One Word
I recently found the website www.oneword.com. You go to the website, click go, they give you a word and you've got 60 seconds (that's right, one minute) to write whatever you want to. When you're done, you can choose to put your name on it and submit it or if it's bad enough, you can just delete the whole thing. I like the idea so I've decided to capture my one-word submissions and also publish them here.
Of course, if you would rather read my submissions on the One Word Website, you can go directly to Author Doug McIntire on oneword.com.
My Submissions
2012
2011
2010
2009
2012
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 Wagon The wagon bounced dangerously, threatening to overturn at any time as we seemed to hit every rock in our path. Still my pa didn't slow down. Instead, the used the whip to spur the team to greater speed. I was in the back, hanging onto the Winchester for all my worth, afraid the next bump would knock it out of my hands. If I let go of it, it would most likely bounce out the back of the wagon and it would then belong to the renegades chasing us. Nearly impossible to aim with the buffeting I was receiving, I did my best. The bullet flew true and I saw their leader fall only a moment before the wagon finally tipped over and threw us from it.The wagon bounced dangerously, threatening to overturn at any time as we seemed to hit every rock in our path. Still my pa didn't slow down. Instead, the used the whip to spur the team to greater speed. I was in the back, hanging onto the Winchester for all my worth, afraid the next bump would knock it out of my hands. If I let go of it, it would most likely bounce out the back of the wagon and it would then belong to the renegades chasing us. Nearly impossible to aim with the buffeting I was receiving, I did my best. The bullet flew true and I saw their leader fall only a moment before the wagon finally tipped over and threw us from it. |
2 Groundhog Day |
3 |
4 |
|||
| 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 12 Lincoln's Birthday Festival The city festival was exciting with all the lights and sounds. But no matter how loud the sounds of the music and the midway, the sound of the gunshot rang out clear and load, causing a moment of silence before twenty people were trampled as the masses made their mad stampede to the exits. Not sure why, but I couldn't hit submit for this One Word prompt. I also seem to recall that this was the prompt a couple of weeks ago. |
13 |
14 Valentine's Day |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
| 19 |
20 President's Day |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| 26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 New Year's Day |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
| 8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
| 15 |
16 MLK Day |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
| 22 |
23 |
24 |
25 Beehive The beehive was abuzz; the angry bees indignant over the blatant invasion by the honey badger. But the honey badger didn't care. He was getting stung like a thousand times. He wanted the larvae. How gross is that? And there was honey too. That's where the honey badger took his name from. It was a welcome change from cobra. - Honoring Randall |
26 |
27 |
28 |
| 29 |
30 |
31 Festival The festival was noisy and chaotic, but I couldn't afford to be distracted by the lights and sounds of the Midway. I was here for one reason and one reason only; to find her. My eyes scanned the crowd. And there she was, standing by the ring toss game. I ducked behind cover before she had a chance to see me. Now that I found her, I had to find out who she was with. I had to find out who had stolen her from me. Just then the crowd parted just enough to see who it was. It wasn't at all what I had expected. There, standing beside my sixteen-year-old daughter was my ex-wife, her mother. I turned and left before they saw me spying on them. |
2011
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
||||
| 4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
| 18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 Christmas Eve |
| 25 Christmas Day |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 New Year's Eve |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 Downpour The downpour went unheeded as I stood out in it, head down, concentrating on my surroundings. There was lightening so therefore no thunder. The only sound was the falling rain. I waited. I was being hunted and I knew the rain wouldn't stop the predator. And suddenly a stick cracked in the darkness. I whirled toward it, pulling my revolvers and firing eleven shots toward it, leaving one bullet in case I missed. I listened to the rain for long moments until I finally heard the body of my assailant fall into the mud. |
5 |
||
| 6 Daylight Savings Time |
7 |
8 Election Day |
9 |
10 |
11 Veteran's Day |
12 |
| 13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
| 20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 Thanksgiving Day |
25 |
26 |
| 27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
||||||
| 2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
| 9 |
10 Columbus Day |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 Scout The scout returned with less-than-good news. "We're surrounded," he said. "There are enemy strongholds to the north and west. There are snipers to our south, and machine gun positions to the east. There's no way out, unless you can figure out a way to go straight up. His expression was priceless when I opened up the face of my wristwatch and spoke into it, speaking in an alien language. Within moments, a Stellar-Class extraction ship was hovering over our position, the ramp lowered and the steward waving us on. I smiled. My commission would be huge. Abductions of warriors always paid more. |
15 |
| 16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
| 23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
| 30 |
31 Halloween |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
||||
| 4 |
5 Labor Day |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
| 18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
| 25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
2 Boiling The water hadn't even reached the boiling point, but the heat and steam were already cooking the naked body suspended above. I begged, I pleaded for them to release her, but they told me that time had passed. They knew, as did I, that it was a hoax. They were the ones who embezzled from the boss, and I had caught them. But somehow, they had convinced him that it was me. And now, my wife was the one being steamed above the near-boiling pot. |
3 |
4 Manager She knew the title, but she didn't know the meaning. Manager meant more than signing paychecks and approving vacation. It meant being there, especially in times that mattered. She never realized that…at least not until she lay bound, gagged, and helpless as she watched me dig her grave. I imagined that she had a better perspective then, that she was a little more caring right about the people around her. For some reason I couldn't post this to the One Word website. |
5 |
6 Bulb As I opened my eyes, the glare of the light seemed to be unbearable. I tried to lift my hands to rub my eyes, but I couldn't. My hands were bound. I blinked repeatedly and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see that it was just a single, bare bulb that dangled from a wire above my head. I didn't recognize the room, but I'd seen a dozen others just like it. It was a bare room of concrete and cinder blocks, though in all of the previous ones I'd seen, I wasn't the one tied up. It seemed that this would prove to be a new experience. |
|
| 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
| 14 Punishment She didn't understand. It wasn't punishment. It was a lesson. Here, now, it was a lesson in a safe environment. Later, out in the real world, it wouldn't be safe, and it wouldn't be a lesson. It would be life or death. And for some reason I couldn't make her understand this. It made me doubt his judgment. It made me doubt whether she was really the one. |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 Missed I swung with all I had, and I missed. The follow-through threw me off balance and I knew I was vulnerable. Although it was a baseball bat I'd swung, I wasn't actually playing baseball. I was trying to take the head off of the guy I'd just caught in bed with my wife. He'd pulled back just enough so that my bat caught nothing but air. And I knew it was too late to recover. Now it was his turn and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. By morning, my wife could likely be a widow and this SOB would be the one consoling her. |
20 Transport A tear began to fall even before he stepped back, off of the transporter pad. Of all the times, of all the places, of all the opportunities, he chose now to say he didn't love me. We'd been a couple all through the academy. I'd helped him pass his finals. He never could have done it on his own. But now, on the transporter pad, time stood still. Subconsciously, I could feel my tear slide down my face, around my mouth, and down my chin, until it finally fell. As I transported to my first ship, I imagined that my tear remained on the transport pad, the last remnant he would ever have of me. |
