"Did you know 'Antlitz' was the German word for face?" Clara clicked with her segmented tongue while testing with skin-covered fingers the feel of her flesh.
"How would I know that!?" Frank fired forth while completing the inner transformation into a creature with fins. The thin webs forming between his toes began to tickle, causing his countenance to twist instinctively into a fish laugh.
Bob stopped strumming the guitar, looking up with the hunted look of Kafka's ape in "Report to an Academy" about to be captured and caged and taught the ways of civilization. In a moment, thick, grimy fur would sprout from the pores of his chest.
Vanessa had no time to answer. She hurriedly placed a pillow over her body to hide the debilitating change into a gelatinous blob of amoebic substance. The lips on what remained of her human formations were fixed in an embarrassed grin.
"Don't worry," Bill's exuberant voice rang out, "In a moment I'll touch my fingers together and we'll all be ants again!"
Story #274
The story contributions have been reposted at indeterminacies.blogspot.com.
Original post: I'm leaving for a long weekend and tried to post the weekend photo, but the blogger photo bot is down, which means I can't post. So we can try out Elveshat's idea now (see comments of last post), though not the way she meant it.
I'll describe the photo I was going to post, and you all can try to write something. How's that? There's a cute girl sitting on the floor with her back to a couch. She's wearing a beage colored insect mask, big black eyes on each side. It looks like she has an ant's head or may even be an alien! Photo left is a guy without a shirt holding an acoustic guitar. He looks kind of startled or concerned about something going on off camera. To the antgirl's left is another cute girl, also on the floor, leaning against the couch. Seems relaxed and is smiling. She holds a pillow in her lap. Next to her, photo right is a smiling guy in a yellow t-shirt, making something that looks like a peace sign with both hands, one hand high up in the air, the other down by the floor, peace signs pointed at each other (though they don't really look like peace signs). On the couch is a guy lying on his stomache, looking up into the camera and making a fish face.
18 comments:
Glad you liked the idea. It was created due to the circumstances/neccesity... Impatiently I load too many windows and the pictures took so long to load that I was already reading your story:)) , just as your new discription idea! Thats also an interesting experiment. Ok thats a deal, we will write on the description!
But in case you have problem again with uploading images you can upload the picture here http://imageshack.us/index.php . Its totally free and one of the best services I have across. I always use it to hotlink to forums etc. The link you get you can either just post it or embed it in the html. :)
Hmmm... i was listening to a song right now... maybe we could write stories on music or sounds too? Ok.. I wont push my luck :)) Have a nice weekend.
Indie just emailed me the picture, in case we cant write any story without it.
I havent seen the picture yet! But I will if I cant write otherwise.
Click here to see the picture
I think I may try it without the picture. Neat idea!
Have a great weekend!
Thanks, Elveshat. I'm going to try the new method and then check it out.
The chords changed people. When Sharif played he lost himself. When he sang he found himself. No-one who listened was ever the same again. Shel Silverstein was probably the wrong choice when his friends visited but it was better than the time he played Roberta Flack.
***
I think doing it this way makes you think more literally about the image.
I like Doug's story.
I'll be back to read yours, Indie.
Vxsemyt found it difficult to fully take part in the college revelry with her new friends.
Life came too easy for them (cars, cool clothes, unlimited funds) and they lived each day without regard to their riches.
Vxsemyt was not a part of their circle, but just a poor girl from outside of the galaxy on full scholarship. And though she knew that she really should be cramming for mid terms, she remained at the party until the last keg drained.
Peer pressure sucks.
*I couldn't do it...I had to see the photo
Have fun! I think describing the picture is a good idea, you should post the picture too when you come back so that people can see.
