Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 4

Well, here we are at week 4 and things are picking up a little bit. I'm still working on the logistics. If we get enough people participating, I'll spring for a Mr. Linky, but in the meantime, please either share your links in the comments area or, if you prefer, email me with your efforts and I'll add them to the week's post.

Thank you so much to Dianne and Snoopmurph for your enthusiasm. Snoopmurph was so enthusiastic that she posted this wonderful response to today's challenge right away last Saturday.

My keyboard (see post above) had a miraculous recovery (yippee!) so I thought I'd add the links of others participating today.... Here they are in no particular order. My apologies if I have missed anyone.

Dianne

Kim
Akelamalu
REH
Snoopmurph
Karen

Another new player, Jay Cole Simser has created a new category for his first effort. I don't know how he managed it, but he created a Megawordzzle by combining the regular and mini challenges. Very impressive. Here's what he sent me. I'll highlight the mini and mega words in different colors. Way to go, Jay! Awesome.

(Just as a reminder, the words/phrases for this week's regular (10 item) challenge were: Bolivia, Green Goddess, virtual reality, laundry, ample evidence, matches, your mamma don't dance, sugar, saucy, sofa cushions and for the mini (5 item) challenge they were: olive groves, paraphenalia, sausages, moose droppings, store front)

Here's Jay's masterpiece:

Please pass the Green Goddess dressing for my salad”, I said with a saucy flavor to my voice. I was waiting by the virtual reality waterfall here in Bolivia while doing my laundry (and there was ample evidence that it needed to be done) when a small person (probably a pigmy) crawled out from under the olive groves, and handed me a plate of sausages which looked like moose droppings and upset my digestion. I looked at the little being and invited him to sit beside me on the sofa cushions while I got out my matches which I had purchased at the Your Mamma Don't Dance storefront and said “also, please pass the sugar.” I will need it for my drug paraphernalia. “Now, how about we party!

And here's my own offering for the main challenge:

It was Chauncey Smythe's worst nightmare. He wished from time to time that it was some virtual reality from which he could come and go, but it wasn't. It was real. The cramped, cluttered, dirty, laundry-carpeted hell hole in which he found himself was ample evidence that he had fallen through some rabbit hole into a parallel universe from his staid English beginnings. As if to re-inforce that thought, the radio in the next room started blaring "Your Mamma don't dance," so loudly that he was sure the deaf farmer a mile away must be hearing it. Hands shaking, he began fishing between the ugly, worn sofa cushions on which he sat seeking the matches that could usually be found there and was not disappointed. He knew he should quit smoking, but frankly, he didn't want to. It helped him cope with this life he was so ill-suited for here in Bolivia. All that said, Chauncy was not really all that unhappy. "Chauncey-wauncy, Sugar-baby, breakfast is ready" a woman's voice called from the kitchen. The sound of his beautiful, saucy Carmelita's voice was like sunshine in his heart and suddenly the room didn't look seedy any more but lived and loved in. It didn't hurt that besides being incredibly beautiful, his wife's cooking was so good that men fell in love and women wept when they tasted it. Heart leaping with the magic of love and hunger, he tamped out his unsmoked cigarette, leaped from his chair and headed for the kitchen. "Coming my precious Green Goddess," he called, feeling for all the world like a very lucky man.

and for the mini challenge, I came up with this:

Surrounded by the paraphenalia of short a short-order cook, Magnolia Rivington sat alone in her empty store-front coffee house, waiting for the first morning customers to arrive, the smell of coffee and freshly cooked sausages wrapping her in their homey warmth. Lost in thought, she sat leafing through the piles of travel brochures, dreaming of sunshine and blue skies. Snow and moose dropping might be piling up outside her Alaskan wilderness home, but in her mind she was walking through the olive groves of sunny Italy, exploring ancient marble buildings, basking on a sunny beach on the French Riviera. Startled from her dream by the sound of the cafe's door opening, and the "Hey, Mags, what's cooking," greeting of the day's first customer, she quickly slipped the pamphlets into her apron pocket. Back to reality for now, she sighed, but one day she would see Italy for real.

It's probably pure vanity (an unfulfilled writer's desire to be read), but I'm sticking with sharing an old example from my past. Anyone who prefers can choose these words for their weekly effort. (I really hate rules in case you haven't guessed.) Here's this weeks vanity toss in.

WORDS: Silver, having untied himself, language, disobeyed, careful, Lao-Tse, 7 million, tinkling, resistance.

Having untied himself with ease, Fred, who in this particular dream found himself to be the Lone Ranger, leaped gracefully onto his faithful horse Silver and rode in the direction of what sounded like the sweet tinkling of hundreds of tiny bells. Tinkling was perhaps the wrong word for the bells, as the sound was quite awesomely beautiful and rich, both small and enormous beyond imagining. Their call could not be disobeyed and any resistance he might normally have felt to heading so boldly into the unknown, simply faded away. The closer he and Silver came to the source of this music, the more beautiful the landscape around him became and he was overcome with a feeling of such peace that he felt he might very well float away. All around them were blossoms in every imaginable color and shape and butterflies in every color of the rainbow. "Careful, Silver," he whispered quietly in the horse's ear, "we don't want to disturb anything." And the horse seemed to understand, for he slowed to a delicate walk and nickered softly in seeming agreement. Moving on, they at last came to a clearing in which were seated at least a hundred beings of light and wise souls. Even at a quick glance he spotted Jesus and Buddha sitting in quiet conversation and at least a dozen angels and arch angels. Off in a corner in a pagoda of his own sat Lao-Tse. And the Virgin Mary smiled a warm welcome to him as a young cherub led Silver off to be fed and watered. This space was lit with what seemed to be 7 million candles, yet there was no glare. And though there were hundreds of voices speaking at once - the sound he now realized was not bells at all but the voices of these divine beings - all was quiet and peaceful. And although each being spoke his or her own language it seemed to him all one and perfectly comprehensible. He could have stood forever wrapped in the beauty and the peace of that place, but at last he asked, "Is this Heaven? Am I dead then?" And as they turned to smile at his question, there came another sound - as worldly as they come - as Max, a hungry kitty who cared nothing at all for mystic visions - swatted and howled him most unceremoniously back to his bedroom and the waiting day.

NEXT WEEK'S CHALLENGE

Guess that's it except for the words/phrases for next week's challenges: horse shoe, antique chest, marigold, lunatic, science fiction, Oregon, previously, 10 billion, google, tree hugger

And for next week's mini challenge: pardon me, feather duster, gathering storm, furthermore, magnolia blossoms

Anyone who wants to emulate Jay's amazing example can try merging both challenges and make another megawordzzle. I don't think I have the courage, but go for it if you think you can.

I would LOVE to have suggestions for words/phrases from other participants. Also any advice/suggestions on how to make the process easier would me much appreciated. I'm new to the blogosphere and still clumsy at navigating it in some ways.

Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.

Enjoy! See you next week.