"The Power of Words" - Prompt 19/21

For this prompt, I decided to randomly choose 10 - 20 words from the dictionary, and write a short story ... or maybe the beginnings of a longer one, like my "Random Story Line" that keeps on going!

{I randomly chose a total of 15 words from the "Webster's Student Dictionary - Newly Revised Edition (1999)"; they are listed below along with definitions where needed ...}

1.  Book
2.  Embankment
3.  Cloisonne - (n.) type of enamel decoration, where the section of enamel are separated by little ridges of metal.
4.  Fish
5.  Half-mast - flags flying halfway up the flag pole as a sign of mourning.
6.  Powder - very fine dry grains (like flour).
7.  Recover - to get back that which has been stolen; to get well again after an illness; to get over (a shock); or to put a new cover (on a chair).
8.  Scorpion - a poisonous tropical insect which stings with a long curved tail.
9.  Sterile - not capable of bearing fruit or children; so clean that no germs/bacteria can grow.
10.  Suburbs - residential area on the outskirts of a city or town.
11.  Sultry - hot/heavy (weather); attractive in a dark way; passionate.
12.  Eclectic - taking ideas, etc. from several different sources.
13.  Grave - (n.) tomb/hole in the ground to put a dead body in; burial place; (adj.) serious/solemn.
14.  Grenadine - red drink made from pomegranate juice.
15.  Re-think - (n.) second thought about a problem; (v.) to think again; to reconsider.

And, now for the story!

The book fell from her hands and down to the bottom of the short embankment.  On this beautiful, yet sultry afternoon, she couldn't wait to be outside.  Now, it was hard to recover from the news she had received: "The outlook is serious ... grave.  We may need to re-think our plans."

Down the street, she noticed all of the flags flying at half-mast.  "Was this how her life would continue," she thought to herself.  Another day, another life - or lives - taken in this simple, usually-quiet suburb.



Another life placed into the open grave, dark and dank, waiting for the next victim.  Her heart would not let her dwell on it any longer ...

"How long," she pondered, "how long would this continue?"

Slowly, she stood on shaky legs and picked up the thermos filled with grenadine, the red pomegranate drink that always soothed her.

"Perhaps another sip would help?" she wondered aloud.  "Or maybe a few sprinkles of the powder she had hidden away ... No!  That would be too easy ... and too hard!"

Slowly she stretched, felt her abdomen.  Deep in thought, she continued down the embankment.

"Sterile?  No babies for me," she thought for the hundredth time.  "Why?  What had happened to cause this?  What will I do now?!"

Her thoughts kept wandering, trying to answer the questions she held deep inside ...

Was it the fish?  It did taste a bit funny.  No, that was just her way of avoiding the real problem ...

What about that scorpion they had spotted on the beach?  No, we never even came close ...

She would never know the answers; would never have the courage to return home and search for the lost cloisonne bracelet.



Her grandmother gave the bracelet to her years ago, just a small piece from her eclectic collection.

And, wrapped inside the box was the letter that would explain everything ...

If only she could find it!


The End ... or, is it only the beginning?!