Next Chapter. It’s a 6.

You hear a noise in the back of your head, volume steadily increasing; realizing it’s the alarm clock on your phone, your arm stretches reflexively towards the offending sound.

“Holy crap!” No one’s late to school this day, today is reserved for “Pomp and Circumstance” as you and 599 of your fellow students fill the high school’s football stadium to celebrate completion of the last 4 years of high school.

As Alexa lets loose 80’s metal in the kitchen, you round the corner from the dining room to see your dad put the finishing touches on a stack of pancakes while Sebastian Bach sings about “18 and Life”, and you think, “damn, I’m 18; I’ve got the rest of my life to….”. Then it hits you, sucker punch to the gut, “holy shit, I don’t know what that is.”

You look at your parents bustling around, dad in the kitchen, mom upstairs helping your little sister get ready, your older brother back from college for the summer, just coming in the house after walking the dog.

You feel a palpable energy you know instinctively lead to this day; you feel it like the pressure on a jack in the box lid, right before it busts open.

It’s Thursday’s Six Sentence Story Link Up!

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge and another edition of Six Sentence Stories!
Huh. “Edition”. Is this still a relevant term? Newspapers and magazines, journals, periodicals. They still exist, just not in the numbers they once did. And that? Irrelevant at the Six Sentence Story Blog Hop because every week, we write more than sufficient Six Sentence Stories to keep our presses running. In fact, you might say the presses at Six Sentence Stories are never idle. You. Me. We’re writers for goodness sakes! Each week, without fail, we take the prompt word provided on Sunday and weave the requisite 6 sentences into a flash fiction piece, epic tale, next installment from our current serial/wip, splattering of soc or on occasion, a slice o’ poetry pie. No subscription necessary, simply write a Six Sentence Story using this week’s prompt word, link it beginning this evening, then step back as we let loose our creative selves on the world.

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link the URL to your post via the blue “Click here to enter” button below.
Link is live Wednesday 6:00 PM, ends way late Saturday night!
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 😀

PROMPT WORD:  BOX

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef“Yes, sometimes I think that all my writing is nothing more than the compensatory work of a frustrated painter.” – J. G. Ballard

Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt!

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge and Sunday’s prompt word reveal for Six Sentence Stories!
What can we say of the written word? That it is necessary, an amazing vehicle, potentially life changing? That it educates, entertains, transports? That it has potential to open endless doors and windows? Sure. This blog hop, Six Sentence Stories. It is both venue and tradition. An opportunity to share our words of fiction, poetry, works in progress (large and small). A place to play and enjoy the company of other writers. It is opportunity to improve our writing skills, learn from other writers. In short, a community embracing the written word in all it’s serious, outrageous, funny, informative, mysterious and comforting ways. All that is asked of you? Write a piece in exactly 6 sentences. No more than 6. No less than 6. How difficult can that be? Why don’t you find out for your own selves. This week, beginning Thursday, is another opportunity to put ourselves out there for the world to read. Will we be reading you?

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link up at Wednesday’s post. Link goes live at 6:00 pm through Saturday late…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 😀

PROMPT WORD:  BOX

“Given that external reality is a fiction, the writer’s role is almost superfluous. He does not need to invent the fiction because it is already there.” – J. G. Ballard

Inside a Square Circle. It’s a 6.

“You, ah… you got me a turtle for my birthday?”

Staring into my husband’s eyes, I was hopeful I’d see a hint of amusement, followed by a flash of nostalgia. Instead, he looked befuddled.

“Not just any turtle, babe, it’s a yellow belly slider.” Anticipating his face to transform into an enormous smile as the memory of our 3rd date came flooding back, I saw instead, a look shouting, “ok, but where’s my real gift“.

Time for some, marches on; for others, it remains fluid.

It’s Thursday’s Six Sentence Story Link Up!

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge and another edition of Six Sentence Stories!
Hold on a sec….wiping the sleep out of my eyes. Is this true? The calendar shows today’s date as May 31st. Who turned the Life ‘o Meter to maximum speed? If today is the 31st, then tomorrow is June 1st, the date the Six Sentence Story Blog Hop officially opens. The first day of the 6th month of the year. Don’t know why I find it kinda cool the hop opens on the first day of the month. Hold on a sec…yeah, I do. It’s because the month opens with a Six Sentence Story. What better way to begin it than by writing a piece of flash fiction, a fragment of poetry or, full next scene from an ongoing wip in the genre of your choice. Write it in precisely 6 sentences and you’ve got yourself a ticket to the most enjoyable block party this side of everywhere. Bring yourself, 6 sentences, a friend (imaginary, optional) and join us for 3+ days of entertainment, social engagement and instruction. New day, new week, new hop… the doors to creativity just opened wider.

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link the URL to your post via the blue “Click here to enter” button below.
Link is live Wednesday 6:00 PM, ends way late Saturday night!
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 😀

PROMPT WORD:  YELLOWBELLY

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef“I don’t write out of fear. I write out of a strong urge to meet death on its own eternal terms, because the fact is that if you write as little as a page of prose-even bad prose-that is eternal.” – Anthony Burgess

Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt!

