Road to Russia...

is the name of the piece by Barrage that we used for our writing prompt on Wednesday. For some reason, I can't find a link to it anywhere. Let's see if these writing samples give you a feel for the music.

by Angela

The girl put the headscarf down on her forehead to obscure her eyes. In the unfamiliar trousers she felt uncomfortable, different, but she stove to act nonchalant.

The marketplace was teeming with livestock and people. She crushed herself between two fat merchants and slipped several oranges into her scrip before anyone noticed.

"Boy!" someone shouted, but she was off, dodging between men and slaves, thrusting her tiny form into cracks in the crowd as a mouse. Someone might follow...

She dashed into the next street, the Nimandra Rua, where shirtless men sparred with blunt wooden swords, past the men's chorus shouting on the corner, and through a small, dark doorway in the wall.

"I have food!" she announced.

by David

The music again. No please not the music. Strident. Chilling. How have things come to this. I can't even think back far enough to life before. Before they came. Before I ended up here.

And yet the violin plays on... The bell no longer tolls. The piper no longer plays but the violin calls...

by Karen

(First makes me think of "Fiddler on the Roof," frantic and rapid violin - also of movie "Young Sherlock Holmes" music)

Most of all I think of a Civil War battlefield, of men of foot charging in the face of near-certain death, of men dashing at one another, so close their musket tips almost touch, of men rushing onto one another's sabers.

When the tempo increases, the battle grows more and more fierce, me falling badly wounded, men dying face down in muddy ditches, men dropping in lines, still in formation.

Horses being spurred forward, being shot out from under them, horses piled by the dozens on the battlefield - easier to shoot the men riding them, horses screaming their pain.

At the most frantic moment, the battle ends, so many dead they won't even be counted, only put into a mass grave by the hundreds.

by me

Playing with fire. She knew she was, but didn't care. The warnings were, to be honest, a spur. Getting out of the house was the trickiest part, but she remembered the one squeaky stair and skipped it. Her heart raced in the freezing moonlight. She could hear the voices carrying in the night, and felt her house looming behind her as she set off down the forest path.

She stopped just inside the ring of light cast by the dancing fire and looked at the white faces and bare chests around her.

Could you begin to hear the music in your head? Karen is in charge of writing prompts next month, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with.
In other news, the theme for May is night time. In the next day or two, I'll be posting April's last Cinquentas, if you'd like to submit one, I'll post it as long as I get it by tomorrow. For May, I'll publish haiku, so start sending them to me!
Thanks, and have a great weekend, everyone!
Jessica

Another Cinquenta!

Here's one from our friend Ginny:
The Thlothians

The Thlothians are personable enough, and their language was easy to learn. They have three fingers on each hand and it looks peculiar to me. On their spacecraft they looked appropriate enough, but when they helped me with my ship, I realized why they have problems: they can’t hold pliers.

Just a reminder: The next meeting of LFWG is this Wednesday at the Beaumont Branch. I hope to see you all there. Body parts are still the theme for April, and please be thinking about themes for next month. Thanks!

Are they Still Updates if they are Over a Week Old?

I had to (sadly) miss the last LFWG meeting, my daughter was in rehearsals for a musical. I missed a fun writing prompt, a new person showed up, AND the theme for the month is body parts.

Angela played a piece of music by Karl Jenkins, and everyone wrote. I'm so sad I missed this. Since Angela is the only one who wanted her piece shared on the blog (YAY Angela!), here it is:

Thunderstorms. That's the problem with the Summer Solstice - you can't trust the weather. Kenaty remembered last year, just scattered showers sending the younger apprentices running for cover, but this year the lightning forked and thunder cracked, and water poured from the low, heavy, dark sky.

Only "experienced Technicians were allowed to fly, of course, in a storm. Kenaty slipped quietly close to the Senior House-Wizards and overheard their discussion - call off the races entirely? Postpone them til the morrow - but even Kenaty knew that was silly. So they decided to fly in a thunderstorm, restricting the list to experienced Technicians. And Kenaty, less than a year out from his Secondary Examination, not yet sixteen, drew his grey cloak close, covering his crisp, black curls with the hood. "Kenatis Technician," he spoke, assuming the court accents he had practiced, "of Boverim" - the opposite side of the Kingdom from his homeland. "Twelve years as Senior to Baron-mumble."

Soon after the starter's shout his carpet was already soaked, but he kept is steady, not flinching at the flashing and booming all around him...

Also this month, I opened the blog to submissions of Cinquentas, or 50 word fiction. This submission is from David (the new person I mentioned at the top of this post). He gets extra points for writing on the theme of the month!

Holding On to Tiny Hands

Abigail began to tire:  her energy depleted, the children gone.   The sun had not been seen since the firestorm.  The winter winds tore at flesh.  Daniel spurred her on.  They were down to their last bottle of water and it was almost gone…and only five finger-sized pieces of meat remained.

Here's my cinquenta.

 

Forgettable, but something wandered from her eyes and poked me hard in the chest. It's amazing what you will give when someone wants nothing from you at all. You can gaze back, wanting, and know that cold finger was not meant for you, but already it is far too late.

I'm still taking submissions for this month. Cinquentas only, if you please. The next meeting of LFWG is April 20th at noon. See you there!