Ghost story - many qu's - The tiger who came to tea

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below.

Today I have ‘hugged the text’. I have stuck to the original story and changed just a few details. This is a good way to support less confident writers, or any writer exploring a new test type.

Prompts / date	28th September
FMS Photo a day	Note
Text type	Ghost story
Sentence type	Many Questions
Story	The tiger who came to tea

Many questions

Builds interest / tension

start with question and ?, followed by more linked question words or simple phrases (these don’t need capital letters)

What if she was lost? trapped? captured? murdered?

Sophie's mother was certain she had done this.

Once there was a little girl called Sophie, and she was having tea with her mummy, in the kitchen.

Suddenly Sophie felt cold all over and shivered even though her mummy didn’t seem to notice anything.

Sophie’s mummy said, ‘What’s wrong?

It can’t be a draft from the back door because I locked it after I put the bins out.

It can’t be the widow on the stairs because I know I closed it after I let the spider out.

Let’s check the front door and see if Daddy left it open when he went to work.’

Sophie opened the door, but no one was there, so she closed it again and went back to the kitchen.

All of a sudden a chair moved on its own. Sophie shivered again.

The sandwiches on the plate flew up in the air and then disappeared – the same happened to the buns, to the cake, to all the food until there was nothing left to eat on the table.

Sophie’s mummy went to reach for the teapot but that flew up into the air too and emptied all the tea all over the floor. The milk jug flew into the air and emptied the milk all over the floor.

Sophie and Sophie’s mummy were terrified and looked around the kitchen wondering what would happen next.

‘What if more things in the kitchen were thrown around? spoiled? emptied? broken?'

Rashomon effect - Rumpelstiltskin - if, if, if, then

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below. 

Prompts / date	27  September 2015
FMS Photo a day	rainbow
Text type	rashomon
Sentence type	If, if, if, then
Story	Rumplestiltskin

It's a rainbow, but I haven't linked it to the story - perhaps someone else can?
It could be a symbol of hope for the miller's daughter, perhaps.

If, if, if, then

Summarises dramatic plot

at beginning or end of a story. Comma after each clause.

If Hannibal hadn't been lost, if Rome hadn't won, if Carthage hadn't fallen, then the Med would be a very different place today.

Rashomon (effect)

The story is told from the perspective of different characters throwing up inconsistencies which are irreconcilable with each other. There is no over-riding narrative voice and so there is no ‘truth’ to the story.

A series of sub headings introduce each character. For example, as interviews with / testimonies of main characters, with a purpose. In Cinderella, it might be an investigation to find the owner of the shoe.

For Rumpelstiltskin I have started with the miller and the King. Other testimonies could be written for the miller’s daughter, palace officials, the court messengers and Rumpelstiltskin himself.

The King’s mother has decided to take charge of the chaos in the Palace. Her daughter in law is distressed, her grandchild is dressed up as if going on a long journey and an imp has his leg stuck in a hole in the floor.

The Miller

I can’t tell you much, I’m afraid. I haven’t seen my daughter for nearly two years, not since she went to live at the palace. The King has treated me well, he is a good man, all my needs are taken of thanks to him, but my daughter – that’s another story.

She was always a good daughter to me, she was kind and polite, always worked well at the mill and she was the most beautiful creature you had ever seen. The last time I saw her was the day when the King was passing and I told him how wonderful she was and pointed out her beautiful hair. I told him that when the sun shines on it, it’s as if she’s spun straw into gold. Well blow me down with a feather, if that didn’t make him fall in love with her! He offered me riches in return for her hand in marriage and of course I agreed. Who am I, a poor miller, to argue with the King?

I don’t know what went wrong! She never speaks to me, my letters are returned unopened and she won’t let me into the palace. It doesn’t make sense! She has married the king and lives in luxury in the palace. She even has a beautiful grandchild I am not allowed to meet, but you see every day.

Can you help me reconcile with her?

