DISCUSSION THREAD -- October 2021 -- 300 Word Writing Challenge #43

[Ursa major]

This quarter's thread is open, ready to blow away your long-form challenge writing cobwebs: 300 Word Writing Challenge #43 -- READ FIRST POST!!

As always, the Challenge thread is closed until the 10th, but this thread is open for discussion, comment and general praise of the mods.

Good luck everyone!

 

[The Judge]

What? Some 12 hours since the thread went up and no admiring posts yet?!

Has everyone been stunned into silence by the wonderful cobwebby thistles image we've chosen for this quarter? Or is it that the image is so inspiring everyone's already hard at work writing incredible stories for the Challenge and no one's had time to come in and comment??

 

[Parson]

Or ..... The picture makes someone, like me, want to obsessively rub their arms trying to get nonexistent webs off.

>>> for a farmer's son, who hates spiders, this looks like an invitation to horror. <<<

 

[Cat's Cradle]

It's a terrific, haunting photo from Mr. Wigmore, and I know I can work with this.

But it's one of those Challenge photos where no story idea immediately popped into mind (and I'm one of those people who are actually quieter when their mind is empty).

When I have to think, instead of just react and write down my story, things often go well. The photo, though, gives you a lot of possibilities to imagine, and you can't ask for much more. Hope everyone is feeling inspired this month! CC

 

[Valtharius]

What is that structure behind the thistles? Is that a boat?

 

[Parson]

That's my assumption, but it could be a kind of train car as well, when you look at what's behind it.

 

[Valtharius]

Maybe it's a diner

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Im a big barge lover so I’m happy

 

[Abernovo]

That's my assumption, but it could be a kind of train car as well, when you look at what's behind it.

It's a narrowboat, Parson. Traditional working boats for canals and rivers, now used for living and pleasure. I've been on a few.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I assumed it was a railroad car as well. Expect a story that does not involve boats.

 

[Droflet]

Looks like a train carriage to me. But I'll go with the local knowledge supplied by Aber. Really? A boat? Wow, and I thought I'd seen it all. Drof, once again, shrugs and wanders off mumbling to himself.

 

[BT Jones]

Definitely a barge in the background. Seen a few of these on the canal in Camden. Haven't had the pleasure of ever seeing quite a nightmarish spiderweb, though. Thanks a bunch. Whose choice was it again?

 

[Droflet]

Harebrain. And a great and imaginative image it is. Well done, HB.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

Here is a clearer picture of what a narrow boat looks like. They used to traverse canals in Britain, at first they carried cargo from cities and towns.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks for that, Ian. Next query. Has it been shunted into a creek?? Or ah, deposited into the scrub. The image doesn't show and it might inform my entry. It's your image, HB. What say you, good sir?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Narrowboats are lovely - very sedate and peaceful for a holiday! @Parson @Droflet - they were what I based the Roamers in Abendau on. The boats are traditionally painted with designs featuring roses and castles - that’s why the Rosmer ships had decals, but with a spacey theme. Their culture was loosely based on the barge community

drof - I’m assuming it is moored up in the pic and it would have been sailed into it, these days with an onboard engine but in the past they would have been horsedrawn. They are up to 63ft long, very narrow and it’s where the saying ‘drives like a barge’ or ‘wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole’ come from - they’re slow, turn with difficulty, very heavy, get stuck easily and then you need to push at the side of the river, in the murky bit at the bottom, with the pole (stored on the roof) to get it shifted!

 

[Droflet]

Thank you, Jo. Very informative. So, it's up the creek without a barge pole???

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Don't forget the sign on the left side of the boat. Also, if you click on the pic it can be enlarged - handy for close inspection of the lovely spiderwebs.

 

[mosaix]

Narrowboats are lovely - very sedate and peaceful for a holiday! @Parson @Droflet - they were what I based the Roamers in Abendau on. The boats are traditionally painted with designs featuring roses and castles - that’s why the Rosmer ships had decals, but with a spacey theme. Their culture was loosely based on the barge community

drof - I’m assuming it is moored up in the pic and it would have been sailed into it, these days with an onboard engine but in the past they would have been horsedrawn. They are up to 63ft long, very narrow and it’s where the saying ‘drives like a barge’ or ‘wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole’ come from - they’re slow, turn with difficulty, very heavy, get stuck easily and then you need to push at the side of the river, in the murky bit at the bottom, with the pole (stored on the roof) to get it shifted!

On our first ever holiday together, over 50 years ago, Mrs Mosaix and I hired a narrowboat in Staffordshire for a fortnight. On the first morning we woke and Mrs Mosaix peeked out between the curtains and said “We’ve come adrift!” - she was, of course, looking out across the canal instead of through the curtains on the other side that showed that we were still firmly moored to the bank.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Thank you, Jo. Very informative. So, it's up the creek without a barge pole???

Exactly! With the usual Irish and Aussie addition at the start