Day 3: Bicep

Its Day 3 of the 31 Days Challenge for which I am using the prompts given by Writers Write to write short fiction each day of this month.
Today's prompt is 'Bicep' and dear google gave me two major results.

One is some Northern Ireland electronic duo band about which I have absolutely no idea.
Second is of course the upper part of the arm. If I were a fitness freak I would have probably written an essay about the exercises and all but, lets not get into that now. Sigh!

I put on my thinking hat and from it came this short story.

The Gym Talk

Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...

"Why is there so much noise? This place sounds like its raided by a mosquito swarm! Shut up everyone." the instructor shouted.

The students looked at each other and giggled.

"What's funny?" he wanted to know.

The students shook their heads and tried to look serious. It wouldn't help to annoy their short-tempered teacher, they knew it by experience. Though he weighed less than a milligram he was very fierce.

"You there.... Thin fellow, come here. I want you to try and hang from this using a single arm. It will strengthen biceps." he explained to the perplexed students. The 'stem' was nothing more than a thread that hung between two dried twigs.

The 'thin fellow' gulped and mumbled. "Can you show once sir, please?"

"Alright. Now watch me carefully." he replied and swung onto the thread. He hung there for few seconds when he lost his balance and had to fly away. The murmur among the students started again. 

Buzz... Buzz... 

"Quiet!" he roared and there was sudden silence. He gestured for them to start practicing and the students reluctantly flew towards the 'stem'. It was tough but they managed to do as he instructed. 

An hour later...

A few had snapped arms and a few ended with torn wings. The instructor finally left announcing that he was getting late for his party. The students heaved a sigh of relief even as they whimpered in pain. They promised never to come back again. The mosquitoes thought it was better to get killed by a human for sucking their blood than be killed while exercising! 

Hope you enjoyed reading this one. Keep visiting for more stories.

Day 2 : Elementary

Hello again friends!

Welcome to the day 2 of the 31 Days Challenge. The prompt for today is 'Elementary'. I am using the prompts given by Writers Write to write short fiction for each day of this month of October 2017.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read the word was Sherlock Holmes. I am totally obsessed with Holmes. ;) But how do I use it to write my fictional story? I haven't tried fan-fiction before so I need to write something else.

Okay! so elementary can also mean the elements of Nature in a border sense but that is more suited to poetry, I feel.

What else then? Elementary can be something basic or simple and fundamental. This sounds good, right? So its time to get the grey cells working. (I love Christie as well.)

Ant's Breakfast

Argh! Its dawn already . People think that because I am an ant I am ever active. They are wrong. I hate mornings. Well, I just hope I'll get my coffee or breakfast at least today. The human who lives with us is very strict and it is near impossible to do as we please as long as she's home; good that she has a job. 

But do you know what the problem is? The entire family follows me each time I go out. This is how we get spotted and killed. Sigh! I keep telling them to maintain distance but the eager ones don't listen, ever. 

Enough of my rants, time to get some food for the tummy. I an smell the sugar down here in the basement. Mouth watering! 

Golden rule: Always poke the head out before stepping to see if the path is clear. Never trust the humans. 
So it is clear and here I run all the way. Believe me, it is much safer to run than crawl. 

Uff! I... am... brreathhlesss... but I reached the kitchen counter. Now for the second stage I have to climb up! Why should these things be so high, why? 

Ahhh! I feel so dizzy. Let me rest for sometime here in this corner. The human is right there staring at that thing her hand. What do they call it? Yes, a smartphone. I heard that thing has a game in it where the humans kills us for fun. Yikes! Bad humans. 

Anyway, a few steps more... almost there.... I reached. The sugar tastes yummy. I am going to hide among the crystals in case the human decides to look at me. A few minutes more and I'll have to go back carrying some of it for my kids. They are too young to hunt for food on their own. Now do you understand how difficult it is for us ants to survive in this world?


Hope you enjoyed today's story. Keep visiting the blog for more. :)

P.S: I am posting Day 1 & 2 on the second day because my PC gave up on me after linking with the site.

Day1: Technical Terms

Today being the Day 1 of the 31 days challenge, the prompt given by the Writers write is "Technical Terms."

Now the best thing about the prompts are that we are totally free to interpret those the way we want. So technically, 'Technical Terms' could be used as a word or as a theme. Isn't that cool!

I gave it a thought and my mind took me to use it as a theme in a slightly different manner. To know more, continue reading.

