Kreative Kue 214

Kreative Kue 213 asked for submissions based on this photograph:

John W Howell is the author of the John Cannon trilogy of My GRL, His Revenge, Our Justice and Circumstances of Childhood, co-author of The Contract, and blogs at Fiction Favorites.

Gotta Light? by John W. Howell © 2019

“Hey, Charlie. Whatcha doing?”

“It looks pretty obvious.”

“So tell me.”

“I’m trying to decide on calling the fire department or not.”

“For this little fire?”

“Yes for this little fire. I’m getting concerned.”

“Concerned? About what? It looks like it’s under control. A few branches is all.”

“It may appear to be that to you. There’s a deeper issue.”

“My goodness. Sounds sinister.”

“Don’t laugh. It is sinister.”

“Oh come on. Looks the fire is starting to die down.”

“That’s what I thought about a half hour ago.”

“So this thing has been burning for a half hour?”

“Longer than that.”

“That does seem a little strange. It doesn’t seem like there is enough wood to keep it going for that long.”

“Now you are beginning to get a sense of my worry.”

“Other than that it still seems quite normal.”

“Except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t start the fire.”

“Come again? What do you mean you didn’t start the fire?”

“I came out here to light this brush—”

“So you did start the fire.”

“Let me finish, will you?”

“Go ahead.”

“I came out here to light this brush, and when I got here, I realized I forgot my matches.”

“Sounds like you. So how did you get the brush lit?”

“That’s just it. While reaching in my pockets for a light and realizing I had forgotten the matches I said, “Hey brush. You gotta light?”

“Don’t tell me.”

“Yup. The brush ignited. Just like that.”

“And has been burning ever since.”

“Now you understand.”

“I think we need to do something.”

“Okay. I’m glad you feel the same as I do.”

“Repeat after me.”

“Huh? I was thinking of calling the fire department.”

“No, forget that. I have a feeling you are gifted, and we should act fast before the gift goes away. Repeat after me. “Hey, brush.”

“I don’t get it but okay, “Hey, Brush.”

“You gotta beer?”

“You gotta beer? You are a jerk. You know that?”

“You want one?”

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And this from Kristian, who blogs regularly at Tales from the mind of Kristian.

Bonfire of Broken Dreams Copyright: Kristian Fogarty 01/April/2019

It’s the burning autumn leaves

That’s making me cry so much,

It isn’t that you’re leaving,

It’s not that I miss your touch.

I was a fool to ever love you,

To think you’d never let me down.

You’ve taken my trusting nature

And turned me into a clown.

I am not crying about you,

Even though that’s what it seems,

It’s just the smoke that’s coming from

This bonfire of broken dreams.

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On to this week’s challenge: Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.