Love letter

April 6, 2026 Chris Hall11 Comments

I jumped up quickly,
this is what I ought to write;
not a ‘Dear John,’ no!
Oh, this must be eloquent,
but will he think about me?

He’s such a nice guy,
always helpful and useful.
We are both good friends,
but could we be more than pals?
He’ll begin… ‘We’re soul mates.’

~~~~

Somonka – write this Japanese form consisting of 2 Tanka (syllable count of 5/7/5/7/7 without rhyme) written as love letters. Although traditionally a collaborative form, one author can write both. Make this love letters to yourself taking two different points of view.
Thanks, Val

~~~

Image credit: Alexander Mass @Unsplash

This image shows a woman in a night gown, sitting in front of a writing table and writing something on a sheet of paper. There is a window behind her showing that it’s day time and the bed is unmade.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #335 photo prompt.

What do you see # 335- 6 April, 2026

Looking to Scavenge the Month

Monday Feature | Book Review — Spirit of the Shell Man by Chris Hall – A book review by Robbie Cheadle

April 6, 2026 Chris Hall9 Comments

Thank you so much, Robbie… I am so impressed about your lovely review about my book.

Monday Feature | Book Review — Spirit of the Shell Man by Chris Hall – A book review by Robbie Cheadle

It was him

April 4, 2026 Chris Hall33 Comments

WWII sea mine – Crispina Kemp

It was him!

It was a sea mine
To keep our coasts safe.
World War Two was dreadful
As many lives were lost.
So victory was needed.
He was in the right place and the right time.
It was Winston Churchill,
Man, War Correspondent and Prime Minister.

~~~~

Acrostic – This form requires that the first letter of each line forms a message. It was used for messages in code between lovers, spies, and mischief-makers. Write a message to other poets.
Or possibly a writer, an artist and more much.
Thanks, Val

~~~

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #080

Looking to Scavenge the Month

Drum roll…

April 3, 2026 Chris Hall46 Comments

Photo Prompt © Roger Bultot

Can you reach up?
Ahh, not quite.

Don’t worry, I’ll get a chair.
Do you want to pass that down?

Got it?
Yep.

Good. I’m down.
Let’s look at what’s in it.

It’s such a pretty patina.
Pretty old too.

Let’s lift the lid between us.
It’s tight, isn’t it?

Do you think it’s a big drum?
Seems so.

Here it is.
Oh!

Not a drum.
What unearth is it?

Let’s take it out.
Ooh, carefully.

Here, on the table.
That’s it.

It’s a musical box, with a winder.
I’ll do it.

What? Trump????
No. Don’t be silly. It’s Trumpton!

~~~

P.S. – Trumpton is a British stop-motion children’s television series from the producers of Camberwick Green.

~~~

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers
Genre: Fiction
Word Count: 100

3 April 2026

Synthetic gems?

April 1, 2026 Chris Hall38 Comments

Paris Photographer – Louis Paulin

‘Oh, this is a blow,’ muttered the red-headed woman, as she wondered to herself, while she tried to put her shattered thoughts into some semblance of order.

She looked to Monsieur Bourbon, and then to the gargoyles, as she said this: ‘no, quiet… we need to put our thinking caps on, don’t we; but meantime, we will need some sustenance, at least for me and Monsieur – some hot chocolate and some croissants for dunking would be best.’

So those synthetic diamonds were put in that strong safe, just in case, as they all adjourned to a little café, a good place where no one would be nosy, and certainly not near a certain Inspector Clouseau, or at least she thought so.

‘Okay, tell me more,’ she said, as the two gargoyles leapt up to the nearest very tall building, in fact, a church with a belfry, as they both grinned, ‘so what, Monsieur Bourbon, shall we do now?’

‘Well, my dear, it’s quite true, those gems are not completely worthless, although not great, and of course, the real problem is these have been nicked, obviously, come on, we know each other pretty well,’ as the red-headed woman, raised an eyebrow, ‘but we are not quitting, are we?’ as Monsieur Bourbon finished he second croissant.

