SoCS for Saturday June 1, 2019

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 1/19

Here’s your prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “silent/silence.” Use one or both in your post. Have fun!

Here’s the rules from Linda Hill:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

Silence is golden. I live in an apartment building, a high rise and that means noise from both sides and top and bottom and occasionally the people across the hall are loud. The doors slam (they have to automatically shut by law for safety purposes) at all hours. I do believe the concrete floors do help deaden the sound somewhat. They also hurt like hell when you fall and land on your knees. I know that from personal contact with those floors with my knees.

Going to be a grandmom again in December. Daughter is almost 40 so having a rough time, but baby doing good.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Friday #fotoflash May 31, 2019

BD McNicol’s #fotoflash

Credit: https://morguefile.com/p/1111763

***************continued from last week****************

Stephanie and Cassie went to the police and reported her bag missing. The police made a report and the girls tried to show the police the area the party had been in. They weren’t sure it was the right alley that Stephanie woke up in and Cassie couldn’t remember where her friend’s party had been. The police were disgusted and said there wasn’t much they could do with such little information.

The next morning Cassie went looking for Stephanie. She wasn’t at home. She glanced at the news at the tv shop on her way past and recognized the legs and shoes of a girl on the river walkway. She was sure it was Stephanie.

Cassie headed to the river walkway and found it surrounded by police. She tried to get closer to see. She finally pushed her way in and cried out. She started to cry as she realized it was the body of Stephanie. Sprawled around her were her handbag and its contents.

The person or persons who had stolen her handbag must have broken into her home and dragged her down here and killed her leaving her belongings so the police would know who was responsible. The police hoped that they were stupid enough to leave some fingerprints. The investigation was just starting. Cassie was sent home and out of their way.

She cried all the way home and all she could murmur was that this was her fault for taking her to that party in the first place. Stephanie never did anything to anyone. She didn’t deserve this.

***********262 words**********

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Haunted Wordsmith Daily Prompt (Non-Fiction) – May 31, 2019

Today’s prompt: What is one television show or episode from your childhood that you still remember today?

THE HAUNTED WORDSMITH

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The Partridge Family

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

I loved “The Partidge Family” with David Cassidy. I think most teen girls were in love with him. Funny thing is that I am watching “The Match Game” right now and his father, Jack Cassidy is on these few episodes. I remember when his father died at a young age.

I was also in love with Bobby Sherman and Shaun Cassidy (David’s brother).

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Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

 

 

Haunted Wordsmith Daily Fiction Prompt (HWDP) – May 31, 2019

Prompt A (seasonal challenge): summer

Prompt B (sentence starter): “It cost how much?”

Prompt C (photo):

Image by Lerey Eric from Pixabay

Rules from: THE HAUNTED WORDSMITH

Welcome to the Haunted Wordsmith Daily Prompt (HWDP). This prompt is going to be both familiar and different at the same time. To participate, simply read this post and follow where the muse takes you. You may select any, all, or none of the prompts…it’s all up to you. Link back to this post, or leave a link in the comments so that others can find you.

Have Fun!

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Summer on the Boardwalk

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

“It cost how much?” Mandy asked her daughter.

“Just 15 cents,” 6-year-old Rhonda replied.

“What costs just 15 cents,” Mandy asked her.

“Everything,” Rhonda replied.

Mandy doubted it so she went over to the display window and looked in. She figured the postcard probably cost 15 cents. She was pretty sure that the sunglasses and those other objects whatever they were had to be much more.

“So you want a postcard, Rhonda?”

“No, mommy, I want sunglasses. The sun is hurting my eyes.”

“Sorry honey mommy doesn’t have enough money for sunglasses right now.”

Rhonda threw a temper tantrum and Mandy left her standing there. She came running up when she realized her tears weren’t going to help.

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Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

 

 

Thursday Inspiration 6 – #poeticlicense and/or #lightmotifs

Paula’s Rules:

Welcome to Thursday Inspiration! This is my weekly prompt post and hopefully it will inspire you to write something creative, perhaps a poem or a piece of flash fiction. If you’d like to share your writing with the community, please indulge me and tag your post with #p0eticlicense and/or #lightm0tifs, and of course link back if you wish. I will try to visit everyone who participates. 🙂

This week’s theme is gone and the picture is below. Here is the song snippet from “500 Miles” covered by many artists:

If you miss the train I’m on
You will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow
A hundred miles

Photo credit: Enrique Lopez Garre

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Penny told him to wait while she ran home to get her ticket which was in the pocket of her other coat. They were headed to Las Vegas to start a new career. She left her guitar with him while she ran quickly back to the apartment.

As she shut the door she heard a train whistle. She hurried. She expected him to be waiting at the station for her. They could trade in the tickets for new ones for a later trip.

As she got to the station she saw it was not only empty, her quitar was sitting propped against the building. He was gone.Tears flowed down her cheeks. He might as well have slapped her.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Article: Are you a pantser or plotter (outliner) by Teresa Smeigh

Most writers are either a pantser, which means they write by the seat of their pants or a plotter, they must have an outline to lay the whole thing out. Now there are a few people who are a combination of both and they are called plantsers.

Pantsers write one day at a time letting the story tell itself. When they start they are not sure whether it will be a novel, novella or simply a piece of flash fiction. They must be ready to scrap their work if it doesn’t work out. The pros of being a pantser mean that you can kill off a character and not have to rewrite the whole outline. The cons though mean that it is easier to get stuck since you have no plans written out to fall back on.

