Life throws curveballs. Let’s see how our characters handle them, shall we? Do they know something’s coming as tension builds? How do they react to surprises – and does the reaction differ depending on which it is?
| Layers | Frosting | Candles |
| Cedar Sanderson | the pottery was colored with organic paint in an ancient technique | Becky Jones |
| AC Young | The Special Feline Service and the Special Canine Service were scheduled to do a joint parachute drop during the exercise. This was not going to go well… | Padre |
| Becky Jones | It all felt so wrong. The wind NEVER came out of the east. | AC Young |
| Leigh Kimmel | How long the task took wasn’t the problem. It was how they wanted yet another slice of my time. | Cedar Sanderson |
| Padre | It was messy, but easily dealt with. | nother Mike |
| nother Mike | The skeletons playing in the park were a surprise. | Leigh Kimmel |
For an added twist, toss in a spare, or snag one to play along.
| Spare | The mechanic lifted the hood, looked at the engine, and said, “I see the problem. You have gremlins in your car!” |
| Spare | Somebody left a wallet in the restaurant bathroom. Do you take it? |
| Spare | When the morning glories started playing reveille everyone woke up! |
| Spare | Sometimes you just need a good cry. |
| Spare | Wait until movies go full 3D sensaround, and you get to ride off into the sunset on your horse! |
Don’t forget to leave your creations in the comments!
Header image by Fiona Grey.
More Odds Than Ends 
My offering this week is up: https://acyoungauthor.substack.com/p/the-east-wind
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wind is blowing from the Aegean… nice!
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Mine is up on my substack. https://professorornery.substack.com/p/colors
Now I’m off to take a nap. LibertyCon really took it out of me this year.
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pretty soon we’ll have enough little bits of Jake and Serena to start putting together a book!
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And now mine’s up on my LiveJournal at https://starshipcat.livejournal.com/1550248.html. This one turned out to be a two-fer, and it’s fun to be writing another of the Tales of the Voting Dead. (And I know where Gallatin County, Illinois is, having lived in Southern Illinois and worked at the archival depository there).
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them bones’ them bones, they’re gonna dance…. They’re both good bits! Thanks!
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AC Young proposed, “The Special Feline Service and the Special Canine Service were scheduled to do a joint parachute drop during the exercise. This was not going to go well…”
“This is going to be a disaster.”
“Captain. If I wanted your opinion, I’d have ripped it out of your asshole.”
Cpt Bob Martin looked at his commanding officer and barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. Lieutenant Colonel Spurgle was new to the unit and so did not understand the delicate nature of the balancing act that running the Special Uplifted Animal Service involved. He had also managed to offend most of his staff over the last month he had been in command.
Captain Martin bit his tongue and took a deep breath. “Sir. I…”
“Again, captain. If I wanted your opinion on this, I’d have asked you for it. We are going to do this. That’s an order.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was going to be a disaster. He knew it. The good idea fairy had bitten LTC Spurgle hard. And he was going to take down far too many good soldiers with it.
The idea of a joint parachute drop was… not a bad one. Except for a couple things. First, none of the uplifted animals were jump qualified. And none of them like heights. The cats in particular were quite touchy on the subject after the first few experiments to see if they actually landed on their feet. The dogs could be more sanguine, but… Their relationship the cats generally involved their instincts to chase them.
And the felines and the canines fighting in a flying plane… Well, flighting like cats and dogs was going to be an absolute disaster. CPT Martin just hoped that the plane survived.
He sighted to himself, saluted, and walked back to his office. He was going to make sure his protest was in writing and that his memorandum of record documenting his protest and LTC Spurgle’s response was finished and filed before he left today. It was all he could do to try to save his career and those around him. As long as no one died as a result of this, he’d survive.
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so this is what “it’s raining cats and dogs” means?
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Padre’s cake was frosted with
It was messy, but easily dealt with.
[let’s see what kind of candles we can add to that… medical or first aid problems come to mind. Or maybe problems on the highway? Or… Drat, Drat, I’m late! Okay…]
When the ice cream truck hit the cake delivery van, it was messy, but easily dealt with. All they had to do was bring in the dogs from the pound and let them loose… then it was all cleaned up, and the dogs were happy, too!
[okay, that’s just silly. But… running late. So, a quick joke and move on.]
[Got a new phone, and somehow even though they said they had set it up, well, getting used to the new arrangement, making sure all the important services are signed up and happy with this new device, and so forth… it takes time! Grumble, grumble…talk about messy, but easily dealt with, as long as you’re not in a hurry…]
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