Every year Writers Victoria hold the challenge during April, and each year I look forward to it. It took me a bit to get into the swing this year – especially as I’ve vowed 2022 is the year I cut down social media time! But the camaraderie, encouragement and the joy of reading fellow authors’ work during this event is hard to resist.
Here are my 30 days of 30 words – except there are only 29 because I missed one!
1. Hint
‘Why me?’ Joe said, cuffed, cranky.
Detective Jane showed the image on her phone: Joe smiling, knife against the victim’s throat.
‘$%$^%$^$,’ said Joe.
‘Was just a hint,’ said Jane.
2. Pyrite
‘A pie, right?’ Gav’s on lunch order duty again.
Inwardly I groan. ‘Gluten free. Salad.’
It’s always the same joke.
‘I know.’ He laughs. ‘Gold. Gotcha.’
Ha. Yeah. Fool’s gold.
3. Glow
Sheila had a certain glow. Lit up the room, flickered lights, pinged the microwave, scrambled TV. Happened to all astronauts, apparently. Hilarious – until Nana and her pacemaker visited …
4. Fortune
Jenna’s hopes: Spanish Villa. Beachfront mansion. Exotic dining. Fancy wines. Child-free.
Fortune-teller’s reading: Big 4s. Mother-in-law’s house. KFC. Six-packs. THREE KIDS!
True?
Not waiting to discover, it was bye-bye Tim.
5. Idol
Enya ordered an ancient all-seeing idol from Benny’s Mystic and Multipurpose Store, unsure her request was understood.
Suspicions were later confirmed.
‘Ancient seeing-eye dog? Benny said, patting an old Lab.
6. Intermittent
**missed**
7. Bright
Lots of legs
walking
Many voices
talking
Eyeball pairs
scoping
Distracted minds
bending
Synapses not
connecting
No time for
reflecting
Days of
never-ending
Reset button
pending…
….
….
….
Sparks of brightness
loading.
8. Moon
Jimmy is a stunner, no question. When his bio explained how he dressed:
‘Girls dig the night sky, and low pants show a half-moon (hehe)’
It is understandable he’s single.
‘Moon moths! Luminous, sparkling like stardust!’
She grips my hand. ‘Beautiful. I wish you could see them.’
Cheeks dampened with sadness, I stare into unseeing eyes.
‘Me too,’ I say.
9. Perceive
Paranoid delusions, Doctor Brown writes. Patient perceives as real.
New strategy. Honesty: ‘Aliens don’t exist.’
Emma shakes ‘No.’
‘White light beams you—?’
Emma clicks her fingers.
‘–- uppppp…’
Suzy was a sex-worker
Billy, a priest.
Inviting him over,
She cooked quite a feast.
An innocent affair—
Otherwise perceived.
Rumours reached the Parish,
And Father Billy sent on leave.
10. Twinkle
‘Into balls then flatten. Good. Bake 30 mins.’
A twinkle of accomplishment in 8-year-old Mary’s eyes as directions were followed, biscuits went in.
The magic of motherhood. Sweet as sugar.
11. Sequin
Grandma’s sequins are a galaxy; each star a part of her.
Sunbeams pierce stained glass. Light fills the church.
Hearts broken but full.
In death she shines.
Sparkle on, Grandma.
12. Shimmer
‘This is wrong, Ebony!’
‘All those diamonds. What’s she going to use them for?’
Ebony lifts the lid…
Something shimmers and it ain’t the diamonds.
‘No you don’t,’ says grandma.
13. Altar
Jessy lays the photo on the altar.
‘A nice pic. Good choice,’ Daddy says.
‘Does Mummy have to be dead?’ Jessy asks.
‘Let’s find out!’ Daddy says, reciting the invocation.
14. Horizon
‘Wormholes, event horizons, quantum mechanics. Theory of—’
‘But—!’
‘—relativity. Even time travel…’
When Benny asked if Dr Peters wanted olives on his pizza, answers were not straightforward.
15. Subdued
Jenny was reserved, shy, and Pete, her high school love. Our vote: the perfect couple.
Her funeral brought truth. Subdued, not shy. Pete – her murderer.
We’d been complicit all along.
16. Oasis
Bill wanted an oasis, something lush, rejuvenating. His marriage was stale, old, tasted of sand. He didn’t realise he was chasing a mirage. Bill wanders his Sahara now, empty, alone.
17. Dapple
Pigment dances, vitiligo patterns skin. Dappled morning sunlight streaming through the trees, the world’s colours in one palette, pebbles on the beach. Unique, beautiful. Now you wear your inner glow.
18. Faint
Your outline’s on the pillow, your spot on the couch. A faint luminosity in special places in the night? You’ve found glow-in-the-dark ink? You’re obsessed. Stop marking what is yours!
19. Blink
‘One wish.’ Genie shrugs. ‘Cutbacks.’
Yvette considers. ‘A husband, like Ken—’
‘Done.’
‘—but not annoying.’
‘Woops!’ Genie blinks away.
Ken’s wedding band gleams.
Occult shop discounts proved unreliable.
20. Waver
Jan wanted to be a footballer but the club said not for ‘chicks’. After 20 years campaigning, she succeeded and Now Jan and her daughter play. Her commitment never wavered.
21. Gold
My father always chased the dream:
fortune, glory, gold.
He searched a lot of places:
Far, near, new and old.
He died a lonely, saddened man;
his story left untold.
22. Scintillate
‘I don’t have to toe the line,’ said Bianca, fresh from prison. ‘I can have fun, sin till late…’
Bianca knew how to party – not how to use a prompt.
23. Hope
Harry
opened
Penny’s
envelope.
It spelt hope.
24. Inkling
Her tattoos foretell futures, covering her skin. She calls herself Inkling. Townsfolk, frightened, call her Witch.
A lynching ensues.
The final artwork depicts her murder, and the revenge she’ll exact.
25. Sparkle
‘Add an incisor glint, a twinkle in your eye?’ said Lynette.
‘Too sparkly?’ Vlad was an old-school vampire.
‘Modern.’
Reluctantly, Vlad admitted this Tinder profile now captured his inner glow.
26. Neon
Mirri’s skin is vellum soft, she’s delicate, demure. Her words glimmer, incandescent pearls.
She lives in my dreams. Mirri begs to have a heartbeat, I refuse. She cries neon tears.
27. Soft
The assortment disappeared fast around Jelly. Everybody hated him.
‘Don’t cry, mate. They like ‘em hard. You’re soft,’ said Brittle.
Ultimately, Jelly didn’t have long to wait. Sugar was sugar.
28. Flash
A silver flash: the cord is cut. You look discombobulate, unsure. Scared. We’ve got you, we say. You cry, we cry. I hold you to my breast. Welcome, tiny one.
29. Eye
‘Eye, eye, Captain,’ says Seaman Thom, pointing eyewards, laughing.
Captain Cutlass unamused, said. ‘Hold out yer hand!’ and lopped off Thom’s pointer.
‘Get my point?’
‘Aye, aye, Captain,’ sobbed Thom.
30. Glimmer
The shuttle carries the survivors. Riva cries for her broken planet. Lights blink out. Clouds swirl – a dying breath. Riva holds a glimmer of false hope. One day she’ll return.
