Aye, it's a great challenge! Cheers Sam, I'd never heard of Drabble til yesterday!
Drabblewrimo 2021
- Thread starter scifisam
- Start date
Definitely makes it more of a challenge to stay to 100 though.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Today's drabble, for the prompt word "meeting," is a Venn diagram poem. I'm quite pleased with it. 
Hope it's readable - I couldn't find a way to do it on the computer
(You read it as two poems - the one on the left ends with the words in the middle, and the one on the right starts with the words in the middle)
And it is 100 words exactly.
Hope it's readable - I couldn't find a way to do it on the computer(You read it as two poems - the one on the left ends with the words in the middle, and the one on the right starts with the words in the middle)
And it is 100 words exactly.
Attachments
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Ah soz. I can't see / read the image file. Is the list in text / or on a site somewhere?
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
I don't know if table format is readable for a screen reader, but it's the only way I can manage to separate the text.
| My love, when I stir in the And your back, warm and Is all I can see, I You don’t mind - my lips kiss your Gently - I don't want to wake And each time I imagine my Sending love to your dreaming And tomorrow we will wake up | Night Soft Hope Skin - You - Touch Mind Together | rarely means sleep for minds edging on nightmares, with of dreams far beyond reach, my tense and twitching, trying not to wake I feel your sleeping lips me, and hope you don't that sometimes I weave our legs to anchor me to you, my love |
Okay, here's the next 10 days xenon
6 Vein
7 Secretary
8 Absent
9 Host
10 Treaty
11 Entertainment
12 Grief
13 Penumbra
14 Juxtaposition
An early one for me today cos am off out and have to get ready.
Day 6 – Vein
It’s been there for a while, so I’ve given it a moniker. I nearly called it Vera, but that’s too dull, too World War Two for my liking. So I moved on to Victoria, but again, it strikes me as dour, does Victoria. Like that queen, old misery guts herself. Never amused. I considered Veronica for all of ten seconds, but all I could think about was the milk monitor from 2B, all mismatched plaits, odd socks and a whiff of wet bed. I plumped for Violet, which was my mother’s name.
She was a pain in the arse too.
Day 6 – Vein
It’s been there for a while, so I’ve given it a moniker. I nearly called it Vera, but that’s too dull, too World War Two for my liking. So I moved on to Victoria, but again, it strikes me as dour, does Victoria. Like that queen, old misery guts herself. Never amused. I considered Veronica for all of ten seconds, but all I could think about was the milk monitor from 2B, all mismatched plaits, odd socks and a whiff of wet bed. I plumped for Violet, which was my mother’s name.
She was a pain in the arse too.
But since I wrote it now, may as well post. I'm not a writer, don't be too harsh...Not long now. 40 minutes before car J39 returned.
home to some 165,000 souls, Sagan Alpha was a venerable example of HelioTek's MOTH design. Enki was proud to be one of those who in his own way, kept the place viable, alive.
For almost 30 years, he'd worked down in the core, the guts of the place. Overseeing the pulse trains. The nutrient, energy distribution system. The cramped hallways and tunnels, lit by bio luminescent algae, redolent of the particular synthesized life blood of the place. Ozone, methane, organic compounds. This was his waking world.
Linemonkey, is what the other crews called him. True it wasn't a glamourous or even particularly hard job. Dirty, lonely but vital. On the cars return to the central stock station the scrub system dealt with any dangerous waste products, bacteria, occasional foreign objects. The irradiating wash still needed a human operator to engage. All be it only comprising of a couple of thrown switches and checking clear status on the scan. Things could however, get stuck, which required hands on and a hasty scramble.
He'd had an assistant, once. The systems were still quite new then, more manual intervention required. Things moved fast and well, he couldn’t then have known about the jammed pulsecar. Theoretically of course, it wasn't supposed to happen. The design spec didn’t allow it. In the report HelioTek explained they couldn't implement all the safety features at that time. The costs were untenable at a vital growth phase of the operation. Project integrity. Understand the bigger picture. They were pioneers. Unfortunate and tragic, sacrifices were needed. He'd keep his job but station pop needed something.
The smell and sounds still haunted him. He just couldn't reach.
