Hi everyone. I hope you’ve had a good week so far. Here’s a new story challenge for you:
Can you tell a story in 41 words? You must use the following words somewhere in the story:
- MAZE
- QUIT
- CABBAGE
- REFEREE
- POETRY
- HOSPITAL
Last week’s prompt was to tell a story in 29 words using the following words in it somewhere:
- THUMB
- MOSAIC
- CHAMPAGNE
- STUDENT
- VACUUM
Here are your entertaining stories:
I prepared the champagne as my graduate student finished the mosaic. But where the planet should have been, only vacuum. Rule of thumb – don’t count those chickens quite yet!
Murray Clarke:
“Detective Sergeant Thumb surveyed the crime scene. The champagne bottle lying on the mosaic floor would reveal the student’s prints – if the vacuum cleaner hadn’t beaten him to it!
The student stuck his thumb in the bottle of champagne to stop it frothing, the vaccum held it in place, he smashed it into a mosaic of bloodied glass
Carrie ran her thumb over the broken mosaic pieces before she vacuumed them up. She was going out that night to visit a student and share a champagne toast.
I’m a student of my own dating history – a sad mosaic of failures featuring, as a rule of thumb, myself vacuuming down champagne before shedding both inhibitions and clothing.
As an art student, my priorities did not include the vacuum cleaner. I created abstract mosaics and thumbs up with a glass of champagne if they impressed my tutor.
Nicola Daly:
The sozzled student sucked the champagne from his thumb. Now he had to vacuum up all the broken glass – and after he’d made it into such a pretty mosaic.
‘A student won this year’s competition with Thumb Print: A Mosaic. It’s excellent as there’s a vacuum of young artists. Champagne please! A toast!’
Richard Felix:
The mosaic shattered, shards slicing the student’s thumb as champagne sprayed. A deafening vacuum roared, consuming dreams alongside red droplets.
***
Esther Chilton 
Pingback: Can You Tell A Story In… – Tessa Dean – Author
https://tessadeanauthor.com/2024/05/30/can-you-tell-a-story-in-5/
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As Mark strolled round the maze he called over the referee. I have quit cabbage soup he said. It helps with weight loss, but I ended up in hospital. Believe it or not the thing that calmed it down was poetry!
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That’s hilarious! Love it 😍
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Good
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‘This hospital is a maze. I always get lost.’
‘And we wouldn’t have to come so often if you didn’t keep eating all that cabbage.’
”Well, how else can I get them to quit asking me to referee the poetry recitals?’
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Very good, Nicola. That made me laugh 😄
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I was poetry in motion, racing through the maze, carrying a giant cabbage. The white clad referee shouting, “Don’t quit. You can do it!” Breathless, sweating, legs crumbling, I crossed the finishing line and came to in my hospital bed, alive.
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That’s simply brilliant!
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Thanks, Esther. I really enjoy these short writing sprints and getting the words to make sense in the word count. Is it okay if I add my efforts to my website (when it’s up and running again)? With a reference or link to the inspiration of yours, of course.
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Of course!
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A bit sad ! Sorry for that and maybe not allowed !
“The referee didn’t know when Jim collapsed then died in hospital that there was an underlying condition – Cancer, so that’s when I quit smoking.
“I am a-maze-d”
“Well the poetry goes, “We can be. Be and be better. For they existed “
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Woops
The referee thought it was the cabbage when Jim collapsed then died in hospital but there was another condition – Cancer, so I quit smoking.
I am a-maze-d.
We can be. Be and be better. For they existed, so the poetry goes.
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Of course this is allowed! Very sad, though, but it works well.
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He was kicking the cabbage around like a football. The referee remarked it was like poetry in motion ,but when he wanted to kick it around the maze, his friend told him to quit or he would end up in hospital.
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Fantastic!
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Fred’s mind was a maze of thoughts as he ate the yuck cabbage in hospital. Even if he lost the poetry competition he wouldn’t quit writing.
‘Foul!’ Fred shouted at the TV. Stupid referee should pay more attention. ‘Football!’ He groaned!
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Looks like you had fun with that!
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I did Esther!! Your words are becoming more random!!! Ha!
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😂😂
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