Writing exercise 172

Hello everybody!

Was your week tiresome? Maybe this little writing exercise will help you relax. The drabble was prompted by a member of the Dead Pete Society again. Here it is:

2019/03/30 – Bath (Drabble)

Utterly exhausted you enter the bathroom, your most comfortable pyjamas in hand for laters. You sit down on the rim of the bath tub and turn on the hot water. Your tired gaze wanders over the bottles of bath supplements until you randomly pick the dark blue liquid and pour some into the running water. Instantly a pleasant flowery smell evaporates into the air as bubbles form on the surface of the water. You sigh, already starting to relax. Taking off your sweaty clothes you slide into the water, lean back and close your eyes. You have earned this. Enjoy!

Writing Exercise 169

Hello!

I'm still working on the prompts a member of the Dead Pete Society gave me, so have another drabble this week! :D

2019/03/06 – Fireworks (Drabble)

Merry chatter and music playing around you; happy people crowd the place, shoulder to shoulder the throng of visitors sways painfully slowly forward. Somehow you manage to find some space off to the side, filling a gap where you can finally breathe. A little forlornly you stare into the sky. It is dark, yet you can hardly see the stars. Suddenly all lights wink out; the music stops and a murmur tides through the crowd like a wave. A bang. The people let out a collective noise as colours flit across the sky, twinkling, blinking, raining down. Finally, the fireworks.

Writing Exercise 167

Hey there!

This week I was prompted by a member of the Daed Pete Society again, so I wrote a double drabble for you this time. Here it is:

2019/02/19 – Power outage (double drabble)

The day is fine. You are in a good mood, energized and full of plans. So you get to work and maybe tinker about various projects. You are in the flow...

And right in the middle of it you suddenly drop what you were holding; it slips right through your fingers. It might have caught you off guard or surprised you and you reach to pick it up again, yet you can't lift it any more no matter if it was something as lightweight as your smartphone. Smacked down by imperial exhaustion you sink to the ground, drained of all strength, the energy you wielded seconds ago – gone!

Barely you crawl towards the sofa and heave your leaden body onto it. There you lie motionless, unable to move, while your mind races on overdrive, fully capable and awake. Yet your body refuses to do a single thing. Time ticks by, maybe an hour or two when you are trapped helplessly in a useless body. If you are lucky, you are able to doze.

But just as suddenly it is gone again, your energies revert full force and you feel like a million dollars again. Fatigue is like a power outage.

Writing Exercise 164

Hey there!

This week I'm a little late again. But I still have a writing exercise for you, which was prompted by a member of the Dead Pete Society again. Here it is:

2019/02/03 – Coffee Shop (Drabble)

In a quaint little town close to where I live there is a small coffee shop. It is the loveliest coffee shop I've ever clapped eyes on. Once you enter you feel as if you were in a doll's house with its distinctive furniture; the sofas, chairs and armchairs are soft and cozy nonetheless, and miniature teasets decorate the tables. The handmade cakes are made with love and you can taste it. Breakfast is served on decorated étagères and the rich coffee flavour melts in your mouth with every sip. Just enjoy that coffee and soak in the peaceful atmosphere.

Writing Exercise 162

Hi!

This week I was prompted by a buddy from my art group to include five words into a story.This double drabble is what I came up with:

2019/01/15 – Include mist, cold, dusk, winter, trenches (double drabble)

Cold mist arose and blanketed the world in a sheen of even more whiteness. It had snowed from dusk til dawn again. The snowploughs had a hard time ploughing trenches into the piled snow, tall as the street lamps, which ceased functioning altogether. The streets were hardly used anymore because of the danger of avalanches. Only few brave people dared to wander those corridors as a harsh wind howled. Those poor souls huddled deeper into their fur coats in their seek for shelter. Winter had a strong hold on the planet this year, and it was already late April. By now everyone was half joking, half hoping for any signs of global warming, anything at all! Governments were discussing retreating to the underground and evacuating as many people as possible to dugouts. Yet many people were cut from civilisation, locked in due to the sheer masses of snow blocking the houses and all communication for weeks. There was no telling of how many people were buried alive in their homes, waiting for either running out of supplies and dying of hunger and thirst or freezing to death. This was the arrival of a new Ice Age, testing mankind to survive.

