Writing

Wordy Wednesdays: TEN (Part One)

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Welcome to Wordy Wednesdays! As promised, here is Part One of Five of my new short story, “TEN”. Stay tuned as I release a new part of the story every week! Enjoy! 🙂

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TEN

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Waiting Room

Kyra Marin entered the waiting room. Closing the door softly behind her, she sat in her normal chair and picked up a magazine. She was the only one in the drab room. The couch across from her was a dull maroon color and looked as if it had been there for more years than she had been alive. The chair she sat in was wood with a green cushion, her favorite color. The tree in the corner looked like it was about to give up the fight and other chairs in the room had definitely seen better days.

The corner tables held mismatched lamps with low light and the overhead light was also of low wattage, lending a pale illumination to the room. Above the couch was a huge painting of a lake scene with the colors blurred together as if the artist didn’t have their glasses on. Kyra snickered and turned to her magazine.

The magazine she held was a fashion magazine with a skinny, blond model on the cover. Kyra rolled her eyes at the model and read the cover to see if the articles inside might be of interest. ‘How to Please Your Man’. Gag. ‘Better Hair in 5 Steps’. Barf. ‘10 Slimming Outfits on a Budget’. Double Barf. Seeing nothing that she was interested in, Kyra leaned forward to replace the magazine on the table and get another one. As she tossed the reading material on the table, a corner of a piece of paper protruded from the edge closest to her.

Glancing around to make sure no one had entered the room while she wasn’t paying attention, Kyra grabbed the corner of paper in her fingers and tugged. It was a tiny slip of paper with red writing in a flowery script. Kyra brought the paper closer and read the message.

Kyra’s eyes narrowed as she read the paper. “Your secret is not for you alone.”

She tucked the piece of paper into her purse and nodded to herself. Fine. It was time to take the plan to completion. She was ready.

Grabbing another magazine from the table, Kyra sat back and flipped through it while she waited for her turn with the doctor. Pausing on every other page, pretending to read the articles, Kyra prepared herself for what she must do. Years of therapy with the doctor were finally going to pay off. She knew all the details of the plan and the doctor played a huge part. Kyra needed to be careful in order to pull off her part of the action.

The office door opened and Dr. Martinson stood looking down at her.

“Hello, Kyra.” Dr. Martinson was an older woman. She always dressed in a business suit with a skirt and jacket. She always wore pearls on her neck and ears and she always wore black pumps. The doctor smiled at her and motioned her into the office with her left hand while holding it open with her right. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Kyra tossed the magazine on the table with the others and preceded the doctor into her office. Following Kyra inside, Dr. Martinson closed the door with a solid push and took her place in the chair across from Kyra on the couch.

Resource Saturdays: Random Word Generators

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Hello Ladies and Germs!

As part of a regular Saturday feature, I will be sharing at least one resource with you guys every Saturday.

This Saturday, I’m sharing a gaggle of random word generators. What can you use these for, you ask? I love random word generators for inspiration. Some of these generators will give you multiple words. Try using all the words in a poem or piece of short fiction. Use each word as the start of a chapter for a longer piece. Use  your imagination with these words and let them carry you through to a wonderful piece of writing.

So, without further ado, here are some top notch random word generators. (I’ve also added links to my Resources page.)

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Top 10 Random word generators

  1. Creativity Games – Can generate 1-8 random words

  1. Word Generator – Generates random word and its definition

  1. Text Fixer – Generates 6 random words

  1. Random Word Generator – Generates up to 5 random words, allows for length and beginning letter criteria

  1. List of Random Words – Generate between 5 and 100 words, allows for length, syllables, beginning letter and word length and will display the random words in a bulleted list, numbered list, paragraph or table.

  1. Fourteen Minutes – Makes new words that are made up and really have no meaning. You can specify beginning letters.

  1. Word Constructor – Uses letters from the word you enter to create a similar but different word.

  1. Wordsmith – Generates a random word from their word-a-day archive, gives definition and some quotes as well.

  1. Coyote Cult Random Word Generator – Generates a random word. You can click on the word to view the definition.

   10.   OneWord – Generates a random word and gives you 60 seconds to write about it

I hope you find some inspiration! Share your work with me, I’d love to see it.