| 21 Poison The poison was fast acting and painful, but slow to kill. Fire shot through my belly. Spasms wracked my limbs. My muscles clenched as they began to seize up, an unfortunate side effect from my perspective. It took every ounce of focus, every bit of will power that yet remained for me to make my hand pick up the gun that was lying beside me. I wanted, more than anything, to turn it toward my assailant, but I knew that wasn't possible. The only thing I could do is turn the muzzle toward my head and squeeze the trigger to end my suffering before the agony became too great. |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 Force When she gets in this mood, she's truly a force to be reckoned with. It's not that she's mean, or ugly, or angry, or scary. She's deliberate. And right now, as she's sighting down the barrel of her handgun at me, she seemed much more deliberate than usual. |
26 Destruction The destruction caused by the crashing asteroid was devastating. Half of the North American continent was wiped off of the map in the blink of an eye. The other half went into immediate apocalyptic-type natural disasters, everything ranging from earthquakes to volcanoes. Tsunamis of earth-shattering proportion were on their way across the globe to do just that. Buenos Aires had already been washed away. Here in Europe, we minutes before suffering a similar fate. And of all the times, in all the world, you pick now to tell me that you're in love with another woman? Couldn't you at least keep up the lie, continue the façade, until we were dead? Do you hate me that much that you couldn't do that one little thing? |
27 |
| 28 |
29 |
30 |
31 Avenue I stood on the avenue outside of the home where I grew up. It was the first time I'd been back in over a decade; not since I'd run away at the tender age of thirteen. I'd grown a lot since then, both physically and mentally. I didn't know if he was inside or not. Hell, I didn't even know if he was still alive, but it didn't matter. The house was going to burn either way. |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
|||||
| 3 |
4 Independence Day |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| 10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
| 17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
| 24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 Amuse I found his attitude amusing, standing there in all of his naked glory, fists in front of his face, ready to defend himself and the woman he'd fornicating with only moments ago. When the pepper spray hit his face, his attitude only changed slightly, but when it hit his privates, he turned into a blithering idiot. |
29 |
30 |
| 31 Wings It could not have been a more perfect day. I remember it vividly. It was the third Sunday in July. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I had angus burgers and wings cooking on the grill; an ice cold beer in my hands as I turned the wings and flipped the burgers. And then he showed up. I could have understood had he been her ex, but he wasn't, at least according to him. He said he was still my wife's husband and I don't really remember much after that. |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|||
| 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 12 |
13 |
14 Flag Day |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
| 19 Father's Day |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| 26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 May Day |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
| 8 Mother's Day |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
| 15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
| 22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
| 29 |
30 Memorial Day |
31 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 April Fool's Day |
2 |
|||||
| 3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| 10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
| 17 |
18 Tax Day |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 Good Friday |
23 |
| 24 Easter |
25 |
26 |
27 Administrative Professionals Day |
28 |
29 |
30 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 Basic It came down to one basic fact; I need to drink blood. And it has to be live, human blood. All of the new, politically correct vampire stories would have you believe that we can drink pig's blood, or blood that has been donated to a blood bank. We can't. We can only take it one way, and that's fresh from the vein. Of course, that has its downsides too. In basic terms, that means one thing; we drink the blood, and whatever is in the blood. That could include drugs and alcohol, but more importantly for us, the HIV virus. We were immortal until that came along. |
2 Specific Not to get too specific, but it seems to me that it was "you" who said that we needed to head for Mexico. And now, after days of hard riding, we have a posse standing between us and the Rio Grande. And now you want to bitch about it? It's a wonder I don't just shoot you here and leave you in the dust, without so much as a pile of rocks to mark your grave. |
3 |
4 |
5 |
||
| 6 Swept I used the heel of my left hand to swipe the tears from my eyes, holding the revolver with my right. And although the tears had been swept aside, the underlying emotions still blurred my vision. My arm, and the gun had been slipping down; I brought it back up to bear, threatening my posture. This was my mother I was threatening to kill for chrissakes! I had become a monster. But if I didn't pull the trigger now, I would become something far worse. |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| 13 Daylight Savings Time |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 St. Patrick's Day |
18 |
19 |
| 20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
| 27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 1 Darkroom The buzzer sounded, signaling that someone wanted to come into the darkroom. I couldn't let them or it would ruin the film. I buzzed back, the signal to wait. I pulled the film out of the camera, preparing to bathe it in developing solution. But before I could, the door opened, exposing the undeveloped film to the light. "You idiot!" I yelled. "You destroyed my film! I might have had the picture of who shot Kennedy!" "Then why did you buzz me in?" my professor asked. |
2 Groundhog Day |
3 Wrench The gun discharged as I tried to wrench it from her grasp. We momentarily stopped our struggle. I didn't feel like I had been shot and I was about to renew the struggle, when she let out a gasp and released the weapon voluntarily. I turned to follow her gaze and saw where the bullet went. Blood ran through her lover's fingers as he held his hand to the side of his head. |
4 |
5 Controller I looked around frantically, trying to see who it was. Someone was using a controller spell to make the king dance like a marionette. If I could discover who it was and stop them, then I would be in the king's favor. Then I could do more than jest. |
||
| 6 Superbowl Sunday |
7 |
8 |
9 Coward I'm not a coward, but I know when to walk away from a losing battle. I was the only man in my unit who wasn't wounded or dead. I knew there were too wounded to evacuate them, so I grabbed up my lieutenant. Not out of any kind of loyalty or friendship, but he had the best operational knowledge of our alien enemies. He was our best hope in surviving the next battle. |
10 |
11 Needle The needle pierced the vein, injecting warmth and hope and happiness into my vein. I was too far gone to realize that they removed the rubber tubing that was restricting my blood flow, but I felt euphoria unrestricted as it swam to every vessel, every artery of my body. I was free. There was nothing I could not accomplish. That is until the vampire serum caused my heart to flat line. I remember the sounds of the doctors become increasingly more distant as I swam away. |
12 Lincoln's Birthday |
| 13 Microphone He stared into the microphone, fear evident and overpowering. The thousands of people in the audience faded from view as the microphone became the sole object of his attention. He swallowed hard and then reached up to tap the microphone to see if it was on. It was. Finally, after several long seconds, he cleared his throat and began. "He's dead," he said. |
14 Valentine's Day |
15 |
16 |
17 Tangle We fell in a tangle, our bodies intertwined in a dance of familiarity. It wasn't sexual, but it was intimate, close. We were as one, each part of us in close contact with our counterpart. It was seductive. But I knew the game, and so did she. This dance was to the death, and only one of us would survive. If I proved skillful enough, it would be me. If I were lucky, it would be her, bearing my offspring. |
18 Invent I didn't invent vampires, but I did discover one. I was a cop then, working a beat on the east side. That's when I first saw him. He was pale, and definitely out of place. He walked through gangland without a thought or hesitation. And the gangbangers left him alone. That's how I knew he was something different. |
19 Cards Drunk? I am not drunk. I was playing cards with some friends. Sure, we were drinking, but drinking doesn't mean drunk. When you're playing cards, one has to maintain. That is, if you plan on winning. If you don't, well then, knock yourself out. Get hammered if you want to, but don't come back crying to us. You're either in, or you're out. If you're in, then you're expected to play. |
