and the day after. Alex watched inertly as the red, helium-filled balloon, loosed from its tether, floated off. He noted its direction and turned vacuously back to the party … his birthday party. His actual birthday was on Monday, so sacrificing a Saturday for this was okay. He took in…

Repentance and recovery as the other extreme. Oh, nature weeps with a heavy heart, As sorrow embraces the realms of pain, The souls of many, now torn apart, Yearn for peace, but find it in vain; People dying prematurely, their dreams unfulfilled, A world adrift in callousness and despair, Political agendas leave life distanced and chilled, Where…

Tragedy binds us to one extreme. In the darkest hour, when conflicts rise, Hope drowning in the darkness of despair, Thoughts heavy laden with senseless demise, And the right to exist becomes unclear; When foreboding and failure fill the air, As war tears apart what could have been whole, Destruction looms large, blindness everywhere, With chaos consuming…

A day in a life of hell repeated. A “the Challenged” writing prompt. chel writes: has asked us to consider the following writing prompt — “You’re trapped in a never-ending time loop, reliving a particular day repeatedly” Thinking sleep will chase away, That dreadful, eventful day, I lay down, with hope still…

A challenge for me. A good man is best When life is a test or dull, He’ll venture a quest When he feels restless or small. At his heart’s behest His mind will invest it all. He’s been here before Aware of the score and pay, He’ll clamber aboard Never one to be bored or…

A perfume that never aired sweeter. Writing Prompt Way back in June 2022, Bob Merckel, and then Jason Edmunds, issued the following challenge/prompt: Grab the closest book Turn to page 27 Write down the 3rd sentence of the 2nd paragraph Take 7 minutes and free write whatever comes to mind, don’t stop…

One ticket to ride The tea kettle was screaming in the kitchen. I had forgotten about it … again. Packing my trunk would have to wait a while longer. I raced into the kitchen to take the bloody thing off the burner before the smoke detector could react. “Chirp! Chirp!”…

The sun had no choice today but to shine. The fires had been put out. The smoke had cleared to reveal a cloudless, livid sky. Looking into town, rubble and charred debris as far as the eye could see. Remarkably, our neighbourhood had been mostly spared. The cobblestones still lay…

A “This or That” Challenge Karen Schwartz: “For this month’s This or That, I thought I’d ask you to imagine, to think, and to dream. All you need to do is to copy and paste these questions into a new story and answer them with your unique style. …