The King

Mother, I don’t have to answer to you anymore, I am a grown man! You know as much as I do about what is happening today. To be honest, I thought I was going to have to send her home after the first night. If her father hadn’t said she could spin straw into gold, if she hadn’t actually done that, if she hadn’t been reasonably attractive we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. When her father told me of her special skill, I thought I could have some fun with her – it gets a bit boring being King sometimes. I could hardly sleep on the first night she stayed at the palace. I was up all night wondering what state she would be in when I saw her in the morning, and she had to explain why the straw was still straw. It was going to be hilarious! I think she believed me when I said I would have to kill her if she couldn’t do it!  Anyway, she did it: I nearly fell over in shock.

After she did it three times, I decided that was probably enough - I’m not a greedy man. I know when to stop, and besides I was getting to like her so I asked her to marry me.

We don’t talk much, I think she keeps things from me. When the baby came along, she wasn’t as happy as I thought she should be, but the baby is healthy enough.

I have no idea what the fuss with imp is all about. I am as keen to get that issue dealt with as you are, so we can get back to normal. 

pop song - imagine x3 - Necklace of Raindrops

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below.

Prompts / date	26 September 2015
FMS Photo a day	pink
Text type	Pop song
Sentence type	Imagine x 3
Story	The Necklace of Raindrops

Imagine x3

adds interest, builds atmosphere

start with 'Imagine' them describe 3 parts of something separated by commas. Colon after 3rd and linked clause.

Imagine a place where the the sun always shines, where wars never happen, where no-one ever dies: in the Andromeda 5 system  there is such a planet.

Pop Song

Features:

Poetry

Repeated refrain

Variable stanzas detailing the narrative

Could focus on the most romantic or emotional parts of the story.

Catchy title

Imagine a necklace which keeps you dry, which keeps you safe in any storm, which lets you swim in the deepest ocean: this necklace from your godfather, the North Wind, does just that.

Hold on to the Raindrops

Based on, “A Necklace of Raindrops” by Joan Aiken. 
Adapted from, "Hold Back the River" by James Bay. 
Watch it on Youtube here / Original lyrics here

v - Tried to keep my necklace close to me,

But school took it away.

Meg was mean and stole it for herself,

But my godfather meant it for me.

ch - Hold on to the raindrops, let me stay dry in a storm

Hold on to the raindrops, so I

Can stop it from raining and swim in any sea

Hold on to the raindrops, hold on

v - My tears rolled down like rain

What will happen to me?

But I saved the fish from the sand

And the bird from the storm.

ch - Hold on to the raindrops, let me stay dry in a storm

Hold on to the raindrops, so I

Can stop it from raining and swim in any sea

Hold on to the raindrops, hold on

Oh, oho, oho, oho, oho

Oho, oho, oho, oho

ch2 - Missing necklace, missing necklace, will I find you?

Let us follow our friends’ clues

Missing necklace, missing necklace, will I find you?

Let us follow our friend’s clues.

v – I found the necklace

A princess has it

But now my godfather’s coming

He has the tenth drop

ch - Hold on to the raindrops, let me stay dry in a storm

Hold on to the raindrops, so I

Can stop it from raining and swim in any sea

Hold on to the raindrops, hold on

ch2 - Missing necklace, missing necklace, will I find you?

Let us follow our friends’ clues

Missing necklace, missing necklace, will I find you?

Let us follow our friend’s clues.

v - If I want my necklace back

I must make it rain for them

But he was angry, he dropped the raindrop

A tear rolled to the chain making ten

ch - Hold on to the raindrops, let me stay dry in a storm

Hold on to the raindrops, so I

Can stop it from raining and swim in any sea

Hold on to the raindrops, hold on

ch2 - Missing necklace, missing necklace, I have found you

Let me dry my eyes so I

Can make it start raining by blowing my nose

Let me dry my eyes so I….

