Happy Friday, Everyone!
Hurray!!! It’s time for another Short & Sweet! But first…
I have returned from The Pine Tree State where I still did not see a moose! I saw signs – “Moose Crossing”, “Watch for moose in roadway” and just plain
but although pretty much everyone else in the northern hemisphere has seen an actual moose, I still haven’t. Don’t get me wrong… I do not want to meet one in my car at 60 mph! I just want to see a real one looking serene in his or her natural surroundings 🙂 preferably alongside a cute baby moose 🙂
Anyway, onto business. The winner of the June pitch pick, whose pitch will go for a read by editor Erin Molta, is none other than the fabulous Lori with her pitch for These Little Piggies! Congratulations, Lori! And congratulations and thanks to all who bravely put forth their pitches – you are all winners in my book just for stepping up to the plate!
In other Would You Read It news, the vote for whether or not to keep the system the way it is was TOTALLY evenly split and indecisive! So now what? I don’t know. I’ll have to think on it. While I think, nothing will change. If anyone has thoughts or opinions, please share 🙂
Now then, are you ready? Let the fun begin!!!!!!!!
Today’s Short & Sweet will work best if you don’t peek 🙂 I’m not sure quite how to accomplish that on a blog post, so let’s go on the honor system – no scrolling down yet!
First, pick a number from 1-10. Got it? Write it down.
Now pick a number from 1-10 again and write that down.
Now do it again.
And now one last time.
(BTW, it’s okay of you pick the same number more than once. If you want to make it really random you can roll a pair of dice and just discard any 11s or 12s you roll, or take an ace-10 out of a deck of cards and randomly choose cards.)
Hopefully you now have 4 numbers between 1 and 10 written down (for example, I have 3, 7, 1, and 5)
Now, use your first number to select from this list:
- A pirate who likes to sing
- A little girl who doesn’t want to practice her violin
- A zookeeper with a lost animal
- A 5 year old girl with a rainbow umbrella
- A homeless child
- A boy whose father is a Navy SEAL
- A monster who is afraid of thunderstorms
- A disobedient robot
- A sailor who is far from home
- A six year old boy who can’t ride his two-wheeler
Use your second number to select from this list:
- a museum
- a national park
- a playground
- a big city
- a birthday party
- the porch of an old farmhouse
- an enchanted forest
- a fancy restaurant
- the moon
- Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Shop
Use your third number to select from this list:
- first day of school
- the Fourth of July
- during a thunderstorm
- in early autumn
- sitting down to breakfast
- bath time
- the first warm day of spring
- during church
- a winter evening
- after a fight
And use your last number to select from this list:
- something embarrassing has just happened
- someone feels like giving up
- someone has to keep a secret
- an important decision has to be made
- someone has lost something
- someone has found something
- someone’s pride has been injured
- something is where it shouldn’t be
- someone has been chosen for something
- something has made someone mad
You should now have a randomly selected character, setting, time, and situation/challenge – everything you need to prompt a story!
In the comments below, list the 4 you got and write 50-100 words of whatever story they suggest to you! Don’t agonize! Don’t over-think! We’re all among friends. Just write! All we’re doing here is priming the pump. If all you can squeeze out is 50 rusty words, that’s fine! You wrote 50 words in the middle of your hectic, busy day! But maybe, just maybe, 25-50 more will trickle out a little less rusty, and maybe after you’ve written your 50-100 here you’ll find you’ve got a gush of clear water rushing forth and a whole new story will well up and land on your list of accomplishments for today!
Oh, and if you find it’s too hard to include all 4, it’s okay to just use 1, 2, or 3 of the prompts you picked – the exercise is just to get ideas and words flowing 🙂
Here’s my example in case you don’t quite get it:
The numbers I chose were 3, 7, 1, 5, so I get
P.S. For anyone who’s just finding Summer Short & Sweets, full info is on that link or above in the tab 🙂
Susanna Leonard Hill 
“Just go in and act like you belong there,” his mother pressed. So, here he sat at 4:45 on a snowy afternoon, the wind howling outside. There weren't many parents and the birthday child, Alec it said on the cake, didn't look at Leander any differently than he did at any of the other kids. So Leander, though very nervous, sat at the table with a silver birthday hat on his head and a plate of food in front of him. Pigs in a blanket! Ants on a log! Strawberries dipped in chocolate! He had been three days without food and as his mom announced often, Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I love your zoo. This was a great exercise. You are so good at this. How were your school visits? I hope you had a great time.
