WQ149 - 12 Days of Christmas...3rd day...

It's the 3rd day of 12...the Iron Writer Quickie special is heating up.
Today is WQ149, but based on the 10th day of Christmas...10 Lords 'a' leaping? Well, looking at the elements, no such thing, BUT they suit my little story. So, here's the continuation! (see yesterday's post for Parts 1 and 2). 250 words, elements are guards, a fence and 'above the law'.
Here's the link to the website to see my story and others' work (it says WQ148 at the mo)...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-148-2/
And here's my Part 3 here...

Part 3

As the night passed and the morning began, a cool dawn wind blew as they moved by the outer hovels built by the poorest of their folk. Not one man showed signs of slowing the pace and so they made their way, over rough and high land to their quarry.

Some time later, they came upon a fence, taller than any of them, and which stretched as far as the eye could see in both directions. The first warrior stepped forwards and with his large machete, slashed a hole big enough for a man into the fence. One by one, they went through, only to be stopped by the sight of a squad of guards, twenty and four head, standing some distance away.

“You are trespassing on royal ground! Lay down your weapons and leave!” shouted one guard. Without a glance towards each other, all five men continued their march. “Halt! In the name of the Empress, I demand you to stop!” shouted the same guard, hand on his sword, at the ready. The five warriors continued their march without pause. The guards unsheathed their weapons and blocked the way. “In the name of the law, I demand you to halt!”

Feyle stepped forwards and sliced the man’s head off. The dead man’s comrades watched in horror as it fell to the ground. “We are above the law,” grimaced Feyle, and with that, his four fellow warriors tore through the crowd. Blood was spilt, limbs were lost, lives were taken.

Quickies 147+148 - 12 Days of Christmas!

It's that time of year again! The Iron Writer is doing "12 Days of Christmas" Quickies, meaning 12 days of 250 word stories with elements. This year they are loosely based on the original list...
The 12th day (WQ147) - 12 drummers drumming...one of the elements is "the drums of war"
The 11th day (WQ148) - 11 pipers piping...mmm, none of the elements matches that...oh well, maybe there'll be a partridge in a pear tree on the 1st day...
Here's the link to WQ147 on the Iron Writer site (so you can see the elements and other writers' work)
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-147/

And here are my first 2 days, I'm trying to write a connecting story, like 2 years ago with Brad Shaw's 12 Days of Christmas, and last years "Reasby Fen" Thanksgiving Challenge.

It feels like a first draft of a larger story...needs work and could be expanded...


Part 1 (WQ147)

The wet grey storm grew closer in the night, wind picking up and half a shutter banged continuously against the rock frame of the only window in the stone hut. Feyle knelt in front of the rudimentary shrine, hands heavy over his sword's guard, the scabbard resting on the cold floor.

"Soon the midnight hour will arrive and you must make your choice, Feyle," said his tormentor, Kristphen the Grim. The sound of a thousand blackbirds leaving their perch floated in with the last full gust of wind. "Your oath of loyalty, Feyle, that is what I seek." A wide grin was all Feyle could see from under Krisphen's hooded robes. Years fighting in these hellish lands, killing his enemies, watching his fellows die, and it came down to this, an oath. Wasn't his service evidence of loyalty? Why did he need to speak such worthless words, so empty of action, soulless, without meaning?

"Are not my actions but proof enough, Kristphen?" he asked, head down in prayer.

"Your actions are not what I require! I need your heart, your mind!" screamed Kristphen, his voice reaching over the storm.

A distant rhythmic sound of drums, the drums of war, entered the hut. Feyle could feel the other's wagging finger.

"And now there is no other choice, Feyle. It has begun, you must do your duty to all those whom you stand for," stated Kristphen. Feyle nodded. It was him and him alone who could bring this all to an end.

Part 2 (WQ148)

“You have your team to lead, Feyle, hand-picked and ready to go,” grinned Kristphen. Feyle gave another nod, wondering who had picked these unfortunate souls and for exactly what skills and attributes. What was this mission really for? Kristphen walked over to the shrine and lifted the holy book. “Your oath, Feyle.” He came over, the book open, and held it in front of Feyle’s face. With a sigh, the tired soldier of many hard-fought and bloody battles lifted his right hand and placed it on the open pages. He spoke the sacred oath of a warrior of the realm and let his hand fall back to his side.  “Thank you. Now, go, Feyle. Go do your duty. For your Emperor and his people.”

Bowing while standing, Feyle sheathed his sword and placed it into its grip on his waistbelt. Kristphen stood defiant, arms crossed as Feyle left the stone hut to be hit both by the storm outside and the constant sound of drums. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, he saw four silhouettes standing in the street facing him, the team of assassins he was to command, each man a master, each man a killer. He gestured them to follow him and they walked down the deserted streets as equals, shoulder to shoulder.

Feyle knew it was to be a mission of “trial by fire”, one that would test every man’s courage and strength, one of constant attrition and pain, one which may take them all.

