Here’s a new story challenge for you. Can you tell a story in 71 words using the following words in it somewhere:
- CAPTAIN
- LEAPFROG
- BAKERY
- PRESCRIPTION
- WIDOW
- SHAMPOO
- ANAGRAM
The previous challenge was to write a story in 62 words using the following six words in it somewhere:
- LASSO
- IMPERSONATE
- SHRINE
- VIDEO
- JANITOR
- CONGEAL
Here are your excellent stories:
Nicola Daly:
‘So, for my latest tiktok video, I’m going to impersonate Janitor Jim while swirling my lasso down at the ‘Congealed Pork Chop.’
‘The what?’
‘The Congealed Pork Chop. It’s the name of the pub next to the pig farm. It’s full of Pig memorabilia – bit of a shrine to all the piggies. What do you think?’
‘Well… it should get you noticed.’
As murder mysteries go, this was a doozie.
The Butler impersonated Lord NawNaw and was, therefore, able to enter the Egyptian shrine of the largely congealed (due to poor mummification) body of Pharaoh Ramses VIII.
Unfortunately the Butler was caught by a hidden trap, a lasso, and was pulled by his neck to the ceiling.
The video evidence proved the Egyptian janitor did it.
As a professional Cowgirl myself I teach wannabe Cowboys and Cowgirls how to lasso and while what they’re really doing is trying to impersonate a Cowboy or Cowgirl, one thing is for sure – you can’t get anybody to lasso by a video. Then after lassoing school is over a janitor comes up to me and says I am impressed you used your shrine and experience to try to teach the wannabe Cowgirls and Cowboys how to lasso and also to boot you taught them what the word congeal means very impressive.
Lou by the Sea:
Mess
The video on his phone recorded his vile crime
He piled up the bodies and made them into a shrine.
Months later – the remains were bound to congeal
It was hard fact. He wasn’t allowed to feel.
No witnesses could incriminate
For he was clever to impersonate
The janitor who cleaned up the mess
His lasso caught him. He need never confess.
A New POV
A beautiful mood is congealing across America.
Brits came for the World Cup and were lassoed by beauty and freedoms of a place once enshrined in their psyche only in BBC produced videos. Their eye-opening glee exhibited as they impersonate the “real” America. There will be no clean-up when they return home. No propagandized media janitor can sweep away an experienced “truth”.
The hidden security video betrayed the janitor. He didn’t merely clean the crime scene; he built a shrine to the dead girl. I watched her blood congeal on the tile while he held the golden lasso. To escape, he tried to impersonate a beat cop, but in this rainy city, the truth is always sticky and dark, staining everything that it touches.
A weary janitor discovered a dusty shrine hidden behind the theater wall. Inside, an old video machine was showing someone who was trying to impersonate him. It was almost perfect, except the image was wearing a cowboy hat. As he watched, his image swung a lasso. Terror made the janitor’s blood congeal. When the video ended, the janitor quickly left the building.
The janitor discovered an old video hidden behind a dusty wall near the town shrine.
In it, a masked actor tried to impersonate a legendary hero, twirling a lasso beneath moonlight.
Years later, the mystery remained unsolved.
Rumours began to congeal into local folklore, drawing curious visitors who searched for clues among the weathered stones and silent shadows.
Mike, the janitor, stood aside watching Joe impersonate a cowboy with a heavy rope that would not congeal into a proper lasso. He felt sorry for the young actor who wasn’t made for this western video, more like a college preppie role. Mike’s attempt at acting ended in a bad accident. There was even a sort of shrine to the event backstage.
Working as a janitor at the cowboy shrine, Jacob decided to impersonate Wild Bill Hickok and make a video of himself and his lasso taking on the bull named Fu Man Choo. After the shoot, he was hoping the wound would congeal before too long.
Inspired by Mark Twain and Terry Pratchett
The dark castle loomed above the Valley of Holiness where hermits and prophets had pitched their tents. Dearil peered down until he saw him: a tall, painfully thin figure in worn-out dungarees walking with a restrained swagger.
The prophet in blue jeans tried to warn me…oh, that’s dungarees to you “Let go of your pride!” Yet I had such swagger, on the climb to my castle stairs that I fell on my face.
Rall:
the janitor froze
his blood congealed
when he saw the lasso
hanging on his locker
with a video and a note demanding moneyhe was on filmcaught out
impersonating a cowboyvandalising a shrine
during an all night orgy
The wax began to congeal on the shrine as the janitor set the video to record.
He and his mates were sending in a demo impersonating Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer.’
It was a spoof of course, but they had fun until he tripped on a lassoed bell rope and went flying.
