Flash Fiction: The Wolf Packs

199 word story dare with anime, disloyal, feather, wolves and mountains.

Evan was a film director. He worked specifically on anime movies, the Japanese animated computer animated productions. They have gained quite a following in the western culture and Evan thought they were the way forward.

Evan was on his third film, the last two were greeted well by the fans and the critics.  It was always important to make sure the fans were happy.  Evan strove to make good productions and not be disloyal to the genre.

This fourth film was going to be the story of two packs of wolves who lived in the mountains. The two wolf packs were at war with one another and defended their territories ferociously.

The two packs started off as friends, but their feud had been going on for years, and no one knew why they hated each other. It was an ancient feud, started before the current members were born.

The anime will focus on this feud but at the end of the movie we will find out what started the fighting and will also see the leaders of the packs come together and draw a truce to the war once and for all. They buried the hatchet with a feather.

Flash Fiction:: She Skipped Away

99 word story dare using the ending “she skipped away”

Helen and Dani were best friends and did everything together. One sunny afternoon they were playing in the field behind Helen’s house.  They were running around carefree soaking up the sun and making daisy chains.

As it was so warm they decided to go for a swim in the nearby river. They didn't have swimwear on so they went in with their clothes on. They were having fun splashing each other and going underwater holding their breath to see how long they could stay underwater. Dani went under and Helen held her down, she drowned. Helen, she skipped away.

TV Review: Don't Know Jack

It seems to me that all the lone ranger tough guys, who are not out to save the world but end up doing it anyway are called Jack.

We have Jack Bauer of 24 who is portrayed by Keifer Sutherland. He works for the government department CTU. Over the seven seasons of 24, where each season is one whole day meaning everything takes place in 24 hours.  And they usually all end up with Jack being beaten up, shot, imprisoned and getting into all sorts of trouble. People are always out to get him but he always comes up trumps and is the good guy who saves America.

Next up is Jack Reacher created by author Lee Child (and recently portrayed by Tom Cruise in film, a controversial casting due to height difference -  as Reacher is 6ft 4 and Cruise is 5 ft 2).  Reacher travels through America hitch hiking and has no possessions to his name - no passport, no identity card of any sort, no home, he is a nomad just going from place to place as he sees fit. He is ex army and from a military family as well.  With the size of Reacher, he is not the kind of person I would want to get on the wrong side of but people seem to want to mess with him.  

He always seems to end up getting into some sort of trouble and gets beaten up a lot as well. He is a bit like James Bond as well as he has a way with the ladies and in most of the 19 books written about him, he usually gets the woman as well as solving the problems that arise and becoming some kind of Hero. 

Now onto the third Jack, who I have recently discovered and that is Jack Taylor. He unlike the other two Jack's is not American but he comes from Galway in Ireland. 

Jack Taylor is the main man in novels written by Ken Bruen. These novels have been made onto mini films for TV as well with Jack being portrayed by Iain Glen (with a bit of a dodgy Irish accent).

Taylor is a former officer with Gardia, the Irish police (also known as the Guards).  He was fired due to unruly behaviour.  We first meet him in his patrol car drinking and then chasing down an official government car and when the car stopped he punches one of the officials in the face. Not really normal police behaviour, is it?

Taylor then by chance gets into the work of Private Investigation and gets a business partner called Cody. He spends a lot of time being beat up by people who want him dead. He also spends a lot of time nursing his wounds, drinking and flirting with women. He usually gets the girl as well. 

All the Jack's have no respect for authority or rules and think rules are meant to be broken and they: 

• are lone ranger type of men
• get beaten up all the time
• get the women
• get in trouble with the law

I like the three Jack's, there is something about them that appeals to me, there is a mystery surrounding both of them and they are all bad boys - men you wouldn't want to take home to your parents. They all have sex appeal, seem lose and are vulnerable which makes women attracted to them.

