Haunted Wordsmith Daily Prompt (Non-Fiction) – May 21, 2019

What were family dinners like when you were growing up? Is there a special meal that has been handed down through the family?

THE HAUNTED WORDSMITH

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Family Dinners

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

Dinners were very odd when I was young. My dad worked swing shift or shift work depending on how you put it and we ate when it worked out for him so we ate at some weird times for sure.

One meal or 2 actually I remember not because I liked them but because I hated them. My dad loved clam pie and chicken and dumplings. I found them both disgusting. As for the clam pie, number one was I didn’t like pie dough (especially soggy dough), number 2 I hated cooked clams and then the potatoes and hardboiled eggs I liked, but not soaked in clam juice. The chicken and dumplings were pie dough squares, chicken and a white sauce and I can’t stomach white sauces made with milk.

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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 21, 2019

Haunted Wordsmith Daily Prompt (HWDP) – May 21, 2019

Prompt A (genre challenge): gothic romance

Prompt B (sentence starter): “The lightning flashed across the sky.”

Prompt C (photo):

Image by Vinson Tan 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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Betrayal

By Teresa Smeigh 2019

Charisse looked out the tower room window where she was being held captive with Prince George.

“The lightning flashed across the sky,” Charisse murmured to her lover. “I am trying to get a good view of the area outside, but the flashes aren’t long enough.”

Prince George moaned in pain. He couldn’t get up and look out the window. They were locked in this room and he had been injured in the duel. If he could only see what side of the castle they were on, there was hope that someone would come and help them get out.

“The lightning flashed across the sky again,” Charisse told George “but I can’t get my bearings. Can’t you get up at all George?”

He muttered something unintelligible and then moaned some more. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be of any help.

This last flash gave her a view of the wooded area outside. Now she knew what side of the castle they were on. She took a chance and pounded on the door and screamed. Hopefully, George’s brother Edward would hear her and come rescue them.

“Be quiet,” Edward yelled and then unlocked the door. Charisse was happy to see him until she noticed the gun in his hand.

“Edward? It was you?”

“I sent Charles to duel with George and he was supposed to finish him off. That is why you are locked in here. We have to finish you both off, and then haul you out into the forest and leave the bodies, so they won’t be found.”

“Why Edward?”

“I loved you Charisse, but you betrayed me with George. You brought this on yourself.” He brought the gun up and shot her and then George. Charles came in and they hauled the bodies off to the forest.

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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

 

 

PTSD (Non-Fiction)

I also suffer from PTSD (see definition below) and here are the stories behind the cause of this issue and which I still haven’t worked out yet.

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)  — By Mayo Clinic Staff

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.

Many people who go through traumatic events have difficulty adjusting and coping for a while, but they don’t have PTSD — with time and good self-care, they usually get better. But if the symptoms get worse or last for months or even years and interfere with your functioning, you may have PTSD.

Getting effective treatment after PTSD symptoms develop can be critical to reduce symptoms and improve function.

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 At the age of 15 I had a regular babysitting job with a family that had 2 little children and a 13 year old boy. They didn’t want to tie their teen boy down to babysitting every Friday and Saturday. For a while the job was great, but then one night the boy came home with a friend and they had been drinking and decided to try and rape me. I managed to get away and lock myself and the 2 little ones in the bathroom til they left. I never told anyone and to this day I can’t even remember if I went back.

At the age of 16 I had a 22 year old boyfriend. Bad news and my parents weren’t happy with it, but they knew that forbidding it would just lead to me sneaking out instead. Well they were right, he was bad news. He took me to a party, tried to get me drunk, he was drunk and tried to rape me. I managed to get away again. He was too drunk to hold on to me. I found another ride home, but that was even closer than the 2 young boys.

At the age of 17 I had another boyfriend and you would think I would have learned something, but this was slightly different. He didn’t physically try to rape me, he emotionally raped me. He told me that if I didn’t have sex with him that we would break up and we had just gotten back together. I couldn’t handle the rejection and gave in. I hated him and myself. He ruined our relationship at that point because that was worse than the 2 other attempts. I was not ready to lose my virginity, but felt I had no choice. Blackmail is an ugly thing. I didn’t want to be touched by that point. It disgusted me.

September 11, 2001 – The Twin Towers Tragedy. To this day I am still terrified every time I see and hear a plane and since I live near an airport and the planes are constantly flying over I cringe and wait for the explosion. I didn’t know how it was going to be when we flew to Florida a few years ago. I managed though. It just seems to be watching them and hearing them fly over that does it.

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

Twittering Tales #137 by Kat – 5/21/19

 

Inspired by Kat at Twittering Tales

Photo by paulsbarlow7@pixabay.com

Ron and Linda pulled up to their home and noticed that their front door had broken glass around the lock.

As they walked towards the door, they got out their cell phone to call the police. There was a sudden whoosh and the house went up in flames.

“Oh my God,” Linda shrieked.

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Rules from Kat:

Each Tuesday I will provide a photo prompt. Your mission, if you choose to accept the challenge, is to tell a story in 280 characters or less. When you write your tale, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale. If you would prefer to post your tale in the comments (some people have very specific blog themes but still want to participate), I am happy to post a link to your site when I post your tale in the Round Up.

A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.

I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. And if for some reason I missed your entry in the Roundup, as I have occasionally done, please let me know. I want to be sure to include your tale.

Finally, have fun!

And REMEMBER…you have 280 characters (spaces and punctuation included), to tell your tale…and a week to do it. I can’t wait to see what you create this week.

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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