#MondayMixer "Arabella and the Refulgent Fandangle Incident"

The trouble with writing flash fiction is once you start you get caught up in a whirl of words and other lands your imagination craves more. And it makes for a great distraction when you really should be tidying up!

So when Jeff Hollar (@Klingorengi) challenged me with this week's #MondayMixer I had to at least take a peek at the prompts.

I actually knew what some of them meant for a change which was a great start and including a word like "fandangle" into the mix was inspired, my story could take any direction. As it was I wrote something funny, well at least I hope it makes you smile :-) 

It's a bit crazy but then I have used ALL NINE prompt words, usually a recipe for disaster. At first I fitted them into a story of less than 100 words, what I found hard this week was stretching them out for the required 150.

So sit back and enjoy the tale of...

Arabella and the Refulgent Fandangle Incident!

Arabella stood defiantly, hands on hips.

She explained clearly that there was no way little Freddie was going to beguile her with his refulgent fandangle, however sparkly he claimed it was! He was well known for being heavy handed with the glitter. 

She admitted she had taken matters into her own delicate little hands and given him a wallop around the head with her threadbare comfort blanket. 

She declared that her nursemaid had often forewarned her with ominous portent of young swain like him with his country ways and unbecoming natter.  She was not as craven as she appeared in her frilly white dress.

Arabella, aged 4, was removed from Sunnydale Nursery later that day, in the circumstances it was thought to be for the best.

Freddie, aged 3 and three quarters, was overjoyed to see his mum that afternoon and she was absolutely delighted with his handmade glittering triangle.

 
 

Christmas decoration made by one of my boys at nursery a long time ago - our very own "refulgent fandangle"!

#MondayMixer - with no title - any suggestions?

It's been a tough few days but I've been making some headway today with the household disaster zone, so as a reward for clearing out the kitchen cupboards I have written a story.

I've not done Jeff's Monday Mixer for a while, the words are always challenging and I may not always use them in the correct context, but it felt good to stretch my imagination. Especially once I'd managed to edit my story to the required 150 words!
This week's words were

Locations:  1) repository        2) arena         3) taiga

Things:       1) portmanteau    2) rusk           3) concertina

Adjectives: 1) voluble             2) effulgent    3) calumnious

You only have to use one from each list but where's the fun in that? The only one I struggled to fit in at all was taiga. 

It would be calumnious to say I was a precocious child but I admit being a voluble toddler.

I tried unsuccessfully to entertain my baby sister, all I got was a soggy rusk offered from her podgy fingers. Then I discovered a much more appreciative audience for my theatrics - my grandparents. 

In return they showed me the wonderful contents of the portmanteau that dominated the front room. It was a repository for their theatre memorabilia. Brittle paper engraved with their stage names and sepia photos of a stunning couple, him in a top hat and her in feathers.

Grandfather could still play his concertina with consummate skill despite his arthritis. 

Meanwhile Grandmother was as ever an effulgent performer. Taking me under her wing she taught me her dance steps.

Their front room became the arena where I made my debut. From that moment applause become my drug of choice.

This week's story has no title, if you have any suggestions why not leave a comment...

Monday Mixer - Secrets in Suburbia

Have completely made this up today - all characters are figments of my imagination but all unusual words are courtesy of Jeff Hollar's Monday Mixer...

Today's selection to choose from

Locations:   1) peninsula       2) ossuary        3) clearinghouse

Things:        1) spatula           2) dilettante     3) reticule

Adjectives:  1) brusque         2) divergent     3) enthralling

I managed to fit seven into my story but it's a closely guarded secret how many I had to look up in a dictionary before I started writing!

Opposites attract or so they say and that saying is certainly true of George and Betty.

Their characteristics are quite divergent and they made an odd if not intriguing addition to our stale social scene.

She is the extrovert, a dilettante in the kitchen often seen at her kitchen window brandishing a spatula, whipping up a speciality strawberry cheesecake or two.

“Betty you make the most divine desserts we’ve ever eaten on the peninsula. We got lucky the day you moved to town.” Her friends would enthuse by way of excusing her husband’s brusque manner.

However they never moved here for the stunning views or the exclusive address. Peculiarly it was the ossuary of dry bones nearby that he found so enthralling.

While she entertained, gossiped and fleshed out the meat on the bones of the new moneyed crowd he was digging deep and rattling the skeletons of the past.