Words for Wednesday
The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles.
The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.
If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along and read it.
This month the words are supplied by ME and can be found right here.
1. noose
2. moose
3. soon
4. omen
5. shoe
6. onion
and/or:
1. hourglass
2. fireplace
3. fragment
4. paradise
5. discussing
6. wondering
use either list or both, or mix and match, just have fun.
let the creativity begin!
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Discussing it with her friends Sarah agreed that Christmas preparations were a noose around too many women's necks
ReplyDeleteAs the hourglass to the day ticks away time (and human minds) are shattered into teeny, weeny fragments. Cooking and remembering dietary requirements (Bruce is gluten free, Naomi is a vegetarian and Steve won't eat anything with an onion in it), cleaning, shopping, wrapping, cards, decorations, phone calls, visits, stockings to stuff (and hang in front of the disused fireplace). All the advertisements say soon, soon and Sarah's heart sinks. It might be paradise for children but...
A documentary about the frozen north was not an omen precisely but certainly the dropped shoe which started her wondering whether it would be better to be an animal at this time of year. Not a turkey, chicken or pig (for obvious reasons). A moose perhaps. At peace in the cool of a Northern Winter, instead of baking in the inferno of a Southern summer. This year is the last she will accept responsibility for everyone else's happiness. Time for everyone to pitch in - or she WOULD fly to Alaska for the month of December. Alone.
Good story using this week's words, EC.
DeleteThankfully, Christmas for me now is spent very quietly,...as relaxed as I can be. Just me, Remy and Shama...I just hope Christmas Day etc., are as hot as these past few days have been. I've been about ready to expire!
And well she should. Well told, and too true for too many.
DeleteHaha! Agreed on both points :)
DeleteGood story ... only scary because it sounds too much like me. (minus the hot part. It's cold here now).
DeleteOh I liked this, tho we abandoned the whole Christmas thing a long time ago and now celebrate Solstice with one gift - recycled or handmade, keeps it really simple.
DeleteXO
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It's rather ironic that the "happiest time of the year" is so stress-filled for so many people... mostly women. Your story is spot on, except for the cooler temperatures we're feeling here in the States. Great use of the words!
DeleteMe? No stress here. Each year, our celebration gets simpler. Suits me!
Elephant's Child; I like this so much! I even forgot to look for the words :) Christmas is such a hassle for most women who feel the need to do it all, makes me glad I'm not one of them. When my kids were very little we kept Christmas to just us and didn't do an extended family dinner until the youngest was about 9 and even then it was only grandparents.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought of snowbound Alaska throughout or summers.
"“Mumma! Mumma! Nana! Nana! There’s a MOOSE in the cooner!” The little girl screamed as she shifted from foot to foot.
ReplyDeleteBoth women laughed.
“Yesterday, it was a hoonet in the cooner!” The little girl’s grandmother said to the mother, her daughter.
“Yes! I think it’s her Scottish heritage sneaking through! I’m not sure if that is a good OMEN or not! A FRAGMENT left over from the past! She'll SOON have a better command of the English language – I hope!” The child’s mother replied through her laughter.
The little girl, wide-eyed, was still pointing in the direction of the FIREPLACE.
In the meanwhile her mother and grandmother were DISCUSSING the reason for her regular mispronunciation of the words “mouse”, “corner” and “hornet”, WONDERING if their were correct in their assumption..
“We’d better enjoy these joyous moments while we can. Too quickly they will be gone because she is growing up so fast!” The mother said as she wiped laughter tears from her eyes. “The SHOE will be on the other foot before we know it. The sand in the HOURGLASS is flowing unharnessed. The years are flying by all too quickly! Perhaps we’d better make a NOOSE to throttle that moose!”
Both women laughed as they headed towards the kitchen.
“Mum...can you keep an eye on Maggie. There’s only one ONION left and that won’t be enough for the casserole you’re making for tonight’s dinner. I’ll race out and catch the next bus to the PARADISE shops. What else do we need?“
Lee I like this, but wonder whether her Scottish second sight is part of the reason. Perhaps there is a moose in the corner...
DeleteActually, EC...when I was a little girl...I was that little girl I write about here. :)
DeleteThose were my own words! lol
Heeheehee! It's so fun to enjoy how children pronounce things, we still use some of the phrases from our own childhood, and from my kids.
