Category: Prose

It didn’t require a visa to get where Pete went only a willingness that none of us had to go through that unpromising hole-in-the-wall. Perhaps some of us should have gone with him to point the way back, but we didn’t care that much what happened to him so long as whatever it was didn’t happen to us.

Today decades later and buried in memories our delightful destinations reached their dead-ends. Admittedly we knew this would happen, but we didn’t think it would happen in next to no time.

Pete told us to come along, but were we still welcome in spite of demonic reminders that we were not? Was the breath that coughed its way through our lungs evidence that there was still a bit of mercy left even for the likes of us?

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Denise offers the prompt word “visa” for this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

In an attempt to make conversation, or perhaps scare away snakes that might be sunning themselves on the trail, Stephen said to Dale, “What makes deception work is all that true enough sky-is-blue stuff that serves as the delivery vehicle for the poison we don’t know we’re being fed.” He then added the next thing that popped into his head, “Of course, we only think others can be fooled so we happily open our mouths.”

Unwilling to follow just any non-sequitur where it leads, but also unwilling to remain unsociably silent, Dale countered, “Things haven’t changed much since that snake messed with Eve.”

Meeting the challenge Stephen observed, “You can tell by the cautious way the snake phrased its words that it was worried Eve was going to bite its head off if it made a wrong move.”

While pointing out the direction where the trail forked Dale noted, “She did want that lame excuse to eat forbidden fruit.”

Since this was Stephen’s first time on this twisted trail he only added by way of conclusion, “But after they took those bites—surprise!—they and that snake had plenty of other things to worry about.”

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Denise offers the prompt word “Surprise” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Associated with these prompts is a YouTube Channel, Two Guys and a Girlie, discussing the writing of these stories featuring Clark, Nick and Denise streaming live on Sundays at 2:30 PM EST.

If you want to read the brief dialogue between Eve and the serpent to see how far I’ve gone off the trail see Genesis 3:

Scrooge, the knot tier, saw threads come apart and got busy. Unfortunately the threads didn’t like the way he thought best to tie them together so they slipped through even the toughest knot Scrooge knew how to tie.

Meanwhile a prophet passed by and told Scrooge that he wasn’t anointed to tie knots. Frustrated with the threads this further bit of abuse pushed Scrooge over the edge triggering him to ask the prophet what exactly did anointed mean and what exactly does this prophet think Scrooge was supposed to be doing anyway instead of his own job tying knots?

Considering the unraveling state of the world prophets are very busy nowadays. He had no time to waste giving Scrooge any further word than “Merry Christmas!”

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Denise offers the prompt word “knot” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Associated with these prompts is a YouTube Channel, Two Guys and a Girlie, discussing the writing of these stories featuring Clark, Nick and Denise streaming live on Sundays at 2:30 PM EST. The next episode will be on January 1st, 2023.

Below the vault of the small chapel’s roof Brad watched a singer in the band step back from the microphone because her daughter approached. They stood calmly embracing and bracing each other through two songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord and a prophetic word. It was getting late, but the service was nearly finished.

That night the chapel held about twenty people including those leading the worship. There’s not much to this tale because all that happened, as if that weren’t enough, was mother and daughter both about the same height but decades different in age rested their hearts in support of each other.

Brad wanted the same love in his own family that those two shared.

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Denise offers the prompt word “vault” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Associated with these prompts is a YouTube Channel, Two Guys and a Girlie, discussing the writing of these stories featuring Clark, Nick and Denise streaming live on Sundays at 2:30 PM EST.

The range of colors of the leaves went from greens to bright reds and oranges before they fell. Dylan listened to Rene’s parable of letting go like those trees do in the fall so that with empty hands they may receive new blessings in the spring. It sort of made sense to him, but the nature sentimentality was a bit much.

Later that day Dylan and his wife assembled the Christmas tree in anticipation not of Santa, reindeer and presents, but of children coming home with their families.

He recalled Rene’s parable remembering how once green leaves had turned red over the years as a consequence of his own past deviations from what he knew he should have done. Now, however, he longed to see the children to bless them and to remove any curses he might have brought on them as he and his wife wished them a “Merry Christmas”.

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Denise offers the prompt word “range” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Associated with these prompts is a YouTube Channel, Two Guys and a Girlie, discussing the writing of these stories featuring Clark, Nick and Denise streaming live on Sundays at 2:30 PM EST.

Daniel had no problem believing in demons especially since members of his family, including himself, were messed up like lines of broken meter trashing a melodious poem. What didn’t sink in was the thought that the salvation which the street preacher taught included deliverance from those pesky critters.

Anyway Daniel’s life bounced like a yoyo, like an echo, like his day-trading portfolio from one curse to the next. Often he would confuse a curse for a blessing only to find out that he had fallen back into the rabbit hole of his addictions.

Things stayed pretty much the same until a miracle occurred. Like receiving a nourishing sandwich rather than spare change he might trade for stimulations he didn’t need all Daniel had to do was reach out, take and eat which he finally did.

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Denise offers the word “meter” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Associated with these prompts is a YouTube Channel, Two Guys and a Girlie, discussing the writing of these stories featuring Clark, Nick and Denise streaming live on Sundays at 2:30 PM EST.

Oliver pestered Theodore, a fellow member of the congregation, proclaiming him an unregenerate fool unworthy of heaven and heading down the highway to hell. Although he did not see himself in the witch and warlock business his words witlessly activated curses. If he had to excuse his behavior later on, without actually apologizing, he might say that his blood pressure was on the verge of exploding justifying him running his mouth leaving no unkindness unspoken.

Under his own state of demonic influence Theodore wondered if Oliver, who often went over the top, might this time be onto something admitting that he indeed was unworthy of heaven, but then who wasn’t? Given a recent diagnosis of terminal kidney disease Theodore momentarily felt like a failure both in his present life and, should Oliver’s prophecies by chance come true, the next.

Because he could think of nothing better as a response Theodore wished Oliver the mercy of deliverance that he himself longed for saying, “If the blood of Jesus isn’t enough to cover me, may it at least cover you.”

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

Don’t miss the new YouTube Channel, Two Guys and a Girlie, featuring Clark, Nick and Denise discussing the writing of six sentence stories and other topics streaming live on Sundays at 2:30 PM EST.

Scott believed the universe was eternal because he didn’t want God to get credit for starting it and thereby interfere with his autonomy. However, entropies of all sorts undermined the theory taunting him with the thought that if an eternal universe were going to fall apart over time, as Scott believed it would, then it would have fallen apart long ago. As consolation he told himself that scientists would one day figure it all out so every rational person would have to agree with him.

Tommy asked him, “What about eternal life?”

Scott spoke slowly allowing the weight of his authority to dominate before declaring that both of them would be “eternally dead” in a few short decades adding, “and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Then your eternity’s not worth much,” Tommy replied.

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