Keith's Ramblings

for Friday Fictioneers

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I’ve told you not to sit astride the window sill like that! 

Why not?

It’s dangerous.

It’s not.

 Remember when you fell off that seesaw?

Your fault for pushing it too fast.

When you fell off that horse?

The horse’s fault for jumping a fence.

When you fell backwards off your mate’s motorbike?

His fault, he took off too fast. Anyway, you don’t complain when I sit astride….

Shhh, people will hear you!

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Then it happened. 

She wobbled…

She toppled… 

She screamed… 

She swore … as she landed on the coffee table and knocked a vase of flowers onto the floor!

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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting and to Alicia Jamtaas for the photo.

Click (don’t push) a Froggie to join in the fun!

for Wordless Wednesday and bloghops various

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I walked past the De La Warr Pavillion the other evening…

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and as I climbed down the steps and strolled along the seafront I noticed something weird was going on.‘

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There were flames everywhere and oddly dressed people. I thought the aliens had landed!.

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I suddenly got wet, which was strange as there was a cloudless sky!

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That was it, I got out of there and headed for the pub.

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Add your link to join in the fun!

A short story for Sadje’s What Do You See? picture prompt.

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He was good at whatever job he did, an asset to every firm he worked for.  However, no matter how hard he tried he never gained a promotion. He was always the middleman.

He went from job to job, leaving something positive behind whenever he packed his bag and left.

There was only one thing for it. He had to start his own business and that’s precisely what he did.

He employs nobody, he’s a one-man band running the company from top to bottom, all by himself!

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Not All There – The Enigmatic Sculptures of Bruno Catalano

for The Sunday Muse.

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I wish I’d learned to play the flute, he thought as he lugged his cello through the barrier, down the steps, along the platform and onto the underground train.

Or even the violin, he mused as traipsed along the street, across the road, around the corner and headed for the concert hall.

He envied the trumpeters, the clarinettists and the triangle pinger as he dragged it through the side door, along the corridor, and heaved it up onto the stage.

It was then he saw the double bass player mopping his brow, the harpist gasping for breath, and thought, it could be worse! 

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Thanks to Carrie for hosting.

for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt where the given word is Apathy.

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He didn’t see the point of attending school.

Music? Go to a disco. Computing? Play Super Mario.

He left with an E in English, D minus in maths, F in French, G in geography  – but an A plus in Apathy!

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for Doug’s Min Min prompt where this week’s theme is Australia.

This is similar to a piece I wrote in 2015, so if you have a good memory, it may seem familiar!

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Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 162,000 convicts were transported from England to Australia by the British government. Many were deported for petty crimes; others were political prisoners. Most stayed in Australia with some rising to prominent positions in Australian society. Approximately twenty per cent of today’s Australians are descended from transported convicts.

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It is the twentieth day of June in the year of our Lord, eighteen seventy-six. 

I am shackled below deck, just one of two hundred and eighty other pitiful souls. Through a gap in a hatch, I gaze at billowing sails as the wind of change transports me to a new life.  

I see black clouds change to white; they no longer threaten me. My wretched existence thus far lies dead in the water. I am hungry for a future where the sins and wicked deeds of my past are left behind. A convict, yes, but a spirit freed.

Regrets? Yes. But I will never forget, for my memories will serve as a constant reminder of what is important to me in the years to come. 

A new day, a new life, a new me.

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For Six Sentence Stories where the given word is Mess!

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I have to admit, my desk is a mess but at least I know where everything is, that’s over there, this is under that, they’re behind those, no problem.

My boss once said a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, you should have seen his face when I pointed out that his desk was empty!

I wrote a verse yesterday, something I rarely do, it’s here somewhere but I can’t find it, it went something like this; I feel, you feel, she feels too…it’s a very touching poem.

I  treated myself to a beautiful new pen, I’d show you if I knew I put it, anyway earlier this morning I spent ages trying to get the lid off and then it clicked!

Oh no, my bossy boss is heading my way and he’s carrying a rubbish sack, I bought myself some yesterday and it felt like I was throwing money away!

Right, I’d better start clearing my desk; yuc, that old sandwich stinks, ooh, this squashed coffee cup’s filthy, ah, that’s where this went, yea, this is where that was, aha……

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Thanks to Denise at GirlieOnTheEdge for hosting.

for Friday Fictioneers

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“Is that it?” she said.

“Yea, what d’ya think?” I said.

“It’s a dump!” she said.

“No, it’s not, it’s got potency”, I said.

“If you mean potential, you’re wrong”, she said.

“But you like DIY”, I said.

“A splash of paint, a picture hook or a squirt of WD40, maybe”, she said.

“All you need to do is straighten the tiles, replace the windows, repoint the brickwork and do a few other odd jobs”, I said.

“And you?”, she said.

“I’ll plug in the TV, boil a kettle, make you a cup of coffee…where are you going…come back… sweetheart….”

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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting and to J Hardy Carroll for the photo.

 

Click a Froggie to join in the fun!

 

for Wordless Wednesday and bloghops various‘

Ten years ago I spent some time in Rome during which I visited the Vatican. These are just a few of the many photos I took. 

CLICK PICS ONCE OR TWICE TO ENLARGE

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Photography is prohibited in the chapel so I purchased a postcard and took a snap of that instead!

Definitely worth a click or two to enlarge!Definitely worth a click to two to enlarge!.

 

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A short story for Sadje’s What Do You See? picture prompt.

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Firstly, this wasn’t a dream. If it was I’d be sitting up in bed wearing the rather snazzy pair of jimjams I bought yesterday. They were a bargain by the way. 

The other day I was at a loose end so I thought I’d go mountaineering, as you do. As I was in an Alpless situation I had to make do with a walk through the disused quarry, the one that went out of business when it hit rock bottom. It’s actually quite a nice place.

Then I saw it, between a you-know-what and a hard place. It looked like an up-ended cinema screen showing a scene from that Jessica Lange film, you know the one, erm, Blue Sky, that’s it. 

I fancied taking a closer look. It’s not often you get to see a movie for free, and I had no problem with laying on my side to view it.

Unfortunately, it would have meant climbing a stone staircase to reach it, and I don’t trust steps because they’re always up to something. 

So, after careful consideration, I thought maybe I should give it a miss and pop home to watch it on Disney Plus instead, which is exactly what I did. 

It’s a good flick by the way. Bye!

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Image credit; Sylvian Sarrailh @ Digiartque