DeleteLee; this is so funny. I wondered if the child saw a reindeer by the Christmas tree and mistook it for a moose. of course the other mispronunciations tell me different. How nice to find out it was you that had the Scottish accent, but where did it come from? You were born in Australia. I knew a child with an Irish mother who was quite hard to understand sometimes.
DeleteMy heritage is Scottish and Irish, River. So I guess there was a swing back somehow or other...subconsciously.
DeleteOh I can relate to this funny tale of mispronounciation. It's ofteh quite a riddle to find out the real reason for something. :)
DeleteSure a fun and light heart story...At one time I refuse to use my S sound so...Santa would be Anta, Smoke would be moke, and such.
DeleteI think she's a very clever little girl with another sense to her :)
DeleteXO
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This is such a cute story, and it's even better to know the little girl in the story is based on Lee's childhood. Very nice!
DeleteTo keep the holidays on an even keel the family decided when discussing politics or religion they would limit each person's time to an hourglass worth of allotment. With the fireplace blazing in the background each family member couldn't help but be wondering how this experiment would go. Some discussions were left as a fragment but in the end the experiment proved to be a paradise for all attending the gathering. No arguments ensued and all left as friends at the end of the evening.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: More than one family I know would benefit from such tactics. Love this.
DeleteSmart, very smart. Especially the idea of no one taking it so personally that they end up severing relationships.
DeleteThat sure sounds like a good idea to me. I'll tell Remy and Shama to abide by those rules! :)
DeleteLinda Starr; thank you for joining us here. I like your story and using an hourglass to limit the ramblings of some who could go on for hours is a great idea.
DeleteHaha, going to use that one ... only foce somebody to use their hourglass' worth of time will be hard ;)
DeleteBrilliant. I'm thinking of the gasbags.
DeleteXO
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What a great idea! But maybe our family shouldn't use an hourglass... maybe a two-minute timer would be better.
DeleteMy story is here, when it gets to be Wednesday here, too.
ReplyDeletemessymimi; it's probably not Wednesday there yet, so I'll pop in later.
DeleteAhh, what a sweet story.
DeleteLove the words, thought of a rhyme - if only I had time.
ReplyDeleteMargaret-whiteangel; how long does a rhyme take?
DeleteAs the cowboy examined her hourglass figure in the mirror above the saloon's fireplace, a fragment of memory left her wondering about O'Flanagan and the paradise they'd been discussing before it all went to hell in a handbasket. She shook her head and tried to grasp the meaning of his latest omen.
ReplyDelete"Never put a new onion in an old shoe," he'd said, wrapping the noose around the moose and leaving without another word.
The cowboy slugged her drink and banged the shot glass on the wooden bar.
"Shoulda listened to Ma," she said to the bartender, "Bloody Irishmen. Can't understand their accent, and when I can, I've no idea what the hell they're talking about."
Yes an accent sure gets in the way of understanding now and then. But with mixed metaphors like this one nothing will help, I'm afraid. Funny glimpse of another world. Thanks.
DeleteUnderstand can be blessing it own right.
DeleteGreat advice!
DeleteXO
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A fun tale with the words put to good use.
DeleteI hope the onion after spending time in the shoe is tossed...probably best the shoe, too:)
HA! Great job.
DeleteMark Koopmans; thanks for joining us with a lovely take on the words. I'm often stumped by the Irish accent and way of thinking too, but it's such fun to listen to them.
DeleteLike Margaret-Whiteangle I felt the temptation to be writing a rhyme. All those O's spote of rhyme and verses to me. But then I stubbornly continued my "Magical me"-autobiography.
ReplyDeleteUglemor; I'll be over shortly to read it.
DeleteNot A Christmas Story and here is link to my story...http://peppylady.blogspot.com/2018/12/wednesday-meme-number-twenty-two.html
ReplyDeleteI am chuckling at this Mark. And can confidently say I have never put a new onion in an old shoe.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; only old onions? Or perhaps new onions go in new shoes?
DeleteMy story is here: http://wisewebwoman.blogspot.com/2018/12/words-for-wednesday.html
ReplyDeleteI had fun with the darkness of it.
XO
WWW
Wisewebwoman; thanks for joining us, I'll be over in a minute to read it.
DeleteMine is here ... the Moose
ReplyDeleteOoh! I'm on my way over...
Delete