Monday, October 26, 2015

SPOOKTOBERFEST

Cover Girls Jax and Dani have come up with a cool way to entertain you.



Some rules:

Your Flash Fiction piece must be 400 words or less.

You must use all 13 Scattergory items in your flash fiction piece. Please highlight or underline each of them in your story, so we know where to find them.

Post your flash fiction piece any day from Saturday, Oct 24th thru Wednesday, Oct. 28th.

Be creative and have fun!!!

Your flash fiction piece can be spooky, comical, or whatever you'd like. You can use pictures to set the scene and/or a song to set the mood, if that helps.

The winners will be posted on Halloween!
We will each choose a winner. That’s right – two winners! And as an added bonus, we will also be selecting 2 runner-ups this year.  

That’s a total of 4 prizes! How awesome is that?!

PRIZES:
2 Winners - $20 Giftcards each
2 Runner-Ups – Either, a book from our bookshelves OR a critique (first 10 pages)

Oh, and yes, this blogfest is international. So what are you ghouls waiting for?

Here is my 406 word piece.(sorry for the overage)

Loci darted his dark head into the fish pond and snagged a medium sized, orangish carp, then scampered up into the purple blossoms of a bonsai tree. On a third branch up he stopped to shake the water from his long black hairs and inspect his catch.

Three feet to the right a brown owl hooted a protest to the cat’s intrusion. Loci hissed, swishing his tail in agitation. The owl flapped his wings, whootled, and advanced towards the carp. Bristling and screeching, Loci stood firm on his tree space. The brown owl advanced again its yellow eyes twirling hypnotically. Unfazed, Loci hissed and sat on his catch.

The owl swooped, screeched, and flew on into the moonlight. When the night remained silent, Loci returned his attention to his catch. Grasping it firmly in his jaws he leaped, and using the shortcuts open only to his kind, reached his destination in three turns.

Justine seemed distracted as she opened the sliding door. Sounds of Johnny Janis singing LIVE UNTIL I DIE buoyed his steps.

“Where were you,” Justine chastised. She set aside her glass of Moscoto and plate of goat cheese. “Jezel and Argus have already left. Oh, what’s this?”

Justine inspected the carp, turning it over in her petite hands. “Not too old, pregnant, vibrant colors. So you’re looking for peace and contentment in your next life?”

Loci head-butted her ankle, then rolled onto his side and exposed his stomach. Ignoring him, she returned to her seat. Loci jumped onto the witch’s lap, kneading the loose robe and purring out his life stories of tragically lost loves.

“I don’t know,” Justine advised. “You haven’t earned this life cycle you desire. You’ve been cowardly, sedate in your prior two lives.”

Staring into her azure eyes, he preyed upon Justine’s own lost loves. The loneliness she suffered from betrayals and misunderstandings of her craft. He purred his acceptance of Justine’s usual terms; a hundred years of devotion regardless of his success.

Justine leaned forward and scratched between his ears. “Very well.”

Loci fell to the floor as she stood. Tossing the fish into her stew pot, she asked if he had a birthstone for the spell. Loci produced a multifaceted tourmaline.

Justine cackled, lowered goggles over her eyes, and wrapped his feline form in gauze. Loci tolerated the confinement with an anxious heart as he closed his eyes and waited for his spirit to be reborn.

* * *

What do ya think, ready to add your own story to the linky and possibly win a prize?


25 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hope he finds his peace. At least he'll have five more lives in which to try.
Clever twist with the cat, Donna.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I'd be afraid of what my cat would come back as.

Pat Hatt said...

The cat may return as a rhyming dog, we can't have that lol

Yolanda Renée said...

Pat's comment is too funny!
Loved the story!

dolorah said...

Thanks Alex

Diane: my cat would just have thumbs and raid my fridge.

Pat: gads, I hope not.

Yolanda: right?!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Good luck to Loci! I hope everything turns out okay for him. You'd have to have a lot of trust to let someone do this to you. (Or want that next life badly.)

Chrys Fey said...

Nice take on reincarnation, witches’ familiars, and cats’ nine lives. Hopefully he’ll have a better life and be better in the next life.

mshatch said...

I wonder what he'll come back as? Another cat? Something else?

Denise Covey said...

Ooh, never heard of a cat reincarnation, but looks like Pat Hatt's having none of it! Great use of the random words, Donna. Good work for 400 words...it took me back to when RFW was 400 words and now peeps say 1,000 is not enough! It's been great reading some of these Spooktoberfest entries. Good luck with the prizes, kiddo! :-)

DEZMOND said...

so what was he reborn into?

Nick Wilford said...

That was good, I wouldn't mind reading more about these two. Loci sounds like a very intriguing cat!

alexia said...

Cats, owls, witches and gemstones - right up my alley!

Tammy Theriault said...

nicely done!! plus, I love that your blog is coming together!

Laura Clipson said...

I love this, anything to do with witches and cats and I'm there :)

Crystal Collier said...

Fun stuff! Definitely an original tale.

dolorah said...

Shannon: yeah, I'd be skeptical

Chrys: I hope he does well also.

Marcy: does it get any better than a cats life, sleeping most of the day?

Dx: I had to cut it down from 868. Almost didn't make it below 502. I always have too big a concept for these flash fiction thingys :)

Dezzy: I have no clue!

Thanks Nick; my own cat was my muse.

Thanks Alexia :)

Tammy: yep, I keep adding to it. Almost looks like the old site.

Laura: they are fun

Thanks Crystal.

Anonymous said...

Good story! You should expand it to see what he comes back as. Nice use of the scattergory items. Have a nice night. Eva

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi, Donna,

Nice to read some new work from you! Clever use of the prompt words in your story. I liked the chemistry between the witch and her medium.

Jackie said...

Ooh! Great FF Piece! And I loved that you used Moscato- I had my first glass of that with, who other than, Dani! Thanks for participating in Spooktoberfest!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Donna - that was a great read with lots of swishing tails and tales ... and cats with their nine lives ... loved the idea of Loci's black hair being shaken out. I agree it'll be so interesting to read more stories with Loci and Justine ... cheers Hilary

A Beer for the Shower said...

I like this take on reincarnation. Also, the sentence "Loci jumped onto the witch’s lap, kneading the loose robe and purring out his life stories of tragically lost loves" is going to make me look at my cats differently the next time they get up on me, knead, and just stare into my eyes creepily.

Misha Gerrick said...

Interesting story. This looks like a fun bloghop to take part in. Sorry I missed it. :-)

MunirGhiasuddin said...

This is such a great idea . Sorry to have missed it. Best wishes to every one. Good Luck

Stephen T. McCarthy said...

OH DONNA! ~
I don't recall you requesting a permission slip to miss BOTB.

I'm going to need a note from your doctor before we can let you back in, girl! [:o)}

~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'

dolorah said...

Michael: I was glad to be able to write something unique :)

Jax: Moscoto is great with good friends

Hilary: Loci may appear sometime in another writing

Beers: cats have many ways you need to pay attention to. They are devious.

Misha: I would have enjoyed your take on the scattergories

Thanks Munir

St Mac: fuck you, lol. I'll bring the note on our first date.