Month / February 2013

by marleylilith

Careful Driving

Written by Ricardo

Drive safely, and always wear a seatbelt.
Image courtesy of lovetoknow.com.

The moon nestled high in the clear black sky as Alexander’s watch hit eleven o’clock. The especially bright light from the full moon illuminated the deserted car park as he made his way across to his car, barely holding five loaded bags and a bunch of assorted flowers wrapped in plastic in his left hand while he fumbled for his keys with his right hand. He got to the scrap heap he called a car; faded blue paint, rust along the skirt and windows, the usual mess, as he retrieved his keys from his pocket. The old thing could at least lock and unlock with one of those wireless key things. Probably the first one they ever made. He opened the door and threw everything into the back, only taking care with the flowers.
Continue reading →

by Colette

Friday Frenzy Winner – A Week Without Olly

Written by Dice

Could you survive a week without him? *sniff*
Image Courtesy of arundelteddybears.co.uk

You’ve been alone for a whole seven days.
You’ve not had much cause to laugh or play.
Without a friend to hold you tight,
Alone you braved the deep dark nights.

But now you are together once more.
Hug him close and hug him evermore.
For though you were brave and never lost hope.
You will never believe with what Teddy had to cope.

Teddy survived a journey exciting to tell.
An adventure full of trials and certain peril.
Alone in that park he couldn’t know what to do.
All he wanted was to be back with you. Continue reading →

by Colette

Friday Frenzy – 22 February

This is something we were born to do, we survive.

This is something we were born to do, we survive.

Inkblotters, it’s time for another Friday Frenzy! From now on, we’re holding the Frenzy from 12am Friday 22nd to 12am Saturday 23rd BST/GMT so that you guys have extra time to submit your entry – good, eh?

If you’re unsure on the Frenzy and its rules, you can have a quick look at our Frenzy House Rules post, and get up to date on all the details.

Remember, if you want to submit your entry, please email it to creativewritinginkwell@hotmail.com before the competition deadline – if you do it after, we won’t be able to count it, sorry! If you’re submitting your entry from across the pond (Australia, America, Japan etc) and can’t remember what time it is in Britain then don’t worry, send it to us within the 24 hour time-slot from when this post was published. If you can headline your email ‘Inkblots FF Entry’, then smashing, it means you won’t get filtered into spam, and that’s definitely a good thing!

This month’s winner will be notified by email on Saturday 23rd and will have their entry (complete with image) published onto our site.

Remember, this competition also runs on our writing forum, The Inkwell, so you may be up against some awesome writers – don’t let that put you off though! Continue reading →

by Colette

Three-minute reads – Haiku Selection III

These Haiku posts just give us an excuse to look for pictures of tea and biscuits! Mmmm… cream tea.
Image Courtesy of blog.englishtrackers.com

The warmth of Spring is finally in the air! Here in the UK, we’ve had a sunshine-filled day, and it is more than welcome, what with having to battle a weird string of blitzing, wintry winds and (more than usual) lots of snow. Well, we didn’t get as much as Canada, but by heck we sure moaned about it. Hey, that’s what we Brits do best (unfortunately)!

So, with a spring in our step – and hopefully yours – we’ve got another selection of Haiku to bring you today. I’ve specially picked these three poems as they seem to tell a story, what that story is, however, you will have to figure out yourself. With many interpretations to seek, or gather, you have one minute to read, another to ponder and one extra to decipher – so get cracking! Continue reading →

by Colette

Valentine’s Poetry

Aren’t these just adorable? Might have to buy some ourselves!
Image Courtesy of – and tea lights available at – http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

Hey Inkblotters, it’s good ol’ V Day, so here’s what we promised you: one sonnet written by Lilith and one by a little poet named Christina Rossetti, you might have heard of her. We didn’t want to be too cliché and give you the Bard though, but we thought we’d give you some traditionalism with some Lemon Sherbet-ty goodness too.

If you haven’t read of Christina Rossetti’s ‘In an Artist’s Studio’ you are really missing a treat. There’s something truly beautiful about obsessing over art – any form, whether it be literature, music or a painting itself, it is still beautiful in the eye of the creator. So, sit back, enjoy and read between the lines.

And Happy Valentine’s Day!

– Silver

Continue reading →

by Colette

Smile

Written by Rob

Bell’s Palsy: Something for us all to think about.
Image Courtesy of http://www.patient.co.uk, where more information about the disease can be found.

A smile or a grimace? Ted Jones isn’t renown for his happy disposition, yet he seems pleased to see us. “Who are you and what have you done with the real Ted?” I think, though I don’t dare say it. The last three times Claire and I came to the warehouse to deliver training, Ted had been conspicuous only by his growl and then his absence.
“Oh, it’s you pair of plonkers again, is it? Well, you’d better set up in the meeting room like last time and stay out of my way. Some of us have got work to do.” Ted’s disposition hasn’t changed to match his new-found demeanour.
“You’re supposed to be managing this warehouse Ted. I’d like to know what work you consider to be more important than improving it.”
“We’ve got spare orders to pick, pack and ship. I’m bloody certain our customers prefer my lads doing that than sitting in your training sessions.”
“Your lads sent three parcels to the wrong place last month. What do those customers think about your attitude to training, I wonder?”
“Yeah, well the only folk who don’t make mistakes are the ones who do nowt. I’ll bet you don’t make many.”
“So do you think we should carry on as we are or should we try to improve?”
“I haven’t time for this. Deliver your training!” and he spins on his heel and marches out the door.
Claire rolls her eyes at me, “same old Ted,” and unpacks the projector. Continue reading →

by marleylilith

Chuckle Voodoos

Written by Lilith

Evil, evil clown

You’re next… Image courtesy of annestokes.com

I grabbed onto the edges of the filing cabinet, pushing my feet into the floor and straining my back to pull it towards me, in front of the door. Across from me Sara pushed it along, but it wasn’t moving fast enough, and we could hear the telltale sound of jingling coming down the corridor… ching, ching, ching with his footsteps. He knew where we were, and was in no hurry. Sara let out a little cry as the cabinet slid into place, and I shoved it a little more to my left, close up against the door. Like it’d slow him down.

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by Colette

Lovey-dovey February!

We may not like V Day, but we love these cute cupcakes! Nom nom.
Image Courtesy of minkykittencakes.co.uk

Hi all and welcome to lovey-dovey February!

If you’re like us and Valentine’s Day is not your thing, then no worries, we have lots of written content this month which avoids all the chocolate, red roses and teddy bears. However, if you do like a bit of love poetry, we’ve got a wonderfully written sonnet by our blog administrator Lilith to get you in the mood – we’re posting this on Valentine’s Day, so make sure you stop by the blog or follow our twitter account @inkblotswriting to keep up to date with all our posts.

As always, we have a new Half Hour Challenge theme for the new month, and this time it’s ‘Dreams and Nightmares’. We’re looking for some awesome entries this month – remember, you can submit your HHC at any time of the month to our email creativewritinginkwell@ hotmail dot com – whether it be poetry, a short story, or something experimental, we love to see it all. For me, dreams and nightmares are closely associated with Freudian philosophy, but for others it may spark the innocence of childhood nostalgia, hiding under the bed or duvet from those utterly ghastly nightmares. Continue reading →