I love your zoo. This was a great exercise. You are so good at this. How were your school visits? I hope you had a great time.
What a great and imaginative opening, Kimberley! I'm guessing you got “homeless child” and “birthday party” and maybe “winter evening”. I love this! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Kimberley 🙂 I'm so glad you're enjoying the Short & Sweets! College visits were good – he liked all the schools, and he likes Maine. We drove right past your exit – I wish we'd had time to stop and say hi!
Kimberley Moran wrote, in response to Kimberley Moran:
I love your zoo. This was a great exercise. You are so good at this. How were your school visits? I hope you had a great time.
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This looks super fun! I'm on my way up north for a family vacation (reading this on my Kindle) so I won't be able to participate this week. But I love this idea! I'll tuck it away for future reference.
Glad you like it, Kim! And the only time limit is the end of Summer Short & Sweets. You can put an entry on this post when you get back if you want to 🙂 Have a GREAT vacation!
Okay. I have my numbers, and I'm coming back to finish this in a minute, but I want to tell you my theory: I believe that they put those watch for moose signs all over Maine just to increase tourism. I have been to Maine more times than I can count. I have never seen a moose, and I keep going back! See? Genius, really.
✿Lynn
Inside this Book
I think you're on to something, Lynn 🙂
Susanna! What a great idea for a blog series! You have made it so easy and fun for us to practice all our skills! It's not quite 6:00 my time and the coffee has yet to pump through my veins, so I will be back! Just wanted to let you know I think this is just wonderful! 🙂
Character #6 – a boy whose father is a Navy SEAL
Setting #3 – a playground
Time #9 – a winter evening
Situation #1 – something embarrassing has just happened
My dad’s a Navy SEAL. Sounds cool, right? And it is, I guess. But the thing is; he’s not home much. It’s just me and my mom. Don't get me wrong, she's okay. For a mom. I mean, she feeds me and stuff and gets me to go to school (not always easy, I admit!). But there are times…
Like last night when I was hanging out with my friends on the playground. We were piling up the snow in front of the swings and then taking turns diving into it – I mean, how cool is that?! Then here comes my mom – embarrassing me as always! “Francisco! It’s time for dinner, sweetie! Tell your little friends goodnight! Come on, baby!” Like I’m a puppy dog or something…
_____________
Boy that was hard! Limiting my words was the hardest part, but I did it!
I'm so glad you're excited, Elizabeth! I can't wait for your join in! 🙂
Not true. I live in Maine and have seen about 10 Moose in my time. My friend drove into one with her van just last week.
This is GREAT, Lynn! I love it! And I didn't mean to limit your words – you can go on as long as you want! I just didn't want people to feel intimidated by having to write too much – that was why I said 50-100 – just a beginning. You'll notice mine was well over! 🙂
My first attempt was at 250, and I wasn't even to the embarrassing part! LOL I like the limit; keeps me focused!
OUCH!
Kimberley Moran wrote, in response to Lynn (unregistered):
Not true. I live in Maine and have seen about 10 Moose in my time. My friend drove into one with her van just last week.
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Susanna, I'm so excited about winning the pitch pick! What happens next?
A couple of years ago, I was in Alaska and we were taking a walk and saw a moose standing on the side of the road. I took a picture of him but forgot to turn off my flash and he got really mad! We slowly backed up and then we ran back to our rental house! Sorry you didn't get to see one.
I love your zoo story and this week's short and sweet challenge. I'll come back and post mine when it's done.
Thanks so much for the pitch pick!!
🙂 You'd never guess it to read my posts, but I too have a tendency toward verbosity 🙂 Limits help!
Lynn (unregistered) wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:
My first attempt was at 250, and I wasn't even to the embarrassing part! LOL I like the limit; keeps me focused!