| 20 |
21 Presidents' Day Outlet I plugged the device into the outlet and turned back to woman seated on the chair before me. She was naked and captive, and would remain so until I had answers to my questions. I picked up the two leads, clamps on the ends that looked like they came from a set of jumper cables. I stroked the clamps together like a knife on a sharpening steel. The resulting sparks had the desired effect as she showed the whites of her eyes. |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 Tables A quick glance told me there were at least ten tables between me and him; maybe twelve. It was impossible to reach him before he made his escape. His grin told me that he knew this as well, until the cacophony of a gunshot caused him to falter. A crimson dot decorated the exit wound on his forehead. As he fell toward me, I saw may partner standing behind him, her smoking gun still held steadily aimed at where his head had recently been. |
26 |
| 27 |
28 Cheap Easy, but I was not cheap. My employers paid handsomely. And well they should, for I didn't just fulfill a contract. I made it worth everyone's while. I didn't just kill the target. I wined and dined him. I seduced him. I gave him his last night of ecstasy. It was my trademark. And I never left them, customer or mark, dissatisfied. |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 New Year's Day Route There was only one route in or out of the complex. It was trouble. Worse, it was dangerous. My night vision goggles would help, but I knew they weren't enough. I was sure there were all kinds of pitfalls awaiting me. And then it happened. A cab pulled up to the gate and punched the buzzer. Within seconds the gate opened and I was in, hanging onto the bumper of the cab as it slowly drug me along the loose gravel road to my target. |
||||||
| 2 Notice It all started when they gave me my notice of termination. I was the duck. Calm above the surface, but churning away below. They had security there to ensure my smooth departure from their premises. And I complied. I could wait to exact my revenge. After all, now that I was unemployed, time was on my side. |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 Perfectly The weapon was perfectly balanced, a true work of art. It was hard to believe that the master who created such a masterpiece could be capable of so much carnage. But his time was over. I took his beautiful creation and thrust it into his belly, twisting it with brutal force, trying to heap upon him all the pain and suffering that he'd caused so many others. |
8 Respectable No I'm not respectable. I'm not even decent. I'm not the guy you bring home to Thanksgiving dinner to meet mom and dad. I'm the guy you bring over to meet your ex-boyfriend when you need someone to break his kneecaps. I'm the guy you introduce your least favorite co-worker to when you want to make sure she doesn't make it to work on time. No. I'm anything but respectable. But I do have standards. |
| 9 |
10 |
11 |
12 Wake As my best friend lay dying in my arms, I did everything possible to deny death as the inevitable outcome of his lifeblood pouring out of him, soaking me and seeping into the ground. The train that hit him was long gone, the engineer and conductor unaware that they had even taken a life. But what pained me more than holding my dying friend was his deathbed request for a wake instead of a funeral. I didn't think it possible to rejoice at his passing. |
13 |
14 |
15 |
| 16 |
17 MLK Day |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
| 23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 Dropped I dropped my school book right in front of him. He didn't even notice. I was invisible to him. All I could do was turn and stare at his back as he walked out of my life forever. My vision blurred as tears began to well, my life in shambles, my heart torn. And to add to my humiliation, the class geek was the one who took notice and picked up my book for me. |
29 Lean Lean and mean. That's what we called ourselves. We were the finest examples of what soldiers should be. And we were proud. Rightfully so, we thought, until we ran up against the aliens we now call the "teachers." They sure taught us. Out of a battalion of men, some 350, give our take, I was the only one who survived the first engagement. But after the nightmares, I began to wish I'd fallen with my brethren. |
| 30 |
31 Jelly The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was great, but it was distracting me. I threw the sandwich onto the paper plate and squinted, peering through the rifle scope. And just in time. A second later and I might have missed the shot. I controlled my breathing, and slowly squeezed the trigger, but all I could think about was how the peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth. |
2010
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 Practical Staying up past sunrise wasn't practical, but I had to. I had to see. I had to know. I had to see the werewolf turn back into a man so that I would know who it was. Then, armed with this knowledge, I would visit him some night when the moon isn't quite so full. Then we'll see who bests whom. |
4 |
|||
| 5 Admit Looking in the mirror, I had to finally admit it. All of this time I thought they were wrong. I hoped they were wrong. But they weren't. And it took my lack of a reflection for me to finally see that I really am a vampire. |
6 Teeth There was something about her. It was something seductive, something alluring, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasn't her small, pert breasts or her ample hips. It wasn't her near-slutty attire. In fact, those things were all quite plain and ordinary. But when she smiled and showed her vampire teeth, it caused me to swoon and it was all I could do to resist. |
7 Willow The switch of willow made a light slapping noise when it made contact with her bare skin, but the cry after was resounding. "Tell me where you hid it," he said, his voice neutral and cold. Wracking sobs were his only answer and the switch landed again with a whipping kind of a swoosh. More sobs and more anguish followed. "Tell me where it is," he said. "I ran your heart down the garbage disposal, hoping it would kill you!" she sobbed. "Too bad, because now the torture begins in earnest," he replied, his voice as cold and even as ever. |
8 |
9 Believer I was never a believer until I went out back one night to cover the tomatoes before the predicted frost. The moon was full and the brisk air filled my nostrils. I sensed something behind me and as I slowly turned, I came face to face with a myth. All I could do was reach over and pick a tomato before slowly handing it to Sasquatch. |
10 Immense My opponent was immense. After several hard knocks from him, I don't think it was his size that shook me. I think it was my impression of his size. I'd met him before, but then, on friendly terms, he didn't seem so big. It wasn't until he discovered that I was dating his girlfriend that he became so massive. Some guys can be so dramatic. |
11 Possibility I didn't want to, but I had to admit the possibility. We were…intimate. And the kid clearly looked like me, especially when there was a full moon. And she never even bothered to tell me, at least not until his puberty when she could no longer control the werewolf within him. |
| 12 |
13 Stamps I knew she was pissed by her stamps and stomps, not to mention her stammering inability to produce a coherent sentence. I thought about telling her it was all a joke, but I couldn't. Not yet. It would only make matters worse. And by the looks of things, it was already bad enough. I would wait to tell her that I hadn't forgotten about Valentine's Day and that our reservations were only waiting on us. |
14 |
15 Wrong Her voice sounded wrong. I mean, it sounded like her, but it didn't. I didn't have any facial features or body language to compare, because it was over the phone. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I mean just leave," she said again, forceful, but not like she meant it. "I can't," I replied. "I've got nowhere to go." |
16 Stick Okay. Usually my entries sound like I'm a serial killer or an assassin, so lately I've tried to improve it. I do it by trying to imagine who I am before I click on the one word prompt. Now, I am a horror author, so bear in mind the perspective, but now I try to think, "I'm a vampire," or "I'm a werewolf," or "I'm a sasquatch," before I write. But today, for whatever reason, I thought, "I'm a jalapeño, on a stick," from Jeff Dunham's comedy routines. And what is the prompt today? Stick. What are the odds? I was speechless! |
17 |
18 Typewriter She pounded the keys of the old, mechanical typewriter; the little hammers slamming into the paper with the force of her strong, bony fingers. Death was approaching and she had to finish her novel before it was too late. But the senile woman didn't realize the ink was long dry on the ribbon and her words were only impressions on paper. |
