a beautiful eagle
he flies up
such a wonderful sight
I look up and I can only just see him
I craned even further
and I almost lost my balance
on my window
then he dives down, what has he taken?
a mouse, perhaps?
~~~
Image credit: Sasha Matic@Unsplash
This image shows a hawk-golden eagle, sitting on the grassy surface. Its neck is turned sideways and it’s staring intently into a distance.
Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #296 photo prompt.
© Ayr/Gray
The two boys were playing football in the park. It was Sunday afternoon, and very sunny.
‘This is fun, isn’t it?
‘Very much so,’ as he dived and stopped the ball.
‘Shall we ask some of the other boys here in this park?’
‘Good idea, and I would like to be in goal.’
‘Fine. You’re pretty good, aren’t you?’
‘Aww, thanks,’ as he grinned.
A few minutes later, several boys appeared.
‘Now we have enough players to have a good game,’ as they decided who would do what.
It had been great at the start but then there was a problem, since the ball went too far and too high. It glided over to someone’s back garden.
They looked at each other. ‘What are we going to do now?’
Several of them peered over the high wall.
‘Hmm. Not easy, but doable, don’t you think?’
‘Well, it is my ball. I shall try.’
‘Both of us will do it.’
Then a couple of other boys helped them up.
Soon they were both sitting astride.
‘Okay, we can do this. Yes?’
‘Of course we can.’
So they jumped down. Grabbed the ball, and hurled it back to the park.
They could also get back themselves, since a handy shed was close enough to jump from that to the wall.
They managed to get away with that before anyone saw it.
It seemed that everyone else was watching the telly – either Wimbledon or Tour de France.
‘Shall we continue the game then?’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.
Paris Photographer – Louis Paulin
The red-headed woman had been back to the hairdressers since she didn’t really like that colour – too blonde and not enough red, she’d been looking it the colour chart in the salon, and eventually she plumped for something called ‘cardinal’, a vivid and warm-shade with auburn undertones (just like a little bird).
‘A wise choice… and definitely for you,’ said the hairdresser, as she began to trim the hair; the red-haired woman smiled as she waited to drink her coffee, and as usual it would be tepid by then.
Several hours later, the red-headed woman joined the queue with Francis, Joan and Scatty, everyone was excited, and wearing very nice clothes, since it was the open night in the ‘Opera de Paris’ – fabulous place, expensive but worth it, as they began to walk up the stairs.
‘At least we have a box,’ grinned Joan, ‘much more classy, don’t we think,’ – ‘oh yes, definitely… should I order some champagne, the best of course,’ asked Francis, while he opened the door, and waved a hand, ‘we don’t want to be dry while we enjoy the beautiful ballet.’
Meanwhile, the two gargoyles had climbed up to the top – ‘best view from there,’ they muttered, then one of them dropped a programme down using a particularly good aim.
Scatty suddenly saw it and caught it: ‘what is this?’ – there was a note inside – it said: we are going to see the Tour de France, and we will jump on to ride a big motorcycle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Di of Pensitivity 101 –Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: DRY, WISE, TEPID
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: TRIM
More #SixSentenceStories
Too close for comfort
that’s for sure
why has that happened?
That ship is huge
while our lighthouse seems so tiny
in comparison.
Back, back, we shout!
Push, push, for pity’s sake…
can they hear at all?
But it’s beginning to work
Heave-ho – that’s the ticket!
My goodness that was worrying for a bit.
~~~
Image credit: Philipp Deus @Unsplash
This photo shows a part of a ship that is anchored very near a lighthouse. The lighthouse appears very small in comparison to the ship.
Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #295 photo prompt.
© Ayr/Gray
‘Those aren’t sheds, they’re garages, wouldn’t you say?’
‘Well, I guess so… does it matter?’
‘Probably not.’
The two boys grinned at each other, as they stopped on their mountain bikes.
‘Interesting place.’
‘Certainly is… not been there before, have we?’
‘Nope, never seen this.’
‘I suppose it’s a bit further in the other direction than we usually go.’
‘Still, let’s have a little poke around, since I’m sure no one will bother about us.’
The two boys got off their bikes and wheeled them. They looked around by the little line of garages.
‘Not many people here, are there?’
‘Just a couple of builders…’
‘You mean, roofers, I think?’
‘Well, whatever… they are just up there.’
They craned their heads up.
‘Do you need any help?’ shouted one of the boys.
But there was no response.
‘Oh well, we can see what they are doing, can’t we?’
‘It looks like some of those roofs need new ones.’
‘In fact, most of them have been done.’
