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creative writing prompt, flash fiction, photography, poetry, stories, weekly writing prompt, writing
I urge people to join in, comment with your paragraph of fiction to accompany the image. It doesn’t have to follow my story or reflect the same themes. It can be a poem or in a different language (provide a translation please 
). Anyone who wants to join in, is welcome. This photograph will be reblogged under Ermisenda on tumblr and added to the Picture it & Write gallery on Facebook and Pinterest.
Please continue to write however you’re inspired, but add a tag to the beginning of your post if there’s mature content in order to keep Picture it & Write an engaging event for all of our followers.
I pushed dirty locks from my eyes. I was still bleeding from the gash on my leg and I ground my teeth in pain. Peering out from the forest, I saw a mansion on the edge of a cliff. Lights flickered behind some of the windows. There were people inside.
I looked down to see my growing belly. Rubbing it, I made a prayer. Would the people inside help me or shame me? There was no turning back now. The village had made it clear what they would do to my growing child if I stayed. Taking a deep breath, I walked. With each step I took towards the mansion, another window was lit from the inside.
– Ermisenda Alvarez
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My contributions for this week, totally different theme and may sound silly, he he 😀
http://rachaelsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/fortress/
Loved the metaphor! You’re a creative one, Rachael.
thank you 🙂
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Good one Ermi. There is the implication of a great backstory here. I’d like to know more. Here’s mine, http://joe2stories.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/picture-it-and-write-the-right-way/
I don’t give a name to the narrator but Igor would be appropriate.
Enjoy and a merry Christmas to you
Igor would a fitting name! 😛 I loved this line – ” They were usually inbred as hell those aristos, it showed” Haha made me smile. I love how each generation thinks they’re better than the others. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Joe! 🙂
Spooky, I want to know what happens next.
I woke up, not releasing at first I was not in my own bed. I was lying on a four poster bed that would not look out of place in a five star hotel in the forties. I walked along the dusty floor to the window, moving the moth eaten curtains out of the way and looked outside. It was dark as death outside with the odd flash of fork lightning, giving the large lake below an eerie green glow.
As I ventured out of the room and around the unknown building I soon discovered it could only be described as a mansion. After walking about for two hours I also realised I was alone. So how had I gotten here and what was I to do?
Interesting take on the picture
Thank you 🙂
Very broad brushstrokes that could lead to many fuller meatier forks in the story ~ Well written~ 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Lots of undertones and story between the now and before. I hold my breath to read what happens next but there is no more. 🙂
I like to think that sometime in the future I will grab my favourite Pi&W stories and turn them into a greater novel. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
What happens next … I am now totally tempted to know the story beyond the point where you left it.
My contribution for this week:
http://scraps-from-life.blogspot.in/2014/12/the-abandoned-abode.html?m=1
You set up the scene so well. The text is dripping with evocative images. Thanks for contributing, Ruby! 🙂
“Short Hair” Off of Mulan goes perfect with your short story 🙂 Powerful woman striving forward into unknown and possibly scary situations. Below is my Contribution.
“Did I advise you that this is a bad idea,” I said.
“Did I advise you that we haven’t eaten in two days,” she replied.
“But did I advise you that people seldom make it out of situations like this?”
The wooden porch creaked under our boots, but the crashing waves from the shore below along with the pounding rain quieted our noise to my liking. The castle had the greatest percentage of keeping extra food lying about in this time of shortage. I could likely withstand nine more hours without nourishment, but Rose needed it presently.
The bright moon was high and allowed us to see more proficiently out here on this cliff then under the canopy of the coastal forest. The milky light showed a long deck that wrapped around the entirety of the castle. Why you would need a second floor wraparound porch seemed pointless to me, but nevertheless there was a replica porch on both the second and third floor. The floors didn’t end there either. Above the two pointless decks, there were three more housing levels.
“Should we try the door or a window,” Rose asked.