WQ146 :-)

It's that time of the week again, the Iron Writer Weekend Quickie, where in 200 words the challenge is to make something of 3 elements...
Here is my take on the Iron Writer website...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-146
But here it is too :-)

The Iron Writer Weekend Quickie 146

Elements: Image of woman wearing glasses which allow you to watch TV in bed lying down, a stranger, an Emergency (200 words)

"So, how is it?" Joe asked as he put his coat up on the rack.

"It's great, I can see everything from a horizontal position. No need to mess around with pillows to get a good view and I can be relaxed at the same time. You can watch whatever you want and fall asleep without any worries of waking up with a bad neck," she said, lying on the bed and watching the large flat screen TV across the other side of the small flat.

"Yes, that's why I bought them, those glasses. The wonder is that they don't lose any definition through the 90 degree light deflection." He stood there and looked at her on the bed. "There was an emergency, I was called out. A big pile up on the highway and they were a doctor short. I was available. It's good to get out 'in the field' once in a while, keeps you on your toes. General practise just isn't the same, too many babies and OAPs."

"Super." She continued to watch the TV.

"So, erm, just the one question," said Joe.

"Yes?"

"Who the hell are you and how did you get into my flat?"

WQ145 + "Groundhog day"

I finally had a go at Iron Writer Weekend Quickie 145!
I love the movie "Groundhog Day", the whole concept, the 10,000 years of suffering and change to become selfless is amazing and Bill Murray is fantastic...in fact, I can't think of one single movie where he wasn't. Andie MacDowell on the other hand, I can see why she later went on to do adverts.
Children are slowly taking over...have you seen it? Of course, those in power are in control, but one day these spoilt children will rule the world...help us all...

Here is my WQ145 on the website...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-145-2/

But here it is... here...:-)

145 – image of a polluted, dried up/clear, green grass city, artifacts of antiquity, something from the film “Groundhog Day”

A taste of the future

The radio blared out "I Got you Babe" as his alarm clock hit 6 am.

"What the hell? Am I in 'Groundhog Day'?" moaned Steve, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Well at least that makes me Bill Murray. I wonder who my Andie MacDowell is? I hope she doesn't have curly hair."

He got out of bed and shuffled over to the closed curtains. With a defiant, swift movement, he opened them to his fantastic 14th floor view of the city, smog hanging over the buildings, dirt covering the streets, homeless begging for water.

"One day, I'll open these to find a city of life, the sun beaming down, the people laughing and smiling, and grass growing in every nook and cranny," he said, scratching his groin. "Then again, maybe not."

Moving into the kitchen-cum-dining room-cum-living room, he greeted his parents, two ancient artifacts of antiquity crunching through their morning muesli.

"Morning, son, are you gonna get that sorry arse of yours to do something today?" imitated Steve.

"You're a...!" said his father.

"Now, now, dad, you know you're not allowed to oppress me," smiled Steve. His mother whimpered as he stole her breakfast. "One call and that's it."

 

New Iron Writer Story Up! Votes! C137

Yes, I have a story up again in the Iron Writer Challenge 137.
The rules: 500 words, 4 elements, and 4 writers.
Unfortunately...
1. I can't tell you which story is mine as they're all anonymous;
2. Your vote only counts if there is a tie (equal votes) in the Iron Writer's own little official writer-to-writer voting system over in Wiggio.com. Changes. Another attempt at quality control. ...I'm losing that, by the way...
My story? It has no spelling mistakes and it keeps EXACTLY to the rules (see above). Plus it's the best...what? Modesty? Well, someone has to believe in my writing skills, if not myself then at least my fingers typing right now...
Please go over, read and vote!
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-137/

Decadent lives!

I read an Upworthy post "13 devastating photos to show your friend who doesn't believe in climate change"
(http://www.upworthy.com/13-devastating-photos-to-show-your-friend-who-doesnt-believe-in-climate-change)

 I believe that we are destroying our planet with our decadent way of life and sure, that’s fine, I’m all for images that help convince people that we should all do something about it…BUT…can those that need convincing of this fact connect to ANY image? No, they can't, the leap is too vast, leaving us ignorant of the significance.

And in conclusion, the writer states that the World leaders are being pressurised by YOU to create more eco-friendly policies. No. World leaders don’t care about climate change. They care about power and money. If there’s none of that in fixing our planet, it’s not going to happen. Full stop.

But these images? Did they convince you to stand up and do something or were your reactions closer to the words of a barbarian?

We can’t connect to these images, or any. They don’t hit us, they don’t touch our prosperous lives of running water, 24/7 electricity and wall to wall cable TV. We don’t understand that every time we have another coffee or play another round of Fallout or drive down the road that we are destroying our planet a little at a time. We cannot change our habits because the people around us do not change theirs and if we change, we will be seen as insane.

When climate change hits us on a personal level, as with anything, we will change. But unfortunately, it will be too late. You were a member of the richest part of our race, living and working in the most privileged part of our world, a world we are helped to destroy.

So what can we do? Accept our lives should be different. Change. A little every day. Maybe we’ll get lucky…