Can You Tell A Story In…

Here’s your Thursday story challenge. Can you tell a story in 62 words using the following words in it somewhere:

  • BREAKDANCE
  • VACCINE
  • MARTINI
  • SHIFTY
  • WOODPECKER
  • HOROSCOPE

You have two weeks for this one – so why not write more than one?

The previous challenge was to write a story in 44 words using the following four words in it somewhere:

  • ADVERSARY
  • WAFFLE
  • QUIZ
  • KISSOGRAM

Here are your funny stories:

John D. Ottini:

I wish you wouldn’t quiz me when I arrive home late from work. I’m not your adversary… don’t tell me that I waffle my words when I tell you the truth. Wish I knew where you got the idea that life is a Kissogram?

Nicola Daly:

Our adversaries at the quiz night were going all out to win tonight’s prize! My team? We weren’t fussed – I mean who wants an hour with ‘Kissogram Kate’? No, we let them win and everyone piled back to my place for waffles and wine.

A Jeanne in the Kitchen:

As I was eating my waffle and doing my daily quiz, I thought I could send my adversaries a kissogram. Would it be a way to win them over, or would it be the kiss of death? Only time will tell.

Help From Heaven:

It Can Be Hard To Tell Friends From Adversaries?

Sue questioned whether Joanie was friend or an adversary. She waffled on this quiz. Joanie sent her a kissogram delivered by a fake fireman to congratulate her on her engagement. She couldn’t have anticipated Sue would fall in love with the guy, or could she?

Fandango:

The host of the quiz show posed the final question to Benny’s adversary, Herb. Herb got a confused look on his face and tried to answer the question, but he waffled it. That’s when Benny knew he had won the kissogram from Taylor Swift.

poetisinta:

Pub Quiz Champs

Lucky Jack met his adversary Fred,

Who wore a waffle upon his head,

At the pub quiz they battled with might,

Till a kissogram arrived later that night,

‘Good luck,’ she cried, ‘now kiss and make up!’

They laughed – both agreeing to share the cup!

Aptivi’s Joyful Corner:

The Wrong Waffle

Two competing novice chefs were on the final question of a food quiz, and people were cheering on them. One chef pointed his finger at the brown waffle dish with chocolate sauce, and presto, his adversary won the battle and received cheers and kissograms.

Pictures Imperfect Blog:

The Sandman Fan Fiction

Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for some… thing to devour. “Waffles, waffles would be nice,” he muses while lounging in front of his tv watching a quiz show. The main prize is a kissogram delivered by Michael Sheen.

Graeme Sandford:

When your adversary is Palifah, Queen of the Kissograms, your best choice is to challenge her to a ‘Waffle-Off!’ Twenty random toppings; 1 point for each guessed correctly. The best guesser wins the Quizzical Trophy, whilst the loser pays for the Health-Spa Weekend.

Dawgy Daddy Responds:

While quizzing my adversary about the first down call, she tried to delude herself by denying the truth. After calling her out I offered clemency if she would pay for the chicken waffles we had ordered. While paying the bill she received my kissogram.

Crystal:

My very 1st ad had its very first adversary. I celebrated my very 1st adversary by eating a blueberry and banana waffle and by taking a kiss and tell quiz not to mention I also celebrated my very 1st adversary by sending my very 1st kissogram to my secret crush and boyfriend. Bold, yes, but worth it especially when I saw his facial expressions, body language and puzzlement because he had no idea and no clue who sent the kissogram to him on this Valentine’s Day.

The Afterlove Voice:

The Prize

My adversary challenged me to a quiz over breakfast. The prize? The last waffle.

I was winning until the doorbell rang.

A kissogram strutted in, kissed him, and announced, “Congratulations!”

I stared at him.

He shrugged. “I may have cheated.”

I ate the waffle.

Rall:

not going to waffle on

will do the quiz

to get a kissogram

not sure what that is

but i like kissing

hang on never kissed an adversary

not starting now

Pensitivity101:

Her adversary had a tendency to waffle on about nothing in particular, so when it came to announcing the winner at the quiz night, somehow a kissogram got in on the act and reduced the audience to fits of laughter at the announcer’s expense.

Susan Batten:

On the day I heard, I railed against my adversary, but the Kissogram messenger he sent was so cute I dallied a while, missing the Great Waffle deadline and arriving late for the Rotisserie Quiz. There I punished my enemy for his dastardly perfidy.

John W. Howell:

His adversary tried to waffle on the quiz question, but the kissogram didn’t lie.

