July 25, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story sweet as cherries. It can be about the fruit or something cherries represent. Why is it sweet? Can you use contrast to draw out the beauty? Go where the prompt leads!
Cravings – by Hugh W. Roberts
Life was a bowl of cherries for Vinnie.
Despite what was happening, he still had ample food.
Life was fun, and had given Vinnie a sweet tooth. When he saw Mrs Longacre running past his kitchen window holding a cherry pie and screaming, he knew life was about to get sweeter.
Within seconds, Vinnie was out of the house and sinking his teeth, not into a cherry pie, but into Mrs Longacre’s neck. The sweetness of flesh helped his sweet cravings.
Having been a Zombie for an hour, Vinnie hoped the sweetness of this new life would last forever.
***
Image credit: Charli Mills
Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.
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Enjoyed this piece of flash fiction? Then you’ll love ‘More Glimpses.’
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32 short stories and flash fiction pieces take the reader to the edge of their imagination.
March 4, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes sweet potatoes. It can be part of a recipe, meal, or used as a nickname. Where do sweet potatoes take you? The grocery store? The garden? Mars? Go where the prompt leads!
The Potato Thief – by Hugh W. Roberts
He should never have stolen my home-grown, sweet potatoes.
He may have been an enthusiastic, good-looking man, but just because I gave him some, he had no right coming back in the dead of night to help himself to me and more potatoes.
Furious, I ended up hitting him over the head with the shovel and burying his body under the sweet potato patch. Boy, did it make them taste even sweeter; until the day forensics arrived and dug up the patch.
Still, at least I get to make sweet potato mash for all the boys here in prison.
***
Image credit: Charli Mills
Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.
September 24, 2020, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about snacking. It can feature crunchy snacks or creamy one. Who is snacking on what and why? How can you make this a story? Go where the prompt leads!
Consumer Testing – by Hugh W. Roberts
“So which one do you think tasted best? Snack 8816CAO or snack 10345HBX?”
“The second one.”
“Snack 10345HBX?”
“Yes.”
“Fantastic. That’s our own brand. It’s thirty-five percent cheaper than the market leader, which you also tried. Can I tempt you to a few packets?”
“Yes, but what’s the flavour?”
“Homolastic. It’s a new flavour we found on a planet called Earth. They know it as plastic. When mixed with Homo sapiens, which are full of plastics, you get the perfect combination of flavours. There are just under 8 billion of them, so we’ll never run out during our lifetime.”
snacking
Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.
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I’m delighted to be hosting the Sunday Stills photography challenge for the next two weeks while host Terri Webster Schrandt continues her blogging break.
Sunday Stills photography challenge
This week’s theme: Orange.
What do you think about when you see or hear the word Orange?
A different type of orange tree
I always think about autumn when the word orange is mentioned. For me, orange is somewhere between a red hot summer, and a cool blue winter. Where does orange fall for you?
Food also comes to mind with the word orange, especially the fruit with the same name.
Freshly squeezed or ‘as you are?’
Other types of food are orange in colour — for example, pumpkins, which also remind me of autumn.
Pumpkin pie or Jack-o”lantern?
Talking of food, different shades of orange can also make food look fresh, mouthwatering and tasty.
How many fruits are orange?
How about putting our ‘themed’ colour with a food? Does the sound of orange cheese tempt you?
The cheese-mobile
Would our world look more appealing to visitors if it were a different colour?
The orange planet
Can you think of any inhabitants of our world that are orange?
Move the slider to check out these orange creatures more closely.
Move the slider to take a closer look
This is the strangest, orange creature I’ve come across on my travels. It’s known as a Cone Monster. They seem friendly but are very territorial, so my advice is to keep your distance.
Please keep your distance!
How to participate in the Sunday Stills photography challenge.
Please create a new post for the theme.
Title the post a little differently than mine.
Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post. I also recommend adding your post’s URL into the comments.Not sure how to create a pingback? Click here for details.
Entries for this theme can be shared all week (not just on a Sunday). Use the hashtag #SundayStills for sharing on social media.
I’m looking forward to seeing all your entries for this week’s Sunday Stills photography challenge. I’m hosting Sunday Stills again next week when the theme is ‘Inside.’
Many thanks to Cathy Ryan at Picture This for hosting Sunday Stills during August. Check out Cathy’s photography blog by clicking here.
All photos are copyrighted to hughsviewsandnews.com
April 2, 2020, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes pizza. It can be an original pizza pie (or slice) or something pizza-like. Go where the prompt leads!
