PROMPT WORD: BOOKMARK
Jeremiah and Hoyt were best friends and partners in crime for as long as they could remember so when they uncovered the leatherbound spell book in-between the rafters of Old Lady Sifton’s attic their wide eyes met sparkling with devilish possibilities.
Presently, the boys wrapped the dusty manual in a rag and raced on gangly 14-year-old legs to their secret place, littered with empty cheap wine bottles and playboy magazines from their other escapades, under the wrap-around porch.
Each page, of the musty antique, held a gasp-provoking magic recipe; from turning spaghetti into worms to actually turning people into animals- all with warnings not to try them without expert supervision.
The last page revealed an ornately embossed bookmark which was stuck fast to the paper (from years of alternating winter dampness with extreme summer heat) and a short, 5-line, poem useful for turning someone into a frog SO Jeremiah -who had a terrible lisp rendering almost every word incoherent- just leapt right into reading the spell out loud when a flash and thunder-like percussion knocked the boys out!
Hoyt awoke with his ears still ringing at the edge evening, but Jeremiah was gone, so he vowed to knock him out for leaving him and crawled from beneath the porch coming briefly face-to-face with a huge frog sporting a human-like terrified look in its eyes.
Jeremiah was sadly never found, and Hoyt was never believed, so he lived a tortured, empty, life as an impoverished poet/songwriter until he serendipitously sold a song that memorialized his friend, the incident, and their joyful childhood, and it became a huge lucrative hit.
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(Finally, this song makes sense! It was written by Hoyt Axton. You may know him as the inventive father in the movie Gremlins. You’re welcome.)
https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/07/27/its-six-sentence-story-thursday-link-up-222/
Hello, Susan.
What a wonderful and artfully told story. You did so much in just six sentences too, love it!
Hello, Mason!
I’ve missed you. Thanks for the nice comment and I hope you’ve also been spending a lot of time enjoying nature.
Hi, Susan
I’ve never forgotten your kind words on my stories.
I’ve become somewhat of a carpenter this year. Making planters, bird boxes, hedgehog homes, and more besides. It’s finally allowing me to make a little money.
I’m still writing a little although not sharing on my blog so much. It been a regaining of my love of writing. It never was for publishing but for healing of the mind.
Hope you are doing well!
Good for you! Working with one’s hands is a beautiful way to calm the soul. Wishing you happiness in all your endeavors, dear friend. ❤
Thank you. So much!
Hilariously skillful and thanks for reviving one of my favorite songs.
😁 Thanks. 😎🎶
Well done, Susan. A very funny twist ending!
Thanks. It was fun! 😊
Fabulous piece of nonsense, Susan.
And cool song.
Nonsense comes easily to silly frogs. Thank-you!
you know what I liked the most about your Six this week?
From the first line, my eyes raced my mind to the ending. Both won.
Good Six yo
😁 What a delightful comment! I love when that happens. Thank-you sir.
A brilliant story ending with a great song! What’s not to like? Well done.
Thanks. It was fun watching it come together. 😉
Good warning about those magic recipes. Words are powerful. Well described tale. I liked the last paragraph where Hoyt continued to use words (hopefully with better intentions) as a poet/songwriter.
Profound observation, Frank. Thanks!
Wish the frog had a voice to be heard somewhere…
Fun story, Susan!
Shows you need to be careful where magic’s concerned! 😀
Kids, alcoholic beverages, and magic… never a good combination. 😉
Thank you, Tom! 🙂
There is nothing better when particles of reality collide with fiction ones…
A thank you for your You’re welcome.
I agree and appreciate your comment! Making sense of things is a tenant writers hold dear. 😉
A second Thank you is in order… 😉
Haha! I love this and the way you wove your tale was so entertaining and flawlessly done. It wasn’t until I neared the end that I saw what was coming which in no way diminished a great ending. I love this story and all I have left to say is ‘ribbit ribbit’! What fun! 🌟 🎶 🐸 ⚡️ 🐘
Thanks for this “make my day” comment, Nancy!
I’m a Silly Frog who is pleased. 😁
My pleasure! What a day this has been for me. I made five new writing friends today! As much joy as I get out of sharing my stories, the joy of meeting a new friend is equally rewarding. And the day is still young! 🌟 ✌🏼 💕 🐘
Whoa… I was feeling the exact same way!
[I recently reduced my followers by a handful because their attitudes were having a toxic affect on my writing and enjoyment of it. I’ve made the same number of new friends in a few days. No regrets!]
Oops… the word should be ‘effect’.
They affected my writing, but the effect was toxic. LOL
Ooh, sometimes you just have to lower the boom on the naysayers with a downer attitude. Fortunately I have not come across a single person who bummed me out. Pretty lucky!
Heeheehee! What a fun explanation, certainly better than any other i’ve ever heard.
Hey… some things really nag at a person until she figures them out. Next stop, bigfoot! LOL
Thanks very much!
That was delightful fun, Susan. Typical teenage boys mischief, but poor Jeremiah. And then, poor Hoyt too…but rescued by the song.
Thank you! Magic may be real but considering that song one of redemption may have been an even bigger stretch, but I took a chance! LOL
Such a well told story, I don’t know who I feel more sorry for… the frog or the poet.
Crazy story! So glad he got a hit out of it in the end (well deserved I reckon). I was getting vibes of Stranger Things, O Brother Where Art Thou, Evil Dead and Stephen King throughout! Cool Six 😎
Totally cool comment. Thanks!
A goofy, happily ever after. That’s the best kind.
And an awesome bank ,to boot!
*band,*
Now the story can be told …
I certainly sleep easier now. 😁