The Photographer's Love

Dear Naina,
         
         Do you know that your name means 'eyes'. You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Eyes are natural cameras and your eyes are prettier than my DSLR. 

         I wish you would look at me with proper aperture, then you would understand that my focus never strays from you. Your beautiful expressions perfectly captured using the burst mode are my prize winning photographs. 

        Though I do not like the noise your curly hair sometimes generates in my pictures, I feel the bokeh will give it a lovely effect. Your beauty, my beautiful dear, will be totally enhanced irrespective of the exposure and ISO. 

        I sincerely hope you will realize that I love you as much as I love my camera and its lens. 

Awaiting your reply,
Camera artist.


Reply:

Mr. Camera artist,

       I happen to like the 'noise' my hair generates in the pictures and I suggest you not to try new effects to enhance my beauty. Also you might want to stay away from me if you do not want to become a bokeh yourself. If I find you lurking around again, I will break not just your hands but your lovely DSLR. 

Sincerely,
Naina. 


I hope you enjoyed today's story. More to come each day for the next 31 days. Thank you for reading.

Introduction Post- 31 Days Challenge 2017

Hello readers! I am Srivalli Rekha and I am from India. I am a writer, blogger, you-tuber. 

This is my first year doing the 31 days challenge and I am totally excited. After going through a good number of previous years' blogs, I was confused as to what topic to choose. This led me to search for ideas and then I found WritersWrite on twitter. 

As luck would have it, they shared a link to their site Writers Write which took me to the  October prompts where an image had prompts for all 31 days! Also they post prompts for each day separately. Its a double bonus and I could use either. Yay! :) 

Now the first step was taken, then what next? Do I write poems or musings or stories? As I went through the list, short fiction felt like a good idea. 

So for the next 31 days, I'd be writing or trying to write a short story using the day's prompt in 700 words or less. We'll just have to wait see how many I can get done by the end of the month. Fingers crossed. ;) 

Find below the links for each day of my 31 days challenge. I decided to name it, "31 Days of Prompts & Fiction." 

Good luck to all the others who are participating. :) 

Day 1: Technical Terms

Day 2: Elementary

Day 3: Bicep

Day 4: Kinds of People

Day 5: Intruder

Day 6: Favorite Chair

Day 7: Protagonist Avoids Limelight

Day 8: Train Ride Gone Bad

Day 9: Random Acts of Kindness

Day 10: Strange Handshake

Day 11: Thunderstorm

Day 12: Favorite Word

Day 13: Master Plan

Day 14: Missing a Person

Day 15: BREAK

Day 16: Visit to a Zoo

Day 17: Favorite Age (Forgot to publish the post, sigh!)

Day 18: Diwali Break

Day 19: Happy Diwali (Festival break)

Day 20: Being Followed

Day 21: About President 

Day 22: Antagonist

Day 23: Three View Points

Day 24: Friends Meet

Day 25: Couldn't Write

Day 26: Couldn't Write

Day 27: Couldn't Write

Day 28: Couldn't Write

Day 29: Couldn't Write

Day 30: Couldn't Write

Day 31: My Experience

Met you next year! 

Fragrant Star

The moon rose full,
not white but yellow!
against the sky so dark,
the blues were closer to black.

Tiny stars twinkled,
more delicate than ever,
their perfume a mild drug,
as they danced in the wind.

How beautiful they blinked,
a shapeless pattern of dots,
that winked and smiled at me,
urging me to trace a form.

Mesmerized, I drew along,
the fragrance my silent lullaby,
I hummed along as my finger outlined.
a giggle escaped my lips; the stars were night jasmine.


Painting Credit: Mrs Ratna Pochiraju

Drip.. Drop.. Drip..

Drip... Drip... Drip...
The raindrops tickled me;
soft as a feather,
light as a bubble,
reminding me to smile.

Drip... Drip... Drip...
Red umbrella came to my rescue,
when the rain-wrapped around,
not letting me go, as I stood
in the middle of nowhere.

Drip... Drip... Drip...
With grass green shirt,
sky blue skirt and
earthy brown boots,
I felt a part of nature.

Drip... Drip... Drip...
New music surrounded me;
rain drumming on the umbrella,
boots splashing the puddle,
laughter bubbling from my heart.

Drip... Drop... Drip...
Pitter... Patter... Pitter...
Splish... Splash... Splish...
Giggle... Laugh... Giggle...
The child in me is back again.


Painting by Mrs. Ratna Pochiraju