Wordzzle 85 - Puppetry
This is my contribution to this week's Wordzzle. Wordzzle is a game in which each week word lists, used to create stories, are given on the blog Views from Raven's Nest. Participating users post their stories on their own blogs.
This is my entry number 29, for Wordzzle week 85.
Ten Word Challenge:
early morning light,
Pinocchio,
mist,
leaves,
sandy,
coffee,
walking,
traffic,
pray,
stomach
The statue of Pinocchio stood in the early morning light, in the mist, watching the people walking by. Pigeons sat upon it, their heads bowed and wings folded, almost as if they were praying. Wet leaves lay around its base, and its feet were sandy, and beside its feet was an overturned paper cup of coffee, left behind by someone and discarded. Someone had written something on its stomach, the words difficult to read now in the dampness. Traffic went by, unheeding, occasionally splashing water on its feet and legs, adding more mud and grit. Mud that would help to glue the leaves together, so that they could not be blown away. And over time, more leaves and more trash would accumulate, adding to what was already there.
No one had bothered to do anything for the statue for a long time. No one seemed to pay much attention to it. No one thought much about it at all.
The statue stood there sadly, watching the world go by. No one knew that it, too, wanted to be a real, live boy.
Mini Challenge:
train,
art,
admirable,
cotton,
fluffy
The cotton candy train was light and fluffy, an admirable job overall, but was it art?
Mega challenge:
early morning light,
Pinocchio,
mist,
leaves,
sandy,
coffee,
walking,
traffic,
pray,
stomach
train,
art,
admirable,
cotton,
fluffy
The giant wooden puppet knelt above the town, looking at it. It looked more like a jester than like Pinocchio, more like something that should be on a playing card. It was visible through the mist, even in the early morning light, but no one seemed to notice. It watched them, looking thoughtful.
Under its gaze, the early morning traffic went by. People were walking along, sometimes stopping into places for coffee and breakfast. Trains went by, sometimes on time.
A man slipped on some wet leaves and fell, sliding into the street. The giant puppet nudged him with its finger, moving him out of the way of a car. The man got up, his eyes big, glad that the car had missed him, but not seeming to notice anything else.
Inside a building, a man was painting a portrait of a woman. It was almost done. The giant hand of the puppet came in, somehow moving through the walls without disturbing them, and nudged his arm, which jerked and caused the brush to leave a mark on the face, extending the mouth into a bizarre cockeyed grin. The man stared at his artwork in horror, then looked at it some more, tilting his head to one side. He finally nodded his approval, and went with it, incorporating it into the design.
A woman walked into a diner, her shoes sandy, her cotton clothes wet and hanging in folds. She complained loudly about the weather and tried to fluff up her damp hair. A giant wooden finger, unnoticed and unseen, turned the head of a man at the counter toward her. His face brightened and he said hello. Her face brightened also.
Outside, a man prepared to cross the street, his head down, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He paused and turned his head, but no one was there. A car went by then, very close, splashing him all the way up to his stomach. Had he not stopped, it would have hit him.
A man walked along carrying a bag with several sandwiches in it, and doing an admirable job of eating one of them, when it somehow slipped through his fingers and fell onto the damp pavement. He stopped and stared at it. Suddenly a skinny wet dog came up and began eating it. When it was done, it turned its head up and looked at him hopefully. After a pause, he took out another sandwich and held it out, and the dog, looking a little worried, slowly reached out its head and began eating it.
In the park, the sun broke through part of the mist, and a rainbow formed. A ray of light fell on a statue there, and the birds on it raised their heads, as if finished with their prayers, and flapped their wings and flew away. In the leaves at the bottom of the statue, a cricket chirped. High above the park, wooden fingers manipulated unseen strings, and the statue bent down and picked up the cricket, then got down off its base and walked away.
This is my entry number 29, for Wordzzle week 85.
Ten Word Challenge:
early morning light,
Pinocchio,
mist,
leaves,
sandy,
coffee,
walking,
traffic,
pray,
stomach
The statue of Pinocchio stood in the early morning light, in the mist, watching the people walking by. Pigeons sat upon it, their heads bowed and wings folded, almost as if they were praying. Wet leaves lay around its base, and its feet were sandy, and beside its feet was an overturned paper cup of coffee, left behind by someone and discarded. Someone had written something on its stomach, the words difficult to read now in the dampness. Traffic went by, unheeding, occasionally splashing water on its feet and legs, adding more mud and grit. Mud that would help to glue the leaves together, so that they could not be blown away. And over time, more leaves and more trash would accumulate, adding to what was already there.