‘Well spotted,’ grinned both of them.
‘Maybe we can see if anyone else is around.’
‘All look closed, and they must be dark inside, I suppose.’
‘But there are quite a lot of nice cars on the other side. I wonder where they have gone?’
The two boys had a little look at some of the cars, but nothing obvious, apart from some books inside… the same books.
‘I know what’s going on – they are all twitchers!’
‘What?’
‘Birdwatchers – and look, they’re coming back.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.
in my fruit basket
there’s plums, tangerines, avos
it maybe winter
but toms are still ripening
and sitting in the sun room
What to eat for lunch? Maybe use the avocado – definitely ready. Opening it up… mmm, perfect. A little mayonnaise with some tuna, or even better, make some guacamole. So mash the avocado mixed with tomato, a tiny bit of chopped onion and a little chilli pepper. Now we could go really mad. Let’s pile everything in to some tacos, and hey presto… it must be Taco Tuesday – just like Tanka Tuesday (well, it’s only a couple of days late).
~~~~~~
Thanks to Colleen for the inspiration to write syllabic poetry.
The challenge for this week is all about fruit!
Paris Photographer – Louis Paulin
The red-headed woman (although still rather blonde) waved back to the lovely two gargoyles, but it seemed that the two of them were about to leave; ‘hey,’ she said, ‘just a minute, tell me what you both have been doing for all those weeks?’
‘Sorry,’ they both stopped and grinned, ‘we had been rather busy,’ – ‘you see, we had been watching the tennis at Roland Garros in Paris,’ – ‘yes, that’s right, we had to pay with plastic at the start, but we were able to get into one of the commentary boxes, and after that it was free, no charge, gratis, for us,’ – ‘what do you think about that,’ as they smiled happily.
Just then, Scatty appeared wearing big rubber boots, also known as wellingtons, – rather fetching, thought all of them.
The two gargoyles then decided to leave for the moment; the red-headed woman was about to say something, but Scatty managed to speak first: ‘ah ha, I have a little magic to use later, but just now I’m removing some plants, you can watch if you want, but I’m happy to do that on my own – in fact, it’s probably better to be just me.’
‘It’s much more important that you enjoy yourself later,’ said Scatty, ‘since it is the summer solstice tonight, and we will be having a gorgeous party.’
‘You should wear something fresh and light… maybe a cotton dress, something long and flowy – it’s going to be fun, and you will definitely like some margaritas later!’
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Di of Pensitivity 101 –Wednesday’s Three Things Challenge: RUBBER, PLASTIC, COTTON
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge
Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt: MINUTE
More #SixSentenceStories
he’s an artist
he strides across the fields
he has his easel and all the other things he needs
he stops
he looks around
it’s the perfect place
he sets everything out
and then he paints
broad strokes
colours vivid
is it a masterpiece?
~~~
Image credit: Fuu J @Unsplash
This image shows a windmill standing in a field of tulips. In the background, you see there is a yellow fog and it seems like there is dust in the air.
Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #294 photo prompt.
© Ayr/Gray
It was more than thirty years back then, when we had a two week holiday in the south-west of France, where my cousin had a second home in a tiny hamlet. She had said we could do anything we wanted, since she was busy working in London, and she wasn’t able to get away at that time.
We had a little rented car, and it was just as well, since the roads were very tiny in that hamlet. We’d stocked up with lots of goodies, mostly in the huge Carrefour (always loved that place, by the way).
So we pottered around the garden, even though it was steep and narrow, but we were able to do a bit of weeding and a little planting. We would stare over the next field, where there was a pretty black bull, although we thought it would be a bad idea to get too close to him.
In the evening, we didn’t bother to watch the television, since our French was pretty ropey. Instead we played cards – Rummy and Cribbage, and also there was a large jigsaw, and yes, we did finish it.
We could get lovely French sticks and cheeses, but after a few days, we decided to drive to a rather larger town. We’d left the car a few streets before, since it seemed rather busy in the centre.
And, lo and behold, what did we see? Yes, that’s right, the Tour de France was just passing the main group… so fast!
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Posted for The Unicorn Challenge, a magical challenge hosted by Jenne Gray and C E Ayr, where they provide a photo and we, in turn, provide up to 250 words.
it’s early morning
sitting inside and staring out
drinking warm rooibos
looking up, who’s there?
they’re definitely married
these two darling doves
we’d thrown out some seeds
but meanwhile we have breakfast
and that’s lovely too
~~~
It’s a senryu series – delightful!
Written in response to this week’s Tanka Challenge hosted by Selma
luna's on line 