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge and Sunday’s prompt word reveal for Six Sentence Stories!
Good morning, afternoon, evening everyone. I hope your weekend has been going well.  As I wrote in last Thursday’s post we have prompt words for weeks to come! It was fun gathering all your suggestions, setting them down in their very own word doc for future dispensation, musing about what stories are already in the making. That’s what writing is about, isn’t it? Enjoying ourselves as we express our creative selves. Perhaps not always the case, at least initially, as we undertake our first drafts, but the opportunity is never not present. Hold on a minute – “fun” is probably not the proper word to express the feeling I want to convey. And that! my friends is the challenge every time we “pick up the pen”. To write in such a way as to have an emotional effect on another person. When we’re successful? There is no better feeling. Without further ado, may I present for your writing pleasure, the first of our writer participation prompt words for this Thursday’s Six Sentence Story Blog Hop. Write 6 and exactly 6 sentences of story, poetry, the next installment of your serial or the every surprising, never disappointing soc. Thank you, Ms. Liz. *sound of applause*.

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link up at Wednesday’s post. Link goes live at 6:00 pm through Saturday late…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 😀

PROMPT WORD:  YELLOWBELLY

“The role of a writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say.”
– Anaïs Nin

Round Trip for One. It’s a Café 6.

A link refresher, yet the question lingers, “have we seen the last of Roberto?”

It was dark… I’d been drinking vodka for hours; the when and how I got here, yeah, well that’s a little fuzzy. Put it down to body memory, luck and a cabbie who turned out to be a regular at the Six Sentence Café & Bistro, “hey! I know you!” you’re the BarTender at the Cafe!”  “No buddy, you don’t, but get me to the Café and you got free beer on the house for a month”. 

I slid off the bar stool and made my way down the narrow hallway to my left, the Manager’s Office, my destination; “it’s 3 am”, I must be lonely”, Rob, and quietly chuckled to myself.

Falling onto the couch, the office began to spin like my favorite carousel so I gave in, closing my eyes and allowed my thoughts free reign, inebriated as they were; I said a prayer that not all of them would be waiting for me when I awakened…

Roberto and I met three times since the night of the Poetry Slam at the Six Sentence Café & Bistro and managed to assemble pieces of the puzzle that was Emilio’s “death” 20 years earlier; still incomplete, it was a picture of conflicts with his family and mine upon my return to the states.

Arguably worse than survivor’s guilt, I’d felt the remorse of a person led to believe they’d been responsible for the violent death of the man they loved.

It’s Thursday’s Six Sentence Story Link Up!

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge and another edition of Six Sentence Stories!
How fun was Sunday?! If you didn’t have opportunity to stop in this past weekend, I put out a call for prompt words. Did we get any? Oh, yeah, we did! Thank you, Liz for getting the ball rolling with not one, not two but 6 (purely coincidental, right Liz?, lol) suggested prompt words. She was followed by Tom who brought us 3 more and just when we thought there would be no more, here comes Pankaj with 5 suggested prompt words. Stuffing the box with all the new prompt words, who slips in towards the end of the day but none other than Nancy. Yo, Nancy! Thank you for closing out the day with 4 more suggested prompt words! Writer participation. Who doesn’t love it? What a writing community’s about, yes? And that’s what we have here. A talented, ever growing writing community who participates in this blog hop known as Six Sentence Stories. What say you join us this week by linking a story, piece of poetry, slice of soc or your most recent chapter from your ongoing serial in precisely 6 sentences. Prompt word + 6 sentences = challenge, adventure and surprise. Thank you. You are what makes the magic happen.

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link the URL to your post via the blue “Click here to enter” button below.
Link is live Wednesday 6:00 PM, ends way late Saturday night!
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 😀

PROMPT WORD:  CAROUSEL

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef“Reality is just a point of view.” – Philip K. Dick

Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt!

Welcome to GirlieOnTheEdge and Sunday’s prompt word reveal for Six Sentence Stories!
No more procrastination. I’m feeling we are past due for requesting your suggestions for the next round of prompt words. What do you say? If you have a particular prompt word we’ve never used before or even a prompt word we have used but you want to use again, tell us. Leave your suggestion in a comment. As we’ve done in the past, the suggested prompt words will be used in the order in which they are received. How about that for getting a leg up on writing a Six Sentence Story! For some of us, that is. And that’s the beauty of writing, isn’t it? Prompt words can serve as guidance for our stories or they may simply be a left over ornament in the box with which to decorate the story we’ve already written. Gee, I’m excited already! Please join us in writing a story, a poem, a piece of soc or the next installment in your serial story, using today’s prompt word in exactly 6 sentences, link it up beginning Wednesday evening and let the journeys begin. Have a most excellent week, everyone!

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Link up at Wednesday’s post. Link goes live at 6:00 pm through Saturday late…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 😀

PROMPT WORD:  CAROUSEL

“You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn’t care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can’t be a way of life – the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.” – Doris Lessing

Seven Stars, a Charm. It’s a 6.

“Remember,” the clerk took her money, a glimmer of acknowledgment in his eye, a hint he knew something she did not. 

She felt flush with the hollow triumph familiar to all who’ve pulled the last and longest straw.  Throwing caution to the wind, she’d barely missed the streetsweeper sweeping the turn-in in front of the all-night convenience store as she reached into the inside pocket of her weathered overcoat feeling for the last crumpled few dollar bills.

A moment, perhaps much, much longer later, the (lottery) machine spat out a single ticket. 

The clerk reached forward to put the ticket in the woman’s outstretched hand and as he did so, held it for a moment, as if it was a delicate flower; the woman smiled kindly, put the ticket in the inside pocket of her overcoat, and turned towards the door to leave. 

“don’t spend it all in one place.”