Into the Valley

This little story grew out of a Twitter conversation with Roger__Jackson (@jabe842) and Dee Lancaster (@dee_lancaster). Both folks are, by the way, brilliant contributors to my very favouritest micro-fiction word prompt game, Friday Phrases, now being run by the fabulous Lara Meone Savine @larameone. 

The Twitter convo, initially about commutes and commuting, veered (not very surprisingly) into a story prompt idea in the spirit of those offered by the excellent @storybandit. 

Create a 99-word story using the following words:

Cauliflower soup, golf, boot camp, the weather, reify. 

The inclusion of "reify" was in the spirit of the prompts from @storybandit, whose word choices often have me scurrying to the dictionary. It was my flippant inclusion of a 'difficult' word in addition to the eavesdropped ones. (It was a difficult word in the sense that I know what it means, kinda, but still usually have to visit the dictionary to double-check my meaning!)

My instinct was to run screaming in the opposite direction rather than trying to string that combination of words into something resembling a coherent story. But when @jabe842 said he was willing to have a go, well, then I decided I would also have to face that combo of words head on! I think this was around the time I regretted throwing in "reify"! :)

But I came up with something, and I got out again in one piece too! @jabe842's droll and superbly creepy offering is here.

Into the Valley

I stare at the valley and see only blank, thick fog - resembling congealed cauliflower soup. It's rotten weather, made more miserable by the sight of boot-camp fitness freaks lurching along in the distance. All horribly uninspiring. 

My companion sneers, jeers and mocks me; mocking my decision to come to the Mountains and write. 

I clench my fists, my fingers finding, folding around a branch. I throw the best golf swing of my life. My constant fears sail into the soupy abyss. Into nothingness. 

"That's the last time I reify my insecurities!" I smile. 

The ideas begin to flow.