If you’d like to read the story so far, click on ‘The Newlyweds‘ on the menu bar at the top of my blog.
“I know what you did, Clarice,” giggled the face looking down at Mike. “You tampered with the pizza, didn’t you?” As alarm bells rang in his head, pains raced across Mike’s chest and down his arms.
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As the woman turned around slowly to reveal her face, Sophie’s heartbeat increased. Horrified, she watched as the book in the woman’s hand turned into a slice of pizza.
“Now, I’m in control,” screamed the woman.
***
Two floors above, Doug became more and more terrified at the way Clarice looked at him.
“Sophie? The one who poisoned the pizza you ate?” she asked.
Click here to read the first part of this story and follow the links back to this part.
Image credit: Charli Mills
Written in response to the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch.
Click here to join other writers participating in the challenge.
“Strawberry cheesecake ice cream? A family-sized fruit and nut chocolate bar? Iced-coconut sponge? What the heck is going on, Simon?”
“Comfort, you said, so I got you some of your favourite comfort foods. I thought the popcorn would bring back memories of our first date. These will all make you feel better. Oh, there’s one more thing.”
Julia rummaged around the shopping bag, hoping he’d got her what she wanted.
“Hot-cross buns? Are you kidding me? When I said comfort, I meant something I could put on my piles so I could sit down and be more comfortable!”
Can chocolate be trouble? Yes, in my books, it can, and Audrey Hepburn is to blame!
I’m really bothered, severely troubled, and it’s all to do with this commercial.
So there you have it. Cute commercial, yes? But, where does the word ‘trouble’ come into it and why am I bothered by what Audrey Hepburn is up to on that bus?
Now, I know some of you are shaking your heads and looking at me as if I’ve just announced I’ve purchased a cat flap for a submarine, but please stay with me on this and let me tell you why I think that commercial has made me believe chocolate is nothing but trouble.
Maybe the trouble is to do with the beautiful scenery right at the beginning?
Is it the beautiful Audrey Hepburn look-a-like sat on the bus? She does have incredible eyes, doesn’t she? All sort of puppy looking and adorable.
Is it what she reveals is inside her handbag when she opens it?
Oh, wait! What about the handsome chap who pulls up in the car beside the bus? No, he’s not my type, and why is there a woman sitting on the bus with a yellow bowl on her head? Did you see her? Yes?
Now, where was I? Oh yes, what was inside Audrey’s handbag. Now considering she’s sat on a hot bus (because it’s a beautiful sunny day outside and the commercial is set in a hot country), should that chocolate bar not have melted in her handbag? Does the guy sitting next to her look like he needs some Gaviscon? To me, it seems like he has heartburn. Are you still shaking your head?
Is it the music and the song, Moon River, that is the problem, or what about the singer’s voice? Beautiful voice, yeah, but wouldn’t make it on X-Factor or The Voice. Besides, I prefer the original version.
Then there’s that guy in the car. He may be good-looking, but, believe me, I don’t think he’s the one who is trouble. OK, I wouldn’t turn down an offer of a beer with him just to find out what hair products he uses and discuss why Barbie and Ken never got married, but, believe me, it’s not him.
Right, back to the commercial. Is that a pumpkin on the road Audrey passes when she gets off the bus? Did they have big ripe pumpkins in the middle of summer in the 1950s, and why has somebody painted what looks like two caterpillars above Audrey’s eyes? I’m sure they’re moving around her face.
Could it be the rugged bus driver that is the trouble? Is it him I want to see in place of Audrey on the bus? Well, no, because who would then drive the bus? Audrey? Not with the shoes she’s wearing. No way! I’d be off that bus quicker than my Aunt Mary being chased down Dagenham High Street by two Store Detectives after sticking a frozen turkey up her jumper and making a run for it.
Now, back to the good-looking man in the car. Do you think he has a big head? I only ask, as when Audrey puts the bus driver’s cap on him before getting into his car, it looks at least two sizes too small for him. On the other hand, maybe the bus driver has a small head? After all, he is bald. Perhaps that is why the cap is far too small for the good-looking man driving the car? What do you think?
How on earth did Audrey get the chocolate bar out of her handbag as the good-looking man whisked her off in his car? I never saw her open her bag and get the chocolate out. Did you? And, come on, Audrey, would you really get into a strange man’s car without even asking his name?
Want to know what happened to Audrey after being driven off in that strange man’s car? Was there really romance in the air? Click here for all the details.
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