Sixty year old finally and I am sitting in a taxi on a sunny Monday morning anticipating to reach my destination. It had been, after all, thirty five years since I last saw the members of the historical “BS ‘70Uni Company”. We had parted as soon as we had graduated promising to meet again at least 35 years later on the very same house where this picture was taken. Holding this picture in my hands now, I feel somewhat thrilled but curious as well. Will my old friends show up? The guys of our company were so funny. Jack would never part from his precious acoustic guitar, he was the one who used to question everything, maybe a little disappointed from the political situation of our time. It seems that his desperate cries to “awaken us” did not work and he had taken up to music, considering it a way of unconventional demonstration. We, of course did not want to change the world at that time. Our main concern, besides getting into trouble, was to achieve the world record of the lowest graduation grade from university ever! We never found out if we entered the Guinness book, but we did graduated and “BS 70” ceased to exist. Or maybe did not it? The taxi just arrived and I am about to find that out.
I'm so sorry, but because of the long weekend I'm in something of a tail spin today, instead of spinning tales as I had hoped to. I'll post my story tomorrow. At least I'll fix up the picture so people can see it.
It looks like three of you posted stories. A big thanks to you, but I'll read them after mine is ready.
Oddly I'm turned on by the bug-girl.
Zzsabel thought she'd be ostracised, even attacked, when she came to Earth, but she wound up meeting some really nice people who embraced her.
I wrote the story without looking the picture. Now that I am looking at it , it is different to what I had imagined.
Mushroom, I worry about you, son.
Where to start?
There once was a group of guys from Nantucket . . .
I need a drink.
Ben O.
http://everyothernamehasbeentaken.blogspot.com/
Hurray, Actonbell!
Mushroom, it's clear that you are not a "face" man.
I couldn't come up with anything before I saw the picture. Sorry, Inde, your verbal description couldn't do this picture justice!
Andrea had always been fascinated with ants. After the horrible fire, her friends all came over to help her get settled in her new apartment, supplying her with all the basic necessities that she had lost in the fire. The doctors said they could give her a new face, but only after her current burns had healed to a point. In the meantime, she would need to keep her head totally bandaged. So with the help of her friends, they came up with an ant head to cover the morbid mummy-type bandages. And much to her surprise and delight, it was actually improving her date-life!
Elveshat: Thanks for your idea. I personally found it difficult to write without looking at the picture. Sometimes during the writing process I pick up on nuances I noticed in the last minute.
Doug: Your story works great. Good he didn't play "Karma Chameleon"
Tina: I'd have 15 cents. I honestly haven't had much trouble with the pic bot. It's only been down maybe three times in the last year that I've been using it. Maybe they have different services for Europe vs. USA, with USA used more heavily and crashing more often.
Still Life: I wonder what Vxsemyt is like when she's drunk. My first idea was that she's an alien, maybe even a friend of The Alien Guy. I know what you mean about having to see the photo. I cheated to. *embarassed grin*
Princess Dominique: As I just said, I found it very difficult to write a story, even with just the memory of the picture. The process of looking at the picture and modifying what I wrote usually results in added detail. But a lot of times I carry pictures around with me in my head and if I have a sudden idea, I'll write it down. Ideas usually come and go when they please, and I'm happy just to have a story.
Elveshat: I like the idea of a reunion of old friends. I would not have thought of that. Great story!
Comadose: I thought the head in the groceries story was pretty disturbing. I liked this photo, maybe because the girl with the insect-head is so appealing otherwise.
Actionbell: That's a great one. I also thought of making this some kind of a band, with the ant-girl clicking out the percussion or something. Or make them all ants wearing human costumes, except for the one girl who lost her mask.
Ben: I love your blog name, and your posts are really funny!
Lolly: I wish I'd have thought of that one ;-) It reminds me of my first stories I wrote. All of them short and to the point. Now they get so long :-(
I knew my description wasn't that great, which is why I sent a copy of the photo to Elveshat. I probably won't do this again, because I know I can't capture a photo with just a few words. Also, it will only cause people to write about what I see.
But Elveshat's original idea is still a good one. Maybe I'll try that with the next story.
If I could turn into an animal, I'd want to be an eagle.
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