Hold on to the raindrops, let me stay dry in a storm

Hold on to the raindrops, so I

Can stop it from raining and swim in any sea

Hold on to the raindrops, hold on.

Start of the line rhyme - Varjak Paw - O. (I).

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below.

24th September

Prompts / date	24  September 2015
FMS Photo a day	green
Text type	Start of the line rhyme
Sentence type	O. (I).
Story	Varjak Paw

O. (I).

outside: inside

2 related sentences. Outside (action), inside (reveals true feelings)

Kate ate the cake her friend gave to her with excitement. However, she wished she had refused it. She smiled at the cheeky boy. At the same time she was hurt by his tricks.

Varjak Paw was told that a 'true' Mesopotamian blue has green eyes.

Start of the line rhyme

Rhyming words start, rather than end the lines. As this is hard to maintain, it is fine to include the rhyming words in the first few syllables of a line:

One morning a letter came in the post

And yawning, a stepsister picked it up.

The Paws are an extended family of Mesopotamian Blue cats,

Whose claws are not needed in their luxury life with The Contessa.

They rarely venture out, even into the garden: Mother says,

"It’s a fairly nasty, dirty place in that garden.”

Beyond these doors ‘Outside’, there are huge, fierce monsters called dogs.

Fond of dreaming, was Varjak, the youngest kitten,

He was teased and bullied by his family

Displeased by his eyes: amber not green

(As the eyes of a true Mesopotamian Blue should be).

He relies on his grandfather's tales of their ancestor Jalal,

Who "travelled to the ends of the earth, further than any cat had been before",

A true hunter, who "fought the fiercest warrior cats".

Varjak gets his chance to shine when the Contessa dies,

Black cats and a sinister "Gentleman"

Take over the house

Moreover, Elder Paw insists that the Mesopotamians

Must escape the house at once, but they refuse.

Thrust aside, he turns to Varjak for help.

Varjak's task is to go over the wall surrounding the house,

And ask a dog to help them –

A dog alone could make the gentleman become

Overthrown – a dog is so big and fierce.

He will recognise a dog because they

"Fill the heart with fear, with their foul breath and deafening sound".

Varjak climbed bravely over the wall and ventured into the City.

Despite his bravery, he was a scared and inexperienced kitten.

Enough of my attempts – if I continue my poem, I’ll spoil the story for you.

Now. can you adapt the last two lines so that they have a 'start of the line rhyme'?

Or, why not try your own?

The Mouse and the Lion - lipogram - verb, person

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below.

23rd September

Well, as this is about a mouse and a lion, the only vowel left is an ‘a’. Let’s see how I get on.

Prompts / date	23  September 2015
FMS Photo a day	yellow
Text type	lipogram
Sentence type	Verb, person
Story	The mouse and the lion

verb, person

gives sentence importance

verb is followed by a comma then name or personal pronoun

Tiptoeing, he tried to sneak out.

Lipogram

Another Oulipian technique

The text is constrained by excluding a particular letter, usually a vowel.

The little grey mouse bumped into the huge, sleeping, yellow lion in the forest. Unwisely, he climbed up onto the lion, crowing: “Snoozy old lions do not bother us mice!” The lion, by now not sleepy, but wired, held the mouse down. His mouth drooling, thinking of his dinner.

The mouse begged for its life, “Don’t kill me. In time I will help you!”  The lion, finding this thought ridiculous, let the mouse go.

The next morning, the mouse does indeed help the lion, who is in a hunter’s net. The mouse chewed through the rope. The lion is reprieved, he couldn’t believe it: “You wonderful mouse!”

I have an ‘a’ – just one! Can you help me out? Can you Change that sentence?

Alice in Wonderland - crime fiction - 2 pairs

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below.

