Bonfire-ku

As winter whispers,
I contemplate the missing
And dreams left undone.

Never felt native
To this atmosphere of one…
Fire-starting alone.

Hopes in golden sun
That once seemed fundamental
Are tossed on the pyre.

Moon watches coldly
As flames turn night into day;
The sea is dark glass.

Everything is ash
Hearts duplicated in grey–
For I have come home.

~*~

Written for Thursday Inspiration 21

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©️2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Party Planning

“Let’s throw a surprise party for Mildred,” Gertrude said with an upbeat grin to the bridge club when Mildred went off for a potty break. “It’s her birthday next Sunday and who doesn’t love a surprise?”

“I can’t do it on Sunday,” Bea said. “There’s a big meeting for my Patchwork Quilting Society.”

“Saturday then?” Gertrude suggested. “We can do it here in the clubhouse with a potluck jumble of dishes and then order a nice cake.”

Lois shook her head. “I’ve got a dinner date Saturday with Jack, but I’ll stop in for cake.”

Bea laughed. “Jack the Zipper?”

Lois blushed. “Stop calling him that!”

“Ladies!” Gertrude snapped. “Can we focus on the party?”

“Yes, my queen.” Bea rolled her eyes. “We are at your command.”

Mildred returned to the table. “Whose deal is it? By the way, I hope no one is planning anything for my birthday next week. I hate surprises!”

~*~

©️2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

One Of These Knights…

On this day, I learned that Facebook is galloping into the dating site biz… after snoozing in the stall for all these years. And I’m sure the first thought to occur to everyone is… OMG will this motivate Paula to end her extended FB vacation?

Ha ha ha ha!

No.

Remember, I didn’t merely deactivate my FB account… I deleted it. And to create a new account, I’d have to create a new email address, which is much too annoying to contemplate. Plus, I hate Facebook. Also, I hate dating. Hmm, I believe that covers everything. Sorry for being brusque.

But! I haven’t given up on finding my dream man… I just increasingly believe that he’s most likely not hanging around on the interwebnets. He may have done so, at some point in the past, and we pixeled past each other like clicks in the night, but he is doing something else now… like writing spontaneously great poetry beside a meandering stream, or perhaps painting psychedelic works of art under a tree…

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©️2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Scraps [flash 135]

“May I help you?” Lynsey approached the elderly woman who was peering into one of the empty dance studios.

The woman adjusted her glasses. “Are you in charge here, dear?”

“Yes, I’m Lynsey Anderson, the Director of Admissions.”

“Good!” The woman smiled. “I’m Jane West and I want to sign up for September.”

Lynsey frowned. “Sign up for… ballet?”

“Yes indeed. Ballet has always been my dream, and just like all your posters say, we should follow our dreams. Right?”

“Right. But…” Lynsey glanced at cane Jane was using for balance.

The smile faded from Jane’s face. “Are you saying it’s too late for me, Lynsey? My time has run out?”

Lynsey tried to be diplomatic. “Perhaps you have other dreams that are more realistic.”

“Just scraps.” Jane turned away. “That was the last one.”

~*~

Written for Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge 30

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Lula Learns A Lesson [flash 299]

[Begin with Love Letters if you haven’t already.]

Lula couldn’t understand what was delaying Max’s visit to the States. First it was the puzzle over his missing passport documents ~ and she’d loaned him $3,000 to help expedite that mess. This morning he told her no one was allowed to leave base due to a caprice of his superior officer.

“Be patient, darling!” Max had emailed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Btw, things would work out better if you could send a money order for my airline tickets. I’ll repay everything as soon as I see you in person. You’re exquisite! XOXO!”

Lula made herself a gin and tonic while she thought about his last request. This whole love affair was turning into a nightmare of debt and frustration. In desperation, she went next door and told the story to Stan, the retired lieutenant.

“He sounds like a wannabe,” Stan said. “Let’s look at his IP.”

Lula didn’t know what an IP was, but she let Stan check out her computer and emails.

“Just as I thought. The evidence is irrefutable.” Stan nodded grimly. “He’s in Florida. The fraud capital!”

“Oh my. That probably explains the alligator in his photo then. Or is that fake too?”

Stan frowned at Max’s profile shot. “Hard to tell. Could be a real gator. Errant ones just wander all over the place down there and even ring people’s doorbells. Crazy state!”

Lula shuddered. “Can we get my money back though? I’ll be eating oatmeal for dinner for the next month if it’s gone for good. Please tell me you can help!”

“Lula, as your good friend and neighbor, I’m going to tell you something extremely important,” Stan said.

“Yes?” Lula took a deep breath.

“I have an extra bottle of Vermont’s finest maple syrup for your oatmeal.” Stan grinned.

~*~

Title inspired by Jim Adams.

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

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PS: I know the image is a crocodile, thx. 🙂

Love Letters [flash 285]

Concerned about her lack of a love life, Lula decided to try one of those dating sites on the web. Her friend Marge said that her niece had met her husband this way. So, Lula wiped the dust off her old keyboard and set her nimble fingers to work creating a profile.