I wonder if there are any more Jacks out there?  I know there is a Jackson Brodie from Case Histories by Kate Atkinson who in the TV series of the same time is portrayed by Jason Issacs. Another brooding male who fits in the same categories as the other three Jacks.

Writing: Rant and Rave

In the writing group was asked to do an 80 word RANT and an 80 word RAVE, about anything at all.

Here is my RANT:

Do you know what really annoys me? People who walk their dogs, let them poo and never pick it up after them. It’s common decency to clean up after their dogs, but some people are so lazy and just leave it lying, so other unfortunate people walk in it and spread the mess and smell everywhere they go. What does it take to carry a plastic bag with you, walk over to the poo, pick it up and bin it?

(80 Words)

Here is my RAVE:

I love Marshmallows, they were a great invention, who would have thought that sugar whipped to a spongy consistency would taste so great and create memories like playing fluffy bunnies.  They can be eaten on their own, in puddings or in hot chocolate. Watching them melt in hot chocolate reminds me of clouds moving in the sky.  You can squish them, pull them put them in different shapes. They come in all different forms and colours. Marshmallows taste like heaven.

(80 Words)

Writing: Homesickness

For my writing group I had to write a piece on Homesickness, and it had to be 250 words and no more. Here is my piece. For some reason I wrote it in third person:

Jo Anne never wanted to leave Ireland, she was a home bird. She didn't like her home town but she felt scared about leaving her parents who were her safety net. However, she went to Sunderland for University, but every Sunday she suffered from a severe case of homesickness. She missed her Mum’s Sunday Roasts! This Sunday homesickness continued all through University life despite the fact she had friends to be with. She still missed home, she missed her cat.

After University she moved to London and the homesickness stayed with her, she felt alone in the big city and just wanted to be at home, she dreaded Sundays. After time she found a good church and Sunday’s began to look up, she had people to go out for lunch with. This was a good thing yet the homesickness still haunted her.  The question always on her mind was, why do Sunday’s make me feel so homesick, what is it about them?

This unwanted feeling of being homesick on Sundays followed her to Peru where she lived for a year. However, for the first few months she felt homesick on other days, not just Sundays, because she felt like a fish out of water at times. She was homesick for Ireland and London. After time, homesickness just hit on Sundays, these were the hardest days, and she just wanted to be with people who knew her and who spoke English!  And now back home in Ireland, she is homesick for Peru. Ironic!

MS: World Distribution of Multiple Sclerosis

Above is a map of the world and it highlights the places were the most people are affected with out are at high risk of Multiple Sclerosis.

It is interesting that in the following there is hardly any risk at all of getting MS:

• Chile
• Argentina
• Madagascar
• Norway
• Parts of China
• Parts of Canada
• Greenisland
• Papua New Guinea
• Islands above Russia
• Parts of Malaysia 

And a high risk in:

• United States of America
• United Kingdom
• Ireland
• Germany
• Poland 
• New Zealand

Wonder why some of those countries are high risk and the others are low risk. For me its a very interesting map.

Flash Fiction:: Saving the World

This is my attempt at a  200 words story dare with the first line “Sometimes you feel like you have just saved the world”

Sometimes you feel like you have just saved the world. Ever woken up feeling like this. I do nearly every day.  My dreams are always full of disasters and for some reason a superhero is always around when needed. It’s either Superman, Spider-man or Batman, but they are always there to help me save the day.

Last night I was in New York where a man was running riot in the middle of the streets shooting people for no reason. I tried to run away as I am not a superhero, but all of a sudden Batman showed up beside me. The next thing I knew I was all suited up and running after Batman to stop the mindless shooting.

We found the shooter and boxed him in a corner so he couldn't escape, he was yelling angrily at us, demanding to know why we were trying to stop his mission.

“Because Mr, we are vigilantes and that is what we do, save cities and people from being terrorised by people like you”

“Let me go, or I’ll shoot you”

“You wouldn’t dare shoot us I'm Batman and he’s Iron-man”

I thought “Iron-man me, maybe I'm now dreaming after all”