The last Literary Lion was an exercise in the art of brevity, and quite successful it was too… I was so dazzled by your six word stories that I found it impossible to pick a favourite, and so I urge you all to head to the last post (http://ismithwords.com/2016/01/14/literary-lion-six-words/) where you will find the pingback-ed stories in the comments section.
This week the lion has me dreaming of summer, with the prompt ‘Pool’. In keeping with the lion’s new appetite for the unfamiliar, we are asking for stories of 100 words or less. So here’s two weeks to craft your tales, remember to pingback to this post, include the tag ‘Literary Lion’ so we can all read your story in the WP reader, and of course come and say hello on Instagram and twitter.
Or failing that, you can just read my little almost-100 word adventure below…
How to Swim.
His hair clumped in tufts. Jet black and wet from the water. I sat with my feet in the pool, flicking my cigarette ash in the blue aqua, watching the sun shimmering across the delicate droplets on his back. His skin glowed golden under the sunlight, but as the day started to fade it turned a hue of cool blue. I threw my cigarette in and thanked the stars that he was floating downwards. I didn’t want to see the horrified look that was now etched on his face for eternity.
How funny. Just before I read this I was listening to Lyin’ Eyes by The Eagles. Great piece btw
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Ooh I might go listen to that now, give myself a little soundtrack to my tale for the evening, hehe.
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How NOT to swim…?
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Wow she even stayed to smoke. Good story
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Thanks! Yes, she’s heartless. Although we don’t know the whole story…
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Great story. Chilling.
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Thank you! I’m sure she’ll be pleased she invoked a chill 😉
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Wonderful story. “…… thanked the stars that he was floating downwards”!!!
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Thank you! I must admit I did rather like that line when I wrote it 😊
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I half-expected her to rest her feet on his floating body. Talk about cold as ice! You have another killer here, Laura! Lovely writing.
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Thank you! I’m glad her callousness seeped through, she’d be quite an interesting character to develop I’m sure…
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Love this – and perfect for dark | side | thursday 😉
And here is my utterly incoherent ramble about pools and physics and a total absence of punctuation, love these challenges…
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Thank you Andy. Yours was fantastic, such a great example of how powerful punctuation can be. I’m so pleased you love the challenges, it’s always interesting to see your responses!
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I may not take part each time but your challenges are always well worth the effort 🙂
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I’m so pleased to hear it! It’s designed to be dipped in and out of, so it’s nice to have you along every now and again 🙂
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Nice. Told in a tight, fated word construction as perfectly pieced as a DNA molecule, and just as beautiful. Impressive. 🙂
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How very very lovely, and one of the most original compliments I think I have ever received. Thank you 😀
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🙂
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I really want to use a GIF saying ‘shit shit shit shit’
That was my reaction!
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Haha, that GIF would have been the perfect comment 🙂
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Your story sure dos send a chill down my spine..! I really liked it 🙂
Here’s my entry..!
https://thecoolbookworm.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/literary-lion-pool/
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You cold as ice while human fantastically well – I’d love to read more about this character!
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That’s such a compliment thank you… I’m actually trying to craft a character at the moment that has similar traits, and I’m constantly conscious of the reception she may get, so this is music to my ears.
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That should read ‘You pulled off cold as ice…’ above – might help if I proofread my comments… My pleasure – she sounds fascinating.
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Ha, don’t worry, my brain is often on autocorrect so I knew what you meant! 🙂
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have a lovely weekend, Laura 🙂
https://ladyleemanila.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/training/
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She (I immediately imagined your narrator to be a “she”) doesn’t seem too cut up by his demise 🙂
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That is a very good point you highlight there, I wrote her as a woman but didn’t actually realise I never referred to her gender. She definitely isn’t cut up, and I think he may have deserved it… 😉
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Excellent piece. And on the topic of swimming listen to this song by Tool.
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Wow. Dark. You are correct in your earlier comment though, we don’t know the whole story. He may well have deserved it…
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Well, that turned dark in a hurry! Talk about jumping in the deep end…
Lovely descriptions, it’s very vivid piece!
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Haha, deep end indeed, not sure I’ll be venturing in any time soon… :-S
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There’s despondency, callousness, a touch of evaded annoyance… so much crammed into so few words. Really well done!
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Thank you so much! And you read it very well, I’m glad it translated 😉
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Here’s my entry for this prompt. Again, thank you for helping inspire us. 🙂
https://ladykelacy.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/literary-lion-writing-prompt-pool/
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You’re very welcome, thank you for taking part! 🙂
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