chelydra

Continuing my "I will then said the little red hen" (big black turtle) campaign... Rebooting the reboot...

Thanks again to all who entered the last reboot, which actually went pretty well, all things considered. We're starting fresh, skipping the grueling ritual of trying to convince a 2nd or 3rd or 4th choice writer. Some of you were definitely more brilliant than the winner, who won because after I'd commented that his entry should be required reading for most of the human race I couldn't very well not pick him.

Well, five years in the forum-crypt may not seem fresh to people under sixty-five, but let's pretend.

Here's the first assignment ever, recycled from the link in the last "winner"'s response—in which he not only dropped the torch but insisted the flame's gone out! So you can consider this a tribute (or a rebuke) to our founder & torch-snuffer.

If you jump to the end of

http://www.thinkdraw.com/forumPosts.php?topicId=202&s=0

it looks like ThinkWrite was ready for the grave then too (judging from the acrimonious nonsense filling the last page or two), but it went on anyway. So maybe that word list had enough life force to defy the Grim Reaper?

(Suggest you write new entries before you look over any of those first efforts.)

Here it is, from 31 March 2009:

Write anything... Anything at all.

Make it exactly 200 words. No more, no less.

It MUST (repeat MUST) include the following words:

Dolphin
Rascal
Aloof
Spear
White Toad
Random
Henceforth
Irresponsible
Toothache

mum23

In the interests of keeping ThinkWrite going... it's a worthy cause, after all!

............................


“What were you thinking, you little rascal?”

The boy clutched his plastic dolphin tightly and stared down at the incriminating puddle, his head spinning as he watched its apparently random path across the floor. Far off in the distance, he could hear his mother’s voice. Occasionally the pitch of her tirade would spear through the fogginess of his mind, but the words were beyond his grasp. He twiddled his loose tooth.

Exasperated, his mother picked up the empty bottle, simultaneously kicking away the cat, which was displaying an unhealthy interest in the spreading liquid. It yowled, then stalked off with that aloof manner which only cats can properly own.

“What’s going on?” The boy’s father walked in. He took in the scene; his son, the empty bottle of White Toad that was being waved accusingly in his direction, and his wife, who now vented her wrath on him.

“Look at him! This is your doing, you irresponsible fool! He copies everything you do! Last week, the hammer… now this! Henceforth, when you have a toothache, you ‘treat’ it well away from my son…”

“Muu-um,” a wavery little voice interrupted.

“Look!”

Triumphantly, he grinned his first gappy smile.

“It does work!”

marg

Aaahhh.. sorry, but this really was the ThinkWrite to end all thinkwrites, as far as I'm concerned.

The word list was awesome, the submissions were awesome - we even had pictures being done to back up the stories.

I was so excited about my 'toad' offering that I spent an entire evening composing it when I was supposed to be out on a social event, and grinned manically every time a verse fell into place.

I eventually forgave Qsilv for her blatant cheating, but for the benefit of everyone who wasn't around then, the winner (in my mind - I laughed for days after reading this) was Raych with the following tale:

I had just left my local pub, the White Toad, after yet another drinking session, and decided to be irresponsible and drive the car home, as I only lived around the corner. While driving home, in my state of slight intoxication, a random dolphin did appear in front of me, blocking my path on the road. I swerved to miss the dolphin and my car did spear straight into another oncoming vehicle. The other driver was clearly not impressed and rang the police to come and assess the situation.

Before long the police arrived, and asked me what I was doing that caused me to veer over to the other side of the road. I acted all aloof, and pretended I had no idea what they were inferring, and the rascal driver of the other car had crashed into me, causing me irreparable toothache in my lower jaw. Amazingly enough, the police did not believe this, nor did they believe the factual story about the random dolphin appearing in the road.

And as a result of this, I will henceforth be restricted to travelling to and from the White Toad on foot, at least until the driving ban is over!

ladyhwin

Hmmm... I ought to write a short story again. Let me finish Camp NanoWrimo and then I will do my best to get something written for here

cathyallheart

‘It all began with a toad,’ the letter went, ‘a white toad. I know you think that’s a random reason to run away, just wait. You’ll see. I had been sketching when the toad hopped up to me. I paid it no attention. Then the toad threw my earring into the pond. The gold one you had given me.
‘” Rascal!” I shouted, throwing my sketchbook down before wading into the pond. Then I was pushed in, the pond teleported me. I had always wondered what it would be like to teleport, never thought it’d give me a toothache. Luckily I did find my earring.
‘There was only two thrones, on one a cat, the other a dog, guards, the toad and me. “Don’t be so irresponsible son,” the cat scolded the toad. “Henceforth explain beforehand. To explain, this isn’t your world. We the royal family have been turned into animals.”
The toad interrupted “it’s a shame sister turned into a dolphin.”
‘“Anyways, you can help us, what is your answer?” the cat finished.
‘I eyed the spears of the seemingly aloof guards, before replying.”
‘So there you go, that’s why I’ll be gone. I will return when I can.’

