This is #1 of the new Quickly weekly prompt series. In Too Much of a Good Thing, we are given a series of scenarios to choose from, told to write and write, and then use 1/4 or less as our posted story. Quite a task. My result is about 80 words more than a fourth of my original story.
I survived the war by hiding in the library, a small, obscure branch tucked into a tiny woods within the exurban sprawl. Having read Doomsday as soon as the library had a copy, I was prepared for the armed struggle.
Turned the basement reading room into a bunker, stockpiling supplies including a multi-fueled generator. Laid booby traps, and trip wires in case of a breach.
My parents dabbled in the dark arts. I was always stuck with the clean-up. But, I did overhear an cloaking spell, handy for wrapping the building in when necessary.
My companions were two stray cats, Chaucer and Eliot. And thousands of books.
Ran laps and climbed the stairs. Kept a private journal and a public blog. Read up on philosophy, politics, theology, satire and humour.
Sure enough, a year or two later – a truce. At least for now, until the losing side got rambunctious. I remained at the library. Started a roof garden, developed a small reading café on the main floor. Had my mother’s recipe for oatmeal cookies and my dad’s for turning base metals into gold. That’s the thing about revolution, the rich usually still end up on top.
© Lorraine
image: Quickly
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February 4, 2017 at 10:35 am
Absolutely brilliant! This a total home run – smash hit – KEEPER!
Love it :)
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February 4, 2017 at 12:43 pm
Thanks — I’ll have to start a page on the blogger called Keeper. Funny because I wasn’t really happy with the story feeling I’d cut out the better pieces. Guess we aren’t the best judges of our own work, are we. Laughing and smiling.
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February 4, 2017 at 4:41 pm
well sometimes, the bits we do cut are good too – but you know, the only real true measure of good editing is time – and distance – as in, you can see the work from another perspective … so the prompt kind of offered that as a task.
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February 4, 2017 at 8:43 pm
It certainly did. It’s been a long time since I wrote long and edited short. I’ve been writing flash fiction — thinking minimalist — and my off line writings are long, but not edited.
It’s always easier to edit somebody else’s work.
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February 4, 2017 at 9:05 pm
yup – it’s true – editing is easier when it belongs to someone else – nature of the game. And it also depends on why and how you choose to post content. Some people won’t post anything unless it’s completely polished to perfection – which is fine; it all depends on the needs :)
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February 4, 2017 at 9:07 pm
Gosh, if I waited for polished perfection in my writing, I’d never post anything. I should self-edit more — my letter dyslexic is getting worse and I tend to read what I think should be/what I wrote rather than a more careful examination for what I didn’t write. Smiling.
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February 4, 2017 at 9:16 pm
Listen, you do the best you can right? Some moments are better than others – so hey, give yourself a break. As for not posting – LOL – I’d be sitting in a dark corner weeping uncontrollably – for me – and for you. Sometimes we have to toss perfection out the window? Besides, what is that anyhow? let’s just say it’s okay to write and post :)
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February 4, 2017 at 9:35 pm
That’s what I do — I lost my muse and self-editor somewhere along the way. So perfection is not a goal; it’s an ideal, a dream, a WTF — it just is.
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February 5, 2017 at 12:52 pm
I totally get it ….
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February 3, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Love this!
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February 3, 2017 at 10:25 pm
Thanks! Smiling.
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February 2, 2017 at 10:29 pm
I did like this as I felt I was with you in the journey….well done..
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February 2, 2017 at 10:49 pm
Thank you, Michael. It was an interesting exercise to cut a piece of writing by a quarter.
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February 2, 2017 at 10:50 pm
As I discovered
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