Today’s writing challenge hosted by The Daily Post at WordPress.com got my blog juices flowing. The prompt: It’s 2AM and your phone has just buzzed you awake, filling the room in white-blue LED light. You have a message. It’s a photo. No words, no explanation. Just a photo. Tell us all about it. And what happens next..
QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!
I love my ring tone, but not at 2 A.M.
Every hair on my body, including the fine almost non-existent ones behind my knees, jumps to attention. There isn’t a down comforter in the world capable of warming the chill running through me. Something must be terribly wrong. Unless someone has been dumped by a boy or girlfriend, is drunk and can’t drive, or has been in an accident, everyone has specific instructions not to call me in the dead of night – even if someone has died. Sounds cruel, I know, but my reasoning is that I’d be in better shape after a good night’s sleep to deal with something that terrible. Dead is dead – and there would be plenty of time for tears in the morning. That said, I know no one has died. Thank God.
QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!
My heart pounds – not only in my chest. My ears throb. My throat closes. Someone must be hurt. I roll over and snatch the phone from the bedside table. For a split second, my hand over the screen casts an eerie shadow on the ceiling. It’s nothing like the happy barking dogs or free flying birds we made with our flashlights as kids.
QUACK! QUACK!
I slide a trembling finger across the bar – it’s a photo. She must have been a beauty. You could tell, even though her smooth olive skin was cracked, swollen, and smeared red. Her velvety blue eyes are barely noticeable from between the pair of luxurious long-lash-Maybelline painted slits. I am so mesmerized by her vacant stare that I don’t notice the thin red line across her throat right away. My free hand smacks against my mouth. It would muffle a shriek except the sound is caught behind the dam of frozen bile in my throat. Chest heaving, I
QUACK!
The text message reads, “Sorry, Mom. I was up late working on that model for the book cover. Since you’re up now, what do ya think? Realistic enough?”
Thank you DPChallenge! This was an awful lot of fun!
Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner 
Pingback: Hocus Pocus | Paul Scribbles
The beginning was great but I didn’t understand the end.
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hmmmmmm…
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LOL I’d kill her if she was my daughter and she did that to me. Book cover indeed! What a thing to do 🙂
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She needs a little spankie!
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hahaha, I think that’s the kind of son I’d probably have…
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Pingback: Smiles Are Everywhere | Cheri Speak
Ha ha brilliant! just stopping by to check out other entries Bx
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Thank you Beth. I like your 2 am adventure too. I look forward to reading more from you.
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Brilliant, really enjoyed that 🙂
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Thank you Eoin!
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Hi Donna,
It is interesting to me how so many people get ideas at 2 am! Not me, maybe call me boring but I am sleeping. Am I missing something?
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I’m usually sleeping too, but ideas don’t own clocks…
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Yes, but at 2? That is way too early for me! http://www.segmation.wordpress.com
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Brilliant!!
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Wow!! Now that was an ending!! Great story. I liked how sinister it went…lol….
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i loved it! i love the description you gave the girl! good job!
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Wow!! It was Awesome, really makes you want to read till the end.!!
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Haha! I have the quacking ring tone for texts too! It is fabulous!
Great story.
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Wow! Great ending! I let a big breath I didn’t even realize I had been holding. I love the “Quack” ringtone too. It’s a cute touch.
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Whew – you had me terrified there! Great build up and well done!
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The ringtone sounds quacked me up. Good story.
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Love it! Great story! And, I am so jealous with your ring tone 🙂
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Nice blog!! Please visit mine!
Cultclassik.wordpress.com
Visit, read, comment, follow!!
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That’s so cute of her..isn’t it? 😉
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Wow, this was SO creative. I really enjoyed reading it 🙂
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Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
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Thanks Roxie! I love your clown piece too – laughed hard. My son will still steer clear of clowns and street mimes – and he’s 28 now. Keep it up!
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Why thank you for coming by! I love that I made you laugh. And that’s one smart kiddo…. you can never be too careful, you know!
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Congrats on being freshly pressed! 🙂
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Thanks B –
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Ever vist jamaica. well in jamaica we would dat one deh selloff
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This was great 🙂 I laughed at the end. That naughty girl!
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Nice twist at the end there – thanks for putting me onto the Daily Post too!
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Yup, that Daily Post and their weekly challenge really manage to get your imagination out of a rut and onto a road of adventure. Have fun with it. Thanks for your thoughts too!
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I must say, I’m very impressed by your ability to hold such a tension in the reader regardless of the humorous ringtone chiming in periodically to pull you back into reality.
And I liked the ending, that made me chuckle!
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Thanks for sharing. I do love a surprise too. If you have a chance, you might like to check this post out too: https://donnaweidner.com/2013/02/13/mother-love-a-short-story/
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This is fantastic! Love your writing, I’m going to follow you 🙂
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Thanks Claire, on both counts!
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I’ve never seen such entailing writing from a blog before!
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Thanks William, or is it Jack? It’s called ‘revision’ – a side effect of being a children’s book writer. Sometimes it can be hazardous to your sanity.
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If you have achieved a regular sleeping pattern, then you need to take one step more: buy a simple alarm clock that sounds at getting-up time, and switch off that other unnecessary modern device during sleeping hours. Naturally, you will have a smoke alarm; that is all you need. As to the young lady: how is she to know that you keep the device switched on all night, rather than switching it off and checking it the next day? Her behaviour is perfectly proper. She assumes that you are similarly organised and sensible.
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I really liked reading this. It had genuine family colour to it, and it is something we can all relate too. Of course at 20 and living at University, I am usually the one texting my mother at 2AM. It’s a shame she isn’t a blogger.
http://lexigagan.wordpress.com/
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Oh thank goodness, it ended that way. Sigh of relief.
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Being a young author, I think that was great!
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Hahaha, that was terrific. I love the twist ending! Defnitely seems like something I’d do to my mom, heh. Nicely done.
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You could definitely see your skills within the article you write.
The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe.
At all times follow your heart.
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I have an idea that the recipient of the message is looking at their own mutilated body. I’m yet to work out how but I’ll come up with something and jot it down.
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Now that is a wonderful idea for a book…run with it!
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If I were you, I would kill my daugther hehe intresting post!
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Now, that would be a true horror story…I’ll let you write that one. Thanks for visiting though…
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Too famaliar in my home as well…enjoyed it
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Great stuff Donna. Loved the ending….x
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Thanks Stan…love yours too! And thanks so much for signing on to having my adventures delivered directly to your screen…
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I like the post, Donna.
I perfectly understand the effect a 2:00 a.m. message would have had.
Having said that, I feel that you can forgive the person since he/she was working on that model at that hour of the night.
Assumption: He/She wasn’t lying. 🙂
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I agree…thanks for your thoughts.
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