Wordless Wednesday – No words, just pictures. Allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Welsh cakes baking
Finished Welsh cakes
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Wordless Wednesday – No words, just pictures. Allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Will your Easter be full of chocolate?
Not sure what Wordless Wednesday is or how to participate? Click here for full details.
Are you participating in Wordless Wednesday? Although I am not hosting this challenge, you can leave a link or pingback to your post in the comments section to help promote it to other bloggers.
Follow Hugh on Social Media. Click on the links below.
February 27, 2023, prompt: Write a story about a golden onion in 99 words (no more, no less). Any golden onion. One planted or harvested. An onion chopped for a meal. How can you use an onion as a prop in a character’s hand? Go where the prompt leads! Click here for details.
The Field – by Hugh W. Roberts
Laying in a dark field, the skin of a giant golden onion shimmered in the moonlight, hoping to tempt passersby to touch it.
Townsfolk spoke of a curse cast by a vengeful, vindictive spirit on the onion. They avoided the field, warning their children never to venture in.
Travellers thought the shimmer was gold. Some failed in their temptation to go into the field. Those that touched the onion disappeared without a trace.
Some nights, the air was filled with the scent of onion, reminding the townsfolk that the cursed golden onion was waiting to claim its next victim.
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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 ‘Glimpses.’
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Glimpses
28 short stories and pieces of flash fiction take the reader on a rollercoaster of twists and turns.
February 13, 2023, prompt: Write a story about a smear of jam in 99 words (no more, no less). Is it across a slice of toast, a white shirt, or something unexpected? The jam could be the focus or detail that ads a twist. Who are the characters with the jam, and where are they situated in space and time? Go where the prompt leads!
All It Took – by Hugh W. Roberts
AI recommended the jam and put it on her shopping list.
Two days later, she spread a smear of the sticky jam on her toast and took little notice of the tiny handprint on the side of the jar.
Spitting out the toast’s remains, she drank a glass of water to eliminate the awful taste of the jam.
Moments later, she felt a strange sensation in her mouth, looked down and saw something moving in the jam.
In the instant before she craved human flesh, she knew the smear on the jar wasn’t a handprint; it was a warning.
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.
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.
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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.
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Written for the 99-word flash fiction challenge hosted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Click here to join in.
“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-alike sitting on the bus? She does have incredible eyes, doesn’t she?
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 in 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 who is the trouble? Is it him I want to see in Audrey’s place 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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