Tag: Magic

Posted in Challenge Entries

THE FOLLY: My Entry for KL Caley’s #WritePhoto Prompt

Posted on by SidneyAspennWrites
The Folly – Image by KL Caley

A folly is a building usually constructed strictly for aesthetic pleasure.

For visually challenged writers, the image shows an almost symmetrical brick folly with gothic style arched doorways at either side.

https://new2writing.wordpress.com/2021/09/16/writephoto-folly/

HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS:

  • Each Thursday at Noon GMT the #writephoto prompt will be posted on New2Writing.
  • Use the image and prompt as inspiration to create a post on your own blog… poetry, prose, humour… light or dark, whatever you choose, as long as it is fairly family-friendly.
  • Please have your entries linked back to the original prompt post by the following Tuesday at Noon GMT.
  • Link back to this post with a pingback and/or leave a link in the comments below, to be included in the round-up.
  • Please click their links to visit the blogs of other contributors and take time to read and comment on their work.
  • Use the #writephoto hashtag in your title so your posts can be found.
  • There is no word limit and no style requirements, except that your post must take inspiration from the image and/or the prompt word given in the title of this post.
  • Feel free to use #writephoto logo or include the prompt photo in your post if you wish, or you may replace it with one of your own to illustrate your work.
  • By participating in the #writephoto challenge, please be aware that your post may be featured as a reblog on this blog and I will link to your post for the round-up each week.

………

“Hurry up, Josh!”

“Alright, alright! I’m coming,” grumbled fifteen-year-old Josh from behind Ingrid, his twin sister.

She twirled around as he slowly caught up, trudging up the steep hillside. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she breathed, taking in the colours and sounds of this secluded area far away from the cobbled streets and noisy carriages of their busy town.

Josh grunted in reply as he collapsed on the grass, trying to catch his breath. Ingrid had said they were skipping today’s French lesson for a ‘lovely break’, not for this torturous hike!

“Can we just sleep here for a while?” he suggested.

“What a bore, Josh. We’ve come here to have a jolly time! Just look at this place—it’s got so many exciting things to offer!”

“Like what?”

“Like trees! You’d promised you’d teach me to climb them. There’s also plenty of space to run around and play catch! Or…”

Ingrid’s voice trailed away as she suddenly noticed a stone structure not very far from where she was standing. She stepped sideways to get a better view of it. Her whole face lit up instantly. “Or we could head there!” She pointed at the gothic-style, somewhat dilapidated building.

Josh sat up, craning his neck in the direction of her finger. “What is that?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but seems fun! How about a game of hide-and-seek?”

Her brother guffawed. “Hide-and-seek? You couldn’t possibly find a place to hide there—it’s got archways that lead nowhere and the walls look like they’ve fallen in!”

“Well then,” Ingrid skipped over to the stone platform between the two arches, “why don’t we use this as a stage? Imagine we’ve got an audience in front of us and we’re putting on a show for them…I say, it’d feel exactly like performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the theatre Mummy had taken us to last month!”

“Hmm,” wondered Josh. He’d always been a fan of literature (so much so, he’d even memorised some of Shakespeare’s plays word for word!) but too shy to actually try his luck at dramatics—especially in front of his buddies. No harm in practicing here, using this silly time with his sister as pretext. “Alright, let’s do that.”

The duo frolicked and laughed as they churned out their own version of the play they’d watched before, all the while unaware of the presence of a stranger in the woods. The maiden watched them with a smile from behind a tree, muttering an incantation into the breeze before disappearing amidst the wilderness.

They spent an hour running from arch to arch, playing multiple characters, sometimes taking the spotlight at the centre, and finished their performance with a gracious bow to their invisible audience. Flushed, the siblings got off the stone structure through the archway on the right and plopped down on the soft ground.

“Now that’s what I call a well-deserved break!” exclaimed Josh, admiring the view from the top of the hill. “It’s getting late though—”

“Josh?”

“—and Mummy might already be suspecting our whereabouts…”

“Josh!”

“What?”

“Look at your clothes,” said Ingrid, very pale.

Confused, he looked down at his shirt, only to see himself decked up as the fairy king from the play. He was shocked to see his twin dressed similarly.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he whispered.

Ingrid nodded.

This was no ordinary forest; what pure folly it was to believe that this folly would be no different either.

Posted in Challenge Entries

NIGHTTIME ADVENTURE: My Entry for WDYS Challenge #95

Posted on by SidneyAspennWrites
Image credit: Tumisu at Pixabay

For the visually challenged reader, the image shows a pirate with treasure chest on one open page of a book and a ship on the other. Random alphabets are scattered in the space in between.

https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2021/08/16/what-do-you-see-95-august-16th-2021/

HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS:

  • You can write a post on your blog and create a pingback to link to the original post.
  • Write an original story, poem or a caption.
  • There is no limit to words or format but keep it family-friendly.
  • If you post a response before next Sunday, it will be added to Sadje’s next roundup post.
  • It is always helpful if you can give your post/story/poem a title.
  • Paste a link of your post in the comments section of the original post so that no one’s entry is missed in the roundup post.

Please tag your responses with #Whatdoyousee Or #WDYS.