Happy Writing!

~ Eileen 🙂

Wordy Wednesdays: Derived

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As a new feature, every week, I’m going to use a random word generator. It might be OneWord, it might be something else. I will put 15 minutes on my timer in my Write or Die desktop edition and I will write something for 15 minutes or until I feel like the piece is done. (I’m sure 15 minutes will be over before I feel like the piece is done!) Then, I’ll post the writing here for you to enjoy!

So, here comes the first ever Wordy Wednesday entry….

WordyWednesdays

 

 

Today’s Wednesday Word is: Derived. Resource Used: OneWord

Writing Piece – Unedited, 15 minutes of straight writing using Write or Die Desktop version

Derived

The fact that Paul was a prick was derived from the fact that he had never spoken a genuinely nice word to anyone in his entire life. We all despised him and wished him dead. Imagine our surprise when he made our day and ended up dead.

It was a Friday and we all got to work at our regular times, somewhere close to 8 in the morning. Some before 8, some (that would be me) slightly after 8. Paul never showed up before 9. He would waltz in, sloshing coffee from his alcohol-smelling take-out coffee cup and yelling ‘Good Morning!’ to anyone who would listen. He didn’t really mean it and we all knew that. He just wanted to appear like a good manager, even though he was anything but.

That Friday, we all got settled in to our desks, checking emails, chatting with one another about the shows we watched on TV or who called who for dates. It seemed everyone dated everyone in that damned office. Well, I never dated where I worked, so I always said no when co-workers asked me out. Especially managers. They were never the smart choice for dating in the workplace. It never ended well and when it inevitably went south, you were the one who lost your job, not them.

So it was nearing 9 o’clock and we were expecting Paul any moment. The office got noticeably quieter as workers hunkered down with their nose to the grindstone in anticipation of their boss’ arrival. 9 came and went and pretty soon, it was nearing 10 o’clock. We all started glancing around, peeking above our cubicle walls, waiting to see if someone was going to say something about Paul not being there yet. I was a natural leader and others often looked to me for answers. Pretty soon, eyes turned my way, silently asking me what was going on.

Sighing, I locked my computer and walked towards Paul’s office. Stopping at Renee’s desk, I asked her if she had heard from Paul.

“No,” she said, not even bothering to look up at me.

“Ok,” I said, “Have you seen him yet this morning?”

She quirked an eyebrow and glanced at me, her purple eyeliner was smeared on her left eye. She flipped a hand out to the side in the general direction of Paul’s office, “Do you see him anywhere?”

I stood there silently for a moment, thinking. “I need him to sign some authorization forms for the company meeting purchases. Do you know when he’ll be in?”

Renee swept her hair back from her shoulder, took a lazy drink from her coffee mug and then decided to bless me with a response. “No,” she said.

I glared at her and stalked back to my desk. My co-workers all looked to me for an answer and I just shook my head and shrugged my shoulders to indicate I did not have an answer for them. Sitting in my chair, I scooted up to my computer just as my cell phone began to ring.

The ringtone told me it was my brother, James. I shook my shoulders in a little chair dance to ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ before I answered the call.

“What up, James?” I said cheerily. I loved my brother and we were very close. True, it was unusual for him to call me in the morning on a workday, but I was always happy to talk to him, no matter the time of day or what I was doing.

“Hey, Claire,” he started. His voice sounded weird and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Something was wrong. “I have some news for you. It’s not being released to the public yet, so I can’t share details with you, but your boss’ body was found in an alley downtown.”

Never one for political correctness, my brother the detective just spit it out. I was stunned for a moment.

“What?” I finally managed to say.

“I know, right?” Was his response. “I was the first responder and I recognized him right away. He’s definitely dead, Claire, and from what I’ve seen it looks like it was not an accident.”

“What?” I said again.

“Did you hear me?” He sounded puzzled now.

