I’d love to see ya soppin’ wet!”

“Shall we sing?

 Yes, we’ll gather at the river-the beautiful-beautiful-riv-ev-er -gather on…”

“Hey, stop that!  This ain’t no camp meetin’.”

“Brother Mac, I’m surprised.  I thought you loved singing with that healthy baritone of yours.  We all love it, don’t we, folks?”

“Now, Preacher, you’re confusing this whole business.  We can’t be singing in a writing promp, it’s impossible.”

“well, we’re all here and there’s the river.  That is the promp, it not?  What’s your problem, Brother?”

“The prompt was supposed to be “Horror and Suspense” themed using the line, "Why did you bring us to the river? "

“Well, Old HenryThacker lost two mules and a hitch last summer when the Jordan flooded-that was pure horror!  Watching them mules strangle to death-took more than twenty minutes, so I heared.  Why, even Leon Todd started making book on ‘em. We was all in real suspense-not knowing which one would go down first.”

“Brothers! 

Sister!

(Thank you, Sister for joining us.)

Let us consider this Jordan River.  It is the river of Elijah.  It is the river of Elisha. Why, “crossing Jordan” symbolizes crossing out of this life into the “Promised Land”. This Jordan means, “death.”

“Well, it sure was death for them mules!”

“C’mon Folks, let’s get out of here before the skeeters start

To swarm.”

“Yeah, let’s go.  The next prompt is “Protest and Mind Control” themed using the line, “Why did you bring us to this Protest?”

C Copyright March, 2017 By Deborah J Lindsey

3/3/17 - Writing prompt (Remember - it's horror/suspense week) Dialogue only prompt:

"Why did you bring us to the river?!"