Walking away is not an option... dialogue must prevail.

"A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing with."
- Kenneth A. Wells

"I do not want the peace that passeth understanding. I want the understanding which bringeth peace."
- Helen Keller

Saturday, September 6, 2008

I blame zombies, again - Raven's Saturday Wordzzle Challenge


So many of the bloggers I visit have participated in this fun challenge hosted by Raven. I've been impressed at the caliber of writing my friends have exhibited, and honestly, I've been intimidated. But, I figure since I've been a bit zombified this week I could always blame my poor writing skills on my weakened state. So here goes... I can't promise to participate every week, but who knows?

Please visit Raven (click here) and other inspired bloggers who consistently rock my world with their outstanding contributions to Raven's Saturday Wordzzle Challenge.

I'm sticking to the ten-word and the mini this week... just getting my little toe wet so to speak (do you like the red polish? it's new...)

The ten words or phrases she has pulled out of her hat for us this week are: invincible, falling leaves, two-year-old, fusion, grizzly bear, Jamaica, delivery, popsicle stick, caviar, lap-top. We are instructed to use them in one short (I tried, really!) paragraph.

My ten-word wordzzle:

“Little sister”, sighs Laura, as she runs her finger across the picture she uses as a screen-saver on her laptop. It's her favourite picture, taken when she was five and Meghan was a spunky red-haired two-year-old. In this picture, they're standing in front of the old lake house where their family spent every summer vacation and Thanksgiving dating back to when their father had been a toddler himself. In autumn, it's the perfect place to walk among the falling leaves. Laura still has the log cabin they made together out of popsicle sticks during one of their weekends by the lake. She got to keep it because Meghan had chickened out of a bet and backed out of eating the caviar their father had double-dog dared them to try. She remembered Meghan’s meltdown and grizzly bear growls, and smiled. The then 8 year-old Meghan had vowed, through tears of rage that she would never let anything stop her from getting what she wanted ever again. Who would have guessed that someday that very same girl would backpack through the Andes, survive a hurricane while on vacation in Jamaica and grow up to be one of the preeminent experts in a field as complicated as nuclear fusion. Laura thought her sister was invincible. And now, she found herself sitting on the porch of the lake house waiting to take delivery of Meghan’s ashes so she could sprinkle them in this place that had been so dear to both of them. Meghan the fearless finally did try caviar you see, but she died of a violent allergic reaction.



She also gives us a mini-challenge. Here are the words (seriously, how does she come up with this stuff?): toad stool, liquid lunch, counting sheep, manacles, Jurassic Park. Oy!

12:41PM text from me: You're off to what promises to be a very long liquid lunch at The Manacles Inn with Bob, that advertising rep that looks like the first victim in "Jurassic Park", and Tim from sales. If you wake up with your tongue feeling like you've eaten a basket full of toadstools, you should know your car is parked in front of the little art gallery on Fifth Street that has a painting of counting sheep in the front window. Good luck.

You know... that was fun!

Thanks Raven.. hope you won't hold this against me. Zombies are quite persuasive you know.


"A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket."

~Charles Peguy

16 comments:

Raven said...

Well, if this is how good you are zombified, I can't wait to see your genius when you are 100%. The Megan story was beautifully done. I loved the Counting Sheep picture. Welcome to Wordzzles. It really is great fun, isn't it?

As for where I get the words... I thought this was a tough set of words this week. Where they come from: I just put down the first 10 things that come into my head (which says something rather troubling about my head, I guess). If I have the TV on, I may pick up some word that someone has said there. That's about it.

These were great. So glad you joined in. Do remember to add your name to Mr. Linky so others will find you too.

Jeff B said...

I'm impressed, not only by the red toenails, but by your writing as well!

The ten word was great. You lured us into a nice touchy feely story and then WHAM! Megan's untimely demise.

Bwahahhaha

Enjoyed your text message too.

Akelamalu said...

You did a fantastic job Anndi! I loved them both but the first one is my favourite. I wasn't expecting to cry at the end though. :(

Dianne said...

Holy Crap! This is you sick and weak!? you go girl!!

I have left myself notes not nearly as clever as your text message.

and I was all prepared to cry over the demise of the little sis but the caviar twist killed me.

I'm sorry I missed the beginning of your zombification. I went back thru all your posts to get the full scoop.

And thanks for the pic of Jay. That just always makes me happy. I think I'm going to steal it and make it into a screen saver.

Richard said...

I really liked the sisters story this week. The caviar ending was great.

Rich

Charles Gramlich said...

I liked these. An interesting challenge. I don't typically ever do these kinds of exercises myself becaus my writing time is fully booked. But I can see the fun in them.

Anonymous said...

O, that was a sad story... You did a great job. Hmn, you've got me thinking... maybe Sam will have an allergic reaction to something next week. Oh, I'm only kidding, *evil snicker!*

And you're right, this is fun and addictive!

Anndi said...

Raven: Thank you! maybe the secret is to write when zombified... we'll see. Glad you liked Meghan's story.

Jeff: I knew YOU would enjoy that little twist ;)

Akelamalu: Wow, that's quite the compliment. Thank you.

Dianne: I guess there's something to be said for zombification.

That last twist just popped into my head. So glad you liked it.

I don't know why I can't write those notes for myself... mine are just: get milk, turn off iron, let air out of boss' tires

Gotta love the Jayman!

Richard: Thanks for visiting. Glad you enjoyed it, I had fun writing it.

Charles: Thanks my friend. So glad you're safe. Writing full-time, that would kill me!

Mommywiz: Bwahahahahahaha! Sam needs to chill, what a bridezilla!

Travis Cody said...

Outstanding! You may not consider yourself a writer, but there's no doubt that you can write.

Anndi said...

Thanks bro.

Kaylia Metcalfe said...

Iloved the 2nd one, made me laugh..and think "what a splended idea!" the pre-emptive msg leavin 'that is)

Happy thoughts,

Chatty said...

Oh, I think your story is lovely - evocative, and so sad. I almost teared up at the end. Seriously! And reading your words, I vividly remember making a popsicle stick jewelry box for my grandmother in Oklahoma one summer...Hey - I love the Rice game - I've told everyone I know about it - but my blog at go-daddy won't let me do buttons/links like yours *sigh*
Thank you for your kind words about my first effort, too.

Brian o vretanos said...

Very impressive!

I can't help wondering about the caviare, though. The one time I tried it, it seemed far too bland to provoke an allergic reaction...

Carletta said...

I DON'T know what you were worried about - these are wonderful!
Like everyone else I was so stunned at your mega challenge ending - one minute I was going to cry and the next my jaw dropped and I thought - 'no, she didn't just do that.' Great job.
The text message was very clever!!

TopChamp said...

Ha ha - Made me chuckle. I love the text message especially.

You are good at this - but you inspired me to badness/madness (come to see - it's terible!!)

Anndi said...

Kay: I call my office and leave messages for myself sometimes, but never, ever in case of over-indulgence. I would never ... oh I can't say that with a straight face! Ha!
Glad you enjoyed!

Chatty: Your entry was fantastic! I'm glad you liked Meghan's story, I made an ashtray... out of wood... yeah. I was 5.
Thanks for reminding me I have to put a link here too.

Brian: Thank you my friend. I guess bland is like kryptonite to a vibrant person like Meghan. ;)

Carletta: Thanks for visiting and the kind words. I guess I just had to put a twist like that in there, can't leave things all sappy and all.

Topchamp: Your entry was outstanding! So cheeky!
I guess this weeks words just gelled for me. Trick is to just write and figure it out later.