Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

Heart—Six Sentence Story

Joe thought and thought about what to write as a six sentence story, but nothing came to mind and so he asked his wife if she had any ideas but his wife had better things to do and gave him a look and so he asked his daughter if she had any ideas for a six sentence story, but his daughter was practicing becoming a teenager and so he got nothing from her but another look and so he asked his son if he had any ideas for a six sentence story and just then his son spoke his first word saying, “Dada”, which annoyed his wife who hoped at least one of their children would have the heart to say, “Mama”, first and so Joe decided to come up with an idea on his own, but nothing came to mind.

“What did you think of my six sentence story?” Joe asked his family.

“That’s only one sentence,” his wife said.

“It sounded like twenty sentences to me,” his daughter said.

“I didn’t understand a word of it,” his son said.

So he posted it.

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Denise offers the prompt word “heart” for this week’s Six Sentence Story.

Loyalty—Ovi Poetry Challenge

Do nothing more. Do nothing less.
Do only what you’re told—don’t guess.
And then rejoice. The Lord will bless
you through each day He’s made.

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Ronovan Hester offers “loyalty” as inspiration for this week’s Ovi Poetry Challenge. Also posted on Poet’s Corner.

Psalm 118:24
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Sunrise in Florida over the Atlantic Ocean

Game—Six Sentence Story

Although Jeremy and his wife, Martha, welcomed everyone to the warehouse they converted into a chapel, there were signs telling newcomers before they entered to first write the names of any demons they planned on keeping outside on the wall of the building facing the street. Martha waited by the wall for any who were foolish enough to want to keep a demon. 

Those who slipped past Martha ran into Jeremy wearing a T-shirt that read: I specialize in scaring the HELL out of stuff. When he asked them if they’d like to get rid of their demons they didn’t completely understand what they were being asked to do, but to be polite and figuring they didn’t have any demons, except maybe little ones, said, “Sure, Pastor, go for it.”

So, in the name of Jesus and in a loud voice, Jeremy rebuked in detail god-awful lists of demonic addictions and disabling stupidities that burned convicting blushes on their cheeks. He then said, “Your demons are gone and you’ve been forgiven for the time you’ve wasted playing games with them, but it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll run after them or stay here to rejoice with thanksgiving.”

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Denise offers the prompt word “game” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Revelation 21:27
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

With thanks to Michael Wilson for reminding me of this verse

Shades of Gray

Dale offers the prompt “shades of gray” for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

Without having to change a color photo to black and white, the sand on a beach offers a lot of gray.

These photos were taken on the beaches at the 71st and 72nd streets of Miami Beach.

Birds on wave-smoothed sand
The smooth part is what the ocean did. The rough part came from a tractor
Footsteps in the raked sand
Where waves once were

Leadership—Ovi Poetry Challenge


We lead although our efforts mock
the Lord whom even we can’t shock.
We should have spoken to the rock
instead of striking it. 

We do what we’re not told to do.
We think our thoughts are always true,
but there’s no way we can get through
unless we go through Him.

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Ronovan Hestor offers the inspiration “leadership” for this week’s Ovi Poetry Challenge. Also posted in Poet’s Corner.

Numbers 20:7-12
7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Seagulls landing on the shore during sunrise

The Craft of Tyranny—Six Sentence Story

To Gideon’s credit after the Lord’s victory over the Midianite raiders he had no desire to lord it over the Israelites as king. To his discredit he did take some of the gold plundered from the Midianites which helped him attract enough women to sire seventy sons. 

Although no Baal could get its hands on him, Gideon’s own greed set his family up for a fall after his death when one of his many sons, Abimelech, a bloodthirsty Nimrod wannabe, decided to craft for himself a kingdom. Abimelech made sure there was no resistance from Gideon’s other sons by slaying all of them at Ophrah except for Jotham, the youngest, who escaped to curse him from Mount Gerizim.

Abimelech’s adventures evolved shamefully until a woman fleeing into the tower at Thebez dropped a piece of millstone upon his head as he tried to burn to death those in the tower. His armorbearer, at his own command, killed him so no one could say that a woman brought about his death, but we all know what happened.

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Denise offers the prompt word “craft” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Judges 9:53-54
53 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull.
54 Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A women slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

The map below centered on Abimelech’s mother’s home, Shechem, comes from the BibleMapper Blog. Ophrah where Abimelech slayed his brothers is northwest of Beth-shan just off this map. Abimelech died at Thebez after making a mess at Shechem.