Qsilv

Exactly 200 words (in order even!)
Dolphin
Rascal
Aloof
Spear
White Toad
Random
Henceforth
Irresponsible
Toothache



The 4th dolphin flew clean over the roof. I saw his eye …I swear it rolled downward as he took in the reality of his mates flopping frantically down below… and it rotated upward again to gaze forward… into his future.

That rascal knew! He KNEW! He could smooth out his body ‘til it was as aerodynamic as a hydroplane, equally at home in the saline waters of our bay, or the fog heavy air and huge, even wetter, lenticular cloud rising now above it, or, for all I knew (or cared at this point), our very stratosphere… and on out into infinite Space itself.

Maybe soaring on to the Pelican Nebula, appearing as aloof as that spear-wielding concrete White Toad our city fathers had used to crown the town library (along with a rather random assortment of other fabulous characters, meant, no doubt, to stimulate curiosity in small children who had reached the age of reading AND of looking up vs only downward at their treacherous feet and thus might henceforth be inclined to actually enter the establishment).
As for me, I was beginning to question my own wisdom in the just possibly irresponsible doubling of my toothache painkiller…..

(...forgive me, Rachel et al.... I was cruising the old message boards and.... er....... the Equinox moon got me?!)

<guilty twinkle>

.
.
.

chelydra

Melinda kinda missed her big ugly boyfriend. Shoulda been kinder, gentler.

Long lonely swim. Exhausting. Sun, salt, wind, waves always brung her back to life. Not this time. Eyes closed, carmine sunshine irradiated twitchy eyelids as she lay back in a tense, disgruntled backfloat.

Omigod!

Maximillian’s hamfisted touch on her bikinied butt. Sneaky bastard! Reflexively flipping over, lunging— two weeks training at the finest storefront academy of martial arts in Mastic Beach came rushing back from 2011, rippling through every muscle in her taut, trembling, electric body. This maneuver didn’t go quite according to plan—she was hugging him now, and he wasn’t Maximillian. He was a dolphin. Definitely a he. You rascal! she declared, then tried to recover her composure and seem aloof after realizing everyone on the beach was gazing at them. If only she had her scuba spear in hand, she’d dispatch him. (Like that puffballish white toad her mattock impaled. Oops! Random accident. Gardening ain't for the faint-hearted.) Henceforth, always carry a spear. Not to do so would be irresponsible. Where the #@!$%'s that dolphin? Gone. Like Maxi.

Sundown.

She felt that familiar faint tickle of a fresh toothache. Fourth this summer.

Shivering.

Need Coke.

Spare change?

chelydra

Greeting and salutations for Qsilv's timely rescue of ThinkWrite. I had totally forgotten posting this appeal in 2014. Not sure of how to proceed—maybe give it another five years to see what happens, and then we can make a group decision?

mum23

Distraught, Kayla watched the last captive killer whale as he languished at the bottom of his pool, making slow circuits, at random intervals, around his tiny domain. Usually a cheeky, playful rascal, his toothache was making him aloof and distant.

White Toad had been bestowed his ignominious name when he was first brought here. An unusually pale youngster, he’d been found hopelessly tangled in fishing nets, cut to shreds and close to death. Grieving and without guidance after an irresponsible fisherman’s spear had killed his mother, he’d been wandering aimlessly for weeks. Although orcas, the largest species of dolphin, were plentiful along this coastline, he was a transient; the resident packs wanted nothing to do with him. With Kayla’s care he’d recovered, and his intelligent good nature had made him a favourite with staff and visitors for twenty five years.

Attitudes were changing though. With greater awareness of these magnificent, highly social creatures, fewer people wanted to see them in aquariums. Henceforth, they would remain free to roam the oceans, where they lived more than sixty years. In captivity, most orcas died before thirty years of age, ostensibly of tooth decay.

Or maybe boredom.

Or loneliness.

Or a broken heart.

Billa

Really? I'm so touched, thank you. I look forward to seeing your creations!

chelydra

Hey Feebilla—
You're supposed to write a story or say how great other people's stories are, or both, when you're on the ThinkWrite page. If you just need to talk to yourself in public, you can have a whole thread for that, back and forth, knock yourself out! Just start a new topic and go for it.