| 19 Cannon The cannon sounded, signifying the beginning of the battle. I was young then. And dumb, though reluctant to admit it. I lasted all of three minutes before I found myself on the end of a bayonet piercing my chest. I think I died there on that battlefield. But then, after the battle, creatures came to feed. It was a vampire who fed on me. That's why I'm here to tell you my tale today. |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 Alter I couldn't alter the past. If I could, it would alter the future. It would alter the "right now." And it would make everything I know, everything I love, crumble before me. I put down the potion and released the spell I'd been building up. She said that she knew I didn't have the courage to go through with it. Truth be told, I didn't have the courage to lose you. |
24 |
25 Christmas Obvious I could tell by the size and shape of the packaging. The contents of the present were obvious. I could even see a bit of the handle sticking out. My wife had gotten me an axe for Christmas. But why would she do that? We lived in a house in the 'burbs. There was nothing to chop on here except each other. |
| 26 Mythology Like a creature from some kind of mythology, the dragon reared up, glaring at me in defiance and anger. I knew that I was only moments away from being seared by dragon fire. "Wait," I cried. The dragon did not respond, but seemed to inhale deeply, readying itself to char-broil me. "I know where your egg is." At that, the dragon slowly let her breath escape, careful not to let it ignite. |
27 |
28 |
29 Wishing Wishing? Wishing is for wimps. I don't want to wish! I want to bend him to my will. I want to make him suffer. I want him to feel the way I feel. I want to…"Yes honey?" "I'll be right there." "I'll fix it." |
30 |
31 New Year's Eve Library Minutes before midnight, I scoured the library, hoping my new LED flashlight wasn't being seen from outside. I avoided the regular shelves. What I was searching for wouldn't be on display. It would be hidden. I found a door with a lock. Two kicks and I was through it. Stairs led down to either a dungeon or a basement. Once there, I still didn't know which it was. There were bookshelves and implements of torture and terror. I ignored the implements and went to the shelves. There I found what might be the last surviving copy of The Great Grimoire. Unfortunately, the lights came on before I had a chance to even glance at the pages. I guess my LED flashlight attracted more notice that I had hoped. |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 Feud It wasn't a grudge. It wasn't revenge. It was a feud. It was me doing everything within my power to not only kill the ones who wronged me, but to wipe out their entire family; their entire existence. And I would have succeeded had it not been for those round, brown eyes innocently staring up at me as I took aim on the last of their progeny. |
4 |
5 Adapt It wasn't a matter of choice. If I didn't adapt, I would die. But that was it; I didn't know how to adapt. Everyone everywhere had become zombies, roving the planet trying to find food. How was I going to try to blend in when I was food? I solved the problem by grabbing a zombie-passerby and dragging her into a metal shed. She bit me and I decapitated her. I had to. I couldn't allow her to continue eating me as I made the change. Food…FOOD! (I was listening to the Cranberries "Zombie" as I wrote this!) |
6 Radar I knew as soon as my radar detector sounded the alarm that it was already too late. The cop behind the radar would already know that I was travelling in excess of one hundred twenty miles an hour. There was no use in slowing down or stopping. I would already be facing jail time. But all of that was insignificant to the charges I would be facing when I caught up with you. |
|
| 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 Veteran's Day |
12 |
13 |
| 14 Junkyard He called it a car lot. I called it a junkyard because all the cars were junk. I couldn't kick the tires they were flat. I couldn't slam the doors because they all needed gallons of WD-40 to free them up. And I couldn't check under the hoods because there were hornets' nests under each and every one of them. |
15 Ivy I knew it was poison ivy the moment I saw it. I looked left. There was nowhere to go. Right; equally impassable. I could go down, but that would be over a thousand feet of steep terrain. Hanging there on the side of the mountain, I realized that I didn't really have much of a choice. I grabbed into the ivy with both hands and used it to pull myself up. |
16 Cowboy He fancied himself a cowboy with his big ole belt buckle, his shiny boots and his big pickup truck. "What do you do?" I asked. "I'm a network engineer," he replied. "Then what's with the pickup truck?" I asked. "It's a big network," he said without even cracking a smile. |
17 Duck I didn't duck in time and the flying brick caught me on the side of my head. The impact was jarring and my vision blurred. I fought to remain conscious, fought to keep my feet. If I went down, the dogs would be on me and I wouldn't have a chance. I saw the second brick come flying at me and, although it should have been enough time to react, the first brick still had me woozy and the second caught me square in the face, finishing the job. |
18 Killed It killed me the way you looked at me. The pain you expressed in your eyes when you realized for the first time that you couldn't trust me was unbearable. Your anguish broke my heart. It was all I could do to finally pull the trigger and put us both out of your misery. |
19 Science It wasn't science. It wasn't even experimentation. It was torture. There was nothing scientific about it. There were no detailed notes. There was no comparative date. There were no predictions. The only thing that came out of it was your own edification and enjoyment. Well your time's over. It's my turn now. |
20 |
| 21 Habit He had tried to kick the habit several times, succeeding for a little while each time, but in the end, he always returned to the well from which he sprang. He was a serial killer and although he tried to deny it, he knew that he would never be able to turn away from it completely. |
22 |
23 Railroad The trouble with living by the railroad was that you always found things down along it. Most of the time they were nothing, just discarded pieces of trash or animals that were hit by the trains. But sometimes, every so often, you would find a dead body. Why were there always dead bodies along the railroad tracks? |
24 |
25 Thanksgiving |
26 Affection It's hard for vampires to feel affection toward another, not to mention love. But when we do stars tremble. The last time it happened, it started a rumor about a savior in a manger. |
27 Closed The door closed behind me with a loud, echoing clang. I ran to catch it, but I was too late. With nowhere to go but down, I followed where the steps led, only to find a dungeon waiting for me at the bottom. Hollywood mansions aren't supposed to come equipped with dungeons! |
| 28 |
29 |
30 Spike Spike, or William the Bloody to his close friends, stood victorious over the crushed and mangled body of his third slayer, her blood still dripping from his chin. Everything was right with the world. He wouldn't have anyone to fight for a while, but another slayer would be along soon. — Based on characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
|||||
| 3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| 10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 Sweater The sweater was tight-fitting and attractive. It accentuated her features and her features accentuated the sweater. Either way, it distracted me long enough for the assassin to slip up behind me. It was only his ungraceful clumsiness that saved me. But an instant after ducking under the bullet, I saw the crimson blood stain had already begun to spread across the breast of the sweater. I knew that would be a regret that would follow me for the rest of my life. |
16 Telescope The telescope gave me a perfect view into her window. I saw her slip out of her dress and let it fall to the floor, oblivious that she was being watched. I changed my view to the rifle scope. She didn't know what hit her. |
| 17 Seat I was holding onto the edge of my seat as the helicopter banked hard, hanging me over open space with the side door open. I was relatively sure that the pilot didn't need to make such abrupt movements, but in my current condition, I was in no position to argue. |
18 Octupus Like an octopus, he was all arms, hitting me from what seemed like eight directions at once. I didn't know how, but I knew I had to get him to quit hitting me. But as the gunshot rang out, I realized I didn't have to. She shot him before I had a chance to. |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
| 24 Weeks It's been years since I've seen her; weeks since I've even thought about her. But the moment I saw her, it all came back. I couldn't help it. I was immediately transported to that night. We were lying in bed. She was atop me looking down at me with those beautiful brown eyes. She had me duct-taped down and it was moments before she plunged the knife into me. |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 Sail I never did learn how to sail. I'm regretting that now that I've had to shoot the only person on the boat who knew how to. Sitting out in the middle of the ocean with my sails unfurled, I realized that I was going to miss my wife a little more than I initially anticipated. |
30 |
