Fiction: Thursday's not a good day to wreak havoc

This month's Words for Wednesday prompts are supplied by Alex J. Cavanaugh and are hosted at River's blog here. This week's prompts are: conglomerate, Thursday, catfish, blue, fantastic, Atlantis. Another optional prompt is Charlotte's colour of the month - Dusty Mauve. 
    The aim of Words for Wednesday is to use one or all of the prompts to write something - ie, a story, a poem, an essay or any forms of writing, fiction or nonfiction, basically write anything you want.
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Fiction: Thursday's not a good day to wreak havoc
Charm's grandmother Opal always said Thursday was a good day to wreak havoc on those who wronged you but Charm didn't believe it. Besides, it was her birthday and she wanted to be guilt-free and injury-free. 
    At the Blue Atlantis Burgers and Grub diner, Charm and her husband, Reece, their triplet pre-teen sons, Reece's youngest sister Mary and her spouse Jack and at their toddler son, Reece's older brother Joseph and his spouse Jane and their two teen daughters, Reece's aunt and uncle and their two daughters with their spouses along with various relatives conglomerated for Charm's thirty-ninth birthday dinner. The diner was too fantastic to take in - star constellations on the ceiling, booths in hues of blues and silver, star patterned floor tiles and oldies music flowing from an old-fashioned jukebox. Even the waitresses wore headbands with antennas that ended in fuzzy pompoms. Charm was in heaven. When Reece suggested the diner for her birthday dinner and shown her photographs, Charm had thought he had been catfished until she heard one of her friends recommended the diner.
    When they finished dinner, one of the waitresses wheeled out a large cake topped with a single candle shaped 40. Thunder clapped and rain began splattering against the glass panes and the door. Everyone turned to look but it became too dark to see anything out there.
    A shiver ran down Charm's spine. Was someone going to wreak havoc on her birthday? 

Book Rants - October 2026

It seemed like October just flew by. I didn't have much patience for reading so I might have started a couple of books before finishing a few. I didn't list those books I started since I barely read 10% and have no real opinions on them other than they lost my interest. Here are the books I didn't finish and a couple that I did.

Books I Unfinished:

01 - The Inklings Detective Agency by John R. Kelly
What's it about: 1930s Britain, clubs, writers, maybe murder
Quit at: 27%
Reading the synopsis created expectations and real people also created expectations I didn't know I had. This book didn't fulfill them or at least it didn't for me for the bits I read. I expected an intellectual mystery with tidbits about the authors' lives instead of authors getting together and doing a lot of talking. So yes, in solving a mystery, there is a need to discuss things but if the talking is annoying and the characters are annoying, why continue reading? But maybe this book wasn't written for an audience like me. I expected the writing to be more English, not Americanized, since the characters (J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie) are English. I really like the idea of famous authors getting together to solve a murder but I just couldn't get into this book.

Draw Something Oct. 26 - Wrap up

Dedicating a month to draw is really the only time I seem to really complete any artwork but I did finish more than usual. It's very time consuming finishing them. My process is draw on paper, scan the drawing in and digitally colored them. I've worked a routine but it's so hard to choose colors when face with so many choices. But I had fun making up traits and adding details and choosing names. I hope you like these cat witches. Maybe when I finish the others, I'll post them. Here's a last one I completed.

Name: River Zudora Summer Garcia
Age: 13
Loves: Tea, ghosts, all things Halloween especially the treats
Hates: Hate to hate, asparagus-flavor candies, maybe chores
Ability: Can see a ghost's true desire
Curious Tidbit: Born on Halloween, River, came into the world just when a bunch of ghosts was habituating her home and causing all kinds of chaos. Her birth heralded the arrivals of spirits from her bloodline who got rid of the pesty ghosts.

Do you like Halloween or do you prefer a more subdue holiday?