Saturday, March 29, 2008

Saturday Wordzzle


I love Saturday Wordzzle! Makes me feel all creative and Mark Twain’ish, no wait – Dickens’ish – yeah that’s it!

If you’d like to play along please visit Raven; you can find the words for next week and check out all the others who are playing along, last week had some really great posts. And two megawordzzles - combining the 10 + the mini 5 into ONE paragraph. I haven’t tried that yet.

For this week:
The ten-word challenge is: arbitration, music, salamanders, frankincense, trojan horse, balderdash, bottomless pit, fantastic, pugnacious, Trivial Pursuit

Bucky Booker sat in the clubhouse and wondered what to do next. His contract was in arbitration so he wasn’t supposed to be here but being #1 relief pitcher for the Staten Island Salamanders was all he knew. His agent was a pugnacious negotiator and promised him a fantastic new deal but Bucky was starting to think it was all balderdash. He’d gladly play for nothing, well almost nothing. All he needed was enough cash to fix his computer, he’d crashed it downloading the porn version of Trivial Pursuit, how the hell was he supposed to know there was a Trojan Horse virus attached. Without it he was lost, all his music was on there and he couldn’t stand another day without hearing his favorite underground band Frankincense blast out the sounds that helped him warm up his arm. Bucky was feeling like a bottomless pit of crap and almost didn’t hear the stadium coming to life. He quickly snuck out the back entrance promising himself to bypass the pub and go straight home to call his agent.

And for the mini challenge: maniac, video store, telephone pole, flute player, windy day

As Maria turned the corner she was dismayed to find the sexy flute player wasn’t at his usual spot. For weeks now she had seen him every evening, his sign saying “Music Maniac Must Earn Money” pinned to the telephone pole, and crowds gathered around him taking in the sweet melodies that flowed out into the air. “It’s been such a rainy, windy day”, she said out loud to no one there, “I guess he’s gone home”. The sound of her own voice echoed in her tiny car and she was startled back to reality. The traffic signal had turned green and the car behind her was blasting its horn. She accelerated across the intersection, never noticing the man with the flute, huddled in the video store doorway, peeking through the rain looking for the beautiful woman in the tiny car.

Hope you enjoyed.

25 comments:

tt said...

How do they end?? there's got to be more...please!!
As usual I loved your stories. I'm always in awe of talent like yours.
:)

Akelamalu said...

Fantastic as always Dianne - you do this so well! :)

PS Thanks for introducing me to Saturday Wordzzle. x

Dianne said...

tt - wow! thanks so much.
I want the girl in the car to find and fall in love with the flute player AND I want poor Bucky Booker to make it to the big show ;)

akelamalu - I feel the same about your stories. And I'm so glad you decided to join in. A lot of folks hesitate the first time and then find they enjoy it so much. I'm so thrilled more and more people are playing.
Raven's a genius isn't she? :)

Raven said...

dianne - these are gems... I love the sad little romance of the second one... but I know they'll find each other next week.... Superlative.

Thanks for helping me get going with Mr. Linky. Life is so much easier this way. I hope Super Saturday wasn't too bad.

Dianne said...

thanks ravens - "gems" makes me happy :)
You're welcome about Mr. Linky - they sure do make it all so confusing at first don't they?
Super Saturday wasn't as bad as I'd been told it would be and I got out of there in one piece.

Hope you're feeling better.

The Pirate said...

Ah, I am loving this game:) GREAT stories! I was hooked at Bucky Booker, what a great name. A porno version of Trivial Pursuit was also genius;) ......Or did I somehow miss that version. Must google.

Jay said...

Those were terrific! You and REH both had an idea for a baseball story on the first one. How cool is that?

The second story is sad. She didn't see him. Maybe she'll see him there the next day? Yeah, I'm going to assume that happens. ;-)

Unknown said...

I did enjoy! Very much! You're so clever!

R.E.H. said...

We both went with the salary arbitration theme ;) Great stories.

Porno Trivial Pursuit... if it doesn't already exist - I'm making one! ;)

maryt/theteach said...

Dianne, wonderful stories, esp. the second one! Thanks for visiting my posts. :D

Linda Murphy said...

I am simply amazed how the word "salamanders" was used in this game and now you have them as a baseball team name. It's incredible what each person's vision is for these crazy words!

I agree-Raven IS genius-she is getting all of us to write and share! I personally feel my brain growing back cells. (I lost a bunch with two boys, you know)

The second one...I am hopeful for a good ending.

Dianne said...

thanks Pirate! - I love Bucky Booker - I could see him - all hopeful and not too bright, drinking a bit too much and waiting for his big chance. If you're going to look for Porno Trivial Pursuit I'm thinkin' Jay and REH will help you ;)

Jay - REH and I both LOVE baseball. I get excited just hearing the bat hit the ball, I can usually tell by the sound how far it's gonna go.
I think the girl goes back the next day, it's still windy and she's wearing a pink thong and ...

thanks so much kim :)

REH - I thought you were passing this week, I gotta read yours.
What would baseball be without arbitration!?
Pirate and Jay will help you with the Porno Trivial Pursuit. I just want a small piece of the action and maybe an honorable mention on the box cover.

thanks teach - your blog is wonderful and I'll absolutely be visiting again.

snoopmurph - I love your line about growing back brain cells :)
As soon as I saw Salamanders I thought of Staten Island LOL and then arbitration IS baseball and off I went.
I hope I can come up with a mega for next week.

Anonymous said...

The Staten Island Salamanders and the porn version of Trivial pursuit. I loved it.

Thanks for coming by and commenting at my site.

Rich

Dianne said...

you're welcome Rich - I really enjoyed your story :)

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Dianne! I enjoyed both of your stories, especially the short story. Does girl and guy get together? Lisa

Bobkat said...

You always meet these challenges so beautifully adn creatively. I love these and the last one is so poignant. I want to know what happens next! :)

Shelly said...

These are so amazing, you've got some serious talent there missy. At the end of the second one I (out loud) uttered an "ohhhh...!"

Dianne said...

hey Lisa, bob-kat, shelly - I'm actually thinking of trying to finish the story using next weeks words - I have to think a little about that.
thanks for always being so kind and supportive.

Casdok said...

Yes thank you i did!
Excellent!

Jo said...

I love what you do with these...oh no, porny Trivial Pursuit! More importantly, have I played that? LOL The 2nd story was wonderful, so brief & yet I feel all caught up in it...I really loved the final image.

Dianne said...

I'm glad casdock :)

thanks jo! if you don't remember playing porny Trivial Pursuit it must have been a great game ;)

Karen said...

That was really awesome. I loved the story.

Dianne said...

thanks karen! I loved your story too :)

Kapuananiokalaniakea said...

Love. These. Stories.
When I get a life of my own, I'll try out it out.
Thank you!

~ej said...

that was fantastic.....i want more too!! :)

i've been meaning to come back and reply, sorry it took me so long!!