After Hinmah had gone. He'd rarely been back to their... His homepod on L3. She hadn't
been that old, not really, her heart just stopped one day. She'd worked in the agroplant on L9. Collapsed there amidst the drums of exotic synthetic bass mulch. She’d not been the first. The just about affordable insurance didn't cover cardio reconstruction.
Since learning about the upgrade plans, Enki’s remaining shred of reason for going home shattered. He took what passed for sleep in the serviceway. Fed off what he could gather from outbound cars and washed with the coolant. Must be weeks now, hard to tell. Automated Integrity Safety Assurance System. Compliance and indemnity guaranteed. The enhanced safety features had been pointedly emphasized to him. The system happened to be cheaper of course. He'd get a reasonable retirement, out on the north rim solar farm. More than a linemonkey might expect.
30 years unblocking, cleaning the pulseway. He could now vegetate out with the feedstocks, enjoying the wonderful views of not much and the sounds he couldn’t forget.
Warm plastic smelling air came up the tunnel. A couple of minutes now. For the last time he'd have to activate the sterilisation machinery. he just couldn't reach...
home to some 165,000 souls, Sagan Alpha was a venerable example of HelioTek's MOTH design. Enki was proud to be one of those who in his own way, kept the place viable, alive.
For almost 30 years, he'd worked down in the core, the guts of the place. Overseeing the pulse trains. The nutrient, energy distribution system. The cramped hallways and tunnels, lit by bio luminescent algae, redolent of the particular synthesized life blood of the place. Ozone, methane, organic compounds. This was his waking world.
Linemonkey, is what the other crews called him. True it wasn't a glamourous or even particularly hard job. Dirty, lonely but vital. On the cars return to the central stock station the scrub system dealt with any dangerous waste products, bacteria, occasional foreign objects. The irradiating wash still needed a human operator to engage. All be it only comprising of a couple of thrown switches and checking clear status on the scan. Things could however, get stuck, which required hands on and a hasty scramble.
He'd had an assistant, once. The systems were still quite new then, more manual intervention required. Things moved fast and well, he couldn’t then have known about the jammed pulsecar. Theoretically of course, it wasn't supposed to happen. The design spec didn’t allow it. In the report HelioTek explained they couldn't implement all the safety features at that time. The costs were untenable at a vital growth phase of the operation. Project integrity. Understand the bigger picture. They were pioneers. Unfortunate and tragic, sacrifices were needed. He'd keep his job but station pop needed something.
The smell and sounds still haunted him. He just couldn't reach.
After Hinmah had gone. He'd rarely been back to their... His homepod on L3. She hadn't
been that old, not really, her heart just stopped one day. She'd worked in the agroplant on L9. Collapsed there amidst the drums of exotic synthetic bass mulch. She’d not been the first. The just about affordable insurance didn't cover cardio reconstruction.
Since learning about the upgrade plans, Enki’s remaining shred of reason for going home shattered. He took what passed for sleep in the serviceway. Fed off what he could gather from outbound cars and washed with the coolant. Must be weeks now, hard to tell. Automated Integrity Safety Assurance System. Compliance and indemnity guaranteed. The enhanced safety features had been pointedly emphasized to him. The system happened to be cheaper of course. He'd get a reasonable retirement, out on the north rim solar farm. More than a linemonkey might expect.
30 years unblocking, cleaning the pulseway. He could now vegetate out with the feedstocks, enjoying the wonderful views of not much and the sounds he couldn’t forget.
Warm plastic smelling air came up the tunnel. A couple of minutes now. For the last time he'd have to activate the sterilisation machinery. he just couldn't reach...
Cloo
Banana for scale
Inspired by the poetry ones, tried one here, not sure about it but will do for now!
Vein
Vast white steps breathe their dust and dazzle.
Inside wait gods and heroes,
birdbaths and balustrades.
The crunching and chipping of millennia,
the holding still of time’s vein
until the wet saw comes to cleave.
The presence of the Master’s hand
caresses the coolness as the sun falls,
the machines breathe out as engines drowse.
They walk at night, the shapes and shades
Morpheus slides through the rock
and forms delight in moving into blue-grey life.
The silver motes on the wind the music,
the quarrymen crushed and bloodied applaud
the invisible makings of their unmaking.
Vein
Vast white steps breathe their dust and dazzle.
Inside wait gods and heroes,
birdbaths and balustrades.
The crunching and chipping of millennia,
the holding still of time’s vein
until the wet saw comes to cleave.