A plotter or planner plans their whole novel before they start writing. They methodically plan it out from start to finish. It can be scribbled on a piece of scrap paper or neatly written out. This is great for people who don’t want to go off plot because they can’t focus. They don’t want to go off their original plan. The pros are that they hardly have writer’s block. The cons though are really rough as a change in the story means rewriting the whole outline each and every time they decide to change something.

Although I am a pantser for the most part, for this memoir I am writing, I am writing an outline of sorts. I want it chronological so I have written out my table of contents and occasionally I do end up having to add chapters or move them around as my memory kicks in with another memory or I remember the actual date.

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

For my new readers and those that might have missed it, here is Chapters 1 and 2 of my book

I am writing a memoir. It won’t be published in the standard way. I am planning on publishing it here on my blog for all to read. The future may change things, but for now, this is the way I am going.

So far I have written and rewritten due to trademarks and copyrights of the Marine Corp. I had to change everything to generic or I had to find out how to get a license or even if they would give me one. They trademarked all terms, sayings and even base names and even the simple word Marine. Rather than a legal hassle, I rewrote it to be generic. It also meant changing some of the story and the title.

Click here to go to the table of contents for “Government Property – a Memoir of a Military Wife and Then Some.”

Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Reena’s Exploration Challenge – 89

Reena’s Rules:

So far, we’ve never had restrictions on length or format of the piece. I’m adding a rider, just for this week.

You could write a story or an anecdote with a haiku as part of it. A Haibun or Alternating verse and poetry, of course, works.

I collected some Gyan from the Shadow Poetry website http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html

Definition of Haiku

1) An unrhymed Japanese poem recording the essence of a moment. Nature is combined with human nature. It usually consists of three lines of 5/7/5 (5 kana in the first line, 7 kana in the second line, and 5 kana in the third line) totaling seventeen kana.

2) A foreign adaptation of 1, usually written in three lines totalling 17 syllables or LESS.

As you will notice, there are two definitions. Definition #1 is where many get confused. People tend to confuse kana or a single unit in the Japanese language with the English syllable.

This is like comparing apples to oranges. Kana cannot be compared to syllables.

Unless you are Japanese, have been writing Japanese, or speak fluent Japanese, you will be writing definition #2.

The difference between the two is that in definition #2, you will be writing three lines of poetry, 17 syllables or LESS.

This means you do not have to write three lines of 5/7/5 (5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line). You may do so, if you can do it well without fluff words (many can’t). If you write 5/7/5, that does not make your poem more of a haiku than someone who does not write 5/7/5.

My Example
 grey skies await
resplendent colors of dawn
-offending silver moon

FOR THE NEW ENTRANTS

Write a post on your blog, and link it up here with a pingback, or copy-paste the blog link in Comments. Tag it Reena’s Exploration Challenge for easy access in the Blog Roll.

I eagerly await your responses.

PROMPT

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Pain, Why?

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

the pain drains me

it sucks the life right out of me

I cannot take it

My life is at one of its all-time lows. I sit here and write as if nothing is wrong because there really is nothing else I can do. We have tried almost everything except surgery and that isn’t really an option. Surgery for the most part never works. There are very few people who actually get any relief from surgery and in most cases, it will make your situation worse. My pain doctor doesn’t think surgery is even a part of our conversation and the one surgeon I did see (she sent me to one) doesn’t see any way he can do anything. He was arrogant and told me nothing would help and I would still have pain and be on pain pills the rest of my life. His diagnosis, why bother?

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Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

Three Things Challenge: PL105

Rules from Paula:

Welcome to the Three Things Challenge. Every day at 10PM (PST) I will post three seemingly unconnected things that will, hopefully, ignite your muse. You don’t have to use all three things if you don’t want to. There are no restrictions on length, style, genre, or anything. Simply read the prompt, see where your muse takes you, and bring us along for the ride. Use 3TC as a tag if you’d like and link back to this prompt, or post your link in the comments below so others can find you.

Happy Writing! 😀

Today’s prompt: number, radish, Lisbon

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By Teresa Smeigh 2019

Sitting on the number one train on its way to Lisbon, Maria opened her salad to eat and the radish rolled across the floor and under a seat. 

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Tessa –

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses, also a devout Christian

Author – http://www.finallyawriter.com (this blog contains my old work mostly although occasionally I do add something new here), new work is mainly on this blog http://www.tessacandoit.com

 

Fandango’s Provocative Question #25 #FPQ

Fandango’s Provocative Question #25

“Where do you believe you were you before you were born and what do you believe will happen to you after you die?”

Now for me, I believe in reincarnation. I believe that in the life before this one I was burned to death because as a young child I had horrendous nightmares and saw walls of fire around me. I described this as much as possible to my parents who couldn’t figure out why I was so terrified of fire (not bonfires, but buildings). When I was older I did a past life regression and it came up with me dying in a fire and since it was so close to my own birth that I had these visions and dreams we figured it happened in the life just prior to this one.

As for what will happen to me after I die, I do believe in heaven. We had a medium come in after my mother passed away and they described her words and what she said was there to welcome us. Older souls eventually are reincarnated if they choose to be.

It all depends on your beliefs.