| 31 Halloween Fangs Drool coated the vicious fangs and flew in large viscous strands with each snarl and ferocious bark. Luckily the heavy chain kept the beast just out of reach from me, but as I surveyed my surroundings, I realized that although it couldn't get me, it did bar the path from me to my escape. It seemed I was trapped. |
|
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|||
| 5 Cousin We should have known better - my cousin and me. We were smoking in the barn. Actually, she was smoking, I was pretending, not able to inhale without coughing. We were young. We were in the hay. We burned the barn down. (I wasn't able to post this one on the One Word website.) |
6 Labor Day |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 Divide Trying to be in two places at once, I tried to divide my time equally. But these things are never equal. Like the biblical reference of serving two masters, I came to love one more than the other. But when each of the women discovered the other, I lost them both. |
| 19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| 26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
| 8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
| 15 |
16 |
17 Blast The blast was deafening and knocked me to the ground. I was disoriented and confused. I wasn't hurt so I knew it had to be a concussion grenade. But that knowledge didn't help me regain my footing or get away. |
18 |
19 Stood Smiling as best I could, I stood there and took her abuse. I took her smart remarks. I took her attitude. I took her abuse. And then I divorced her and took her money. |
20 Under I tried to catch my breath before I went under again, but I gulped water and began coughing underwater. Instinctively, I sucked in more. My situation was grave and I was panicing when I felt someone grab me by my hair and haul me to the surface. |
21 Understood I thought it was understood. I would handle the financing, she would handle the travel arrangements. But as I stood in line in the airport in Bogota without tickets or money for airfare, not to mention several thousand dollars worth of emeralds tied in rubbers, planted like suppositories in unmentionable places, I knew that from now on, she was a mule and I would handle the travel arrangements too. |
| 22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
| 29 |
30 |
31 |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 Common There's nothing common about space travel, even now that we've been doing it for over 500 years. Just last week, we had a port-side thruster fail that altered our course directly into a sun. Luckily we were able to open the hatch to the slave hold to vent oxygen into space to get us back on course. |
||||
| 4 Independence Day Pawn Even pawns have their uses. I discovered that when my pawn had our target in her crosshairs. I told her to take the shot. She did. I saw the bullet rip through flesh and bone and our target drop to the floor. And that's when I left her, standing there with a smoking gun to take the fall. |
5 Mud The mud turned red from the rain and blood dripping from my face. But I couldn't give up. I didn't know how. I struggled to my wobbly feet, only to be struck down into the mud again. |
6 |
7 Order Nothing to lose, nowhere else to go, I ordered. "Pie alamode," I said. I didn't care much for pie; ice cream either. But my words didn't matter. I just needed to blend in with the crowd long enough for me to screw the silencer onto the end of the barrel. |
8 Bear He was a grizzly bear of a man; tall and broad. And angry. At me. Luckily he didn't have the speed of a grizzly bear. As it was I barely got away. How was I supposed know a pretty girl like her would belong to a man like that? |
9 Generate After the apocalypse, we weren't able to generate any power. We had the equipment, we had the know-how, but for some reason, it just wouldn't work. It was as if the force of all of those nuclear explosions changed the laws of physics. |
10 Scoop I reached into the dirt and scooped a handful of it. I wasn't beneath throwing it into the face of my opponent. Especially if I was getting beat, which I was. I threw the dirt but he was quicker than I'd expected. The dirt missed him but he didn't miss me. |
| 11 Secure I'm sure she felt secure, tucked into her bed in her triple-protected home with every advanced security option money could buy. But I knew how to get around them because I installed them. She didn't suspect a thing as I stood there watching her sleep. |
12 Forgotten My desire for another drink forgotten, I stared at the beauty who just graced our presence by walking through the doors of the "Empty Saddle Saloon." I wanted to go to her and woo her, but my feet were somehow glued to the floor. All I could do was watch as another cowboy swooped in and swept her off her feet. |
13 Lease The lease wasn't even close to term, but my time was up. I had to leave and I had to leave now. Without time to pack, I threw my most important treasures into an old, worn army duffle bag. With a quick glance, I kicked the dust of this old town off my heels. I couldn't remember how many times I've done this before and I didn't know how many times I would do it again. Damn her. |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 Bronze Terra-cannons rocked our ship before we could even begin our landing sequence. We were misled about this planet. We were expecting humanoid cattle that had barely discovered bronze. Instead, we found a civilization more advanced than our own, and our ship was currently in their sights. |
| 18 |
19 |
20 Vase Unarmed, I defended myself as best I could. I grabbed the nearest thing I could find. Unfortunately the vase was cheap and thin. It did little more than cover him with smelly water and flower pollen. |
21 Gift She said it was a gift. She said it was special. Even then I knew it wasn't but she made me believe. I'm a lot older now, and I recognize it for what it was; a worthless trinket. |
22 Driven Carl wasn't just focused, he was driven. He drove like a drunken maniac, though he was neither. But he had to get to her. He had to find them. They would learn what it meant to mess with one of his women. |
23 |
24 |
| 25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
||
| 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| 13 Wash There was so much blood. I didn't think I would ever be able to wash it all off of me. I showered and I scrubbed until my skin was raw. And then I turned my attention to the stains in that were all over the house. |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
| 20 Father's Day Revolt Get on your knees and pray. That's what they told me to do. And I did; for a while. But not anymore. I'm not revolting. I'm rebelling, if only just a little. |
21 |
22 Tide I never have figured out the tide. I never knew if it was coming in or going out. You would think that living by the ocean my entire life would give me some clue. It didn't. But standing here, on the cliff, ready to drop a dead body into the ocean, it suddenly seemed to matter. |
23 Beach I always remembered the beach as fun. It was something I always enjoyed, always looked forward to. Not anymore. Looking down at all the beached whales, I knew it would never be the same again. |
24 |
25 Beach Son of a beach, this is the same writing prompt as yesterday and the day before. It's time for the tide to come in to wash this word away and bring in a fresh batch of words! I need my One Word fix! |
26 |
| 27 |
28 |
29 Spike I'd never seen a nail that big. It wasn't so much a nail as a spike. It was just nail shaped. It was on the floor of the garage where I was kneeling, blood dripping from my mouth and nose. I knew that when I got up, the beating would continue, but that was before I found the spike. |
30 Trend It wasn't a fad. It wasn't a trend. It wasn't a choice. It was a lifestyle. The sooner everyone realized that, the sooner we could all get on with our lives. At least those of us I wasn't having for dinner. |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
||||||
| 2 |
3 |
4 |
5 Roller It didn't matter that the driver sat twelve feet off of the ground. It didn't matter that it was Monday morning and he was hungover. It didn't matter that he was paying more attention to his coffee than his job. In truth, Dwayne wasn't very bright and wouldn't have noticed the body parts poking out of the ground in front of his steam roller even on a good day. |
6 Depth The weights pulled me down into the murky depth. My struggling did little to improve my situation, if anything. I pulled at the cords that restrained my hands, but it was useless. It seemed my fate was sealed. |
7 |
8 |
| 9 Mother's Day |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 Wealth It wasn't for wealth. It wasn't for beauty. It wasn't even for love. It was revenge, pure and simple. It was the only reason she could sacrifice years of her life; in the hopes of finally winning in the end. |
14 Crossed He crossed the line when he hit my wife. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I know I went berserk. Before I knew it, he was lying at my feet, blood everywhere. |
15 |
| 16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
| 23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
| 30 |