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I've heard moose can be fierce! Glad you got safely back to your house 🙂 As far as the pitch pick, your pitch is on it's way to Erin. She will email you with her comment, and if it's okay, I will share with the blog group so they can learn too. Looking forward to your Short and Sweet!
I have all nines.
A sailor who is far from home
the moon
a winter evening
someone has been chosen for something
I will get back to you with my story (I'm going to write it and post it later 🙂 ).
I haven't been getting an email saying you put a post up. Should I re-subscribe?
Ooh, great choices for a story – I'll look forward to what you come up with! And I don't know what's up with my email notifications. No one is getting them and I can't figure out why! I am not on speaking terms with Blogger right now. Maybe if you want to try resubscribing we could see if it works. If it works for you I could try to get everyone to do that… but I just don't know why it suddenly quit….
I love today story starter idea, very cool. BTW love your excerpt, can you please make a full pb of it so I can read it??
Here is what I got:
Monster who is afraid of thunderstorms
National Park
Early Autumn
Someone who has found something.
Will reply back later with the story.
Oh my goodness, how fun was that? I am pasting this whole exercise into my Short and Sweet file to come back to again. I love what I came up with my numbers 7-3-6-1:
Character: Monster afraid of thunderstorms
Setting: Playground
Time: Bath time
Situation: An embarrassing thing just happened
And here are my first 56 words, written in five minutes with no thinking involved. HA!
*****
It was a dark and stormy afternoon, and Muggles could not be coaxed out from under the slide at the playground.
The thunder made his chins quiver. The lightning made his five arms shiver. And worst of all…
…the rain had made his undies soggy, soggy, soggy so they
drooped
drooped
drooped
down around his claws.
*****
Thanks, Susanna!
What an amazing writing exercise…you know, Susanna, you are providing us with something people pay lots of money for…not that I'm complaining. 🙂 I'll be back after work to post my entry…I picked 3, 5, 7, 9. Can't wait to read all of the comments!
Susanna, this was so much fun – thanks! I'm going to do the same as Renee and save the whole list for future stories! I pasted my story below – it's 145 words – I tried but I couldn't do it under 100! I chose my birth year 1957 (I'm so old!).
1 – A pirate who likes to sing
9 – The moon
5 – Sitting down to breakfast
7 – Someone’s pride has been injured
There once was a pirate who sailed on the sea,
And secretly wished he could join the show Glee.
He longed to meet Rachel, Mercedes and Quinn,
To sing with Santana and Artie and Finn.
He said, to himself, with a hearty Yo-ho,
“By hook or by crook I will get on that show!”
He sat down to breakfast and charted his route,
Then sailed to LA – with nary a doubt.
He practiced his songs by the light of the moon,
And saw, by the stars, he’d reach Hollywood soon.
He followed his map on his Glee expedition
Then burst through the gates to perform his audition.
He sang about jewels and parrots and gold,
But he was rejected, “You’re simply too old!”
Although he was hurt that they told him to “stuff it”,
He sailed off in search of the great Jimmy Buffet!
This is GREAT, Lori! So much fun! And I am totally impressed that you managed an entire story in under 150 words. You are my hero 🙂
I love this excercise. Here is my contribution. http://randylindsay.blogspot.com/2012/07/scaredy-monster.html
I'm SO glad you're enjoying it, Vivian! I think it's totally fun 🙂 Can't wait to see what you come up with for 3, 5, 7, 9!
So glad you found the exercise worthy enough to save, Renee, and I LOVE your entry! And I also love that you just wrote it – as I intended. Lots of other people are going off into their little corners to create perfection – which is fine! – but more time-consuming than I intended for a Short & Sweet 🙂
So glad you like it, Darshana! I'm having a surprising amount of fun with all this – I hope everyone else is too 🙂 Can't wait to see your entry later!!!!!!! (Funny that you ended up with monsters and a park when you have already written a monsters in the park story!)
Good one, Randy! Thanks for joining in!
