Writing Exercise 099

Hey there!
Are you going on a Halloween party tonight or wakling the streets in a spooky costume haunting people? Are you preparing for NaNoWriMo and counting the hours and minutes until you can do your first writing sprint in November? :D

Anyway, here is another writing exercise. This week I picked four books from my reading stack, chose a page each, read the first sentence on those pages and wrote a little story containing these sentences.
The sentences are taken from 'The Blood of Nerys' by S. K. Balk, 'The Woman Who Dies a Lot' by J. Fforde, 'The Loneliest Girl in the Universe' by L. James and 'Malevolence' by F. R. Donaldson -- in that order. Check these books out if you're interested; I gobbled them whole. ;)
In the meantime enjoy my story:

2017/10/31 – pick four books from your night stand/reading nook, choose randomly a page each and write a story containing the first sentence you read on every page you chose. (p.66 of The Blood of Nerys by S. K. Balk, p.153 of The Woman Who Died a Lot by J. Fforde, p.212 of The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by L. James, p.288 of Malevolence by F. R. Donaldson)

It was just at daybreak when there was a dull thud and the ship shuddered against the waves. The mast cracked and moaned under the pressure of the wind in the sails, tilting the prow slightly as she wouldn't move anymore. One after the other the crew stumbled out of their cots and hurried on deck.

“What in the name of Nemo's beard happened?” captain Kai bellowed and stemmed his fists on his hip. His crew looked anywhere but at their captain.

“Apparently we ran aground on a shoal,” Daisy piped up and lifted a brow.

“A shoal! Who of you keelsons was in charge of the crow's nest?” Kai wanted to know. For a good while none said anything until a timid hand was raised. “Well? Why didn't you notice?” the captain asked impatiently.

The man hummed and hawed, but under Kai's stern stare he confessed: “I fell asleep.”

Kai cursed vividly. “You had this one task to stay awake and make sure we don't crash, but you fell asleep!” The captain made a gruff gesture. “Tie him to the mast and don't take him down before I say so.”

“Please,” the man begged.

But none dared to defy captain's orders, though they pitied the poor guy for his punishment.

“Drop the sails, or the ship will capsize,” Daisy demanded as Kai stomped under deck. She sighed and watched the pirates get to work. Then she set about walking from stern to prow and back thinking about what to do, while the ship rocked against the shoal and ran further aground with every wave splashing against the planks. It was way past noon and almost ebb tide when captain Kai stopped her. “What are you doing? You've skipped both breakfast and lunch,” he asked much calmer, actually concerned.

'Isn't he just the perfect husband?' murmured Daisy sarcastically. 'Only now he comes looking for me.' She sighed and answered: “I spend the day pacing the ship, buried waist-deep in hopeless solutions.”

“And?” Kai tilted his head until his fancy hat was about to fall off.

“Well, we can only hope flood tide will be high enough to carry us off the shoal,” she scrutinized him and winked an eye open before she added, “or else you have to empty the hold and throw all those boxes crammed with silly souvenirs from all the towns we raided over board.”

“Who told you about that?” Kai asked angrily. But he was more embarrassed, really. But Daisy only chuckled and patted his shoulder as she walked past him. “Think about it, Captain Kai. What is more important? Your ship or the bric-a-brac you like to collect?” She strutted off, leaving him to ponder, already knowing what he would choose.

Writing Exercise 098

This week started with a sudden incident, which got me thinking. And the result of this thought process is the very drabble you're about to read. So without further ado I leave you to it. :)

2017/10/25 – worry (drabble)

Worry is nothing but the uncertainty of not knowing about the whereabouts or circumstances of someone or something. You might say, you don't want people to worry for you. And yet you can only worry for people or things you hold dear – who or which have a special meaning to you. If you don't worry, you won't care, and this indifference shows the insignificance of them. But if you do worry, they will have a place in your heart. So inherent in the system, worry is a hint at and the proof of the love you feel. So worry more.

Old Memories

Looking through old pictures I found a black and white photograph which is about a decade old. Seeing the colours missing, I took this photo as reference to recreate it with SAI and colour it as I remember it.
Here is the result:

Writing Exercises 096 and 097

I just realised I didn't upload last week's writing exercise. Oops. XD;;
Well, then you get to read two writing exercises this week.
Last week I wrote a poem on the topic 'Winter is coming' and today I wrote a drabble about 'skyline'.
Here is number 096:

2017/10/15 – Winter is coming (poem)

Golden leaves are falling down

Holidaymakers flee this lonely town

However, don't cower in fear

Just because winter draws near

Grab a mug of coffee or tea

And dream about the beach and the sea

Take your favourite book

Build yourself a reading nook

Or possibly you decide to bake

Make lots of cookies or even cake

And sometimes maybe the weather is fine

Then go catch a bit of sunshine

Anyway, there is no reason for sadness

Soon there starts the Christmas madness

Certainly winter approaches fast

But it's up to you to make it a blast

And this is number 097:

2017/10/18 – skyline (Drabble)

Imagine you could build a city out of your favourite books, with words as tall as skyscrapers. Who would inhabit this place? Where amongst these books would your home be? Would Frodo greet you sitting on his porch smoking or Samuel Vimes pound the beat around your 'hood at night? Would you meet Hermione at the supermarket or have a meeting at Wayne Enterprise? Would you go for a health check up to Doc Frankenstein or would a raven tap the window of your 10^th floor apartment? Just imagine how variegated and tempting the skyline of book spines would be!

Writing Exercise 095

This week's writing exercise is a less serious one. I was prompted by my dear writing buddy Frankie, and this is the drabble I came up with:

2017/10/02 – My dog just started talking to me, and he's not pleased. (Drabble)

I had a weird dream. I was walking through a dark, foreign city and I was lost. Somehow I ended up in a park. As I passed the trees I noticed someone was following me. Scared as hell I walked faster until I met a dead end at a lake. So I turned around to face whoever was following me. From the underbush a dog emerged and it growled. Although I don't have pets I knew this was mine. “Where the hell have you been?” the dog exclaimed, “I've been looking for you. Let's go home.” Utterly puzzled I woke.