Dan Ince:

Risky Quizness

Janet has forever been my adversary. When she turned up at the quiz and won, I was furious. Instead of allowing her the chance to waffle on about it, I booked her kissogram ex-husband and invited him to the quiz to kiss the winner…

Murray Clarke:

It was Sunday evening in the Red Lion and the quiz was in full swing, when Tommy Know-it-All started waffling on about an adversary he had beaten in the previous week’s challenge. Suddenly, the pub door swung open, and in stepped a sexy kissogram!

yvensong:

My adversary and I were dressed like potatoes as we competed for waffles and a kissogram. The quiz show aired on a local cable station and we were sure that none of our friends would see us flop so badly on late night tv.

Richmond Road:

Kissagram came to my door
Tall-dark-handsome. Six-foot-four
“Happy anniversary!”
Bellowed my adversary
Reply – “Sir, kindly cut the waffle
By night my wife works in a brothel
By day she is a science wiz
Try her out. Set her a quiz
I’m unemployed. Money spent
Kissing’s how we pay the rent”

Lily’s Corner:

Invitation

Sue headed to the Neighbourhood Nook. They had new homemade waffles and only a select few were given this invitation by kissogram. She thought it was strange, but we live in strange times. She had to answer a quiz about her adversary; the orangutan.

The Bag Lady:

Sue knew she could win the kissogram quiz because she had the most beautiful rosy red Cupid’s bow lips of all the contestants. There was no adversary to compare with her. If only she hadn’t chosen to eat a blueberry waffle before the contest!

Ann Edall-Robson:

The cold case detective ignored his breakfast waffle as he read through the old newspapers from the file’s archive box. The pattern was there! Their adversary openly confessed to the crime with answers to the newspaper’s weekly Kissogram Quiz. How had this been missed?

Teleportingweena:

I was on the fence, waffling on whether to attend the club’s annual Valentine’s Day Quiz contest. The Dating Club was usually pretty fun, but on this holiday there were too many adversaries vying for a kissogram. Oh, what the heck, I will go.

Therapy Bits:

My adversary challenged me to a quiz at midnight. The prize was a golden waffle, strangely enough. I answered the final question correctly, but before I could celebrate, a kissogram burst through the door, sang my name, and stole the waffle away.

The Elephant’s Trunk:

It Just Wasn’t My Night

My fierce adversary hated when I would waffle during an intense trivia quiz, hoping to stall for extra time. However, victory tasted sweet to him when a mysterious kissogram arrived at the table, completely shattering my focused concentration and sealing my humiliating defeat forever.

Blind Wilderness:

He was her adversary, so she thought. At quiz nights he would waffle and treating her as if she knew nothing. Little did she know the truth. One evening a man arrived at her door. She realised it was a kissogram. It was him!

***

Image credit: Pinterest

39 responses to “Can You Tell A Story In…”

  1. nikidaly70 Avatar
    nikidaly70

    ‘I can’t work out what this month’s horoscope means. It says that: ‘I’ll go for a walk in the woods and bump into a tall, dark handsome hunk dressed in a woodpecker costume…’

    ‘Sounds a bit shifty.’

    ‘And then we’ll breakdance into the sunset and live happily ever after.’

    ‘So, will that be before you go for your Martini Vaccine, or after?’

    Liked by 5 people

    1. I’ll have one of those, please 🤣🤣🤣

      Like

  2. read it sting

    horoscope

    when dancing with fools

    the non sense rules!

    break dance slam

    cos not to vaccine is obscene

    and the fool in charge perhaps

    is stupid beyond reason

    and the season cools

    and fools mob to it

    so be shifty sly and leery

    cos of daddy we all weary

    like bond s martini

    shaken and stirred!

    Liked by 4 people

  3. Here is my story:

    I woke up that morning stiff and tired so I automatically checked my HOROSCOPE along with a MARTINI for breakfast to feel better then I looked out my window only to see a WOODPECKER pecking at my window so that WOODPECKER inspired to get my flu VACCINE but the person giving me my VACCINE was very SHIFTY and when I was done getting my VACCINE I was so glad to get out of there so glad I decided to BREAKDANCE .

    Liked by 3 people

    1. You made me laugh with that, Crystal.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Glad I gave you a good laugh and the martini was her breakfast LOL 😂

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Thank you so much, Esther! Here’s my piece. I tried my best with this one, so I hope you like it. ☺️

    https://aptivisjoyfulcorner.wordpress.com/2026/10/01/can-you-tell-a-story-in-rdp-thursday-oct-1st-2026-the-chaotic-dancefloor/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. You’ve done very well 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much, Esther! ☺️ Have a wonderful Thursday!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thank you!☺️

        Liked by 1 person

  5. […] story written for the Can You Tell A Story In from Esther Chilton: The prompt words are horoscope, vaccine, martini, breakdance, woodpecker, and […]

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Crazy from the Shot

    My horoscope said it would be a hard, cold winter for me, so I got my flu vaccine. I’m not sure what the heck was in that shot because my balance feels shifty, and I look like I’m trying to breakdance. 

    “Hmm, maybe it was the martini I drink just before getting the vaccine?” 

