Letter X

photo of a wrought iron mail box with a motif featuring a rider on horse back prompting a flash fiction story
Photo by Kirsty TG

It was a lovely quirk of fate that living at number 24, my mailbox held the promise of his kisses, scrawled on a receipt, or a postcard he’d bought on a whim in his travels, or a torn out page from a book of poetry, with the familiar ‘xxx’ in his swirling longhand.

We had a game where he’d send me a message with a separate envelope for words beginning with the same letter of the alphabet, like a jumbled whole word version of alphabet soup, and I’d have to make out his intended sentences and sentiments.

The fun was in the stealth operation of checking the mail boxes in my street, from houses 1 through to 23, then 25 and 26, never knowing which letters would feature, hoping the occupants didn’t catch me in the act, or worse still, check their mail before me.

 

Prompt courtesy of Sonya’s Three Line Tales, Week 16, although for me this is week 3 of participating. If you’d like to give it a go, follow the link for details. Okay, so perhaps very long sentences to fit into 3 lines. I hope you took a breath if reading aloud.

A Word…

An image for week 7 of the travel through the tumbleweed series on 10000hoursleft.wordpress.com, featuring a post titled 'a word...' using writing 101 creative writing prompt with the word 'never' in a letter format

Here we are at week 7! It is getting harder for me to pick the posts to take us to the end of the 10 week travel series. I might have to do some creative accounting.

This post was fun to write and fun to re-read after all this time. It was based on a WP Writing 101 prompt, referencing the first word that grabbed my attention on page 29 of the nearest book, and featuring the word in a letter, tying in neatly with last week’s letter themed travel through the tumbleweed. What was the word? I could never spoil a surprise like that!

Click on the image to travel through the tumbleweed! Mind the gap, and heed the warning in the letter!

If you want to read other posts in the series, you can find them under menu item ‘travel through the tumbleweed.’

Two Stray Lette r s

It’s week 5! We are at the half way point of our travels. This week I have cheated and given you two posts in one. Both are a short (really!) response to the same WordPress Writing 101 prompt.

If you’ve been along for the ride in previous weeks, you know the deal. If you’re new to this, mind the gap! and take your time to pick up and read a stray letter or two that you may find along the path.

Click on the image to travel through the tumbleweed. Once there, you will find directions to the next post.

If you want to read other posts in the series, you can find them under menu item ‘travel through the tumbleweed’.

Bon voyage!

Job Seeker’s Sonnet 2

An application for a senior role in the Sustainability Department of Acme Corporation,  world leader in widget design & manufacturing, a subsidiary of W.E Coyote & Sons.

Dear sir, madame or whom it may concern,

I write in search of gainful employment.

Reading your ad tells me what I can earn,

Perhaps stall foreclosure with a payment!

A vibrant culture and staff engagement

conjures up thoughts of a monthly meeting,

where rather than yawns of disagreement,

there’ll be laughter, hugs, fine wine and singing!

Recycling and sustainable living,

my focus shown right here, in this letter,

up-cycled words I am delivering,

savvy, resourceful lateral thinker.

Adjectives that best fit? I give you three:

qualified, skilled and expert, yeah- hire me!

Following an earlier cover letter I wrote (Job Seeker Sonnet 1), I was advised by Robert Okaji to revise the Shakespearean sonnet into a Spenserian sonnet, to improve my chances of securing a job. Fingers crossed! This post is a prime example of why I shouldn’t hit “publish” too soon- I have since revised for the umpteenth time! I’m happier with it now, particularly the fact that I no longer rhyme “me” with “me” – I also made other changes post- publishing for a better flow.

Tea Leaves

I found it while leafing through a magazine that was amongst a pile on the coffee table. It read:

“Dear Donald, Having just learnt my diagnosis, I am writing to let you know how I feel and what I know in this moment. Fuck! Why me? I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to give in to this disease that will eat away at my memories. I don’t want to forget how it felt to fall in love with Sue, or the first time Jake said Da-Da…”

I couldn’t read anymore of it. I stared into my empty teacup, wishing its leaves could conjure up a different story, wishing I could go back to being the other me, the one who’d tried to make time stand still, the one who’d had the foresight to write it all down.

 

Prompt from Writing 101, Day 5 Be Brief. Today’s Prompt*: You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply, and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed. Write a story about this encounter. Today’s twist: Approach this post in as few words as possible.

*I wrote in response to this prompt some time ago, although I wasn’t enrolled in Writing 101 at the time. That effort is in this post.