31 Memorial Day Train I knew the train wouldn't wait. Not for me. Not for her. It didn't wait for anyone. But still I hoped she would still be there so I could convince her, beg her, plead with her to come home. But the platform was empty. And so was I. |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 April Fool's Day Humor I knocked on his door, dressed like the Good Humor man, as if I were peddling my wares. When he came to the door, he didn't suspect a thing. He should have. Still, he only opened the door a crack. I had to force my way inside. He turned to run, but I informed him that it was too late. His wife was divorcing him and he had just been duly served. |
2 Good Friday |
3 |
||||
| 4 Easter |
5 Cookie Gunshots echoed as my ears adjusted to the sudden silence. Just like that the gunfight was over and I was the last man standing in what had once been a beautiful house. Among the pungent smell of spent gunpowder, I recognized another familiar, more pleasant smell. The oven timer beeped, causing me to jump and nearly fire. Realizing what it was, I put on the oven mitt and pulled out a batch of freshly baked cookies. |
6 Crow The crow stood on the wooden fence post, cawing and raising a ruckus. I was hot and tired from digging and wasn't in the mood to be bothered. I picked up a clod of dirt and threw. My aim was better than intended. But the crow's reflexes were good to. It jumped up flapping it's wings, before landing and cawing again. |
7 Fragment I desperately searched the room, looking for the map that would show me where the treasure was buried. It had been here; I know it had been. I tipped up a chair, and there, underneath, was a tiny piece of paper. It was just a fragment of the map, but luckily it was the piece that contained the "X". |
8 Holy Holy water and a wooden stake weren't going to fix this problem. This vampire was going to require something stronger. So I went to see a lawyer and filed for divorce. |
9 Paperback I was trying to read. I was just some pulp-fiction paperback I picked up at the five-and-dime. Nothing special. But I couldn't. The racket coming from apartment 8b was distracting me. At first it was music. Then it was the bed springs. But this last one sounded like a gunshot. |
10 |
| 11 Wig I was shocked to see her remove her wig. I'd never seen a bald woman before. Not in person. And I have to admit that the experience wasn't at all unpleasant. |
12 Curls She could almost be cute, standing there in her pajamas with footies and her little-girl curls. But her expression ruined the effect, along with the bloody knife she held menacingly in front of her. |
13 Deer It could have been a deer I suppose. There was so much blood on the highway. The carcass was gone now, but whatever it was, it was big. That much blood couldn't have come from a skunk or a possum. And deep down, I couldn't help but wonder if it had been a person. |
14 Subway The first time I went to New York, I wanted to ride the subway. But after seeing a man knifed to death right in front me, I'm not sure that it's something I would want to repeat. (P.S. I've never been to New York.) |
15 Tax Day Coaster She glared at me. I didn't know why. I knew I'd done something wrong, but I didn't know what. I looked at her, trying to convey that I didn't understand what I'd done. Finally she told me. "Put your damn glass on a coaster." |
16 Potato It was a simple thing, made from PVC pipe, but add a potato, some hair spray and a spark and it turned into a potato cannon that put dents in cars and heads alike. And let's just say that my dad was NOT pleased. |
17 Reflection His reflection in the mirror showed him to be a man of stature; bold and strong. His square jaw and muscled torso indicated that he took care of himself. But this was only a passing thought. I didn't cast a reflection as I sank my teeth into his neck and drank in all of his strength. |
| 18 Propel I kicked and kicked, but my legs couldn't propel me through the water. The net caught me and I felt as helpless as a fish, except I couldn't breathe underwater. I knew that I shouldn't struggle, that I should conserve my oxygen, but I couldn't help it. Before I knew it, I became peacefu... |
19 Castaway Being a castaway had a few perks. After all, it isn't everyone who gets to spend every day on a beautiful, tropical beach. Of course, eating regularly would have also been nice. |
20 Joyful I should be joyful. I'd just survived a shootout with one of the fastest gunmen in the west, and came through unscathed. But I wasn't joyful. There was a dead man lying in the street twenty paces from me and his death would make me a target for every wannabe gunman this side of the Mississippi. No. I wasn't joyful at all. |
21 Foam Thick layers of white foam cascaded out of the building as the world's largest Alka-Seltzer experiment went awry. |
22 Wicker The baby was wrapped in warm blankets and lay in a wicker basket on the doorstep of the convent. But when the nuns opened the door, they immediately saw his fangs and the dark soul within. They hired a local farmer to drown the child in the river and paid him handsomely so that he'd never speak of the dark deed again. |
23 Mineral I applied the mineral oil liberally, working it all around my wrist and hand. Once lubricated, I pulled again, trying to squeeze my hand out of the handcuff. I was finally successful, but not before removing several layers of skin in numerous places. |
24 Bongos The rhythm of the bongos complimented the staccato of gunfire, each countering the other in a kind of dance of sound. But in the end, the bongos continued while the gunfire tapered off with each death until there was nothing left to be heard of it. |
| 25 Trap I laid the trap carefully down on the floor, the last one of over a hundred. That mouse wasn't going to get the best of me. And it would have worked except my little brother threw a marble into the room. Each trap going off caused the marble to bounce and it hit another trap until finally not a single trap was set. |
26 Blocks The place looked rundown. There was a car up on blocks in the front yard, the screen door was hanging by one hinge, and the porch looked like it would give way if it was stepped on. But this wasn't a social call. I had a heart to repossess and a little thing like a wobbly porch wasn't going to stop me. |
27 Dolls Even though the room was made up, it was evident no one lived here. Cobwebs connected the dolls that sat above the bed on a shelf. It was evident that they hadn't been touched by anyone but their owner, a little girl who died more than a dozen years ago. |
28 Industry He was a Captain of Industry and a leader among men. At least that's what they said. But when the barrel of my pistol was making an impression on his forehead, he became a blithering idiot. |
29 Bubbles Tears ran down her face. Her nose ran to, and as she sobbed, little snot bubbles formed on her nostril. But I was resolved. I was going to finish this and no amount of blubbering would dissuade me. |
30 |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 Idiot What an idiot! He locked the car before went in to rob the store. What he didn't realize was that he left the car running, with the keys in the ignition. He didn't have a spare set. |
2 Triangle She held her hands together in a triangle. Was it some kind of new gang sign I wasn't aware of? I didn't know what it meant, until she put her tongue in it. |
3 Secretary My secretary laid out my schedule for the day. It all looked pretty normal as I glanced through it, until I came to the 9:00 pm meeting with C. Dracula. When I asked her about it, all she could tell me was that he had money to spend but refused to meet me during daylight hours. |
4 Letters She kept all of my letters when I was travelling overseas for my country. I never knew until it was too late. |
5 Hold "This is a stick up!" he said, holding the gun sideways and sticking it in my face. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was already dead. I didn't have the heart to tell him he was already dead. So I reached into my pocket and took out my ghost wallet and handed it to him. He would discover the truth soon enough. |
6 Gun The gun looked real in his hand. Solid. But I knew it wasn't. It was just an illusion. A figment of his imagination, just like the wallet I handed over to him was a figment of mine. It looked real, it felt real but it wasn't. We were just ghosts recreating the events of our death. |
|
| 7 Growth The growth hormones were considered a blessing at first. Cows were able to achieve market weight in half the time. But once humans started consuming the meat, we also grew at an accelerated rate. My three-year-old is at 240 pounds. |
8 British "Hold on a minute, gov," he said. His accent sounded British, but I wasn't going to hold on a minute. And I wasn't his "gov." I got into his car. The keys were still in the ignition. The engine was still running. I put the car in drive and drove away. It was nothing personal. It was just a repossession. |
9 Found At first we couldn't believe our good fortune. We were hiking in the woods when we found a cache of gold bars. They were heavy, perhaps fifty pounds apiece. It wasn't until we realized how many bars there were that we began to question our luck. |
10 Hit The car hit me with minimal impact and although it didn't damage me physically, it incited me in a way I can't accurately describe. It was primal. I drew my gun, aiming at the driver and yelling for her to get out of the car. Luckily, she didn't. |