14th September 2015

Prompts / date	14th  September 2015
FMS Photo a day	I’m proud of this
Text type	Crime fiction
Sentence type	2 pairs
Story	Alice in wonderland

Crime fiction	When fitting your narrative to a crime genre, the focus has to be on a central mystery. In this case, there is a perfect scenario in Alice in Wonderland – but you could twist the narrative of any story to create a crime scene.
2 pairs	Atmosphere: 2 pairs of related adjectives to start sentence each pair is followed by a comma, each pair separated by ‘and’. Exhausted and worried, cold and hungry, they did not know where they were.

The Queen of Hearts was proud of her tarts, but someone stole them! Who was it?

‘AAArrrrggghhh!’ A loud and terrible scream reverberated, echoed and ricocheted around the kitchen, down the corridor, into the great hall and out of all the windows into the courtyard and the gardens. All living creatures within the castle felt their blood chill slightly, petals fell from flowers and birds fell silent. There was no mistaking that this was the war cry of the Queen and they had all experienced the Queen’s anger first hand.

At moments like this, they could be forgiven for wondering what an irony it was that she was ‘The Queen of Hearts’. It was widely believed that she had no heart at all, or if she did, it was made of stone. The population of the castle hurried into the Great Hall to await their fate, or at least to discover what had caused the Queen’s rage this time.

‘WHO HAS STOLEN MY TARTS?’ bellowed the Queen to the assembled throng. All hung their heads, averting their gaze from this wild Medusa, muttering their innocence. ‘OFF WITH ALL THEIR HEADS!’ she screamed at the guards, louder than ever.

‘Now, now, my dear sweet pumpkin,’ coaxed the King, ‘let’s find another way to settle this.’

Within a few minutes an identity parade was set up, consisting of every single living creature in the castle grounds and household. From the sleepy Dormouse to her son, the Knave. Each was to look her in the eye and assert his, or her, innocence.

‘It wasn’t me.’

‘I didn’t eat you tarts.’

‘I’m innocent!’

‘I don’t even like jam, your majesty!’

Each animal and person in turn, looked at her with innocent faces and wide open eyes. There was no one left except her very own son.

‘How can you even think for a moment it might be me?’ he said sulkily. The clever King replied,

‘Maybe the culprit has crumbs on his chin?’

Before he had time to think, the Knave quickly wiped his mouth.

‘Aha! You villain! You Knave! You will have a trial and then I shall have your head chopped off!’

Uncovered and ashamed, trembling and terrified, he was tied in chains and led off to face the court.

Wild Swans - Tanka (Haiku style poem) - irony

Today's #afewwordsaday #KAFWAD submission

Why not join me? Today's prompts are below. Prompts for the rest of the week are in a separate post just below.

12th September 2015

What do you think of my Tanka poems? It's my first attempt. Can you do better?

Opposite: the King's wife was beautiful on the outside but when he looked at her he was filled with horror.

Prompts / date	12th September 2015
FMS Photo a day	opposite
Text type	Tanka
Sentence type	Irony
Story	The Wild Swans

Irony	overstates how good or bad something is, rest of sentence reveals overstated word to be false. Our 'luxury' room turned out to be a farm building. The 'trip of our dreams' was, in fact, our worst nightmare.
Tanka	5-7-5-7-7 last two lines change pace or tone

The Six Swans

The king had six sons

His wife turned them into swans

Their sister saved them

She knitted shirts from nettles

and turned them back into men

So this one doesn’t change the tone or pace, let’s try again with a bit more help from Alan Peat's '50 ways to re-tell a story':

I was a sad girl.

My six brothers were now swans.

I had to save them:

For six years I could not speak

And knitted six nettle shirts.

Better – but no irony…

Six boys and one girl.

one step mum and a cruel spell:

Six swans and one girl.

Six years of knitting nettles.

Six brothers back: just one wing.

Hmm, still no irony. Let’s try just part of the story…

A king, lost, no hope.

An old woman can help him

If he weds her girl.

This ‘worthy and pretty’ girl

Filled our king’s heart with horror.