Aw, thanks Susanna!! I was just posting about this on my blog and I realized the moon was supposed to be the setting, not just used in the story – so I guess I officially cheated!! Plus, I went over in the word count – apparently, I'm not very good at following directions!
You did great, Lori! Everything is just suggestions to get you started – no real requirements – and the word count was low so it wouldn't be intimidating but you can write as much as you want! It was pretty loose and open-ended 🙂
Ldegman wrote, in response to Susanna Leonard Hill:
Aw, thanks Susanna!! I was just posting about this on my blog and I realized the moon was supposed to be the setting, not just used in the story – so I guess I officially cheated!! Plus, I went over in the word count – apparently, I'm not very good at following directions!
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What a great post and a fun fun idea! Thanks Susanna!
So glad you like it, Cheryl! i hope you'll be back in a few minutes with an inspired/inspiring entry 🙂
Excellent! Here is my 115 word entry written while watching Dr. Who. I ended up with the playground as a secondary setting, but I ran with it 🙂
Character: A monster who is afraid of thunderstorms
Setting: A playground
Time: Bath time
Situation: Someone who has lost something
“I can't take a bath without my rubber snake!” cried Fergus. He stood in the middle of his room, fat tears dripping down his multicolored fur.
“We've looked everywhere”, his mum said, pointing at the scattered toys and emptied drawers. “Take a deep breath and try to remember the last place you had it.”
Fergus crinkled his brows.
“I remember! I left it at the playground!” He skipped around his room, dodging several blocks, a stuffed griffin and a few mismatched socks.
Then he looked out the window at the large, black clouds rumbling in the sky. His ears drooped and his knees trembled. A thunderstorm was brewing and his snake needed to be rescued.
Ooh, I love it! Poor Fergus! What a predicament! I can totally imagine the pictures 🙂 Thanks for joining in, Heather!
Fun! I'm just going to do mine quickly…you said we are among friends!
I picked 7 all the way through.
A monster who was afraid of thunderstorms
An enchanted forest
The first warm day of spring
Someone who’s pride has been injured
So here are my 78 words.
Mons hung his head as his friends filed out. Each of them had stayed put…under their beds clawing and growling.
Not Mons. One flash of lightning and he was clawing and growling his way out.
Now they would get to draw from the Bed Assignment Jar.
Not Mons. He would have to draw from the Monster's Worst Nightmare Jar.
He reached in one hairy fist.
“NO!”
One whole day of sunshine, flowers, and fairies in The Enchanted Forest.
What fun! 136 words, I think 🙂
Character: Zookeeper with a lost animal
Setting: Birthday party
Time: The first warm day of spring
Situation: Someone has been chosen for something
“3, 2, 1…ready or not, here I come!” Seven-year old Becky whirled around, her eyes darting in all directions, the ribbons on her party hat fluttering wildly, just like the flowering cherry tree branches in the warm spring breeze. Becky loved animals more than anything and celebrating her birthday at the Washington Park Zoo had seemed like a wonderful idea. Hide and Seek was a great game…but she wasn’t happy about been chosen as the seeker…and how was she going to find her eleven friends who had probably each discovered a super hiding place. Becky heard a noise and turned. It was the zookeeper and he was placing a tiny baby tiger in a big pouch that was slung over his shoulder. “Little girl!” exclaimed the zookeeper. “A dozen baby tigers escaped from their cage…I’ve found one… will you please help me find the other eleven?”
As the story unfolds, each little girl will find a baby tiger in the hiding place she has chosen…so Becky and the zookeeper will find the tigers as they discover each girl’s hiding place.
Oops, forgot to post my story earlier. Here is: Scaredy Monster
Petey jumped as the first growls of thunder rolled past him. Wasn’t it bad enough that he was lost in the stupid enchanted forest? Now the Spring rains were going to dump cold water on him just as the weather had gotten warm and comfortable.
Thunder exploded in the sky above.
Boy, he hated thunder. He hated it more than being teased. Now he wished he hadn’t run away from home.
Petey sat down under a big oak tree and started to cry.
Then he heard a different sort of thunder from the forest. The sound of falling trees . . . getting closer . . . and closer. Until the two trees in front of him were torn from the ground and tossed aside.