11 |
12 Wanted His goal was to be on a wanted poster. That's why he did all those terrible things to all of those nice people. He wanted his fifteen minutes of fame. When I placed the barrel of the hand cannon against his forehead, that all ended. |
13 Nuclear Back in the '80's, scientists thought that nuclear winter was the worst thing we had to fear. Turns out, we didn't have to fear nuclear anything. The thing we should have been afraid of was demonic sorcery. That was what led to the downfall of mankind. |
| 14 Myself I looked into the mirror. My arms and face were covered with blood. I wasn't sure what I'd done, or how I'd done it, but I knew I had. The mutilated body on the floor was evidence of that. And as I looked into the mirror, I didn't know if I could live with myself for it. |
15 Root We went down to what my dad used to call the root cellar to investigate the strange noises, brooms and mops at the ready, lights held high. We expected to see mice or rats; maybe a possum or a coon. That would have been nice. Though it would have scared us, it wouldn't have been as bad as seeing the wild child that looked more wild than child. |
16 Keychain I heard the rattle of his keychain and knew he was getting close. He liked the rattle. He liked to taunt his victims, and right now, he was taunting me. I looked for an avenue of escape. There wasn't one. He rattled his keychain again. |
17 St. Patrick's Day Tower The water tower loomed above me. It looked taller from here at the base, but I was determined. I was going to make a name for myself by climbing to the top and tying my bandana onto the lightning rod there. No one would call me chicken ever again. |
18 Grape Of all the times to think about grape soda. I reached back into the deep recesses of my memory to see if there was some connection to what was happening now to grape soda. Surely there must have been one, but as I stood looking down into her open casket, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. |
19 Veins The tunnel was unstable, but I had to go back one more time. Veins of gold were laced through the quartz, so much that it could be scraped off with a knife. Unfortunately, I tempted fate once too often. The tunnel collapsed, trapping me with my gold forever. |
20 |
| 21 |
22 Swell Sure, it might be swell to be a vamp, but then there's that thing about drinking blood. It's not like I'm squeamish or anything, but if I'm going to be on a liquid diet for the rest of my life, it's probably going to have a little higher proof. |
23 iPhone He threw around the fact that he had an iPhone every chance he got, flaunting it in our faces. But he didn't say much about if once it was at the bottom of the lake. He became tolerable again. |
24 Roll Stop, drop and roll. That's what you do if you're on fire, but I didn't think I was actually burning. It was more like smoldering, my clothes smoking from being in such close proximity to the explosion. I staggered, trying to come out of the shock. And all I could think was that my mom was going to kill me if she knew I was playing with fireworks. |
25 Runaway The second she got into my car, I could tell she was a runaway. She was young and from the smell, hadn't bathed in days. She was going across the country; I was only going across town. She got back out of my car, hoping for a better ride. I debated calling the authorities, but in the end I didn't. It seems like we all run away at sometime or other in our lives. I just hope sShe finds what she's looking for. |
26 |
27 |
| 28 |
29 Clip I pushed the button and released the magazine. It surprised me that I could hear the empty clip fall to the floor, in spite of the cacophony of gunfire. I slapped the full magazine home and continued to fire, knowing that the hollow sound of the magazine falling might very well be the last sound I remembered. |
30 |
31 Boxing It wasn't boxing, it was street fighting, and from the looks of it, they were trying to kill each other. The only thing that could be said was that they weren't using weapons. They were duking it out old school. I don't think anyone even bothered to call 9-1-1. |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 Snap I couldn't help it. I just snapped. When she told me I was as dumb as a rock, I'd had enough. I turned to her and looked her straight in the eye and said, "That makes you dumber because you married me." |
2 Groundhog Day Timing Timing is everything and I could tell that by the surprised faces of everyone at the wedding, my timing was off when I announced that I loved the bride-to-be. |
3 Loss I stood there at the gravesite following the funeral. I waited until the very end, when they started lowering Steve, my old friend, into the ground. His widow was still there too. I wanted to go talk to her, to tell her I was sorry for her loss, but I couldn't. The secret burden I carried was too much, knowing that I was the one who killed him. |
4 Sinking The cigar boat sped along, still in international waters just off of the Florida coast. I had 20 keys of cocaine onboard and another cartel's cigar boat riding my ass. My partner turned and fired from his Uzi, putting holes into the hull of the other boat. We left it there sinking as we continued on to our rendezvous. |
5 Brother My brother and I used to fight a lot when we were growing up. Maybe that's what made me hard. Maybe it was something else. Maybe it was just me. But when the would-be assailant was begging at my feet for mercy, I decided that mercy was the last thing he was going to receive. |
6 Thumbtack The thumbtack was strategically placed on the chair, point up. I didn't want it to hit center of mass; that could inflict a lot of damage. I just wanted it as an attention grabber, so I placed it near the back of the chair. |
|
| 7 Checks I closed my left eye and peered through the rifle scope and took aim. I slowly exhaled, held it, and squeezed the trigger. My target fell over and the mayhem an unknown sniper causes ensued. I held my breath again, expecting a bullet through me. There wasn't. I was safe. This time. But I still knew there had been a weapon pointed at me. Even assassins have checks and balances. |
8 Glance I glanced over to my left and saw the man weilding the knife just in time to duck away from his thrust. My retreat was blocked so I took him down in a flying tackle. It was on. |
9 Keys I still had my keys in my hand as I swung for his face. I connected, the keys biting into my hand and backfiring by causing me more pain than it caused him. I was hoping they would act like a roll of quarters and it would knock him out. I just made him mad. |
10 Tomato I cut up the tomatoes and put them into the pot. It had been a rough day today, but tonight I was going to have spaghetti. I didn't care that she left. Tonight I was cooking for me. |
11 Blizzard The snow struck earlier than I'd expected, catching me out in it. I'd been hunting, trying to lay in meat before getting snowed in. Unfortunately I didn't get anything and now I was still a mile from my mountain cabin in the middle of a blizzard. |
12 Lincoln's Birthday Adapt The world was changing. No one came outside anymore. It was all video this and virtual that. I hadn't been on an assignment in weeks. I guess being an assassin was a dying profession. I would just have to adapt and become something else. |
13 Sway The tree started to sway with each chop of the axe. It wouldn't be long now. The tree would come down and with it, the monster that has been eating the children. It was a time of retribution. |
| 14 Valentine's Day Delicate She looked so delicate and innocent. I hesitated, and when I did, she struck me with a round-house kick that nearly knocked me off of my feet. I recovered just long enough to receive another round-house kick from the other foot. That was the last thing I remembered. |
15 Presidents' Day Blade My blade slipped into him, his eyes bulging as realization dawned on him. Out of courtesy, I pulled the sword free and when I did, I saw the wound close and his expression relax. It was then that I knew I was severely outmatched. |
16 Cash I figured that like most situations, cash would get me out of this one too. But it wasn't about the money, at least not the money from me. It turns out that my ex-wife paid this man to make me suffer. She told him that she'd pay extra if I died slowly. As if I didn't hate that bitch enough already. |
17 Toy He tossed the pistol around like it was a toy. Honestly, I think he might have thought it was one. I could imagine that he'd never seen a real gun before. But when it landed on the floor and discharged with an enormous explosion, I think he knew it was not something that should be played with. Had he seen the hole it ripped in the side of the trailer, I'm not sure he would have even wanted to see a gun again. |
18 Spoon The kids came out of nowhere, attacking me in the lunchroom. I always sat alone. I didn't have any friends. I don't know where the teachers were on this particular day, or why the kids decided they needed to pick on me, but they did. And they continued until I fought back with my spoon, accidently popping out one of the assailants' eyes. |
19 Flashlight I used the flashlight to peer into the cave. A million tiny reflections turned the light back toward me. It was beautiful. It was too bad I didn't notice the two red eyes that weren't reflections at all, but were alight with their own hunger and pain. |