The presence of the Master’s hand
caresses the coolness as the sun falls,
the machines breathe out as engines drowse.
They walk at night, the shapes and shades
Morpheus slides through the rock
and forms delight in moving into blue-grey life.
The silver motes on the wind the music,
the quarrymen crushed and bloodied applaud
the invisible makings of their unmaking.
Day 7 – Secretary
I didn’t like the clatter and it hurt to learn at first, but if you took typing and shorthand in the last two years, you got out of Games.
I hated Games.
Tennis - no co-ordination. Rounders - never hit the ball. Or caught it. Hockey? I still think it’s child abuse to make a skinny 12 year old run about in the snow in a t-shirt, tiny skirt and pumps, turning purple with cold. It wasn’t my fault we couldn’t afford the kit.
Still, it did mean that at least one of our family had a job in ‘84.
I didn’t like the clatter and it hurt to learn at first, but if you took typing and shorthand in the last two years, you got out of Games.
I hated Games.
Tennis - no co-ordination. Rounders - never hit the ball. Or caught it. Hockey? I still think it’s child abuse to make a skinny 12 year old run about in the snow in a t-shirt, tiny skirt and pumps, turning purple with cold. It wasn’t my fault we couldn’t afford the kit.
Still, it did mean that at least one of our family had a job in ‘84.
Cloo
Banana for scale
Secretary
The first meeting surprised me a bit, what with the hooded robes, but I thought it was maybe one of those new business practices that all the guys around here are so keen on. And it was all guys, of course, just me taking notes and making coffee. They did look at me a bit funny - or I thought they did, hard to tell because of the hoods - when I suggested that maybe there needed to be better security on their network because just their organisation name backwards might be a bit guessable. And now, well, here we are.
The first meeting surprised me a bit, what with the hooded robes, but I thought it was maybe one of those new business practices that all the guys around here are so keen on. And it was all guys, of course, just me taking notes and making coffee. They did look at me a bit funny - or I thought they did, hard to tell because of the hoods - when I suggested that maybe there needed to be better security on their network because just their organisation name backwards might be a bit guessable. And now, well, here we are.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Day 6, vein:
Due to masks and time, Ruth couldn’t be sure if the phlebotomist was who she thought it was; she drifted into memories anyway.
Maia, the kid who seemed to have no concept that knocking on an elderly neighbour’s door and asking to hang out was not the norm. Until her family moved away, the visits had been a regular thing; Maia knew every story about the never-seen people in the mantelpiece photos, and the age-divided friends played cards, making each other laugh with terrible jokes.
The younger woman looked up from her needle. Her eyes lit up, smiling.
“Flat 12B!”
Due to masks and time, Ruth couldn’t be sure if the phlebotomist was who she thought it was; she drifted into memories anyway.
Maia, the kid who seemed to have no concept that knocking on an elderly neighbour’s door and asking to hang out was not the norm. Until her family moved away, the visits had been a regular thing; Maia knew every story about the never-seen people in the mantelpiece photos, and the age-divided friends played cards, making each other laugh with terrible jokes.
The younger woman looked up from her needle. Her eyes lit up, smiling.
“Flat 12B!”
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Day 7, Secretary.
He had been attempting to push the babies out for days, but she jabbed him back every time. He disappeared into the tall grass, and his stomps seemed extra loud.
But she knew that the first time their babies left might be the last. The snakes they ate would turn it around and eat the young ones, given the chance. She teased the fledglings’ feathers; no, too soft, too soon.
The runt stood at the edge, and she couldn’t stop him tumbling, inelegantly, towards danger. The rest followed.
The secretary bird’s mate nuzzled her, and they waited together until dusk.
He had been attempting to push the babies out for days, but she jabbed him back every time. He disappeared into the tall grass, and his stomps seemed extra loud.
But she knew that the first time their babies left might be the last. The snakes they ate would turn it around and eat the young ones, given the chance. She teased the fledglings’ feathers; no, too soft, too soon.
The runt stood at the edge, and she couldn’t stop him tumbling, inelegantly, towards danger. The rest followed.
The secretary bird’s mate nuzzled her, and they waited together until dusk.
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scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
You probably can - there's no pressure with something like this, and the words seem to be pretty well-chosen to me, very open to interpretation.
