Going Into Hiding

No, I’m not actually going into hiding, that’s just the title of the flash piece I wrote. But I gotta tell you, it feels like the whole world has gone into hiding. I’m seeing fewer and fewer people outside, even the dog walkers have been greatly reduced in number. And grocery shopping is getting downright creepy – waiting in line (the required 6 feet apart), then going in and getting out as quickly as possible, not even talking to anyone.

Between the grey, dismal weather, and the self-isolation, I’m not feeling very ambitious these days. You’d think being told to stay away from other people and stay home would be the perfect time to get a pile of writing done, but it’s appearing to have the opposite effect with me. I’m having a hard time getting anything done, let alone writing. And I take only a small comfort in the fact that I’m not alone, feeling like this. A lot of other writers I know are struggling.

Several members of my poetry group are challenging themselves to do a poem a day this month (National Poetry Month) and they’ve been sharing these poems with the group via email. I’ve been enjoying the poems, but I have absolutely no desire to write one of my own. Kudos to those that do.

That being said, I actually did make some progress on Wandering Wizards last week. Be still my heart I might get this sucker done yet! And I wrote a very short, very strange little story to last week’s prompt. So two for two – go me!

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GOING INTO HIDING

I've got my lantern - now I'm going into hiding. You really should too. You don’t want to wait until the last minute like Geoffrey did. Remember him? Remember what happened to him? Yeah, you don’t want to wait too long.

What kind of lantern do I have? It’s really cool. Vintage even. It’s a kerosene lantern, it belonged to my grandpa. I found it when I was cleaning out the basement of my grandma’s house. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff she had down there. She even had kerosene for the lantern.

It’s kind of weird that he even had it, it’s not like he ever needed to go into hiding. He died a long time ago, years before . . . you know. All I really remember about him was that he was a stubborn old coot. I bet he’d have been one of those crazies who refuse to go into hiding. They get what they deserve, don’t you think?

I don’t know why people complain about it so much, I kind of enjoy having to go into hiding a couple of times a year. Breaks up the routine, you know what I mean? Never a dull moment when you gotta pack up and hunker down at a moment’s notice.

I got me a real sweet spot, fixed it up real nice. Not that I make it too obvious – wouldn’t do for anyone to stumble across it. Sure it gets a little cramped sometimes, but it’s only for a week or two, right? A couple of months tops. Gives me a chance to catch up on my reading.

Say, did you hear about Simon? A couple of turns ago he invited his girlfriend to go into hiding with him. I don’t know what he was thinking. It was that long turn, the one that ended up being three months long. I guess they didn’t even make it to one month before he snapped. Beat the girlfriend to death with a shovel, and then had to live with the corpse for two more months.

Oops! There goes the siren. Better hurry, you don’t want to be caught in the pre-hiding sweep. Grab your lantern, and good luck.

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Wordage Report

Wandering Wizards – 2,000 words (approximately)
By applying the BICJDI method (butt in chair, just do it) I pushed through to the action again. Whew! The group reached the Sirene Sea, the harpies attacked, and Howard has been kidnapped.

Weekly Prompt – 370 words
It’s a strange little story that doesn’t really seem finished, but it is what it is.

New Prompt
Use this as your first line:
If my life gets any more like the story of Alice in Wonderland I'm going to kill something.

Happy Writing!