Z is for Zydeco

Wow!  I did it!  Congratulations to all of you who are successfully completing the 2015 A to Z Challenge today!

I have a piece of flash fiction for you today.

Today's word: ZYDECO

I chose this word when I saw a clip of a zydeco band awhile back.  Enjoy!

Zydeco

The stars glimmered in the sky, and the multicolored lights gleamed like jewels around the patio.  Anna looked around as people danced all around her, men, women, and children in brilliant clothes swinging and laughing to the lively music.  The band stood on a stage, elevated above the crowd.  The wet heat of the Louisiana night had sweat beading on their brows and around their collars, but they continued to play without a care in the world.

“Hello there.”

Anna followed the smooth, deep voice to see Anton.  He was wearing a brilliant smile.

Returning the smile, she suddenly felt quite bold.  It might have been due in part of the glass of wine she just finished.  “Would you like to dance with me?”

It didn’t seem possible, but Anton’s smile grew.  “I thought you’d never ask.”

He grabbed her hand.  His palm was rough, and the heat of his touch had her heart competing with the rapid tempo of the music.

They danced and laughed, getting lost in the joyous crowd.

And yet, the highlight of the night wasn’t the music or the dancing or the food and drinks.  It was the good-night kiss that followed it all.

Y is for Yell

Here we are at the penultimate day of the A to Z Challenge!  Today I have a drabble for you.  A drabble is a story told in precisely 100 words.

Today's word: YELL

Enjoy!

Yell

The blissful calm of the beach was stunning.  Octavia took a deep breath, allowing the salty tang to fill her until she felt ready to burst.

Gentle ocean waves lapped at the grains of sand near her bare feet.  She dipped a toe in, and the chill sent an electric tingle through her body.  The orange glow of dawn made everything new with its enchanting light.

With a smile splitting her face nearly in two, Octavia leaned back and let out a good, hearty yell.  Not one of anger, but of exhilaration.  She simply couldn’t contain the joy she felt.

X is for Xenocracy

I have a Choose Your Own Adventure story for you today!  This is the last one for the A to Z Challenge.  These little things have been fun, but also challenging.  Then again, I think that's the point of this, isn't it?

Today's word is: XENOCRACY

A xenocracy is a government by composed of a body of foreigners.  I decided to go the alien invasion route with this one.

Enjoy!

Xenocracy

Life post-invasion isn’t all roses, sure, but you can at least say that you snagged a decent job.  Okay, people in the street call you a traitor and throw things at you, but the benefits are good.

Well, they’re tolerable, anyway.  And pre-invasion you wouldn’t have been excited about cleaning the toilets for the new seven-foot-tall, green skinned leaders of the xenocratic government that now rules all of Earth.  Considering the other jobs available, though, you’ll take what you can get.  Most days, at least.

Today, however, you are about to deliver some unpleasant news.  All of the toilets in the palace are overflowing, and you suspect it was sabotage of a most disgusting nature.

When you get to the throne room, the door is guarded by a formidable man.  “There is a meeting at this time,” he says in a stout tone.  “Whatever business you have, it must wait.”

A.)   If you decide to ignore him and insist that it is too urgent to wait, click HERE.

B.)   If you resign yourself to waiting, click HERE.

W is for Wanderer

Here we are!  It's the last week of the A to Z Challenge!  If you're struggling to keep going, you can take comfort, because you're almost there.

I have some flash fiction for you.

Today's word: WANDERER

Enjoy!

Wanderer

The wanderer came into our tiny town the same way he did once every couple of months.  He wore modest, non-remarkable clothes, but he was tall.  His presence was notable. 

Mr. Miller, the town barber, started keeping a record of when he came and how long he stayed, which was never more than a couple of days.  I never knew why some people in town eyed the wanderer with such suspicion.  He never hurt anyone that I was aware of, and though he never went out of his way to talk to anyone, he was polite enough.  When I was twelve, the wanderer and I accidentally bumped into one another on the corner of Main Street and Welsh Avenue, and he said “Excuse me, young lady” and went on his way.

The wanderer stopped in to the bank to do business, but Mrs. Carlisle was the only one who’d ever served him, and she took the confidentiality rules very seriously.  Even Mr. Carlisle knew nothing about the wanderer’s identity.

When I was twenty-one and home from college for the summer, the wanderer came again.  I learned about it through hearing the whispers at the local café.  People were speculating, and those speculations became more fantastical as time went on.  The prevailing opinion was that he was a con man who kept on the move so no one could catch him at his game.  Some thought he was a murderer that kept the money he stole from his victims at our bank.  Others guessed involvement in organized crime, or that he worked for the government. 