    The woodpecker behind the bar noded in agreement.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Love that last line!

      Liked by 1 person

  7. My horoscope for the day said to be wary of the shifty woodpecker. It would come to me and offer a weird vaccine disguised as a martini. If I took this strange concoction, one of the side effects would be that I would start breakdancing uncontrollably for hours on end, until I collapsed out of sheer exhaustion.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I knew there was a reason why I don’t read horoscopes 🤣

      Liked by 1 person

  8. […] her “Can You Tell a Story In…” prompt today, Esther Chilton has challenged us to tell a 62-word story incorporating the words […]

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Cressida de Nova Avatar
    Cressida de Nova

    BREAKDANCE

    VACCINE

    MARTINI

    SHIFTY

    WOODPECKER

    HOROSCOPE

    my horoscope

    gave a warning about alcohol

    and bird flu

    will get a vaccine to ward off

    the woodpecker bird flu virus

    and forgo the martinis tonight

    going to be hard breakdancing with

    those shifty types stone cold sober

    Liked by 2 people

    1. That’s excellent, Rall.

      Like

    • BREAKDANCE
    • VACCINE
    • MARTINI
    • SHIFTY
    • WOODPECKER
    • HOROSCOPE

    I met a pretty shifty horoscope reader who handed me a martini before my reading. I didn’t think much of it at first until I realized the reader had inhaled a pitcher as if it were a vaccine. His next move was to declare my zodiac sign to be a woodpecker with the breakdance as its sole talent. He gave me a piece of wood before passing out.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Sounds very shifty to me! Very good, John.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Seems so. Thanks, Esther.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Hi Esther!

    Another great selection of words! Here’s where I was taken:

    —

    What a Trip!

    So, not sure the vaccine I just had was the right one. Moments later, I shared a Martini with a shifty giraffe in a Turkish Bath who insisted we read his horoscope. I then challenged Woody Woodpecker to a breakdance competition, and later woke up on a golf course in Scotland… 

    What a trip that was! When can I expect the booster?!

    —

    https://danince.com/2026/10/01/what-a-trip/

    Liked by 2 people

  11. […] Can You Tell A Story In… – Esther Chilton […]

    Liked by 2 people

  12. […] Can You Tell A Story In… […]

    Liked by 1 person

  13. dutifullydeer6ab803ea0e Avatar
    dutifullydeer6ab803ea0e

    Hello Esther,

    Here’s your “Story in…” for this week:

    “Last week, Priscilla Woodpecker’s horoscope advised me to lay off the Martini and warned of a general shortage of anti-breakdance vaccine, which would, of course, be needed for the run-up to Christmas. However, in her photo in the magazine, she has a rather shifty look, so I don’t know whether to take her advice seriously or not. Besides, I like Martini.”

    and with regard to “play”:

    The Play’s the Thing … Anybody who has seen a play in the theatre will identify that particular thrill which comes over them, even before the curtain rises. The hum of low conversation, the rustling movements of the audience, the sight of those dignified old drapes and décor, even the smell floating in the air – it all contributes to the enchantment, and when the lights go down and the first scene opens, we are transfixed, lost somehow, to the world outside. The Regency public enjoyed theatre, too, especially melodrama and pantomime, but private theatricals were decried as a threat to morality and patriarchal authority. Jane Austen painted a fine picture of this in “Mansfield Park”, where the young people are caught up in their enthusiasm for putting on a play, but the owner is wrathful when he discovers their scant respect for his property. It was not to be borne! Here, Sir Thomas Bertram illustrates the Regency attitude to play-acting at home; an indiscreet activity, full of temptation, breeding insurrection in family life and threatening social decorum. But Shakespeare, in his day, believed in the power of domestic theatricals and wrote, “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”, a play within a play … We overcame the Regency era prejudice and theatre of all kinds continues to delight us, even in these days of the video clip.” 235

    Best wishes,

    Susan

    Liked by 3 people

    1. A very interesting look at plays and an entertaining story. Have a good weekend, Susan.

      Like

  14. Your boyfriend left the building
    I guess he couldn’t cope
    But he’d have known that I was coming
    If he’d read his horoscope
    I ain’t your shifty Swifty
    Nor your breakdance machine
    But in the fight against your boredom
    I’m your miracle vaccine
    I’m strong like a martini
    My intent as clear as gin
    Tap! Tap! Says this woodpecker
    Let me in

    Liked by 2 people

    1. You’ve woven those words in seamlessly.

      Like

    1. Thanks for joining in! Fun story.

      Like

  15. […] for Esther’s Can You Tell A Story challenge, where we are invited write a piece in 62 words, using the following: BREAKDANCE, […]

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Interesting challenge and shoutouts to fellow bloggers!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for your comment, Indira.

      Like

Leave a comment

Discover more from Esther Chilton

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading