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The 5 words are:
- bingo
- breakfast
- glass
- hype
- strength
The stories:
- This morning over breakfast, I declared my plans for this evening.
- The meeting took place in the old Mecca Bingo Hall on the high street.
- with much hyped bingo skills
- It was never a measure of strength. More like a battle of wills.
- Who?
- While sitting at the bingo game Marge realized
- I was afraid at first, I'll freely admit it.
- As Nina straightened back up
Ashley here's your breakfast, it's a glass of O.J., you'll need your strength for the bingo game. What's the big hype??
(Jesse)
This morning over breakfast, I declared my plans for this evening. Bingo with the gals. Again, for the fifth time this week. Afterwards, of course, we'll be going out for drinks. Nora blew her top. She made a huge mess by slamming the glass of OJ on the table, breaking it into bits and thereby demonstrating her strength. Now, that was unnecessary! She should have known by now that it was all hype. I wasn't really going to fool around with the gals after the game. I was just checking to see if she cared enough to be jealous.
(Mitra)The meeting took place in the old Mecca Bingo Hall on the high street. The building had been left derelict for about 50 years, ever since the evolution of data feed gaming and online prize games. After dislodging several rats from the small table the men sat down, ready to discuss the night's plan of action. The leader of this motley crew was R. C. McCurren ex freelancer and survivor of the Megacorps lunar conflicts, a specialist in small arms and close combats. He turned to his second in command Kratz and nodded to him to start the briefing. The mission, he stated, was basic infiltration into the Bauhaus tech centre and get information from the R n D labs, where reports of a new weapon system for the military was being tested. If any of the hype was true Mobile warfare had gone fully Cybered. After the briefing the group split up and started heading to various hangouts to await the start of the mission, planned to start in 2 days. McCurren and Kratz headed over to R.J's café for breakfast while they went over the last minute details, this had to go smoothly for their backer to pay then well. After the rumours from the accident form Andrenochrome labs no one was taking chances. Strength in numbers was always nice on missions, but where stealth was concerned it was decided that Kratz and three others would penetrate the lab. McCurren and eight others would provide perimeter security. After setting his glass down and saying goodbye Kratz headed to the nearest hotel he decided before trying to bolster the limited resources the group had he needed sleep, what good would it do buying equipment if he was too tired to check its reliability before buying it. Many a life had been lost due to faulty parts from the machine plants in Central America. Well the teams were counting on him for the stuff and he hadn't let them down yet.
(Simon)with much hyped bingo skills
and the strength of many men
she broke the glass ceiling
all before breakfast.
(Triskie)It was never a measure of strength. More like a battle of wills.
Early morning sun streamed through the breath of mist shrouding all of the forest. It smelled green and washed. Springy moss was a comfort beneath him, and the moist air above was a blessing.
It wasn't often he got to venture above ground. Most often, the times when he got to break the surface and explore the alien world were either just after breakfast, when the sun was nothing but a slit of oddly shaped red on the horizon . . . or in the evening. The evening times had to be *just* right, though. Normally, it was a cooling summer night when the water on the pond was as flat and reflective as a sheet of finely crafted glass and the crickets had started serenading others of their kind with their slightly annoying song.
This particular occasion was morning. There were still beads of dew clinging to blades of grass. He could hear the monsters, however. They were waking. It was impossible not to hear their horrible screams of waking; the sound was getting deafening. He began to make his way back to the hole from which he had entered the magical land. His progress was slow, however, and one of the monsters spied him from above.
He heard the rustle of leaves and the whistle of air as the many-talloned thing dove for him at a blinding speed. It became apparent after a short moment that this one intended to play with him a bit before devouring him. He shuddered as the visions of eminent torture flashed like some horrible movie in his head.
"BINGO!" the thing boomed, towering above him on its two skinny legs. He had often wondered how the monsters stayed ballanced with such things.
"Please, I have a family . . . children. Surely there are other creatures that would make a more suitable breakfast than I?" he begged, shrivling up a bit. His clan would have been embarassed at his whining, but when one's life is in danger, one must resort to drastic measures.
With a mighty hop, the monster landed on his other side with practiced grace. Its head twisted to an impossible angle, but one that denoted query. "And why should I, ground-dweller? The proverb says, 'A breakfast easily caught is one for the belly.'"
He shrivled up some more, hoping to appear smaller, and therefore not a full breakfast for the gargantuan beast. "Don't believe the hype, my friend. Ground-dwellers are not at all tasty. Another such proverb says, 'Be wary things that are easily gotten, for they may be a trap in the end.'" Though he knew of no such proverb, he figured there must be something like it. Somewhere, at least.
"Ah, if that's true, then you shall be at least a tasty morning snack. If you wish to escape with your life, ground-dweller, then I suggest you come up with something better than that!" The beast then burst forth with one of it's horrible screams again, and the ground-dweller had to regain his hearing before his measured reply.
"I agree. Even as a snack, I venture, I wouldn't be very satisfying. I am, as you must already know, nothing but guts. There are other creatures who would not only sate your hunger better, but not argue with you as I am."
The monster hopped again, looking to the sky for a breif instant before muttering an odd twitter. "Ground-dweller, the things you say have made sense, indeed. So I am going to bypass you as a morsel this morning. But be weary, there are other monsters out there who will not give you time to argue." With that, the beast bent his legs once, and heaved off the ground, spilling the dirt that had lodged itself in its claws all over the ground-dweller.
He sighed with relief and began making his way slowly back to the hole again, overjoyed that his wit had saved him from such a horrible fate. He was thinking of the story he would have for his lovely wife and children when his life abrubtly ended. There was a shadow, and then a split second for an intake of breath, and then the ground dweller was nothing more than a splatter upon the forrest floor.
"Ew. I think I just stepped on a worm!" The monster, looking down from his perch on the tree, chirped at the irony.
(Lisa)Who?
When my world got covered in layers of depression,
reckoned it was the latest hype
but by world leaders 't was foretold
his state of dreariness would hold
the cold had gotten to the core
of human hearts and what was more
't was even worth skipping breakfast forHearing thus the kitchens stilled
no bread was touched no milk was spilled
outside they went to go and look
what was it then that came and took
their very lifeline off the hookFirst Postmodernism was to blame
Then Racism was caught and chained
and though the fog had cleared a tad
They still didn't believe they had
emprisoned that what made them madTill one shouted out to come and see
for he had found the enemy
eager to know what exactly it was
the others ran towards him fast
and glaring through the looking glass
"Bingo" they recognised themselves
to swallow that would take much strength
but tired they chose for self denial
he who had pointed was put to trial
As in their truth he was the liarI think they locked him far away
I think they do it every day...
(Lizzy)While sitting at the bingo game, Marge realized that she had been listening to all the hype about the new guy on the block. Supposedly he won the strongest man on earth contest...What a hunk she thought he must be...Marge decided to invite him over for breakfast. As she tapped on the glass window to his flat, she imagined what he would be like, "Tall and Handsome...definitely" she thought. Just then the door was flung open with such strength that she was almost sucked into the flat by the wind. And there stood your average height, neckless steroid driven "hunk". He was nothing like she had imagined...
"I was thinking about having bagels for breakfast" she muttered.
She couldn't believe all the hype she had heard and how this guy just didn't meet her expectations. To think...she didn't hear B6 while playing Bingo because she was fantasizing about this toad. Obviously her mind was wandering, because the neckless wonder was staring at her strangely...Just then out of another room stepped Hercules with a glass of milk.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
His friend stated "She's telling me what she wants for breakfast."
Just then she came too.
"I know that you are new to the area...and wanted to invite you to my apartment for breakfast tomorrow morning."
"Oh." Said the Hercules. "My Brother has been helping me move into the flat. He will be gone in the morning...Has to go participate in one of those crazy competitions of his...But I would be happy to join you for breakfast. Can I offer you a glass of milk?"
"Oh, No thank you. I really must be going."
Marge was recovering, thinking that the hype at the bingo hall was all about his brother...My what strength it took to get thru the night and to the next morning...........
(Jeff)I was afraid at first, I'll freely admit it. So would you if He stopped at your campfire, a couple of hundred miles south of the end of civilization, with the backlight of the dying sun giving Him the appearance of a demon from Hell. In a reflex I reached out for my gun, but I stopped before my fingers touched the weapon. Resistance, I knew, would be futile.
"Fear not my friend," He said with a remarkably gentle tone in His voice. "It is not your time yet".
For a fleeting moment I had the impression He held an hourglass in His hand, but as I blinked it was gone. He moved like smoke as He dismounted His ride. The motion was a blurr, not so much from the speed of its execution, but for the perception of it. It seemed as if He had not moved at all. Yet one moment He sat high on His stallion, black as the space between the stars, the other He stood next to it, His scythe a wordless menace at His side.
I nodded in the direction of a large boulder next to the fire.
"Have a seat. If you like you can have some coffee. T'ain't much in the way of hospitality but it's fresh and it's hot and it'll do you good. Especially this time of year what with the nights bein' chilly 'n all".
He layed a bag on the rock next to me. It was black (of course) and smooth as velvet and it was obviously empty. Hesitantly, I opened it and I was flabbergasted to find it filled with eggs, bacon, beans, a canteen and a non-descript flask with a golden liquid. The canteen contained water. I don't know what the stuff in the flask was. My experience with booze is limited to low-quality, high-volume consumption. Whatever this was, it was clearly beyond anything I had ever heard of. I took a careful sniff. The scent blossomed in my nostrils like the garden of God. I poured a bit in the cap of the bottle and took a sip. It tasted as if all the good things in the world were combined into one sublime mixture. My eyes opened wide as all the facets of this heavenly drink revealed themselves to me. The fragrances took forever to dissolve from my palet. All this time I didn't move a muscle. As the divine substance released its grip on me, I poured what was left in the cap carefully back into the bottle. I was convinced this opportunity would never present itself again and wanted to preserve as much of this wonderful drink for as long as I could.
I looked at him "What is all this for ?"
"I believe it is customary for the guest to bring gifts", He said.
"Mister", I said taking the goods from the bag "you just bought yourself one delicious home-cooked supper", and I busied myself with the repast.
As the beans were getting really comfortable with the bacon and the eggs I leaned back and looked at my unexpected guest.
"What brings y'out here in this neck of the woods ? I don't gather there bein' a lot of business here for ya".
"There is... peace here", He said. If I hadn't seen Him move, He might as well be a statue. His cape covered His whole body. Save for the words from His mouth... what I presumed was His mouth, He might as well have been a part of the advancing night, which covered the landscape like a shroud.
I chuckled nervously "I thought you of all peo... er, you'd be da last ta' mind war".
"My need for peace is a different one", He said.
"Uhuh", I said. I had no idea what He was talking about.
I took the food from the fire
"D'ya want something to eat ? It'll give ya strength". I started to pile the food on a plate.
"I do not hunger", He simply said.
"Would'ya like some of that wonderful elixir of yours then ?", I offered him a glass.
"I do not thirst".
"Oh". It would be a shame for such a good meal to go to waste, so I got myself a double helping. It turned out to be one of the best meals I had had in a long while. I cleaned my plate with some bacon and put it in my backpack. The meal over, with nothing left to do, I felt a little self-conscious. Somehow it didn't sit right to only take and not give although, except for the obvious, I was at a loss as to what gift I could make my guest.
"Ain't there anything at all that you want ?", I asked.
He nodded gravely, "I crave".
"Bingo", I thought. "Welcome to the world, Sir", I said. "Everybody wants something. What is it that you seek ?".
"Solitude". The word stood like a monolith in the night.
"Well pardner", I said cheerfully, "you came to da right place ! : believe da hype, experience t'event, it doesn't get lonelier than this ! There ain't a living soul, pardon my frankness, for hundreds of miles around. This is the perfect place if you want to get away from it all. Why, if you stay around till after breakfast, I'll show you the lay o' the land. I don't know about you, but I'm just about due for a good night's rest".
"I won't be staying", He stated. Answering some unseen queue, His steed approached. For an instant, His hand stroked the horse in a gesture of infinite tenderness.
Suddenly, I knew how to return the hospitality. I reached into my saddlebag and took out some delicious oats for His horse.
"Here", I said "this is something for your horse...".
As I turned around I found myself alone. Without a word, without a sound, my visitor had gone. I wanted to take the bag He'd given me, I needed some proof to convince myself I hadn't dreamt or gone mad in this desolate place, but I found that it was nothing more than a shadow on the rock.
(Ignace)As Nina straightened back up, after having been bent over into the box, her face glowed a bright red. The blush of her face reminded Aldo of the face of a woman deep in the throes of pleasurable love making.
"Bingo," she cried as she waved about some papers.
Involuntarily, Aldo let out a very noticeable sigh that was tinged with the trace of a grunt.
"Excuse me,?" asked Nina.
Aldo struggled to play it off by thumping on his chest. "No, excuse me. I guess breakfast didn't agree with me."
"What I was trying to say," said Nina, "was that I found the old company Bingo cards. We used to play on Christmas Eve before the Christmas party. It's like Bingo but you had to match company products that they called out and you could win prizes. I won a glass Santa filled with candy one year."
Aldo wanted to sound excited about what Nina was talking about. "Sounds hype," he said, but he was sure he sounded lame.
"So do you have any strength,?" asked Nina. "I need you to reach deep into my box and do something special for me."
Now it was Aldo who had the glowing red cheeks.
(Brian)To see past months' stories, click here.