Yeh I think the 1 word prompts are excellent!
Great drabbles again sam. This is ace fun
I've done two for today's prompt, so here's the first:
Day 8 – Absent
She could hear them perfectly well, talking about her as if she weren’t here.
She’d been criticised since she was little for her ‘day dreaming’, her ‘brown studies’. Nag nag nag. Fine. This will shut them up. She’ll lie right here, nice and still, eyes tight shut, having a good long uninterrupted think, while they jibber-jabbed their nonsense. She was very good at tuning conversation out, she’d had enough practice over the years!
Ouch, what was that?
“There we go. This new solution for geriatric patients in a Persistent Vegetative State is efficient and pain-free. She’ll drift off peacefully now.”
Day 8 – Absent
She could hear them perfectly well, talking about her as if she weren’t here.
She’d been criticised since she was little for her ‘day dreaming’, her ‘brown studies’. Nag nag nag. Fine. This will shut them up. She’ll lie right here, nice and still, eyes tight shut, having a good long uninterrupted think, while they jibber-jabbed their nonsense. She was very good at tuning conversation out, she’d had enough practice over the years!
Ouch, what was that?
“There we go. This new solution for geriatric patients in a Persistent Vegetative State is efficient and pain-free. She’ll drift off peacefully now.”
And the second:
She charmed the darlings of society, a high school beauty queen in kitten heels and taffeta.
Little did they know she had scouted out the land, picked the perfect place for the 26-7, but they flouted careful plans, to begin with.
Her meticulous creation of militia men and women, the training camps, the telephones, the petticoat explosives central to success, and the home she built from nothing; absent.
Ten thousand rebel chests hold an image known throughout the west, but you won’t see Celia in silhouette on any breast, though kitten heels and lipstick were crucial to the Cuban revolution.
She charmed the darlings of society, a high school beauty queen in kitten heels and taffeta.
Little did they know she had scouted out the land, picked the perfect place for the 26-7, but they flouted careful plans, to begin with.
Her meticulous creation of militia men and women, the training camps, the telephones, the petticoat explosives central to success, and the home she built from nothing; absent.
Ten thousand rebel chests hold an image known throughout the west, but you won’t see Celia in silhouette on any breast, though kitten heels and lipstick were crucial to the Cuban revolution.
Cloo
Banana for scale
Absence
Nothing was familiar, but then, what had Sheina expected?
The Zabludowicz’s farm still to be the biggest building on the road on the way into the village? The road no longer a wide, muddy track but what she had learned to call a ‘freeway’.
She knew she couldn’t expect to see her father’s fish store with its stink and its creaking sign. Nor the shul with the light always shining some sort of hope and comfort from within.
But she was still surprised when they stopped by a little copse of trees, a small circle of grass, and the guide said, ‘Here’.
Nothing was familiar, but then, what had Sheina expected?
The Zabludowicz’s farm still to be the biggest building on the road on the way into the village? The road no longer a wide, muddy track but what she had learned to call a ‘freeway’.
She knew she couldn’t expect to see her father’s fish store with its stink and its creaking sign. Nor the shul with the light always shining some sort of hope and comfort from within.
But she was still surprised when they stopped by a little copse of trees, a small circle of grass, and the guide said, ‘Here’.
I'm running late. Will try catching up with rest later in week.) I know prob against the rules but here's secretary. Apologies written on my machine with no spellcheck. (this isn't my drabbbble, ha.) It's below.
--
I appreciate you coming over. I know the agency knew you had some, erm, experties in these matters. You've worked for businesses like this before. Lou said you'd be perfect to handle this job. honestly, we're really hoping it can resolve itself. Mr James regular secreatry... Well. She's off at the moment. But well, when we spoke earlier, you got the gist of the situation I think. Now, erm, I couldn't give... Oh that's fine, leave your coat there, no one else uses this room.
So, erm yes. Mr James... You've heard the rumers down at the agency I expect. It's a little more... Complex. I mean it's not as bad as people say, well. not quite. But we really needed someone like you who has seen this sort of thing before and could, well use the tools... You know what I mean. KPC Finance had a similar issue a couple of years back I heard. Yep, exactly. So... It's like that but a little... More advanced. Yes, through there but he can't hear us, we've taken measures.
And yes, erm... the disconnect override code is here.