Meanwhile, the two gargoyles had been both busy on their smartphones and right by that gorgeous belfry; after a few minutes there were a few beeps, including Reena, as the two of them grinned a lot.

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Di of Pensitivity 101 – Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: QUIT, QUITE, QUIET

Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: ORDER

More #SixSentenceStories

Calm sailing

March 30, 2026 Chris Hall51 Comments

She was calm,
and in the distance,
all seemed fine.

Evening tide
was quite beautiful,
just mellow.

But not true,
there was no-one there,
all had died.

She sailed on,
like Mary Celeste
and others.

And soon she
disappeared again,
and that was it.

~~~~~

Image credit: Rafael Garcin @Unsplash

This image shows a sail ship on the sea. In the background we see that the sky is yellow and orange, indicating that the sun is setting.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #334 photo prompt.

What do you see # 334- 30 March, 2026

The Old Rectory

March 29, 2026March 29, 2026 Chris Hall26 Comments

The two boys braked, then wheeled around and stopped.
They peered at the sign.
‘This looks interesting.’
‘Do you think there is a castle down there?’ as he read what it said.
‘Could be.’
‘Well, it doesn’t say that we are not allowed to go along that drive, does it?’

So they started to bike while looking around the long winding road. It was pretty overgrown, and there seemed no-one around.
But then, what a vista!
The two of them stopped… dead.

‘What is it?’
‘Certainly not an old castle.’

They dropped their bikes, then walked around the imposing round building.
Just then, a large door opened from the inside, and a man appeared, and smiled. ‘Do come in, you’ll like this, I’m sure.’ He pointed up.
The two of them looked up. For a moment they said nothing, but then they both said: ‘Wow, a wonderful observatory – how cool!’

~~~

150 words

Crimson’s Creative Challenge #079

Lace but tatty, sadly

March 27, 2026 Chris Hall73 Comments

Photo Prompt © Sandra Crook

That tatty lace was once so pretty. It covered those tall windows, and the light would shine brightly in the early evening.
The sun still smiles, but there’s no-one to see it here in this house.

Then the house was a home.

The walls and the doors were painted in rich and bold colours.
The garden was glorious with many exotic flowers, bushes and vegetables. And beyond, those magnificent trees would often seem to sing.

But that was a long time ago.

Would you see a ghost sometimes?
Would you hear a strange knock in the night?
Maybe? Maybe not.

~~~~~

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

27 March 2026

It was a small shop…

March 25, 2026 Chris Hall50 Comments

Paris Photographer – Louis Paulin

The red-headed woman had responded to Monsieur Bourbon, although not quite so enthusiastically as she quickly kissed his cheeks two times, then righted her beret, while those two gargoyles looked on, as they wondered whether they might have a go as well.

However, Monsieur Bourbon had other plans as he spied those small satchels around their chests, as he looked and wondered as he said: ‘do tell what’s in there, since you two have been on a bit of a jaunt, am I right?’

The two gargoyles then mention those beautiful gems as they were about to remove them, but meanwhile the red-headed woman peered out from the shop window, while Monsieur Bourbon turned the sign from ‘open’ to ‘closed’, as he said: ‘let’s go into the backroom.’

‘Ah ha, diamonds,’ smiled Monsieur Bourbon, as he took his loupe and gently fixed it into his eye socket, as he began to analyse those gemstones and there were many of them to look at.

The red-headed woman began to pace, and soon, since it was taking such a long time, she started to march around, even though it was a rather small backroom, but the two gargoyles continued to watch the magnificent Monsieur – mesmerising – they both felt.

Then Monsieur Bourbon removed his loupe and said: ‘they’re not real, none of them… they are synthetic,’ – the red-headed woman said, ‘you mean they’re just junk and no real value?’ as she put up her head and jutted out her chin with grumpiness.

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