There stood his mother. Big. Green. Warty. And so beautiful.
“Petey,” she said in a voice louder than a freight train. “I was so worried about you. Who knows what you might have run into in this forest? Maybe even humans!”
Petey ran to his mother and wrapped his arms around her. Compared to humans, putting up with his sister didn’t seem so bad.
OK, pinkie promise that we ARE among friends here, or I am not posting! I came in at 155 and it is completely unpolished!!
I took all 3's
Character: a zookeeper with a lost animal
Setting: a playground
Time: during a thunderstorm
Situation: someone has to keep a secret
Zed, the zookeeper, checked lost and found,
but they had seen nothing, nor heard a sound.
Zed feared the worst, the penguin had fled!
He grabbed his ole bike from behind the shed.
Down to the village, his legs pumping hard –
raindrops; kids playing ; a busy school yard.
To make matters worse, the heavens grew dark.
Enough rain was pouring to launch Noah’s ark!
The kids dashed inside; Zed followed them in.
The storm lashed the building, creating a din.
The principal raised her voice to be heard.
Had anyone seen a black and white bird?
Jenny slunk forward; a silence then fell.
She whispered that she had a secret to tell.
The penguin had wanted to play in the rain.
So she joined him in his polar play game.
But when he heard lightning, he hid in swish.
He was in the canteen eating cans of school fish!
This is GREAT, Joanna! Tons of fun! And very impressive for off the top of your head and totally unpolished – looks pretty good to me 🙂
Wonderful, Randy! I'm so impressed by how creative everyone is! 🙂 Lots of people ended up with monsters, but all the stories are different!
Love it, Vivian! So fun! Thanks for joining in. I hope they find all the baby tigers 🙂
I love this, Penny! I can totally picture it and I can envision a picture book growing out of this! Thanks for joining the fun! 🙂
I love it! Here is my short and sweet.
5 A homeless child
3 a playground
4 in early autumn
7 someone’s pride has been injured
Mamma always told me not to accept gifts from strangers, but I’m afraid of winter. I may be only ten years old but I know enough to know that soon winter is coming. It always does follow fall. Now the nights are starting to get cold and I know they are going to get colder soon. It’s almost easy not to think about my hungry stomach and my dirty hair here on the playground. I see the other kids and their mothers sitting close by. I have half a mind to go up to the one over there that looks so nice and ask her to take care of me, too. She’s the mother of Kesia over on the swings. Kesia is dressed nice and has fallen once or twice I could offer to help take care of her. But no, mama told me to be proud and not ask for anything. So I won’t.
It was 155 words so I went over. It was so much fun I couldn't stop writing! I think I'll go back and write some more! 🙂
I Just read the other entries and comments. This is such a creative bunch of authors! I am so amazed with the high quality stories and imagination shown here. You all are the best!
Susanna, I just found this post in this mornings email box. Saturday's not yesterdays or Fridays box. Actually I am glad because I have time to do this today and wouldn't have yesterday. Thanks so much for this fun game. 🙂
I'm amazed by how talented many of these writers are. They can all whip up a great story under a short period of time. And yes, it's rusty…very rusty. I stretch of a story, I may add. I randomly picked 3,3,5,10:
Character: Zookeeper with a lost animal
Setting: Playground
Time: sitting down to breakfast
Challenge: Something has made someone mad.
“Bella!” cried Carl. He stared at the empty playground. It was Bella's favorite hangout. He thought he'd find her at the monkey bars. But all he found were a trail of banana muffins- Bella's favorite breakfast treat, now soaked from the morning dew.
Suddenly, Carl fumed. “This is not a case of a missing monkey anymore. This is a crime!” Bella, the balloon blowing monkey, had been stolen.
Hi Clar! So glad you stopped by to join the fun! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. I'm glad you feel like keeping on writing – that was the hope! – that the prompt would inspire you 🙂
I know. My notifications have been messed up all week! I'm glad you enjoyed this, and if you want, you can go back to last week's Short & Sweet and do that one too 🙂 I agree – everyone is so creative and talented!