As soon as she finished, she received a warm welcome message from a handsome man in uniform. His name was Max and he was on an important secret mission out of the country. Lula saw an alligator in the background of his photo, which made his story sound credible.

Max said he was having trouble accessing the site from his remote location, so they began corresponding by email. Lula sent him more photos, and he said she looked so delicious that he wanted to meet her very soon.

The problem was, he had dropped his passport one night while using the bathroom and the alligator had eaten it. He’d been working with great tenacity to replace it because he wanted to visit his mom in the States. She’d been sick lately.

And now there was Lula. Max told Lula he felt so close to her from her sweet letters he might be falling in love. She said she felt the same. He said in that case he’d combine a visit to his mom with one to Lula. She was thrilled! It had been so easy to find her true love on the web.

Then Max said he would work extra to earn the three thousand dollars he needed to expedite new documents. But sadly he wouldn’t have time to write to Lula if he took the second job.

Lula sent him the money.

~*~

Written for Thursday Inspiration 18

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon

Meal Prep [flash 100]

The holidays were always problematic here in the Plutonic Zone. Folks expected a feast, but you couldn’t feed them mutant turkey. Stan the Retired Lieutenant had passed around a written notice forbidding the use of the two-headed birds as people food. So annoying.

She woke early and began to creep through the old garden, collecting colorful pebbles for her soup. Some of them had little bugs clinging to them, which would add protein. After a while, her wrist began to ache from the bitter cold, and she wished she had worn the gloves she’d taken from that dead spaceman.

~*~

© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Newbie No More

I was such a newbie, pinning my hopes for lurve on the crazy world of dating sites. What did I know? Pffft! It seemed like a good idea at the time. Make a profile, enter some wishy washy characteristics of my dream dude… and then sit back and wait for the magical messages to arrive dinging at my desktop.

Or not. It was like searching for a lost green button in a field of grass… and trying to avoid stepping on any venomous snakes in the process. You’d think after a few years of doing this, my technique would improve to the point where I could just cruise onto a site, disregard the scammers and psychos, and easily find a cool guy to chat with and meet.

Alas no. In fact, the news now is that the sites are so filled with con artists and bad guys that it’s too scary to even contemplate clicking on one at all! It’s harder than ever to figure out who’s legit, and if you start out being suspicious of everyone, how can you act fun and flirtatious? Blerghhhhh.

I think it’s good to check in every once in a while and decide yet again to continue my hiatus from the madness. Naturally, I share this with my readers, especially when I can shovel in all the prompt words. 😀

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Karma [flash 170]

“What’ll you have, buddy?” The bartender continued wiping the spacious counter as his lone customer remained silent.

This one was a middle-aged man, dark hair going silver. Bit of a pot belly. You could tell he’d been a charmer in his youth.

The bartender stopped in front of him. “Permit me to make a suggestion?”

The customer nodded, his shoulders slumping. It was clear he’d had authority once and lost it. Now, he couldn’t even make a simple decision, but the flash of fire in his eyes indicated that he remembered what it had been like.

“Karma with a twist,” the bartender said.

The customer shrugged and nodded.

A cackle erupted from the bartender’s throat. “She’s no lady!”

But once a choice had been spoken, it could not be unsaid, and the demon Karma materialized to take him away for a thousand years.

“Wait!” the bartender screamed. “Not me! Him!”

After they’d disappeared, the customer went behind the bar and found a cold brew. This would do nicely indeed.

~*~

© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Revelation [flash 271]

“Everyone is staring at us, Mom,” Julie complained. “I wish we could have found an inconspicuous way to travel to the Emperor’s birthday party.”

Her mother’s face settled into obstinate lines as she gazed at the road flying by. “You’re the one who didn’t wake up in time for the skytrain. Besides, this is the safest way to travel. Why do you care what a bunch of streeters think?”

Julie shrugged. “You never know who will remember later.”

“Later?” Her mother laughed. “You’ll be protected. You have nothing to worry about.”

“You can’t promise that,” Julie muttered, as she pulled her silky knit scarf around her face, hoping to hide her identity.

“Honey,” her mother sighed. “Who do you think has protected us all this time? Given us a beautiful skyhome? Sent you to the academy?”

“My father obviously!” Julie rolled her eyes. “I wish he’d return from his mission to X9 so I could meet him finally.”

“I lied to you,” her mother admitted. “Your father isn’t on a mission and you have met him. Many times. You’ll be seeing him today.”

Julie stared at her. “The Emperor?!”

“He is your father.”

Suddenly, the vehicle stopped moving and sank to the ground, as if deliberately sabotaged by the emperor’s maintenance men. The car was immediately surrounded by streeters out for revenge against a piece of luxury when they barely had enough to eat. Julie began screaming.

The doors burst open and Stan the retired Star Lieutenant motioned them out. “This way. Quickly. I have a safe ship waiting for you both.”

Could they trust him? Did they have any choice?

~*~

Written for Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge 26

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© 2019 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.