Maybe we should change it to Flying Without Wings, he thought.
Murray Clarke:
I have fond memories of me old mucker, John, a teacher and a dab hand at throwing a lasso. He even posted videos on YouTube, impersonating the famous cowboy, John Wayne! When he died, his wife erected a shrine in his memory. Afterwards, the janitor at his local school came across his old ropes – now nothing more than a congealed mess.
Susan Batten:
At the Shrine of the Pampa Gaucho near Rio de Janeiro, a janitor was denounced today for impersonating a cowboy. His stage make-up had run and congealed, his lasso skills left much to be desired and, as it transpired, he couldn’t actually ride a horse.
New Assignment
Agent Steele was assigned to lasso Agent Boogie and bring him in for questioning. His betrayal went deep. Not only did he dead drop his beloved map, but set up a shrine in the canyon to boot. Steele was to impersonate a janitor at their opponent’s headquarters. His disguise was specially made to congeal to his face. His mop had a video.
Pair of Cowboys
A wannabe cowboy of Crinkly Pass,
Twirled his lasso while sat on his ass,
He'd impersonate owls, who perched on a shrine,
Then watch a video drinking gooseberry wine.
The janitor who was admiring the gravy congeal,
Spun on his spurs and let out a loud squeal,
They rode of together singing tu-whit tu-whoo,
And both had grown whiskers when they arrived in Timbuktu!
Blind Wilderness:
The kids made a lasso like the one in the video and began to impersonate Jake Wyatt. He’d had a shrine made to him. The janitor watched them until the fat began to congeal on his fish and chips. He shouted at them and they all ran away.
“Damn kids,” he said. “I don’t think I was ever like that.” He belched.
Ann Edall-Robson:
The detective stared at the computer screen. The man in the video was trying hard to impersonate a janitor with his mopping moves. The detective zoomed in on the liquid. It wasn’t water, it was red, and it was starting to congeal around the base of the shrine. He used the stylus to draw a lasso shape around the blood puddle. “Gotcha!”
I rented a video one time to learn about how to rhyme words. The lady just sat there doing a little sing song voice while rhyming. I had fixed myself a meal to eat while I watched, but it congealed on the plate I was so fascinated. She was a bad joke, saying lasso/basso, impersonate/fluctuate, shrine/shine/ janitor/senator. I was laughing too much.
I asked the janitor to impersonate a cowboy so he could lasso the devil before the bloody lake could congeal. I sat before the shrine, worshipping God, as my bff took a video. As she watched, I was raptured and taken to Petra where I’m to wait until the judgement is over. The day of the Lord is coming. Better get ready!
Looking at the video
Evil crime revealed
Lifeless body of a man
Fate already sealed
Lasso tightly round his neck
Already blood congealed
The perpetrator, nonetheless
Very well concealed
No revealing features
Cannot see his eyes
To impersonate a janitor
An ordinary disguise
Candles round the body
Some sort of a shrine?
No sign of a fingerprint
Or trace of the divine
Lasso of Lies
At the county shrine, a bored janitor found a glowing lasso. Hoping for fame, he used it to impersonate the mayor in a ridiculous video. Unfortunately, the magical rope made every lie congeal into pudding.
During the speech, puddings piled up, buried the podium, and launched him skyward. The crowd applauded wildly, assuming it was an expensive civic art project that day.
The lasso fell round his shoulders then dropped and was pulled tight round his arms. He had been trying to impersonate a famous cowboy at the shrine of the Wild West. They captured it on video.
The janitor caught him because of congealed blood on his Stetson.
The police found a dead actor in the cattle pen… He was not a tourist…
A janitor found an old video of a thief trying to impersonate a legendary cowboy. Inspired, he grabbed a dusty lasso from a forgotten shrine in the storage room. But the rope began to congeal into something alive, whispering promises of adventure. By dawn, he wasn’t just cleaning halls anymore—he was riding toward a destiny he never expected.
I tried to impersonate a cowboy last week. A janitor caught me on camera just as I was about to lasso the shrine of Baby Snakes. As I stumbled and fell busting my head open he started laughing uncontrollably. As the blood started to congeal over my right eye I could see through my left eye that he was shooting a video.
The Curator
She volunteered to tend the shrine each week… dusting, replacing flowers, watching memorial video on the small screen.
What no one knew: she had killed him.
Now she, the devoted colleague, would impersonate grief indefinitely and lasso sympathy from everyone around her.
In a dark basement, a janitor mopped a sticky floor. Blood, he assumed, from the butcher upstairs, waiting to congeal.
***
Image credit: Pinterest
Esther Chilton 
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