The Unicorn Challenge.
A magical new weekly writing opportunity from her – Jenne Gray – and me.
Visit her blog every Friday to see the photo prompt, and post your amazing story in her comments section.
Or on your own blog, and stick the link down in her comments.
The rules are:
Maximum of 250 words.
Based on photo prompt.
That’s it.
To hear me read my story, just click here:
Superstition
I’m horribly superstitious.
And not just about ladders and salt and black cats and horse shoes and mirrors and things like that.
No, I have an almost obsessive belief in crystal balls, palmistry, Tarot cards, Ouija boards, all that stuff.
I even have my own special good luck charm, a pot-bellied wooden monkey of indeterminate origin who I trust to protect me.
My friends mock me, say all this rubbish is just for women.
Insensitive, unimaginative misogynists.
But if I get a bad reading I fret for ages, and try desperately to re-interpret it.
So I am excited to find a leaflet in the letter-box for a new fortune-teller.
Full of enthusiasm, I show it to my wife, who shrugs.
This stuff will be the death of you, she says.
She is a kind, patient lady but, quite frankly, too stupid to understand.
*
Ursula the Ultimate sits in gloom, swathed in wraps from which only her nose protrudes.
She studies me through dark glasses for several minutes, saying nothing, then hands me a cup.
Drink, she croaks.
The tea is cold and bitter.
She swirls the leaves, coughs, spits in a most unladylike fashion, and calmly tells me I’m going to die.
I leap to my feet in shock, then collapse, clawing at the savage pain in my stomach.
Looking down at me, she removes her scarves and other coverings.
I did tell you, says my wife.
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Another reminder as to why I shouldn’t marry again. None of my wives ever understood me.
I suspect, old mucker, that they understood you all too well!
Nice done – again!
Thanks, Chris!
Forewarned is, in the eyes of the law, premeditated.
Surely the world-at-large and reality in general has a major jones for getting us humans hooked on the superstitions.
Fun story. Nice hook.
But I foresee she’ll never be caught, Clark.
I am not at all superstitious, apart from my time-proven never-failing lucky socks, of course.
And, touch wood, I’ll never fall for any other silly rituals.
Oh, I was so hoping to hear that fabulous riff at the beginning of your tale, CE.
So glad you did not disappoint.
Poor fella; maybe he should have been more suspicious than superstitious.
Ah yes, Stevie can get the feet a-tapping!
My MC is just a numpty, Nancy.
Well, he did sound a bit of an irritating kind of chap. But not, I would have thought, quite so irritating as to deserve that savage conclusion. Still… who knows how much of their money he was wasting on his compulsion. I can git a bit tetchy myself about my husband’s hobbies…
You tetchy, Sandra? Surely not…
And agreed, my narrator is a right pain!
Wifey’s not so stupid then? Also not as kind and patient as he seems to believe, and not as gullible as him. This was good fun – I didn’t see that ending coming (much like your MC). And I’m happy to learn what the glass object in the prompt is. Definitely a crystal ball.
I have to confess, Margaret, I have no idea what that thingy is!
Ah, the perils of telling your wife that her views are not your cup of tea. Beautifully set up and executed, if you get my reading. 😉
Never a smart move, Doug, there’s only ever one winner.
I must remind myself to read the last few lines first then I won’t disturb my household with a big loud groan when I get to the end.
You do this to us every time.
But we expect nothing less. Enjoyed as always.
You can always read the whole story backwards, dear Lady, see if you can guess the start.
Happy you enjoyed.
Ouch, nice twist – although not so much for your MC.
You build up such a good picture of a superstitious wimp – who’s also smug and self-satisfied – that I can’t help sympathising with his wife!
And beautifully crafted, as ever.
Thanks, Jenne, he is a bit of a plook, isn’t he!