The front doors were solid oak with intricate carvings. I looked at the magnitude of windows. There were too many to count whilst your stomach makes regrettable noises even though the number would be simple to find, for If you took each window on the first floor and multiplied it by the number of replica floors above and then added that number to the multiplied amount of the different floors above the replica floors, you would get the number of windows for the front of the castle and since the front of the castle had a high chance of matching the back of the castle you would take your total of the front and multiply it by two, but then you would also need to do the same arithmetic procedure for the side of the castle and multiply that number by two and finally you would add both totals together getting the exact number of the dusty dirty windows on the structure, but I was lacking far too much nutrition to waste time on such frivolous calculations.
“Okay from the annoying silence I’m going to assume you thought way too much about that question,” she said.
Rose kneeled below the door and rolled out the shiny toolset, one of our only possessions of value. I could pick the lock faster, but I appreciate the secret smile she has every time the lock tumbles in the chamber. Right then the wind howled, whipping her blond curls into the air. I also appreciated her curls.
What if this time the home owner was an excellent shot? If only the climate hadn’t turned for the worse, maybe we would have had better hunting along our journey.
“There might be someone home,” I said.
“Michael, didn’t you notice the chimney smoke?”
“Didn’t you notice the 2,682 windows?”
She stopped and turned slowly towards me. I don’t particularly like it when she stares at me blankly with those large green eyes.
She cleared her throat and said, “Is there more or is this one of those statem—“
“Of course there is more. If we happen to become trapped within this monstrosity, window fifteen on the first floor is a great escape route due to the fact that a hedge lies beneath the window.”
She did one of those one eyebrow raises with squinty eyes. I asked her what that meant once before and she told me it meant she believed I was making up things which I told her that I do not in fact make things up, ever.
“I believe you’re in a foul mood due to undernourishment.”
She huffed, gathered the tools, pushed past me and stomped off the deck. I thought she was going to keep walking back into the shadowed forest. Maybe she would want to go hunting instead, but then she turned right back around, up the stairs, and into my face.
“Don’t you want to eat,” she asked.
“Yes.” I let out a breath. My brain sometimes blanks when rose gets close to me. I’m not even sure it was me talking. “Please except my apology. I was in fear for your life, but now I know no one should anger you when you’re in a foul mood due to hunger.”
She knelt back down to her station and said, “If you say one more thing about my malnutrition or hunger I’m going to punch your pretty face.”
The door clicked and inched open, but she was looking at me instead of her progress. I frowned.
“What now,” she asked.
“You didn’t smile.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you hungry or not?” I strode past her inquisitive look and into the waiting domain. We would find something to eat and not talk about smiles or hidden feelings.
——- It was a bit long 🙂 I’ve also reposted and pinged back here! Looking forward to next week. –Katie
Very good~ Reminiscent of vampires seeking blood as their food ~ Breaking in to feast on the occupants inside ~
I liked their bickering relationship. You built a lot of story and character in that segment. Thanks for contributing, Katie! 🙂 And thanks for the reblog.
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Here is my offering for this very different photo prompt~ Peace to all 🙂
http://johnandmargaret1607.wordpress.com/?p=2379
I like the idea of the mansion being a hospital. My idea of hospitals are so modern, industrial and clinical so this was a nice change. Thanks for contributing this week! 😀
Thanks Ermilia ~ This hospital was inspired by the old Victorian sanatorums~ Thanks for your responnse ~ 🙂
Great photo prompt. My mind went into overdrive, but I eventually settled on this tale
http://jugglingcephalopod.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/picture-it-write-disenchanted/
I’m glad you’re mind went into overdrive. That’s what we want! 😀 I like how her emotions change over the course of the story. From curiosity, contentment, and then bitterness. Thanks for contributing, Aileen! 🙂
I think this is good writing a good lead in with the proposal aand the very wwwise decision ~ I smiled at the creaking bones ~:)
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