20 Globe I've travelled around the globe, but I've never seen anything like this. This woman was willing to prostitute her teen-aged daughter out so that she could get drugs. And the daughter was perfectly willing. I suspected that she also partook of the drugs her mother obtained. My contract was only for the mom. I shot the daughter for free. |
| 21 Hook Sudden pain shot through me as the fishing hook embedded itself in my leg. It was an accident, an errant backswing of the pole, but now I caught and the spring in the pole kept the line taught. There was nothing I could do but fight it as I was being reeled in. |
22 Fault It wasn't my fault. The brakes failed. She didn't have her seat belt on. She flew through the windshield into oncoming traffic. How can that be my fault? The brakes were fine. I'm sure of it. I replaced them myself. |
23 Pop In the midwest, we call it pop. Down here in Texas it's called soda. I put my coins into the machine and retrieved my soda. I still had a few minutes to kill before my victim would show up. I put the neck of the bottle into the bottle cap puller and popped it off. I hadn't realized it but I was out of time. When I turned around, my victim was standing there, waiting for me. He popped off a round, shooting through the soda and into my belly before I even knew what hit me. |
24 Ants Being tied out in the sun was bad enough, but when the ants showed up, the situation became much worse. At first it was only one or two of them but before it was over, I was covered with ants and stings. |
25 Drops The drops of blood were less frequent now. Clotting was setting in. And it was a good thing. Between the cold and the loss of blood, I was a dead man if one of them didn't give. Not to mention the vampires that would be on my trail by now. Drops of blood fell from her slices onto the concrete floor. She paused, naturally assuming that she would be able to catch her breath. She was wrong. Each drop that hit the floor sapped that much more strength from her. In the end, the minor cuts made her an easy kill. But I couldn't expect that my next opponent would be so easy. |
26 Lawyer I looked down at the floor. It was a blood mess. The gore-covered baseball bat hung limply in my hands. It hadn't yet occurred to me that I was going to have to clean this up. The only thing I realized was that we wouldn't need a lawyer because there wasn't going to be any divorce. |
27 Inspired Her eulogy was inspiring, but for some reason I didn't feel inspired. I felt mad. I felt angry. I wanted revenge. I guess it was a good thing that her killer also killed himself. |
| 28 Muffin It was a mistake. I knew it when I made it, but things were different then. I needed a job and I couldn't wait. That's why I'm spending a Sunday morning freezing my butt off in a nasty foxhole instead of sitting in my mom's cozy kitchen eating muffins and drinking coffee. |
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 New Year's Day |
2 Coat I don't know whose coat it was. I just picked it up and put it own like I owned it, walking, not running out of the restaurant. I put my hands in the pockets and I found something heavy, something solid. I pulled out a knife. And it was covered with blood. |
|||||
| 3 Ship I'm standing on the dock, and suddenly I don't know which ship to board. They all look alike. But I'm sure they all had different destinations. Thinking for a moment, I decide it doesn't matter the destination and board the closest one. |
4 |
5 Confusion Confusion set in as I opened my eyes and found the surroundings strange. I would have expected something in clinical white, like a hospital room. Or perhaps a nice, dark basement. Instead, it was a sunny, very homey, albeit retro bedroom. |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| 10 System The system was old. I didn't even know if it would boot up anymore, but I had to try. I couldn't fly the ship manually and it was my only hope if I was going to get back home. |
11 Bamboo It was the thirteenth day. We were way beyond bamboo under the fingernails or water boarding. My "friend", as he liked to call himself, was into nothing less than total submission; and he was about to win. |
12 Natural It only seemed natural. At least that's what I told myself, but deep down, I knew there was nothing natural about it. I was a killer and she was a nun. Nothing could be further from natural. |
13 Powder I didn't notice it at first, but as his nostrils flared in anger, I spotted a little powder left there in the corner; just a trace that he might call a miss but rest of us called evidence. |
14 Spot I heard the sound, but it took a moment to process, to understand what the sound was. But it wasn't until I saw the spot of blood appear on his chest that I understood the sound was a gunshot and he was the victim. |
15 |
16 Major It wasn't anything major. It wasn't even a big deal. I just wanted him to promise. A simple little "I promise." It would have been so easy. But instead, he hesitated and it only made me begin to wonder. |
| 17 Sink I scrubbed my hands in the sink, trying to get all the blood off, but I couldn't. I washed them again and again. All I could think was that now my hands were as stained as my soul. |
18 MLK Day Pour It was too late to stop the concrete pour when the foreman fell into the forms. We tried to pull him out. We tried to save him, but he was already too far under and like quicksand, the more he struggled, the deeper he went. |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 Export I knew that if I was going to export weapons as a business, it was only a matter of time until I pissed off one government or another. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. |
23 Pills She looked at her handful of pills and knew that this was the deciding moment that would determine whether she lived to give birth to a monster or if she would save the world by killing them both. |
| 24 Tofu Seriously? You're giving me tofu? I don't know who you think I am, or who you think you are, for that matter, but I'm not the kind of guy you try to feed tofu to. I'm the guy who eats guys like you for tofu. |
25 |
26 Myth I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It seemed like a myth. He seemed like a myth. But he wasn't. He was standing here, right in front of me, close enough for me too touch. But before I could shake his hand, he turned away as if I wasn't even there. Or worse, as if I didn't even exist. |
27 Mute The hard right fist struck me hard across the face, knocking over the chair I was tied to. Rough hands picked me back up and another hard right sent me over again. The man hitting me asked me where you were, but I remained mute. |
28 Storage We cut the lock and pulled open the overhead door to the storage unit. The stench of death and decay immediately assaulted us. We could tell by the size of the body wrapped up in a rug that it wasn't a dead rat like we'd originally thought. |
29 |
30 Bundle I watched her lips as she spoke to me, but in spite of her soothing words, I couldn't help but notice the bundle on her back. I could see camping supplies, but more importantly, it like like the barrel of an Uzi sticking out. |
| 31 Sour The liquid they forced me to drink was sour. I thought it might be bitter, laced with arsenic or some other poison. The sourness made me think it might be acidic and the chemist in me wondered what is was they were using to kill me. |
2009
| Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
||
| 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| 13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 Sage I took to the cover off and tried to tap in a little, but a large amount fell into the soup instead. Sage is a wonderful herb, but can be overpowering. I had a feeling that this was going to be one of those times. Next time I would shake it into my hand first. |
| 20 Alignment I didn't realized the alignment on my car was so bad until I felt it pulling to the right, toward the shoulder and the ditch. I was travelling too fast. There was no way to stop the inevitable. |
21 |
22 |
23 Tray I sat the tray down gently, not wanting to spill the contents, before I drew my gun and started sending a barrage of bullets into a myriad of targets. And when I brought the clip up to reload I hit the tray and spilled the contents anyway. |
24 |
25 Christmas |
26 Mittens There, out of the snow, I caught a glimpse of the her mittens. They were nearly covered; and would have been in another moment. I ran to them, sure that I had found her, but I hadn't. The mittens were just laying there. I dug frantically, but she was no where to be found. |
| 27 Blinds I couldn't quite see through the blinds, just vague images and outlines. For a moment I wished that I was on the inside instead of out, so I would be able to adjust them, but I knew that if I were inside, it would defeat the purpose. And suddenly I saw the muzzle-flash and heard the report of a gunshot inside the house. |
28 |
29 Birdhouse Laying on the ground, looking up, all I could think was that the birdhouse needed paint. I was dying. My blood was spilling out, soaking into the ground, and all I could think about was this dang birdhouse. |
30 |
31 New Year's Eve |