Writing Exercise 161

Hello again!

This week I was prompted by a member of the 'Dead Pete Society', which will happen more often from now on. Here is my drabble:

2019/01/12 – Stuck in an airport because of a delayed flight (drabble)

Time was ticking. People were rushing by, dragging their luggage and carts behind them, hurrying towards the gates as passengers were called for boarding time. Rain pattered against the large window front overviewing the tarmac where planes accelerated into the sky or landed safely. But neither was the desired one. Yearning glances outside, then back towards the billboard. 'Delayed' was what it said. Time seemed to increase instead of decreasing. Waiting on loved ones was hard, especially when they were late to arrive. Checking the smartphone for news. That was when 'delayed' changed to 'cancelled'. Dear Heavens! The plane crashed.

Writing Exercise 158

Hi!

How are Christmas preparations going? I almost forgot to upload my writing exercise. XD
This week I had the prompt to  write about a totally normal day in the life of one of my characters. So here is my double drabble:

2018/12/21 – New Leaf (double drabble)

Imagine a totally normal day in the life of the cruel clan chief of the Raven Daemons, Lord Rhagkal Raven. At dawn he would get up and get ready for the day to read his correspondence during a typical Daemonic breakfast consisting of the most delicious delicacies you might ever taste. He would create several illusions of himself to file trade orders, pay visits to his toys in the dungeon, research the whereabouts of mighty artefacts to hoard in his vault, telepathically mess with the heads of important people to keep wars going for his entertainment, hold meetings with his co-conspirators, have an even more splendid lunch ready, have tea in the library between good reads and be bothered with the shenanigans of his 'high maintenance toy'. He would pay a visit to his deceased wife's grave, cursing her for every prediction that came true. If his heir was home they would battle until the younger Daemon was incapacitated. And after a late dinner he would spend more time with his favourite toys, granting them attention and maybe something they wished for. After a hot shower he would call it a day and dream of things going according to plan.

Writing Exercise 156

Good morning!

This week I have another double drabble for you. I have several prompts up my sleeve, and this is actually one of them. Here is what I made of it:

2018/12/03 – Anything but that (double drabble)

A blinding flash trickling down his spine was the last thing he remembered before clapping his eyes open. The rising sun peered through the blinds as he lay sprawled on the bed. Which was weird since he didn't remember going to bed. And the room seemed unfamiliar as well. His head in a cotton-woolly state, he blinked to focus his vision as he listened to the dulled sounds of birdsong. His senses did not sharpen much though. So he waited in the faint hope they would return once he was fully awake. Yet to no avail. Confused he sat up, slid out of bed and padded through the room, carefully, as his balance was off and his limbs felt wobbly. He managed to make it to the bathroom. A look into the mirror shocked him so much that his stomach lurched and repudiated its contents into the toilet. He frantically tried to call on his well of unfathomable strength and make this nightmare end. Nothing happened. His powers were gone. To his horror he was human. Those cheeky elders. He despised powerless creatures, and now they made him one as punishment for failing the mission. There was no way back.

Writing Exercise 153

Hello again!

A new week, a new prompt, a new writing exercise. This time I wrote a double drabble for you. Enjoy!

2018/11/13 – Fallout Girl (double drabble)

Putting on her rubber gloves Alice called down the hall as she bounded towards the door: “Ma? Da? I'm going to play outside a little!” None answered, but she didn't care. She grabbed her mask and slid it on then pushed the heavy metal door open. It fell shut behind her with a loud klanking noise. Alice breathed deeply into her mask and peered into the mist that hung low above the asphalt; the faint sunshine painted it violet and red. She skipped on the broken pavement, avoiding the rubble and holes on her way to the playground singing: “One, two, dead are you. Three four, lock the door. Five, six, bombs break bricks. Seven, eight, it's too late. Nine, ten, they kill you then.” By then she made it to the playground and climbed awkwardly on the monkey bars where she had a good view over her block. She strained her eyes and wished her mask had built-in binoculars. But taking it off was no option either. She didn't want to get sick like Ma and Da. Alice hoisted her self-made flag on the top pole of the monkey bars and waited. One day other survivors would appear...hopefully.

