Thursday, April 17, 2014

O is for . . . THE ORNAMENT

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

*****

THE ORNAMENT

At the party, she hangs from his arm like a sparkly bauble. First mistress, now second wife.

Accusations, sneers shatter her into shards of shame.

*****

26 comments:

  1. Very intriguing especially the alliteration in that last line. Quite poetic. I imagine you would need to be quite confident if that was the position you were in!

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  2. Nick - thanks! That last line is a bit of a tongue twister.

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  3. I love the emotion your words evoke. Excellent.

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  4. ...like a sparkly bauble. First mistress, now second wife. - very succinct, the perfect economy of words to make your point.
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
    Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

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  5. Love the sparkly bauble line - I can SEE it! Also love the alliteration in the second!

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  6. Liz - good! :)

    Alex - I wonder if she felt guilty before the accusations and sneers….

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  7. How do you do it, every time? These are amazing, Madeline. Every single one.

    True Heroes from A to Z

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  8. Crystal - thank you so much! I really appreciate you coming over here and reading every day. :)

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  9. Ouch. What to think without knowing more about her?

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  10. Susan - I wonder what her backstory is? And his? :)

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  11. Good story. It manages to be hard hitting plus have some good imagery.

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  12. "Shards of shame", says so much. Excellent.

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  13. Wow very few words, but so powerful. I can feel her pain.

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  14. Yes, it always seems to go sour for the mistress turned wife, especially if the women in the husband's circle of friends liked and sympathized with the ex-wife.

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  15. Great way of capturing that shame and hopefully insecurity. Intriguing, makes me wonder if there will be a third wife...

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  16. Great idea for A to Z! Stories told in 100 words or less are very cool.

    I like the alliteration, especially. It's like one of those things that shouldn't work, but it totally does. :-)

    I'm not at all familiar with Capt. Alex or his Ninja Minions, but I approve of him naming his army that way. (Names are very important).

    I've only been talking to Tina's minions until today. Have so many people dropped out that I changed sections?

    I'll definitely count this as a visit for today, and link this post to my A to Z page.

    Cheers, and thanks for the visit!

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  17. I love this idea. I enjoy doing flash fiction challenges, because I tend to be way too verbose most of the time. :-)

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  18. JE, Susan, K - thank you!

    Patricia - in my head, I pictured the mistress-now-wife arriving at a party full of the ex-wife's friends….

    Phoenix - yeah, I wonder what HIS story is….

    Gene - thanks! As a Minion, I do have sections of the list that I keep an eye on, but I'm also a participant so I'm roaming on my own, too. :)

    Cara - usually my flash fiction needs to be cut down while my novels need to be plumped up. :)

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  19. Amazingly vibrant picture you painted with so few words. I'm seriously impressed.

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  20. Wow. I love the words you chose to use--"sparkly bauble", "shards of shame". A part of me feels sorry for her...but then, a part of me doesn't...

    Beautiful story! You have such a way with words!

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  21. Kristin - thank you! That's kind of how I feel about her, too.

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  22. Shards of shame....I like that. I imagine her beautiful on the outside, and easy to break on the inside.

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