This week’s writing prompt is:
Halloween
Well, I had to go for it. After all, when your prompts will be published next week, it’ll be Halloween eve, so I thought it would be highly appropriate. What does Halloween mean to you? Did you used to go trick or treating? Perhaps you took your kids? Do you go all out and dress the house up? Or maybe you could create a spooky story or poem.
You don’t have to share your work, but I always enjoy seeing what you come up with if the prompt gives you inspiration. Here is the work you shared on last week’s prompt FRIENDSHIP. You produced some moving pieces.
Can you remember the time we danced?
Charleston, disco and tango
High school life, in our hearts and souls
In Playhouse we also did panto
In Apple Sauce we all had same shirts
The day we all boycotted scouting
Said all for one, one for all
Barkadahan with the NOKS and HIKS
All the others in between
Laughing, crying, we were all so keen
In our hearts and souls, high school life
Not to worry, always did our best
Reminiscing snippets of our lives
They still make us smile.
We’ve been friends since I was 7 and brand new to the neighborhood. We still call and visit each other when possible, but I think of her often even if we aren’t in contact. Her name is Kaye.
I have another friend I met through a job so long ago. She has finally retired and is enjoying her life by traveling and spending time with her grandkids. She finally got the man she deserves and I’m so happy for her!
My local bestie and I go to concerts together because no one else but our kids like the same music we do. It seems all my true friends live a good distance from me, but I from them too, especially now that we travel most of the year. But our bond is strong. We don’t forget each other ever. That’s what friendship is to me.
In the quiet moments,
where laughter lingers like the scent of fresh coffee,
we find one another—
two souls wandering in the same wild garden,
weaving dreams between our fingertips,
like strands of golden sunlight.
You know my stories, the ones I tell
with trembling hands,
the unsaid words that flutter behind my eyes,
and still, you stay;
a bright thread in the fabric of my days,
stitching together the frayed edges of my heart.
Through the storms of yesterday,
when shadows crept in,
you became my compass,
pointing me toward the horizon,
reminding me that even in darkness,
there is beauty in the rain.
We share the weight of silence,
comfortable as old chairs,
and the unhurried conversations in the dark,
where secrets spill like wine,
rich and deep,
as we dance between the folds of our lives,
uncertain but unhurried.
Sometimes, we stumble,
on jagged rocks or paths less traveled,
but the fall is soft with your laughter,
your hand always reaching,
steady, no matter how fierce the winds blow,
teaching me that falling together
can be a kind of flight.
In the mosaic of our days,
we gather moments—
the bright shards of joy and heartache,
and each piece, like a soft promise,
reflects the light we’ve kindled
in our shared sanctuary.
So here, in the uncharted wilderness of time,
I celebrate you—
the echo of my laughter,
the solace in my sigh,
the fire that burns,
steadfast and true,
in this beautiful, tender, chaotic dance we call friendship.
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
― Elbert Hubbard
I find this quote to be true, although I would have changed it to a “true” friend, not just a friend. A friend may not want to know all about you and some things they could not accept.
A true friend though, will listen to every thing you have to say and no matter how bad it is they are non-judgmental and will remain your friend no matter what.
My best friend and I met about 8 years ago and we built a friendship, but part of me I kept hidden and hidden well. Slowly bits started to come out and she wasn’t shocked, she just said she was ready to listen if I wanted to talk. She left that up to me.
The week I went to the psychiatric ward she, who does not drive in the dark or far at all talked her husband into driving her over to see me. She walked in that dismal place, got locked in and said to me, “I wouldn’t do this for anyone else. That is how much you mean to me.”
I was stunned. I was so embarrassed, and it didn’t bother her at all. Now, that is a true friend.
Friendship
is popularity
a cell phone
a car
money
life
Head over to The Bag Lady for a few friendship smiles.
Friendships, of those ships I chosen to have none
Changing schools often, I was always the new girl
A loner, I turned to books for company and fun
My mean girl experiences would make your hair curl
***
Sistership, of those ships I was blessed with three
All my sisters have different and strong opinions
Family interactions can be difficult, believe me
They each rule their individual dominions
***
Relationships, with that ship I’ve done well
Loner marrying Lone Wolf was a perfect match
For us, compromise wasn’t a difficult sell
We’ve learned any emotional wounds to patch
***
During our lives we journey on numerous ships
It’s choice whether the waters are calm or a blitz
Take Four Girls….
I met Angela on my first day at senior school; we were in the same registration group and were friends from day one.
Towards the end of our first year we became friends with ‘The two Sues’, and then they were four.
I hated school, the only thing worth going for were my first love and my friends. I’ve so many memories, the fun we had, the trouble we got into!
We all left after taking our O Levels, while three of us went to work for a large insurance company in the city, Angela chose to stay local.
But of course we still met up regularly, until….
I came home from work one evening, to be told by my distraught mother that Angela had died.
I remember saying ‘No, you’re joking.’ and then realising she wasn’t.
Angela was sixteen, taken by meningitis. Old people die, not sixteen year olds.
I remember the funeral, still struggling to believe she was actually in that coffin…
And then there were three..
Fifty years later, we are still friends; we’ve enjoyed the good times together, been there for each other through the bad. We’re in different parts of the country but try to see each other as much as we can.
When we do get together, it’s not long before we’re in fits of giggles just like we were in our schooldays.
We often talk about Angela,we could never forget her.
I can’t imagine not having my two best friends now.
One day we’ll all be together, the four of us, up there, no doubt causing havoc!
Treehugger sent in a wonderful story on the previous prompt SENSES:
Squelching along the muddy trail, her footprints rapidly filled with brown water. She stumbled over tree roots in her clunky boots, trying to avoid tree branches plopping, dropping raindrops on her head.
As suddenly as it came, the rain stopped. She looked up at the glistening leaves newly bursting out on the branches, getting ready to display their summer elegance. A promise of summer to come.
The pungent smell of wild garlic filled the air. Wood anenomes nodding in the breeze. A couple passed by with a cheery hello, their little terrier excitedly sniffing the undergrowth in search of rabbits.
She reaches a clearing, in front of her a carpet of blue flowers. She eagerly looked around and spotted a movement.
***
Esther Chilton 
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