Writing Exercise 151

Hello there!

I just realised I haven't done my writing exercise yet. NaNoWriMo kept me busy half of the week. :D
So here is a double drabble prompted ba my dear writing buddy from the Dead Pete Society:

2018/11/04 – A Dance Amongst Shadows (double drabble)

Warily he eyed the merry crowd, people dressed up in their most splendid robes, frolicking and dancing to the fine music in the ball room. Ah, how he loathed such social events, how he despised the oblivious and ignorant people who pretened to have a good time gossipping, drinking, dancing… Alas, he had to attend, and so he did. A glass of heavy wine kept him company as he kept his distance and observed with contempt.

Until a beautiful lady appeared before him and smiled up at him. “Mylord,” she breathed, a halo of flowery perfume around her, “you seem a bit bored. May I try to lift your mood during this dance?” She held out her slender hand for him to take. He blinked, just as perplexed as wary. She used his moment of hesitation to take the glass from his hand, put it away and drag him towards the dance floor. Before he knew it, she was in his arms swaying to the music.

It was not like he couldn't dance, he just preferred not to. He seriously considered ditching her for he rather danced amongst shadows than make a fool of himself here. So he left, disgusted.

Writing Exercise 149

Good morning!

I'm sorry I'm late. For some reason I didn't upload this yesterday, but here is last week's writing exercise:

2018/10/21 – Autumn (Drabble)

It is that time of year again, when in the wee hours of the new day the light is hardly able to fight the darkness of night and the world wants to stay grey and black. Occasional lampposts throw blots of light in the blackness. And when the day finally breaks the mist doesn't want to let go for the longest time. But when it does, the day is usually bright. Leaves fall and crumble to the ground, cover the earth like a colourful blanket. So it may rest peacefully while the days become shorter. Autumn always makes me sleepy.

Writing Exercise 146

Hello there!

This week I was prompted by a dear friend of mine, and so I wrote a drabble which is probably different from what she expected. Here it is:

2018/09/28 – broken dream (Drabble)

Dark and disastrous things happen all around, atrocities, cruelties beyond humanity. There is no end. No silver lining, no hope, no nothing. You can only succumb to despair and madness, or die in the process thereof; horribly, mercilessly, miserably, painfully. If you are really lucky it will happen quickly, a shot through the heart or the head. But prepare to be torn apart limb after limb, and still be alive and aware enough to witness the gory massacre.

Suddenly a noise tears through the darkness. You wake immediately; it was just another broken dream. Having survived another night, you smile.

Writing Exercise 144

Hello there!

Do you mourn 9/11 today as well? Well, I have a double drabble for you. Here it is:

2018/09/11 – remembrance (double drabble)

Today we remember a day which shocked the whole world almost two decades ago, and every year in doing so we carve the notch on history's bedpost a little deeper. But this is not the only day worth remembering – in fact, we have so many of them, we could mourn and remember every day of the year and do nothing else.

World Peace Day, World Hunger Day, World Women's Day, World Refugee Day, World Health Day…

Safer Internet Day, World Sleep Day, World Radio Day, World Tourist Guide Day, World Grandpa Underpants Day.

Okay, I made the last one up. But seriously, the truly important days should not only be remembered once a year – these are issues which should be addressed and acted upon always, until they are issues no more.

And the other remembrance days are nothing but ridiculous; they trivialize the real problems by putting them on the same level of importance.

I understand the need for more positivity in this world, and I support it. We need to feel happy in order to know sadness, and vice versa. And, by all means, we could use some good news!

But let's not lose sight of what is important.

Writing Exercise 142

Good morning!

It it time for another writing exercise. :D
Today I have a little drabble for you, which I wrote in the very situation described therin. Enjoy!

2018/08/29 – pre-dawn (Drabble)

Sometimes the night is over before it even dawns. Something awakes you from your slumber, grasps you, shakes away the tiredness from your body and won't let go until you decide to get up. Silently you heed its call, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and sit by the window to watch over the sleeping world like a sentry, a mortal guardian angel. You peer into the darkness and by the minute it seems to lift as the sky slowly turns from black to blue to violet. Suddenly a silver lining – the beauty of sunrise is yours.