--
I appreciate you coming over. I know the agency knew you had some, erm, experties in these matters. You've worked for businesses like this before. Lou said you'd be perfect to handle this job. honestly, we're really hoping it can resolve itself. Mr James regular secreatry... Well. She's off at the moment. But well, when we spoke earlier, you got the gist of the situation I think. Now, erm, I couldn't give... Oh that's fine, leave your coat there, no one else uses this room.
So, erm yes. Mr James... You've heard the rumers down at the agency I expect. It's a little more... Complex. I mean it's not as bad as people say, well. not quite. But we really needed someone like you who has seen this sort of thing before and could, well use the tools... You know what I mean. KPC Finance had a similar issue a couple of years back I heard. Yep, exactly. So... It's like that but a little... More advanced. Yes, through there but he can't hear us, we've taken measures.
And yes, erm... the disconnect override code is here.
Day 9 – Host
Dick Gravy was a daytime TV game show host, with dazzling dental implants. Unbeknownst to Dick, they harboured bacteria linked to a rare neurological disorder. Because he hadn’t bothered to use the special mouthwash he’d been given, the bacteria began to flourish, and thrived under the heat of the studio lights.
Regretfully, Dick Gravy’s dental negligence may cost him his glittering career. During a tender moment on live TV, slap-bang in the middle of Children In Need, Pudsey Bear reached for his hand.
Reports of comments such as “Fuck off you big-faced furry piss-flap” are currently being investigated by Ofcom.
Dick Gravy was a daytime TV game show host, with dazzling dental implants. Unbeknownst to Dick, they harboured bacteria linked to a rare neurological disorder. Because he hadn’t bothered to use the special mouthwash he’d been given, the bacteria began to flourish, and thrived under the heat of the studio lights.
Regretfully, Dick Gravy’s dental negligence may cost him his glittering career. During a tender moment on live TV, slap-bang in the middle of Children In Need, Pudsey Bear reached for his hand.
Reports of comments such as “Fuck off you big-faced furry piss-flap” are currently being investigated by Ofcom.
Cloo
Banana for scale
Host
‘This isn’t quite what I imagined’
‘That’s what they all say!’
‘And what do I do with this clipboard?’
‘Go through that door and they’ll sort you into welcoming parties, this is your list.’
‘Wow, it’s… long.’
‘A lot of people coming in, everyone has to take their turn when they get here.’
‘And how long’s your turn been?’
‘Oh, couple of centuries give or take.’
‘Centuries?!’
‘Oh don’t worry, time does past very fast here.’
‘So, I’m just… ticking off this list? For a few centuries.’
‘And smiling, don’t forget the smiling, you should look happy, not everyone makes it here, you know.’
‘This isn’t quite what I imagined’
‘That’s what they all say!’
‘And what do I do with this clipboard?’
‘Go through that door and they’ll sort you into welcoming parties, this is your list.’
‘Wow, it’s… long.’
‘A lot of people coming in, everyone has to take their turn when they get here.’
‘And how long’s your turn been?’
‘Oh, couple of centuries give or take.’
‘Centuries?!’
‘Oh don’t worry, time does past very fast here.’
‘So, I’m just… ticking off this list? For a few centuries.’
‘And smiling, don’t forget the smiling, you should look happy, not everyone makes it here, you know.’
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Posted late, day 9, host (it's a bit grim):
"The blood of Christ."
Exsanguination was never going to be the fastest method of murder, but all that preparation with the meat hook and the wine barrel was worth it. He had jerked upside down on the hook like a fish, gurgling his own blood as he tried to call out.
Standing before Father Thomas, Lily smiled beatifically at the memory. She opened her mouth.
"The body of Christ."
Grinding the bones into flour was hard labour, but nevermind, she did need the exercise.
And now the whole community was helping her dispose of the body, even without knowing.
"Amen."
"The blood of Christ."
Exsanguination was never going to be the fastest method of murder, but all that preparation with the meat hook and the wine barrel was worth it. He had jerked upside down on the hook like a fish, gurgling his own blood as he tried to call out.
Standing before Father Thomas, Lily smiled beatifically at the memory. She opened her mouth.
"The body of Christ."
Grinding the bones into flour was hard labour, but nevermind, she did need the exercise.
And now the whole community was helping her dispose of the body, even without knowing.
"Amen."
