Saturday, July 19, 2008

In the Heat of the Wordzzle


Man it’s almost too hot to think. The sun is relentless and the hum-did-ahh-tee is making me cranky! Nothing like a long, cool Wordzzle to cheer ya right up. Stop by RAVEN’S NEST and check out this word game and the other participants.

We continue Finola’s story. Links to previous posts are at the bottom.

Ten Word Challenge : cardboard box, liquor cabinet, ostrich feathers, longitudinal, hamburger helper, partnership, laundry detergent, magnificent, San Francisco, prognosis

And the Mini Challenge: worst case scenario, marginalia, water fountain, specialized, fortitude

Finola reminded herself that she was, as one of the few positive notes in her permanent record suggested, “A girl of immense fortitude”. The worst case scenario was that she would walk to Stonepoint. She had abandoned the ATV about a mile back and the prognosis for finding a new vehicle was grim. “Maybe I’m just getting tired” she mumbled to herself. The cardboard box full of her meager possessions was getting heavy and the early morning sun was very bright and hot. She decided to rest a bit and settled down under a huge tree, the cool ground felt wonderful. “Wouldn’t it be magnificent if a water fountain would spring up right here” Finola whispered to the tree.

“And if you’re goin’ to San Francisco, be sure to wear some ostrich feathers there”. Finola sat bolt upright. “It’s flowers in your hair” said a sweet female voice. “I know” the singing voice said, “but I’ve been browsing in the liquor cabinet and you know what happens when I go browsing”. The sweet female voice had an even kinder sounding laugh. Finola struggled to decide if she was awake or dreaming. The shadows around the tree were long; the sun was not nearly as bright. “Oh crap”, she said out loud and immediately covered her mouth with her shaking hand. She had to get out of there before these people discovered her.

“Are you reading the partnership papers?” sweet voice asked. There was silence. “Honey?” More silence. Finola hoped that meant they were going inside, wherever inside was, she hadn’t noticed any homes. How could she be so careless! “Hey babe, the papers need to be signed by Monday”. Finola heard singing man chuckle. “I know, it’s only Saturday, so much can change by Monday”. Finola struggled to quietly pick up her belongings, every sound seemed exaggerated. “Damn!” shouted sweet voice. Finola nearly fainted. “I dropped the laundry detergent on my toe, why do we need to buy everything in the ganormous size?” Another deep melodic chuckle from singing voice, “Oh darlin’ you know I specialize in the meat and marginalia of American economics”. Sweet voice tried to sound annoyed. “I don’t know anything about economics dear, especially its meaty genitalia, all I know is nobody needs this much detergent and what the hell is the deal with a case of Hamburger Helper? We don’t eat meat”. Finola felt herself relax as she followed their banter. They sounded so nice, so loving. “Hamburger Helper needs meat!?” singing voice sounded so perplexed that Finola had to stifle a giggle. “I thought it was for folks who need help avoiding hamburger; you know my longitudinal thought waves get all screwed up at Sam’s Club”. Finola tried to balance her cardboard box and tiptoe at the same time. As comforting as hearing other people was she could not let herself be discovered. She moved quickly and quietly, tree to tree, until she came to a clearing. Now what, she despaired; if she could see sweet voice and singing voice then they could see her.


POOR FINOLA’S BEGINNING
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR

23 comments:

Raven said...

I LOVED IT! I can't wait for next week's installment. I loved the dialogue and "sweet voice" and "singing voice." I love all these serial wordzzles everyone is writing. Wish I could do that. I am in awe of you and Richard and the Jays.

Richard said...

Great installment, I'm waiting to see what Finola does next.

Rich

Dianne said...

raven - oh thanks for mentioning the dialog, I've always thought believable dialog was one of my weakest points and I've been working on it. Thanks!!

rich - I'm waiting to see what she does next too! ;)

Unknown said...

Very cool! Am trying to link...but I just don't know what I'm doing wrong...I'm so not computer savvy! Anyway, great wordzzle!

Mom Knows Everything said...

I look forward to reading this segment every week!

maryt/theteach said...

I think I should start a serial Wordzzle, Di! This one is going so well! I love it! :)

Jay said...

Well Finola is in a pickle now, isn't she? What will she do?

Dianne said...

kim - you should just need to put your site's address in where it says URL and your name above that and hit enter.
glad you liked the story :)

thanks tammy - I appreciate that!

mary - I tried a few times before this and it never happened for me. Then Finola came along and it just clicked. Try it, you'll know when it's the right one

jay - I love the expression "in a pickle" :)

Jeff B said...

Keeping all of these stories straight is becoming more and more of a challenge with each week.

Wonder what's in store for our heroine next week?

Dianne said...

jeff - I know!! really makes ya work the noodle! lol - I appear to be full of outdated phrases lately, odd.

the walking man said...

Dianne this section in its entirety reads like a Mozart sonata.

bobbie said...

It gets better and better!

Don't know how you do it. When the heat and humidity reach this stage, my mind curls up with it, and I can't write anything new.

Dianne said...

mark - ahhhhhh! that is an amazing thing to say, thank you.

bobbie - thanks Bobbie. It is pretty brutal out isn't it!?

Cinnamon Girl said...

Word challenges on a Weekend?! My hats off to you, babe, I am way too slactastic. I resent having to think as much as I do ;)

Dianne said...

starr - slactastic is a fantastic word!! see - you're a natural!! You could try a Wordzzle during the week and just post it on Saturday.

Cinnamon Girl said...

Now that might work!

tt said...

You're so good at describing things that I can clearly picture the surroundings. And...I laughed outloud when I read " you know my longitudinal thought waves get all screwed up at Sam's Club." Seriously...I gigglesnorted...good thing I don't have a cold right now ;) Reminded me of that comedian who does Geo. Bush. ha-ha
and i love how you described the other characters as sweet voice and singing voice.

Gaaa......more please.

Dianne said...

tt - I tell ya, I go to Sam's Club and within minutes I'm a blithering mess. it's all too much and it's all too big, the fucking cornflake boxes scare the shit out of me!
and thanks sweet cheeks ;)

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Dianne! This was great. I find myself wanting more. I know I must wait until next week. How you do this amazes me. Lisa

Crazy Charlene said...

roflmao at "And if you’re goin’ to San Francisco, be sure to wear some ostrich feathers there"
that is great~~

Dianne said...

Lisa - thanks :)
I've discovered that the more I write the easier and (I hope) better it becomes.

charlene - it's amazing what you can come up with when you have a word that doesn't fit your story :)
thanks

Kimmie said...

You made me giggle more than once in this segment! I also love the sweet singing and singing voice characters. Finola is getting more and more interesting as the weeks go by. I wonder what she is going to do? How many days till Saturday? ;-) Can't wait!

Hugs,
Kimmie

Dianne said...

kimmie - I'm so glad you find this interesting and amusing! thank you so much. it's more fun to write when you know people enjoy reading it.
Hope you're going to do one this week :)