………

“Oh, take me someplace far away

As now in bed I’m forced to lay,”

requested little Fanny Brown,

with a face so sweet no one could frown.

“Alright, I will,” Mummy agreed

she knew just the thing Fanny would need.

.

So she reached into her treasure chest and drew a tattered copy

Of tales that spoke of elves and fauns and pirates with loot aplenty.

Then in the light of the bedside lamp did she turn to the first page

and snuggled under the covers before setting up the stage.

.

“A long, long time ago,” she began,

“there lived one great Captain McCann.

He was a very fearsome pirate, aye,

some said his mighty ship could fly!

With a hook for a hand and a stump for a leg,

he commanded his crew with pride;

for he could smell the scent of treasure from many, many miles.

.

Then she went on to describe his daily spoils and adventures,

sailing the world’s oceans and exploring myriads of cultures.

The pure delight on Fanny’s face only grew as the words kept flowing

Until she was so tired that her eyes closed, busy dreaming.

………

Books truly take us to faraway places, fictional or otherwise. The characters takes us with them on their journey, making us laugh and cry in the process. This is the magic that even a simple bedtime story possesses. I hope this poem I came up with conveys it well!

Posted in Challenge Entries

My Entry for Eugi’s Weekly Prompt

Posted on by SidneyAspennWrites
Image by Susan Cipriano from Pixabay

This Week’s Prompt (Aug 5) – ROUND THE WORLD.

https://amanpan.com/2021/08/05/eugis-weekly-prompt-round-the-world-august-5-2021/

HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS: Go where the prompt leads you and publish a post on your blog that responds to the prompt. It can be any variation of the prompt and/or image. Remember to keep it family friendly; this needs to be a safe and fun space for all.

Link your blog to Eugi’s Causerie with a pingback. You may also place a copy of the URL of your post in the comments of the current week’s prompt. Responses posted prior to the next Thursday prompt release can be included in the Roundup.

………

People called him crazy. But Callum Riviera never took it to heart, considering that all inventors of his era were labelled just that by so-called critics.

Today, after nearly three years of intensive research and manual labour, he was confident he’d blow their minds away with his finest piece so far—the Rota Celestia.

“How’s it goin’ to be any different than the London Eye?” asked a newspaper correspondent, adjusting his glasses sceptically. “We’re not here for another amusement park ride, y’know.”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Callum replied with a grin, proceeding to cut through the crowd that had gathered to watch the unveiling. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he then announced at a podium set up in front. “I’d like to invite the bravest and most curious ones present here to come aboard the Rota Celestia for the experience of a lifetime.”

“Well, why don’t you tell us what makes it so extraordinary? Then we’ll ride,” said a woman carrying a very plump child in her arms.

“I’m afraid it would ruin all the fun, ma’am. But since you insist, I’ll venture to say that this invention of mine transcends science, and enters the world of…magic.” At the last word, he pulled a lever. The great wheel came to life and slowly began turning about its axle. “Hop on now, one by one.”

A steady trickle of people made their way from the crowd towards the giant wheel and took their seats in each cabin. When that was done with, Callum gave a signal to his assistant on the side, who worked a combination of levers and buttons before signalling back.

The next moment, the Rota Celestia picked up pace. Some colourful lights fixed to the cabins’ sides flickered on. Callum waited with bated breath as he observed it all slowly unfold. Any moment now, he thought.

And surely enough, they beheld the miraculous sight: as though attached to a pulley, the evening moon was drawn by the rotating wheel. Closer and closer it came, until it was almost as big as the wheel itself. The passengers as well as the bystanders on the ground gasped in astonishment.

Callum beamed. From the corner of his eye, he saw the same newspaper correspondent from before drop his notepad. His next announcement would definitely surprise the man even more.

“That is not all, folks! What use would it be if we brought the Moon closer and didn’t set foot on it?”

Murmurs emanated from the crowd. Walk on the Moon without having to travel to space? This was unbelievable!

“Come on, my passengers! Step out one by one very carefully until you feel solid moon surface under your feet!” Callum hollered from below.

Despite being fearful, they heeded his words; within minutes, about twenty people were already dancing on the Moon (I’m sure it looked as crazy as it sounds!).

Photographers clicked away, journalists scribbled away and more members of the public came down to the site, hoping to get onboard the magical Rota Celestia.

By the time the passengers were finally brought down to Earth, the crowd was unmanageable. They were pushing against the barricades, demanding to be given a seat. Callum was admittedly a bit disgruntled—that is, until he was struck by another brilliant idea.

“Silence, silence! Every one shall get a chance to be a passenger, but under one condition,” he said, his voice ringing. Pulling out an empty carton from somewhere, he snatched the newspaper correspondent’s fancy pen and began writing on one side of it. He showed it to the people.

“‘Fee: 3 dollars per person?’” read the correspondent in disgust. “You’re charging now?”

“Might as well make a good business, sir. Maybe even start a company. But the point is, it’s affordable.” Callum handed the pen back to him.

“Thank you,” the man said curtly, pocketing it.

Just as he turned to go, Callum stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Actually, do me a favour and write this in your headline:

Fancy a quick trip to the Moon and back?

Your best choice: Budget Galactic.”