It fascinated me that such a mythos could develop around a single person, and I wondered why people just called him by the moniker “the wanderer” when there were countless other names they could have chosen.

The mystery was shattered the next day when the wanderer was found dead in an alley.  It soon came to light that a group of people in their late teens and early twenties had confronted him.  They demanded to know who he was and what he wanted.  They threatened him with knives and baseball bats, though they never got to use them.  The wanderer dropped dead of a heart attack first.

The family came that afternoon.  The wanderer had a family: a wife and two teenage kids.

He also had a name.  Ronald Alfred Winston.

Mrs. Carlisle was questioned, and it came out that she knew Ronald from childhood.  They’d dated during high school.  They were having an affair.

Scandalous on its own, perhaps, but only in the most ordinary way.  People talked for a short time afterwards, but it died down relatively quickly.  The mystery was more engaging than the reality.

V is for Veracity

Hello!  Here we are at the end of the last full week of the A to Z Challenge.  My, how the time has flown.

I have a piece of flash fiction for you today.

Today's word: VERACITY

Enjoy!

Veracity

People said they admired Toby’s veracity.

“That boy always tells the truth.  That kind of honesty is what we need in this world,” his grandmother once said.

He came to value the act of telling the truth more than anything else.  The truth will set you free, as the saying goes.

Over time, though, he started to get in trouble.  He told his mom her meatloaf was bland, and she wouldn’t speak to him for the rest of the evening.

He told his dad that he’d done a bad job on building the shelves.  They were somewhat crooked, after all.  His dad glared at him and responded. “Okay, then.  Let’s see you do better.”

Tommy didn’t do better.

He still wanted to be honest, but he also didn’t want to get in trouble.  Maybe it would help if he worked on his delivery.  Perhaps the addition of constructive criticism would soften the blow.

With that in mind, Tommy told his first girlfriend Gwendolyn that she wasn’t a good kisser, but he was sure she’d get better with practice.

The resulting slap-reddened cheek taught him a crucial lesson.

The truth might be valuable, but some things are best left unsaid.

U is for Uglify and Celebrate the Small Things

Today I have another drabble for all of you!  For those of you who don't know, a drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

Today's word: UGLIFY

Enjoy!

Uglify

It started with rage.

The call came and changed everything.  Danielle’s best friend Samantha was dead.  At 19, no less.  Nothing about it made sense.

The freshly painted white walls of Danielle’s bedroom, which had been finished only two days prior, stared back at her.  The cold indifference of them nurtured her fury, helped it to grow strong.

Pulling out her paints and brushes, she set out to tarnish the wall.  To uglify it.  Maybe she could make it resemble the outrage and heartbreak she felt on the inside.

For hours she worked, and a portrait of her loss remained.

It's Friday!  Let's Celebrate the Small Things with Lexa Cain.  TheCyborgMom and I are her co-hosts.

The weather here has been fluctuating between chilly and warm, but at least the general trend seems to show that spring is here.

We all have colds, but at least they're nothing worse than a nuisance.  None of the symptoms have impeded our lives in any way.

The A-Z Challenge will be over the next time we Celebrate the Small Things, so I'd like to celebrate that I've made it this far.  Hopefully next week I'll be celebrating a successful completion!

My writing is going well, so I'm happy about that!  In fact, after finishing this post, I'm going to get back to it!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

T is for Tegestology

Today I have another Choose Your Own Adventure for you!

Today's word: TEGESTOLOGY

Tegestology is the collecting of cardboard beer coasters.  That seemed like an interesting hobby, so I needed to explore it further.

Enjoy!

Tegestology

You go to at least ten bars a week.  People tell you all the time that you have an addiction, and okay, you probably do, but at least it isn’t a harmful one.

This bar is a new one for you.  It’s located in the college district, so you imagine it’ll be filled with youthful energy.  You’re not necessarily the type to party, but it does feel nice to get out and relish in new company now and again.

You walk inside, and it’s packed full of young, scantily-clad bodies.  They barely register in your mind as you spot your prize: a stack of cardboard beer coasters on the corner of the bar.

Energized, you make a beeline for them, but the next thing you know, you’re in a heap on the sticky floor.

A.)   If you knocked into a person, click HERE.

B.)   If you tripped over an unseen chair, click HERE.