Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Words for Wednesday - The Barn Find

I'm trying something new for me today, I'm linking up with Delores over at Mumblings for her weekly Words for Wednesday.

She offers a list of words to use in a post; here are this week's prompts.

hornet, hairnet, hover, proximity, clothesline, scent
and/or
chilling, drench, dance, damaged, horrifying, chemical
or you could use this phrase,
DEPLOYED DESTRUCTION

And here is my offering for this week. I used all twelve words.

The Barn Find

He knew there were a lot of abandoned items in the old building out back, they were all there for the taking so to say, left behind by people who had lived in the big house before. The landlord had said on many occasions "I wish all that old stuff would just disappear."

Around the back of the big house and down the hill towards the woods, he was telling Ed, just follow the path past the old clothesline, and you will barely see the front of the building sticking out of the kudzu, over in proximity to where Old man Johnson left that damaged car.

Jake said, I'll meet you there right after daylight, if you don't see my car just go on back there and see if you can pry the doors open.

It was a chilling morning and the rain had just begun to drench the ground, Ed waited a little while for the rain to stop and for Jake to show up, Jake was always late for these hair brained schemes that he came up with, but Jake was his brother in law and always meant well with these money making ideas.

Jake was saying to Ed, "We clean out that building, and sell the stuff that's good, haul the junk off and then I bet the old guy will pay us for doing it"

The door was stuck tight, swollen from the moisture in the air, but finally popped open with a loud crashing noise that echoed through the woods, almost like a gunshot, the scent that rolled out of the building was strong, a kind of rotten wet dog/chemical smell, no wonder nobody ever went in there anymore.

Jake and Ed picked through the ruined furniture and broken tools, boxes of toys, old clothes, hairnets, and curlers there was absolutely nothing worth taking, and just as they were getting ready to leave Jake noticed something in the back corner, it was covered in plastic.

Jake did a little dance right there, when underneath the plastic they found two old barbershop chairs, they were in perfect condition and would fetch good money from the right buyer, now the trick was getting them out of the building and up the hill to the cars.

Ed cleared a path through the junk, and Jake moved his car as close as possible without getting it stuck in the mud. They were ready to move the first chair. It was almost like the chair was glued to the floor, man this thing is heavy Ed was saying just as the chair tipped.

Jake eased the back of the barber chair towards the floor to get a better grip, Ed grabbed the base and lifted. They had only taken about three steps when Ed let out a horrifying scream, he dropped the base of the chair and fell backwards then began scrambling for the door.

Jake had already abandoned the chair and was running for the door, the pain hitting the back of his head like rocks being thrown at him, as he ran up the hill towards his car, Ed was running in circles swatting the air and slapping his own face and neck.

As they abandoned Jake's latest scheme, the swarm of hornets hovering above them turned and made their way back into the building to the base of the barber chair where their nest waited.

39 comments:

  1. First time joining us and you knocked it out of the park. I was imagining ghosts and dead bodies and you came up with the 'deployed destruction' tactics of hornets. Fantastic. I'm so glad you decided to join us.

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    1. It was a pleasure Delores, I could have titled it Deployed Destruction ha ha

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  2. Writing prompts are a fun challenge and you did a great job. If you do another, I'd suggest either underlining the words you had to use or turning them red.

    Is your story based in part (or whole) on something true?

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    1. Thank you Jean, at your suggestion I went back and underlined the words.

      You could see this actually happening? It was based a lot on an experience my Dad and Uncle attempted.

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    2. Cool on the underlining. Yes, I could see it as actually happening.

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  3. Some things are better left where they are. Great words for Wednesday.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. Hi Sandee, I think a lot of people have found this out the hard way ha ha

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  4. Oh, Jimmy, I like it. The grabber was perfect!

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  5. Ok, I think weekly word prompts is too much like school for me!

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    1. Hey Bijoux, what I like about this one is you aren't obligated like in school ;)

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  6. This is so very clever - and fun. Words for Wednesday is a great meme, and I love the different directions that the prompts inspire.

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    1. Hello EC, I have looked at this one for a while, it just fell together for me today, yes a lot of different directions people go with the same words, it's a lot of fun for sure.

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  7. You handled this challenge beautifully, and created a compelling read.

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    1. Thank you Stephen, I appreciate your kind words my friend.

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  8. Terrific, Jinny! Great story! :)

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    1. Thank You Lee, I am happy to have you stop in, please come back anytime.

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  9. A fun meme and I enjoyed your use of the words too Jimmy. Very creative.

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    1. Thank you Denise, I had fun with this one.

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    1. Hello Cindi, yes brilliant minds indeed.

      Glad to have you join us.

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  11. This is excellent! At first I thought the bad smell meant they would find a body. The hornets had me laughing instead. I'll bet they check things out better if they ever try again. I used to love fossicking through sheds of abandoned stuff when I was little. I'd go home with some kid from school and we'd play in the yard and there was often a shed or back room with "grandma's old stuff".

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    1. Hello River, there is an old building on my Mom's property that has things which belonged to my Great Grandparents and many others, I'd like to get a look in there but I'd say the Grand nieces and nephews have beaten me to it by now ha ha

      Thank you River.

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  12. Very nicely done! Great descriptions and the suspense was built up at just the right pace. I really didn't know what would happen up until you revealed the hornets. Which given my luck is exactly what would happen to me if I done something similar.

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    1. Thank you Sir, I am honored that you enjoyed this, I had a good time writing this post, it just kind of fell together for me.

      Yes getting into a similar situation could happen too easy.

      Good to see you.

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  13. Excellent, and enjoyable. Some time ago I tried working round a set of given words but didn't enjoy it, I felt 'compelled' to follow the rules instead of giving the imagination free flow. Doing it my way doesn't make me a better writer though!

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    1. Good morning Valerie, I have looked at other sets that I could have worked with but didn't, then last week I was dead set to do it and couldn't write a word, this week, I just started writing and it worked, I think it all depends on us and the mindset we are in at the time.

      You are an excellent writer and I have a feeling that when you allow your imagination to flow freely any set of words would fall into place.

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  14. Can't believe I lost track of all the words, especially hornet. Got into the story so the punch line came as a surprise. Well done.

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    1. Thank you Patti, Jean did suggest that I underline them but from reading stories some of the others wrote I completely lost the words also ha ha.

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  15. Dang Jimmy, you did a really good job with this! I'm impressed! Hugs...RO

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    1. Hello RO, Thank you so much, I am honored.

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  16. Well done! I could see that in my mind, a couple of TV picker show kind of guys looking for treasures. I, too, was expecting a body. You switched it up real good.

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    1. Hey Val, this did kind of put you in mind of the Pickers, you never know we could go back and find a body in the building, hmmm

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  17. I never tried one of these. Maybe I should.
    R

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    1. Hey Rick, this was a first for me, I enjoyed playing along although I have seen other weeks where I wasn't ready for the words, it's a lot of fun though.

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  18. Well that'll learn 'em!
    Nice story Jimmy. You used all the words and used them well.

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    1. Hey Pat, Thank you kind Sir, it's good to see you my friend.

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