“Yes,” I stammered, “Yes, I can hear you, James. I just can’t believe what you’re saying.”

“Claire, there’s more. The reason I am calling you is to give you a heads up. I’m going to be pulled from the case and you’re going to be questioned.”

“What?” I was feeling like a moron with a very low vocabulary at this point. “Why?”

“When I got here, he had his cell phone in his hand.” James began. I could hear a siren approaching in the background.

“Claire,” he sounded scared now, “the number on his phone was yours. You were the last person to speak to him on the phone apparently. So I will be removed from the case and the new detective will want to speak with you ASAP.”

“I didn’t speak to Paul, James. Why was my number on his phone?”

“I don’t know, Sweetie, but his phone indicated that the call to your cell phone connected. I gotta go.”

“Wait, James!” I almost yelled into the phone. “Who will get the case instead of you?”

James was silent for a moment and I dreaded his answer, knowing what he was going to say.

“Mark,” was all James said and then he hung up.

Great. Mark. My ex.

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Well, what did you think?

Happy Writing!

~ Eileen 🙂

Today’s OneWord: Wistful

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Wistful for the days when his life was not in danger, Tyler crouched with his back to the warehouse wall to catch his breath. Glancing around the corner of the building, he could see movement coming from in side the warehouse. It wasn’t safe to go that way for sure. Ahead of him, across what seemed like miles of asphalt was brush and trees. If only he could get there safely.

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To learn more about OneWord, visit OneWord.com

http://oneword.com/members/eileenmaki/

Today’s OneWord: Collection

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Carrie fished around in her purse for something that would help her with the collection of the sample. Finding a package of pocket tissues, Carrie emptied the tissues from the package into the bottom of her purse. Setting her purse on the floor behind her, she crouched down with a tissue in one hand and the plastic package in the other.

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To learn more about OneWord, visit OneWord.com

http://oneword.com/members/eileenmaki/

Today’s OneWord: Creative

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Carrie stared down at the carpet in front of her. The spot was definitely red. Not orange or brown, but red. A deep red. One she recognized from years of looking at red stains on carpets, as being blood. Not having her evidence kit with her, she knew she’d have to get creative to not contaminate the sample.

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To learn more about OneWord, visit OneWord.com

http://oneword.com/members/eileenmaki/

WordPress Daily Prompt!

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Hello fellow writers and readers!

Some of you may not be aware that WordPress actually posts a daily writing prompt. The prompt is usually about personal writing, as WordPress is first and foremost a personal blogging arena. However, the prompts could be used in many various ways. For example, the prompt from yesterday was:

070313 Prompt
So, while this prompt may be intended to inspire you into writing about your secret love of Glee! or your hidden passion for pineapple shaped plastic canvas tissue box covers, it can also be used as a fiction exercise as part of a story or for character development.

As an example, I have written two short pieces below.

Example # 1: Personal Writing

Some people don’t know that I have a love and fascination of the paranormal. This fascination goes so far as to compel me to want to speak with and interview those who have the ‘gift’ and find out how it works. What do they feel when they are being ‘psychic’? Are they psychic all the time? Can they turn it off? and many more questions. I have actually interviewed several psychics over the phone and plan to meet with them in person to interview them further on the topic, eventually crafting a book out of the interviews on psychic abilities.

Example # 2: Fiction Writing – Part of a Story

“Tell me something that even those closest to you don’t know about, Kyra.”

Kyra looked at her psychiatrist and didn’t say a word. Blinking slowly, she processed the question.

“Kyra?” The woman peered at her over her half-glasses, her milky gray eyes blinking. “Did you hear the question, Kyra?”

Making a decision quickly, Kyra grinned a lop-sided grin.

“Yes, Dr. Martinson, I heard the question.” Commiting to her decision, Kyra leaned back on the white leather sofa and crossed her legs. Joining her hands on her slim knees, she bounced her leg so her anklet jingled gently. “The real question, Doctor, is whether you want the answer or not.”

