Writing Challenge: 50 Words -- With a Twist

Nymtoc · Jun 7, 2017

untoward
acumen
manacles

Life was a deadly continuum of days in this hellish château. An untoward circumstance had sent Edmond Dantès here--a circumstance that sealed his fate. Weakened and depressed, he needed strength and acumen if he was going to escape from this doom. As least the cursed manacles were off.

gasket
oligopoly
muskrat

Mary Mitchell · Jun 8, 2017

gasket
oligopoly
muskrat

He was somewhere between Phoenix and Tucson, "Muskrat Love" playing on the radio, when the head gasket blew. If the communications oligopoly had more of a social conscience he might have gotten a cell phone signal. Instead he started walking, watching the horizon for another car, hoping he wouldn't die.

obliterate
chancery
galvanize

Nymtoc · Jun 9, 2017

obliterate
chancery
galvanize

Working in this chancery was a cool cover, Ken thought. Calling himself Francis, he had gotten this maintenance job and would stay as long as he needed to obliterate his past. If word got out that a serial killer was on the premises, it would galvanize quite a few people.

insulate
bud
charivari

Mary Mitchell · Jun 12, 2017

insulate
bud
charivari

The crowd had gathered outside his house, banging pots and singing raucous songs--off-key and off-color--denigrating his political stance. A regular charivari. He tried to insulate himself against the verbal onslaught with whiskey. But when the first rock came through the window, the bud of fear blossomed into terror.

bulimic
toad
range

Nymtoc · Jun 14, 2017

bulimic
toad
range

It started with the toad. Jennifer was getting into bed when the hideous creature leapt from the covers onto her belly. She screamed, the toad jumped away, and she was never herself again. Unable to eat, she had a torturous range of symptoms and was now bulimic. Doctors were helpless.

graze
peppermint
defy

ErinGlover · Jun 14, 2017

graze
peppermint
defy

Just once, she wanted to defy doctor's orders and eat Indian food. Stomach growling, she began to graze her medicine cabinet for a remedy, before remembering the peppermint growing in her garden was the perfect remedy for an upset stomach.

sing
absolution
tabu

Mary Mitchell · Jun 14, 2017

sing
absolution
tabu

For the night bird to sing in the day was tabu. But the night bird couldn't sleep and, witnessing his first glorious sunrise, spontaneously burst into song. His notes were so beautiful the gods granted him absolution. And to this day all birds sing the sun up in his honor.

crafty
tangible
extemporaneous

borogove · Jun 14, 2017

Suzy needed to earn one last badge to move up to Budding Debutante, and her desperation to level up was almost tangible. Everything depended on her extemporaneous-speaking rating, so crafty Suzy tailored her topic to her Harry Potter–loving peers.

“And that’s why owls don’t shit,” she concluded, beaming.

burgher
largesse
quire

Nymtoc · Jun 15, 2017

burgher
largesse
quire

Hans Hinckerdimmel was undeniably the most successful burgher in Grimmseldorf, and noticeably the most generous. Oft had he bestowed gifts upon the poor, who bowed and praised his largesse. But Friday last, Hans endeavored to sell a quire of vellum for thirty crowns, whilst it was worth but three.

stasis
rutabaga
jet

M.S. Wiggins · Jun 16, 2017

stasis
rutabaga
jet

This anonymous rutabaga-pie life had reached the end. Duty called. Though it had been a perfect state of domestic stasis, it was time for Leo to jet. His sleeper past divorced wedded bliss in predawn shadows and a monogrammed pillowcase of essentials. Perhaps rebellion left Leo’s DNA with the kids.

silence
port
echo

Ragtime · Jun 17, 2017

silence
port
echo

As my final echo led to silence, I stood there watching, thinking. And then the breeze picked up, and I, leaving the port, carried back with me the words I thought I'd shot into the sea. Again and again, they rattled my brain like a baby rattles a toy. "Remember me."

astronaut
sandwich
kit

Nymtoc · Jun 17, 2017

astronaut
sandwich
kit

She didn’t believe the guy was an astronaut. After all, why would an astronaut hang out in this dilapidated old bar? He came in, ordered a ham sandwich and a Bud and kept bragging about going to the moon. Everything he said was a lie, the whole kit and caboodle.

desert
harbinger
riddle

Banner · Jun 18, 2017

desert
harbinger
riddle

They finally solved the riddle that directed them to the middle of a desert. They had to dig through ancient ruins of some bygone civilization, but in the end they found a vault deep underground. It must have been hiding inside all those centuries -- that dreaded harbinger of Earth's destruction.

master
harbor
solidify

Mary Mitchell · Jun 19, 2017

master
harbor
solidify

The harbor master watched the giant dredger bucket rise from the mouth of the channel. It swung haltingly toward the barge, hovered momentarily, then tipped and began offloading its harvest of silt and debris. A brief image glimpsed amid the off-pour began to solidify in his mind. A human form.

