Ergo, the Ogre

Author: Ergo, the Ogre

  • The Plant

    The Plant

    It’s time once again for Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wiseoff-Fields. Our prompt this week is the image below. 100 words.

    Photo courtesy of Nancy Richy

    Nobody knew what kind of plant it was. The previous condo-owners had left it behind. Maybe it would’ve been a hassle to take along. Either way it was Sammy & Gwen’s hassle now.

    It wouldn’t stop growing –- even after six months without water. It should’ve been dead, but it wasn’t.

    Weedkiller didn’t faze it.

    One morning their little boy’s hamster was not in his cage. The door was shut tight.

    That did it.

    Sammy tried desperately to yank it out by its roots and pulled back a bloody stub.

    “Gwen!” Sammy yelled. “Gwen! Help me!”

    Silence.

    Sammy bled out.

  • 3TC #MM24 | The Artiste

    3TC #MM24 | The Artiste

    Welcome to the daily Three Things Challenge.
    Use your imagination and creativity using one, two or all three words that may or may not be related. There are no restrictions regarding length, style, or genre, though please keep it family friendly.

    Tag your responses with 3TC, #threethingschallenge or TTC, and you can add Di’s logo if you wish.

    Looking forward to reading your responses.

    Your three words today are:
    SHOCK
    SOCK
    SMOCK

    By the end of her art class, Candice’s smock was smeared with a myriad of paint colors. Her reflection in the mirror reminded her of an exploding, psychedelic rainbow.

    My mom is gonna kill me! Can I help it I’m a messy artiste? I’ll bet Picasso never got in trouble for his dirty smocks.

    Candice tried to clean herself up, but it was no use. Her efforts simply made it worse, and she finally resigned herself to her mother’s (predictable) wrath. It seemed that Candice stayed in trouble. No matter what she did it was either wrong or not good enough. She often wished her parents had adopted a different set of twins.

    She heard the familiar beep-beep of her twin brother’s car horn. She gathered up her stuff and went to meet him.

    As she opened the car door, “Damn, girl!” Calvin feigned shock. “Aren’t you were supposed to paint on a canvas or something, instead of yourself?” He laughed uproariously at his joke.

    “Put a sock in it, Calvin.” Candice got in and slammed the car door. “Let’s go anywhere but home.”

  • The L

    It’s time again for Girlie on the Edge’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt.

    Rules of the hop:
    Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
    Use the current week’s prompt word.
    Link up at Wednesday’s post. Link goes live at 6:00 pm through Saturday late…
    Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers.

    Our word today is HAUNT.

    I met him on the “L” (short for elevated train) in Chicago. He was just an average guy, not spectacularly good-looking or well-dressed, yet there was something about him — something intriguing, something deliciously dangerous.

    I found myself captivated.

    My stop came up, but I didn’t move. He looked at me as if he knew that I should get off and I smiled at him. He nodded and went back to reading the Tribune, but I couldn’t stop staring at him.

    He haunts my dreams to this day.

    The L Train in Chicago
  • Demerol Daisy

    Demerol Daisy

    It’s time once again for Fandango’s Teaser Story Starter.

    Here’s how it works. Every Tuesday morning (Fandango time), he is going to give you a “teaser” sentence or sentence fragment and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a story (prose or poetry) around that sentence/fragment. It doesn’t have to be the first sentence in your story, and you don’t even have to use it in your post at all if you don’t want to. The purpose of the teaser is simply to spark your imagination and to get your storytelling juices flowing.

    This week’s Story Starter teaser is:

    The party ended in screams when the hostess’s body was found in the…

    If you care to write and post a story built from this teaser, be sure to link back to this post and tag your post with #FSS. I would also encourage you to read and enjoy what your fellow bloggers do with their stories.

    The party ended in screams when the hostess’s body was found in the swimming pool. She was fully clothed in her “party dress” — a red, spaghetti strap gown. Her pink mermaid wig, unfortunately, had come off and floated a few feet ahead of her body, near what they assumed was her wine glass. It looked like a wad of pink spaghetti.

    “Daisy!” Her husband Oliver yelled. He kicked off his shoes, dove in the pool and dragged his wife’s body to the edge of the pool. Someone had called 911 and sirens could be heard in the distance. Two men helped Oliver haul Daisy out of the water.

    Oliver tried giving her CPR to no avail. “Oh, my God!” Oliver cried. “How can this be? Daisy was a good swimmer…”

    By then the EMTs had arrived and examined the body. She was gone.

    As they watched the ambulance silently drive away, Bianca, who was Daisy’s best friend, tapped Oliver on the shoulder.

    “Oliver, I found this under the roast beef platter in the kitchen.”

    It was note. Oliver quickly unfolded it and read aloud:

    Dearest Oliver,

    My act was intentional. I could see no other way out and just wanted the pain to stop. Now you and bitch-face Bianca can be together. Yes, I’ve known about you two for months now. Have a nice life. Oh, and get your Rx for Demerol refilled. You’re out.

    Daisy

    PS: Tell Bianca that the ice-blue eye shadow she wears makes her look like a slut.

    D

  • 3TC #MM23 | When Zombies Call

    3TC #MM23 | When Zombies Call

    Welcome to the daily Three Things Challenge.
    Use your imagination and creativity using one, two or all three words that may or may not be related. There are no restrictions regarding length, style, or genre, though please keep it family friendly.

    Tag your responses with 3TC, #threethingschallenge or TTC, and you can add Di’s logo if you wish.

    Looking forward to reading your responses.

    Your three words today are:
    ACTIVE
    AFTER
    ANIMAL

    It happened after the Zombie Apocalypse, after we managed to vanquish the zombies with hopes that things might go back to normal.

    Boy, were we wrong!

    Nobody considered the animals and how the radiation from melting nuclear plants might affect them. While wearing the special masks were easy and made perfect sense to humans, animals had no intention of allowing such contraptions to be put over their faces. Imagine trying to place a gas mask-type thing on a polar bear, a gorilla, or a giraffe. Even cats and most dogs wouldn’t cooperate.

    So, the animals, and insects as well, suffered the effects of radioactivity. This meant when animals and insects procreated, their offspring were born with genetic mutations, brain damage, cancer and physical deformities.

    Snakes grew legs, bees didn’t buzz, nor did they pollinate anything. They did, however, eat their own honey. Monkeys no longer ate bananas but rather used them as ammunition in the Great Banana War of 2030. And the armadillos! They lost their hard shells but could run like jaguars. Birds no longer ate worms but kept them as pets. Instead, they ate vegetables and fruit which threw a monkey wrench into the farming industry.

    Speaking of farming, cows squirted out Dr. Pepper instead of milk. This caused their calves to be extra gassy which more than doubled the methane output. And what an obnoxious odor! Plus, chickens laid scrambled eggs and corn no longer had ears.

    Oh, what an ugly chapter in world history! See below.

    Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls