Update

9 June, 2010
Somehow I seem to have fallen out of fictional inspiration lately, having difficulties finding the time and inspiration to focusing my mind on it.
It is still my hope and intention to some day get back to the Wordzzle game and finish off The Slumber Party Mystery story.

Saturday 9 May 2009

Raven's Wordzzle Challenge # 62

For the rules of the game, go to Raven's Nest

Ten Word Challenge: gentle spring rain, mammoth, soap opera, worry, bubble gum, garden gate, seizure, of Biblical proportions, paralysis, wrinkles
Mini Challenge: operatic, stuffed animals, anger management, biographical, paint splatters





The Slumber Party Mystery
Chapter 9 - A drama of Biblical proportions



Having unloaded the groceries from the van, William knocked on the kitchen door, but no one opened. Chewing his bubble gum, he hesitated for a moment, then opened the garden gate and went round the back of the house. As he turned round the corner, he felt like he had stepped into a soap opera, or even a drama of Biblical proportions. Bumblebee, the butler, was standing in the swimming pool, fully dressed, water up to his knees, talking into his cellphone. Beside him, the brigadier general, whom William knew to be suffering from paralysis after some kind of seizure, seemed to be floating on the surface of the water. In the grass beside the pool, a fire was spreading.

Just a few seconds later, Diana came out on the terrace from the library. Putting on her sunglasses to avoid getting wrinkles, her eyes fell on an issue of the Antiquity Journal that someone had dropped on the terrace floor; it had a picture of a mammoth on the front cover. (Her grandfather would have loved to have one of those in his own collection of rare stuffed animals, she thought automatically.) She also noticed some some yellow stains on the white marble floor tiles – was that paint splatters or juice? Then she suddenly smelt smoke and was immediately filled with worry. Lifting up her eyes, she, too, had the sensation of having stepped into some kind of crazy operatic scene. But before she had time to react, the sprinklers on the lawn were suddenly turned on, and water began falling like a gentle spring rain over the fire.

At the front of the house, Dr Adam Challenge was again parking his car. He had not the faintest idea how this would end, but decided he must try to practise all he knew about anger management and forget about his own biographical tragedies for now.

(Author's comment: I know, I know. The pace of this story is getting irritatingly slow. I just couldn't find a way with this week's words to speed it up...)

10 comments:

  1. Good reads shouldn't be rushed anyway - I'm looking forward to the next instalment! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had the same problem when I was writing a continuing story thru Wordzzle

    some episodes were just conversation but that builds the characters

    I enjoyed this

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm enjoying your story. You are drawing us forward each week. A good story shouldn't be rushed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Forgot to say that I thought the way you used the words was really clever... sprinkler as gentle spring rain... juice or paint splatters... well done. They fall into the "wish I'd thought of that" category.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, I'm willing to wait for what Dr Challenge has in store for us. Always a good read. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You have lots going on. Can't wait to see what happens next. The words were difficult this week and a continuing story has an outline that isn't easy to follow with arbitrary words.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So much going on and great use of the words. You have so many of us hooked on this...the pace to me doesn't matter :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Agree with the other comments. Suspense is building. I enjoyed this installment.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you all for your encouraging comments. I'm enjoying this challenge; as far as possible trying to let the words suggest the continuation of the story. As I did not really start out with a plan for an ongoing story, I'm as fascinated as anyone to watch it grow...! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. This was a nice continuation of the story and a good use of the words. I enjoyed reading it.

    Stephen from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
    http://stephen-has-spoken.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

Sorry, this blog is no longer updated, and no new comments accepted.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.