formulate
mentor
washing

Nymtoc · Jun 19, 2017

formulate
mentor
washing

Ned knew people didn’t think much of washing windows as a career. So what? Ned was really a writer, and going from floor to floor and looking at people through windows, he was able to formulate cool story ideas. But he wasn’t good at plotting. Maybe he needed a mentor.

bean
cascade
detrimental

Mary Mitchell · Jun 22, 2017

bean
cascade
detrimental

She popped another chocolate covered coffee bean and swore she could feel the neurotransmitter buzz cascade through her brain. And her heart. That much caffeine had to be detrimental to one's health. But the taste--and the buzz--were so-o-o good. She could just about imagine tackling the vacuuming. Just about.

blatant
eagerly
solidify

Nymtoc · Jun 24, 2017

blatant
eagerly
solidify

Professor Gruffwinkel’s blatant attempts to get Marilu into bed were doomed to failure. Just because she had eagerly volunteered to help him with his comparison of Batman and Beowulf didn’t mean anything else. For her, this was an academic matter, intended to solidify her standing in the English Department. Period.

wretched
calumnify
raisins

M.S. Wiggins · Jun 25, 2017

Leakers still at it, trying to prevent passage of Legislative Bill for wretched healthcare. Nice! But we know who…#calumnify#witchhunt#covfefe#nocollusion#NINJUTSU.

“So what do you make of this tweet, Kendall Anchorman?”

“Good question, Jane Rando. Anonymous sources say plump raisins will float atop the soggy flakes in the weeks ahead. Stayed tuned.”

shame
grip
summit

Nymtoc · Jun 26, 2017

shame
grip
summit

He was at the summit of his career! His book was getting fantastic reviews! He finally had a grip on fame! But when he logged on that morning, he saw that experts claimed 80% of his book was plagiarized. How had they found out? He stared vacantly, filled with shame.

disreputable
finagle
bruise

M.S. Wiggins · Jun 26, 2017

disreputable
finagle
bruise

What defines plagiarism? Jacques pondered. Finagle glory through word-for-word thievery, of course! But what about the borrowing of ideas? Is this so disreputable? Is there a line between bruise and scar? A news-feed popped up on his laptop: NASA planning to livestream solar eclipse. Epiphany struck halfway down the article.

stoic
festoon
prick

Mary Mitchell · Jun 28, 2017

stoic
festoon
prick

Three year old Angela twirled in dizzy circles across the lawn, trailing a festoon of iridescent globes from her new bubble wand. Her mother wished she too could derive pleasure from something so simple. After what she'd discovered today, she had to be a stoic not to prick every one.

collapsing
ruin
delivered

Nymtoc · Jun 28, 2017

collapsing
ruin
delivered

Herbert was a dedicated employee. So when he was sent to deliver pizza to 8369 Bilzengranger Street, he got there fast. How could he know the house at that address was collapsing—a ruin, with nobody in sight. He left the pizza at what remained of a door. Pizza delivered.

strained
calculus
dill

Banner · Jul 2, 2017

Strained
Calculus
Dill

He was wondering why would the recipe have him put some dill into the weird soup, but he decided magic needed not make any sense. He looked right, towards his calculus learning material. His mind was already heavily strained. He was hoping the potion recipe he found online would help.

Avant-garde
Explosion
Inconspicuous

Mary Mitchell · Jul 2, 2017

Avant-garde
Explosion
Inconspicuous

He didn't expect to be inconspicuous, being so avant-garde. His marigold suit, grape shirt and lime green tie presented an explosion of color as he strode along the street. He expected to be watched. But one man watched more closely than others, then slipped from the shadowed doorway and followed.

extemporaneous
blatantly
surf

Nymtoc · Jul 3, 2017

extemporaneous
blatantly
surf

He stunk at extemporaneous speaking. Whenever he opened his mouth, his voice became a croak. But he swore he’d get it right this time. Standing on the beach, he raised his voice above the pounding surf and loosened up his vocal cords by blatantly shouting the foulest words he knew.

disrupt
forlorn
globule

Writing Challenge: 50 Words -- With a Twist

Benefactor Member

Go down road, go pub.

Benefactor Member

Go down road, go pub.

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ErinGlover

Go down road, go pub.

Benefactor Member

"The Moving Finger writes..."

Slightly nervous.

Benefactor Member

Go down road, go pub.

Benefactor Member

Go down road, go pub.

Benefactor Member

"The Moving Finger writes..."

Benefactor Member

"The Moving Finger writes..."

Go down road, go pub.

Benefactor Member

Go down road, go pub.

Benefactor Member