Category / Half Hour Challenge

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 →

by sparky200890

The Most Magical Night of the Year

Written by Sparky

Even Mickey Mouse knows to be in bed before Santa comes.

“‘Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even a mouse.”

I remember my parents telling me that story every year on Christmas Eve, ‘The Night Before Christmas’. My copy of that now lies on my child’s bookcase, ready to pass the tale onto a new generation.

I always wondered though, why a mouse?  What makes that specific creature more suited to not stirring than any other? Everyone tells me it was because it rhymed with house and didn’t break the rhythm of the poem. I never liked that though, I was always a dreamer, looking for a greater meaning. Some meaning that raised mice above the station of simply household rodent and pest and gave them purpose.

Everyone always laughed at me; they never understood why I chose to believe that. No matter many times I tried to explain that I wanted to think mice were cooler than they were. I gave up a few years back, they stopped mentioning it and I stopped fighting the corner. It wasn’t so bad I guess, a childish fancy, the endless wondering of the bored mind. Continue reading →

by Colette

Sleigh Me

Written by Rob

Wonder if this sleigh saw any snow last Christmas… Image Courtesy of picstopin.com

I rang Santa and got an electronic voice.

“Thank you for calling Saint Nicholas Enterprises Inc. Please select one of the following using your telephone keypad. Dial one for Sales (this is a freephone service). Dial two if you wish to cancel or amend an existing order (this service will be billed at the national rate). Dial three for anything else or just wait for an operator (this service is charged at a premium rate of two pounds sterling per minute).”

I pressed the two and waited. Again, the electronic voice.

“Thank you for calling Saint Nicholas Enterprises Inc. Please select the service you require from the following list using your keypad. If you wish to cancel an order, press one. If you wish to amend an order, press two. For any other service, just hold.”

I pressed two and immediately an electronic rendition of “Jingle Bells” sounded in my ear. After five minutes of jolly jingle, a recorded voice interrupted: “Your call is important to us and we’re doing our very best to get to you as quickly as we can. Unfortunately, we are experiencing very heavy traffic at this time. Saint Nicholas Enterprises Inc. appreciates your patience,” then back to Jingle Bells.  Continue reading →

by Colette

Tame

Written by x3naurus

You’re telling us, alright!
Image Courtesy of http://www.amountainmomma.com

“My dear child, you are quite impulsive! Let us check these results! Ah, here we are. Teacher’s notes. Ohohohoo! ‘Speaks constantly. Can’t sit still. Makes my hair fall out.’ Not very good, my child! You know what this means?”

“Yes, sir.”

The child looks frantically around the ghost-white room for a split second, when he simply gives in to the psychiatrist’s sundering stare. “Come with me, young one.”

This young boy follows close. He finally snaps out of the sundering submission, whilst his hand is tightly grasped by the psychiatrist, and looks – again – frantically among the hallway. Somehow, the psychiatrist notices this, and stops, twisting his head toward the child.
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by Colette

A Wild Topic

Written by Terrestris Veritas (Terra)

Anyone for a lollipop?
Image Courtesy of Sweetdough.net

Staring up into the darkness a thought entered my head.“Do you ever think that like, ‘darkness’ is just another way of saying, ‘no light’?” I asked my sleepy mate.

I heard him prop himself up onto his elbow. “No shit Sherlock,” came the answer.

“Well,” I responded, “I’m no Sherlock alright but when people say ‘absence of light’, they mean darkness. Do you not think it strange that people don’t say ‘absence of darkness’ when they mean light?”

“If you keep talking there will be an absence of light in your head until there’s an absence of darkness on this side of the Earth! Happy?”

“Yes.” I giggled to myself.

“Good. Shut up.” Matt snuggled himself down into his over-sized duvet.

As I was bobbing my head to some imaginary music, I thought of something else. Sitting up, I voiced my concern. “Hey. Did you ever think that, like, when-”

“I don’t think I was very clear earlier,” Matt interrupted. “Fuck off with your speculations. Please.”
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by Colette

Steps

Written by Rob (the Riddler)

Mr Baggins: We’ll leave the riddling to this guy.
Image Courtesy of nerdreactor.com

“You start from two, move six to your right.”
“I know what you’re doing.”
“Then one down and right at the same time.”
“I’m not playing this silly game. When are you going to grow up?”
“Silly? This isn’t silly. This is deadly serious.”
“You think you’re so bloody clever.”
“Then six to the left.”
“You drive me wild!”

 

by Colette

The Christmas Season

He's not just for Christmas!Image Courtesy of directbears.co.uk

He’s not just for Christmas!
Image Courtesy of directbears.co.uk

So, 2012 is almost over as we welcome the twelfth month into our lives. Home to today’s shopping extravaganza ‘mega monday’, the longest day of the year and a truck load of mince pies, December is upon us whether we like it or not. Usually, us Brits pray for snow to hit and this year it’s definitely likely, with ‘a light flurry’ hitting the northern ski slopes in County Durham and Scotland just yesterday.

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by Colette

T.I.M.M.

Written by Silver

Doorway to another world: Wooden in form and dun in colour – or the closest we could find!
Image Courtesy of Pinterest’s fantasy section.

This is not a tale about a door opening into a magical universe behind a wardrobe to meet a harsh white witch or a graceful lion, nor is it about a door swinging into a little garden, forbidden and secret, in fact, this door is entirely normal – wooden in form and dun in colour. There is something different about this door though, and maybe that’s what sets it apart from the others in those magical stories, and maybe it really isn’t; I guess you’ll know by the end.  Continue reading →

by Colette

Dip

Written by Rob

Black ice: Beautiful but deadly.
Image Courtesy of valleynewslive.com

My car hit the water in a shallow dive. I’d always thought of water as a soft landing, but the car stopped like it had hit concrete. No matter, seatbelt and airbag kept things relatively comfortable. I’m feeling quite calm, which amazes me. The car is semi-floating in the lake but the front is sinking quite fast. There’s lots of bubbling and hissing of hot parts. I can feel the back-end floating up behind me, tipping me forward against the seatbelt. I have no idea how deep this lake is. Continue reading →