Weekly Wordzzle Challenge # 186

Still going with the story of Fred Johnson,  Paragon of Virtue. Here are links to the previous episodes.  If you need/want to catch up, click here for the 1st installment, 2nd installment, 3rd installment, 4th installment, 5th installment, 6th installment, 7th installment., 8th installment, 9th installment, 10th installment, 11th installment, 12th installment, 13th installment, 14th installment, 15th installment, 16th installment, 17th installment, 18th installment, 19th installment. 20th installment, 21st installment, 22nd installment, 23rd installment, 24th installment, 25th installment...

3:28 Saturday afternoon. Finally finished. Was good to have Argent back with another episode of Harold and other good things last week. 

Words for this week's 10-word challenge: positive, genius, pot, red-head, clump, oops!, marionette, capricious, tapestry, putrid   And for the mini: temper, boil, cluster, cute, dilly-dally

My mega:  

"Oops! That was not a genius move," the Paragon thought to himself. "In fact, I would suggest to myself that the capricious entering into of putrid vortexes of dark magic unaccompanied by dog or other companions displays a decided lack of good judgment. I was so positive that I had learned to temper my enthusiasm with caution, but I guess not. I hope Cane brings assistance soon. I wonder if Paraphrase can read my thoughts? Maybe Spark can transport through the shield now that I'm here. Guess I will find out. Meanwhile, what's done is done, though. No point in dilly dallying. 'Light,'"  he called out in his best wizard voice, but although there was a slight ebbing of the darkness, there was no great burst of light as he had hoped. "Good thing I brought my flashlight," he muttered, reaching into his back pack and clicking it on, began looking around. Directly ahead was a massive tapestry covering the entire back wall of the room. It was at once beautiful and horrifying, though he was not sure what inspired the dread it inspired in his whole being. Clustered in front of the tapestry were groups of discarded toys and other artifacts. In a large cauldron-like pot, as though waiting to be boiled by cannibals, sat  a pair of red-headed marionettes that might once have been cute, but were now half decayed, with clumps of their bright red hair missing. Next to them lay a broken drum, a harp without strings and a collection of mutilated stuffed animals and dolls. Fred shivered. "I hope the others find me soon. This place is seeded with madness as well as evil. I do not have the magic or wisdom to deal with it alone."


My  mini:

 In the mountains, as Paraphrase, Spark and Purpose Perfidy clustered together around a small fire a pot of Tempered Tofu soup just coming to a boil.  They had been having an idle conversation about how Confetti came up with the cute and peculiar name for his dishes when Paraphrase sat at attention. The Paragon is in trouble Spark and related to him what she was reading from his thoughts. "Go at once, my friend. There is no time dilly-dally. I will summon two other dragons and we will watch over our friend here until you return."  As the last word escaped her lips, Spark was gone and to Purpose Perfidy's utter astonishment and delight two additional dragons arrived. The smaller of the two new arrivals - Prudence by name - was about the size of a large cow. Her companion Theodoseus was the stuff of myth. "At your service, Para my dear," he said.


And the 10-word:  

Spark arrived outside the derelict toy store just as Cane returned with Bubbles, McFlash and Psycho in tow. "Oops!" he said, as he appeared so close to Psycho that he almost toppled him over. "Sorry, Count. Miscalculated my landing. I must say it is delightful to see you looking so well and sane after all this time. But let's get to it. Seems our young Paragon is half genius and half fool. Clever enough to find the entrance and then bit rash and capricious to dive in on his own like that. At least he had the presence of mind to send for you and to convey to Paraphrase and myself images of what awaits us. He went on to provide the others with a brief run-down of what awaited them inside, describing the putrid air, the tapestry and the potted red-headed marionettes with their missing clumps of hair. When he mentioned the marionettes, Psycho gasped and said are you positive about the puppets? They have called to me in my dreams for many years"  "Excellent news," Spark replied. "Perhaps they have something to tell us. It's good that you are here. No time to waste joining the Paragon. Does everyone remember the password? Someone hold onto Cane to make sure he comes along. I believe we will need his help in there. Now, in unison, then, my friends..."  And as one, they intoned, "It's always darkest before the dawn." and vanished, holding hands, into the votex to join Fred

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Words for next week's 10-word challenge:  angst, pills, falling snow, parchment, flute, grey cat, boy was my face red, situation, clamp, heart

And for the mini: dreadful, fog, format, participation, choice

Thanks you for playing.  Newcomers can check here for some guidelines to make the game more fun. There are no rules, just some general guidelines and tricks.