No one had bothered to do anything for the statue for a long time. No one seemed to pay much attention to it. No one thought much about it at all.
The statue stood there sadly, watching the world go by. No one knew that it, too, wanted to be a real, live boy.
Mini Challenge:
train,
art,
admirable,
cotton,
fluffy
The cotton candy train was light and fluffy, an admirable job overall, but was it art?
Mega challenge:
early morning light,
Pinocchio,
mist,
leaves,
sandy,
coffee,
walking,
traffic,
pray,
stomach
train,
art,
admirable,
cotton,
fluffy
The giant wooden puppet knelt above the town, looking at it. It looked more like a jester than like Pinocchio, more like something that should be on a playing card. It was visible through the mist, even in the early morning light, but no one seemed to notice. It watched them, looking thoughtful.
Under its gaze, the early morning traffic went by. People were walking along, sometimes stopping into places for coffee and breakfast. Trains went by, sometimes on time.
A man slipped on some wet leaves and fell, sliding into the street. The giant puppet nudged him with its finger, moving him out of the way of a car. The man got up, his eyes big, glad that the car had missed him, but not seeming to notice anything else.
Inside a building, a man was painting a portrait of a woman. It was almost done. The giant hand of the puppet came in, somehow moving through the walls without disturbing them, and nudged his arm, which jerked and caused the brush to leave a mark on the face, extending the mouth into a bizarre cockeyed grin. The man stared at his artwork in horror, then looked at it some more, tilting his head to one side. He finally nodded his approval, and went with it, incorporating it into the design.
A woman walked into a diner, her shoes sandy, her cotton clothes wet and hanging in folds. She complained loudly about the weather and tried to fluff up her damp hair. A giant wooden finger, unnoticed and unseen, turned the head of a man at the counter toward her. His face brightened and he said hello. Her face brightened also.
Outside, a man prepared to cross the street, his head down, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He paused and turned his head, but no one was there. A car went by then, very close, splashing him all the way up to his stomach. Had he not stopped, it would have hit him.
A man walked along carrying a bag with several sandwiches in it, and doing an admirable job of eating one of them, when it somehow slipped through his fingers and fell onto the damp pavement. He stopped and stared at it. Suddenly a skinny wet dog came up and began eating it. When it was done, it turned its head up and looked at him hopefully. After a pause, he took out another sandwich and held it out, and the dog, looking a little worried, slowly reached out its head and began eating it.
In the park, the sun broke through part of the mist, and a rainbow formed. A ray of light fell on a statue there, and the birds on it raised their heads, as if finished with their prayers, and flapped their wings and flew away. In the leaves at the bottom of the statue, a cricket chirped. High above the park, wooden fingers manipulated unseen strings, and the statue bent down and picked up the cricket, then got down off its base and walked away.
posted by Stephen at 10/16/2009 11:58:00 PM
4 Comments:
You created some really well-drawn atmosphere in your 10-worder about the statue. When I was a kid I used to imagine that statues were somehow alive.
Wow! What a condensed mini!
Your mega this week was very elegantly written. Kind of makes you wonder in what ways we all might be being manipulated. And the "puppet"? Who's pulling his strings? And I did love the tie-in to the first story. You have cheered up a gloomy Monday.
Perfect one-sentence mini. Your first/last story was wonderful. I could see it being made into a cartoon or movie short. Reminded me of Oscar Wilde. As always, your imagination and writing are wonderful.
I inhaled with delight at the conclusion of the first, broke into a grin with the mini, and sat back very pleased with the mega.
I'm so glad I stopped back by Raven's today! I was looking for more photos of her renovation, but instead got 2 great stories and 1 perfect sentence!
I'm just a few days late but am really glad I didn't miss these. The first and last were perfect or close to it. Just plain great writing. The second one was admirable, kind of the fluffy art you might see on a cotton t-shirt with a train on the back.
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