Photography – Page 60 – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

Structure – Six Sentence Story

On a table in his hotel room Simon began building a house of cards carefully laying each one next to or on another lest the structure fall showing the futility of his addiction. Meanwhile the full moon rose over the Sea of Galilee sparkling light on calm water.

After he used up all his cards he opened the door to the balcony to breathe in the cool air. He saw the moon, higher now but still beautiful, and he wondered why he wasted his time with those cards.

Coincidental with Simon’s wonder one card in the house he built gave up supporting the others. With a swoosh all of the cards lay flat on the table.

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

Autumn Color

Dale offers the theme “autumn color” for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

These are some of my favorite images of autumn color.

They were taken in northeastern Illinois.

I no longer live there, but the memories remain. As the season progresses in South Carolina the trees should change color here as well.

Film – Six Sentence Story

The merely ordinary smeared Simon’s view of reality like a greasy film making him discontent with what he saw. To brighten his spirits he tried all sorts of gimmicks. His current desperate attempt included taking a challenging course in mind over matter levitation where each student was required to either levitate or produce a creative alternative.

One student wrote an essay arguing how going on keto would lead to less matter for the mind to lift. Another painted a self-portrait entitled If God Had Wanted Me to Levitate, He Would Have Made Me More Like This Hot Air Balloon.

When it was all over each of the submitted stories, essays, songs and paintings received an Award of Outstanding Excellence and Simon tried to decide which was worse: dealing head-on with his unsatisfying view of reality or signing up for the second level of the course.

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

Ancient Roman Tile at Beit Shean, Israel

In the Clouds

Dale offers the theme “in the clouds” for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

I look forward to clouds when taking a photo of a sunrise to offer some variety and color.

The photos below were taken in southern Florida on the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes there are birds and sometimes not.

Club – Six Sentence Story

Believing the best way to deal with someone was not to beat him over the head with a club Brian manipulated George with psychology. George, on the other hand, preferred the club.

Over the years these two friends found lovely brides and got married raising children who had children until Brian died which made George wonder if he should have used the club less often. Without Brian’s subliminal influence George felt the only thing left to do was grow old.

That was when an undeserved miracle gave George a wallop knocking some sense back into him and letting him know he wasn’t quite dead yet. After that the grandchildren longed to hear his tall tales while his own children listened and even his wife respectfully responded to his loving touch which frankly shocked him but not as much as it pleased her like an answered prayer.

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

Ephesians 5:33 “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” (KJV)

Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem With Prayers Stuffed in the Cracks

A Change in the Weather

Dale offers the theme “a change in the weather” for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The first photo shows mild rain coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. This is unrelated to the recent hurricane.

The second photo is a sunset followed by storm clouds over a meadow.

Spark – Six Sentence Story

Jeremy tried to spark some vitality into his life, but reality kept blowing it out.

His dietician suggested replacing the stuff that went into his mouth with other stuff, but he didn’t like that other stuff. The family counselor suggested he forgive his wicked sister Felicity, but that wasn’t going to happen. His anxiety over unlikely disasters wouldn’t leave no matter how many shrinks he paid to worry about them.

Reality refused to repent of its evil ways. Over the years all it did was add to Jeremy’s baggage until he couldn’t get a good night’s sleep even after wicked Felicity preceded him in death.

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

Sunsets

Dale offers the theme “sunsets” for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

I wasn’t able to get a photo of the sunset recently, so I picked two photos from places where I used to live.

The first is from Miami Beach, Florida, and the last is from Northbrook, Illinois.

Knot – Six Sentence Story

The entrance from the street was locked long ago still George waited for the iron bars to rust away. Perhaps it would turn out as the dark spirits predicted, though everyone knew they were liars, that one day the whole doorway would collapse letting the riff-raff in, but now those crossed bars mirrored a knot of frustration in his throat he couldn’t swallow down.

George remembered how that very door swayed open allowing anyone ready to enter to do so. Unfortunately, that was when he didn’t have much oil in his lamp and his clothes were stained. When the door shut he knocked on it demanding management give him more time to get ready. That was when he got so, ever ever so, demonically annoyed upon hearing a strange voice say “I never knew you” that the iron bars had to be added for his own protection.

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

Matthew 7:23 – “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (KJV)

In Memory

Dale offers the theme “in memory” for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge which coincides with the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

I selected views of two graveyards.

The military graveyard is well maintained. The goat (or whatever it is) in the other one, off to the left side on the rocks, keeps the vegetation under control.