THE JOY OF STORY
John M. Daniel’s Blog
April 8, 2017
Greetings, friends and celebrators
of the joy to be found in stories—writing them, reading them, telling them, or
hearing them. If you enjoy a good story, this weekly blog is for you.
This month’s post is short, largely
because I have been out of commission for two months. (Last month’s post didn’t
happen.) Consequently I’m far behind in my work, with several editing jobs
waiting impatiently for my attention.
The telephone rings.
It’s
a good thing I love my job.
It seems the news of my accident
spread among the writers who regularly read “The Joy of Story,” because I
received only a handful of 99-word stories for the monthly Short, Short Stories
feature.
Or perhaps the prompts I assigned were too obscure,
focusing on a line out of Julius
Caesar or an unanswered telephone.
Anyhow, I’m posting the stories that
did arrive in March this month, one month late, with two mottos:
“Better Late than Never,” and
“Better Some than None.”
§§§
Hello?
Hello?
HELLO?
A
Handful of
Short,
Short
Stories
YOU TOO?
by Kevin Ruth
Mahony
“This isn’t one
of those things where you meet my family.” Cesar said as they sat on the back of her SUV, door open.
“Booty call,” she considered as she
snuggled up, sliding out the stiletto.
“That’s good for me. And you?” he murmured.
After she stuck
him, she shoved him into the cargo space. Pulled over the cover.
Driving off she
saw the lights.
“You were
weaving,” said the cop.
Playing her best Barbie, she said “I was
tuning in my favorite country station.”
•••
BAMBI IS A DEAR
by Marilyn London
“Hey love.
Just landed. come get me?”
“You bet.
Missed you. Just watching the deer: Fawn’s dancing with the leaves. Doe’s
eating our hydrangea.”
“You really
love those deer, don’t you?”
“It’s sad
to see them in the winter. The young one’s like a ballerina. The winds of
march that make my heart a dancer.. Well, better get going.”
“Romantic.
See you in a min.”
BAM!
“Never saw
the deer coming. Just went flying over the side of that ravine!” the witness
told police.
“Hear that?
Sounds like her cell phone. A telephone that rings, but who’s to answer?”
•••
HER LAST SMILE,
GONE WITH THE WIND
by Cora Ramos
The woman
smiles, glancing at the clock. She refreshes her lipstick, primps her hair and
waits.
An hour later,
tears brim her eyes. She picks up a pen and writes on the note paper next to
the phone. She carefully dabs her eyes before getting up to leave. The door
closes softly behind her and through the open window, we watch her drive away.
The phone
rings. And rings.
The wind gusts,
the curtains flutter and the note tumbles to the floor. We read her words, “When
you call, it will be too late. I’ll be long gone. Forever.”
•••
THE PROFESSIONAL
by Jim Gallagher
“The winds of March
that make my heart a dancer;
Not the winds of march, but a desire to
perform with grace and dignity before a live audience.
A telephone that rings, but who’s to answer?”
The
performer didn’t hesitate to break the fourth wall, to rebuke the offending
patron.
“You
want to get that, while we wait?” Sheepishly, the transgressor retreated to the
lobby, as the audience verbally pelted him with catcalls, and whistles.
Undiminished by the disruption, buoyed
by the shouts of “Bravo” and applause, the performer resumed,
as if no interruption had occurred.
•••
TWELVE RINGS
by June Kosier
I have something to tell him, but I am
too scared to do it in person, so I call.
My heart races as I dial and flutters as
the phone rings. Will he
answer?
I hope I can just leave a message. This
is one time I will be happy to get an answering machine.
The phone rings for what seems like
forever. Twelve rings, one
minute.
There must not be an answering
machine. I decide to hang up but
as I put the receiver in the cradle I hear “Hello?”
Too late, I have hung up.
Now what?
•••
§§§
Call for submissions: Your 99-Word
Stories
The
deadline for May’s 99-word story submissions is May 1, 2017. The stories will
appear on my blog post for May 13, and will stay posted for a week.
note: this 99-word story feature
is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may
edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to
my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.
Rules for the 99-word
story feature are as follows:
1. Your story must be 99
words long, exactly.
2. One story per writer,
per month.
3. The story must be a
story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change),
characters, and conflict.
4. The story must be
inspired by the prompt I assign.
5. The deadline: the
first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the
month.
6. I will copy edit the
story. The author of the story retains all rights.
7.
Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com
THIS
MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY: “Tra la, it's May, the lusty Month of May, That lovely
month when everyone goes blissfully astray.”
Make up a story
inspired by the following
§§§
Calling
all published authors—
I try to feature a guest
author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re
interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a
published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com.
§§§
Thank you for visiting.
Please drop by next week!
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