“Kyra.” Dr. Joy Martinson laid her pad and pen aside and looked her patient in the eyes. “We don’t play games here. You know that. Answer the question please.”

Kyra watched her doctor’s face and smiled, her red lips curving gracefully.

“Alright, Doctor.” Her grin widened and her index finger tapped slowly on her leg. Kyra brushed her straight dark hair from her shoulder. “When I was five, my cat went missing.”

“Yes, you told me. Fluffy, right?”

“Yes. Fluffy was the first.”

“First?”

“Yes, when the fifth cat disappeared, my parents finally suspected where they were really going.”

Silence stretched in the room. Without breaking eye contact, Dr. Martinson picked up her pad and pen from the table and adjusted her glasses.

“What happened to all the cats, Kyra?”

Without skipping a beat, Kyra leaned forward.

“I skinned them, Dr.”

The good doctor blinked. “You skinned them?”

“Yes.” Kyra said calmly. “I skinned them.”

Dr. Martinson had heard this from young people before. Kyra was trying to shock her. The doctor knew how to solve this one.

“Ok, Kyra. Tell me about skinning the cats. What did you use to skin them? Did you kill them first or skin them alive?”

The doctor, satisfied with herself, sat back in her chair and waited for Kyra to back down from her challenge.

Kyra’s smile didn’t even come close to reaching her emerald green eyes. Dr. Martinson felt a chill run down her spine and shivered despite the warmth of the room.

“The first cat was already dead and I filleted it with my Father’s fishing knife. The second cat I smashed over the head with a rock before I skinned it with the same fishing knife. For the third cat, I had purchased my own fillet knife off the internet. I skinned it halfway while it was still alive and then it died. I finished skinning it after it died. The fourth cat, I disemboweled  and gutted while it was still alive but I was disappointed that it died before I got to skin it. I skinned it anyway. By the time I got the fifth cat, I knew what I had to do. I sliced it open slowly, pushing my bare hands inside her belly. I loved the feeling of her warm insides all over my hand. I wiggled my fingers, finding her heart and massaged it to keep her alive. I skinned her slowly, keeping her open so I could massage her heart while I finished skinning her. When I was done, she was fully skinned and her guts were intact, but exposed to the air. It was a success.”

Kyra sat perfectly still, enjoying the terror that slowly filled her doctor’s eyes. She let a few seconds pass before she whispered, “Well, Dr? Am I making it up?”

The session timer chimed and without another word, Kyra took her purse and left the room.

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For your daily dose of inspiration, visit:

The Daily WordPress Prompt Posts

 

I hope you enjoyed my samples! Happy Writing!! 🙂

Today’s OneWord: Manifest

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As Carrie watched in silent terror, the fog began to change around her. Swirling and climbing up over her head, a shape began to manifest. Her feet froze her in place as her skin became clammy. ‘No!’ Her mind yelled out, ‘It’s not possible!’ And as the heavy mist completed its transformation, Carrie’s eyesight went black.

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To learn more about OneWord, visit OneWord.com

http://oneword.com/members/eileenmaki/

Today’s OneWord: Sleeved

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I was sitting on the stool so I could see the door out of the corner of my eye. It opened and the little bell above the door jingled merrily. Sipping my red wine, I pretended not to care who had just come in. In the mirror behind the bar I saw him and nearly spit my drink out on the bartender. There he was, but he wasn’t the man I remembered.

The dweeb I had dated in high school was now sleeved, muscled and hot! I wiped the wine from my lips on a napkin and wondered if I could hide before he saw me. Too late, our eyes met and he frowned.

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To learn more about OneWord, visit OneWord.com

http://oneword.com/members/eileenmaki/

Today’s OneWord: Pixels

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Wind whistled around the corner of my building, raising to a howl as it rounded the corner and rushed past the balcony. Suddenly, it began to pour. I glanced out my 17th floor window and saw a flash of lightening. Grimacing, I turned my attention back to my computer screen. In the seconds when I had looked away, my screen had now become a mess of pixels.

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To learn more about OneWord, visit OneWord.com

http://oneword.com/members/eileenmaki/