Writing Exercise 140

Hello there!

I know this comes at a late hour, but I couldn't sleep so worked on this prompt by a friend from my art group. So here is this week's exercise:

2018/08/15 – “They came out of nowhere, the demons are destroying the city. This is the end” (drabble)

It all started with a dull rumble. The earth shook and trembled under the sheer force of nature. But it was no ordinary earthquake. No, it was something more sinister. Something, which heralded the beginning of the end. An abysmal rift opened and split the city in two, and from it they emerged – ghastly creatures conjured from your worst nightmares. Demons of all kinds, and they sought to destroy and kill and devour. None was safe. There was no hope to survive this horror for no man-made weapon could touch a hair on their ugly heads. The end was nigh.

Writing Exercise 135

Hello again!
This week I was prompted by a member of my art group, and I decided to write you a drabble. Without further ado, here it is:

2018/07/11 – Reawakened (drabble)

He had heard of the magic of a kiss. There were stories of royal kisses releasing people from their curses, and there was truth to them, wasn't there? So when he, the prince, found her in the deepest of slumbers and none was able to rouse her from her sleep, he instantly knew what to do. Thus he bent down, drawn in by her sweet lips and kissed her, only to deepen it in the spur of the moment. She sighed, short of a moan, and her eyelids fluttered open. But he withdrew abruptly. For he had reawakened a zombie.

Writing Exercise 130

This week I have written a drabble about a topic which concerns me a lot at the moment. Maybe you can see my point... Any opinions on that? Please feel free to discuss this topic with me.

2018/06/09 – GDPR (drabble)

Informational self-determination is important. To be able to choose which data to publish or to withhold is a right which should be protected, even moreso in this day and age. But are all data equally protection-worthy? Does the principle of proportionality even apply if I need to ask permission to collect impersonalized data about your location and browser or the amount of clicks (which I don't even use) but am forced to reveal sensitive data like my name, address and email in order to not get a fine? Why assume a pseudonym then? And is my data excluded from protection?

Writing Exercise 129

Hi!
Originally I wanted to post this writing exercise yesterday, but due to the thunderstorm I had no internet connection. :(
But better one day late than never, right? This drabble was prompted by a buddy from my art group. Here it is:

2018/05/31 – heretic (drabble)

Do you celebrate Corpus Christi? Is it a national holiday where you live? Or do you ask yourself what this is all about and why the fuss? A lot of occidental countries are still rooted in Christianised traditions, and thanks to them we are able to have a lot of holidays – such as Corpus Christi – we wouldn't have if our nations were truly secularised or tinged in the colours of a 'heretic' credo. You may or may not believe in Jesus, but you benefit from a Christianised society as their demands are represented in for instance national holidays. Happy Cadaver!

Writing Exercise 125

Hello again!
This week I was prompted by two of my art group buddies, so you get a drabble to read which combines both prompts. Here it is:

2018/05/02 – dark/ stroll in the park (drabble)

As he walked down the path which led him into the park, he had a strange feeling. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but it followed him as he strolled well trodden paths. His footfalls quickened, just like his heartbeat. Familiar trees swayed in the howling wind, their branches seemed to clasp at him. So he hurried. Looking over his shoulder time and again he saw nothing out of the ordinary, yet he felt spooked. Dark thoughts haunted him. And what was supposed to be a nice little stroll became an imaginary manhunt, and he was the prey.

Writing Exercise 123

Hello again!
This week I have a little drabble for you, prompted by my dear friend and fellow member of the artist group I'm part of. Here goes:

2018/04/17 – platonic kisses (drabble)

The difference between kisses can be vast as worlds. It depends a lot on who you kiss. Your partner may receive kisses full of passion and longing or even sweet love and affection, your parents (or other family members) would get smooched with a different kind of love. Kisses between close friends would certainly be of the platonic kind, while embodying yet another type of affection – unless you are 'friends with benefits' of course. You may even kiss your enemy on the cheek, bitter and venomously. Isn't it fascinating how one and the same gesture can have so many meanings?