Seize the Day

And Odd Prompt and Taco Tuesday micro-fiction

Legs are overrated. Only a few joints, most of them mere hinges, at ends where they can’t be much use. Now, the strength inherent in a muscular tentacle? The possibilities of embrace when there are eight extending down from the waist? We hug. Arms are just icing on the cake.

***

A fifty-word story, in the tradition of the Postcard Challenge, for Taco Tuesday. This is a prompt challenge response, as well, for More Odds Than Ends (MOTE), where Becky Jones prompted me with “Turned out it really was the icing on the cake.” I took liberties, as I often do, with the prompt. You can read all of the prompt reponses, or take part in the creative challenge yourself, over at MOTE.

You can read the other half of the Taco Tuesday challenge at CV Walter’s substack. She and I are writing together to hone our short story skills this year - romance, on time, to wordcount spec. Hence my internal limit of 50 words for this story, no more and no less. It’s a tough challenge to hit, when every word counts. Fortunately the image can speak into the story as well!

There won’t be a Taco Tuesday on the first week of the month, as I have a standing commitment that evening. Also, I have a novella to get ready for a Valentine’s Day release. I can do this! If there’s one thing the Sumire trilogy taught me this month, it’s that I can write, if I put my mind to it. I haven’t lost it over the past couple of years when I was too busy to write very much at all. I’ve still got it!