The format of the piece is not restricted, and there is no last date either unless you wish to be featured in the Weekly Wrap.
Any post that is found to be offensive, vulgar, or hurts ordinary sensibilities will not be included. This needs to be a safe space.
Create a post on your blog and copy-paste the link in the Comments. If you use a pingback, check to see if it has worked.
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Sitting at my desk I pulled the fancy nib holder toward myself and opened it to select the nib I wanted to use with my current fountain pen. My parents gave the fancy box to me for my college graduation since they knew I liked to do my writing by hand and had started to collect fountain pens and nibs. The nibs were easy to lose so a holder was a necessary item and they had taken the time to find one that showed off my love of writing.
I also had a real quill made with a feather. Although I loved using it, it required me to refill the nib every few words to keep the ink flowing. My fountain pens lasted much longer and so I used them more often. I had numerous nibs for both pens and the box came in handy as a holder so I wouldn’t lose any.
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Tessa–
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
Welcome to The Three Things Challenge. Below are three things that may, or may not, be related. Simply read the prompt and see where your creativity takes you. You can use one, two or all three words in your post, there are no restrictions regarding length, style, or genre apart from keeping it family friendly. You can use 3TC, #threethingschallenge or TTC as a tag and my logo if you wish. Invite us along by creating a pingback to this post, then leave your link in the comments so that other people can read your writings and I’ll see it to respond to you directly. You might like to check out some of the other contributions while you’re there.
I schedule the challenge to go out around 6.30 am UK time, but pingbacks have to be approved manually so might not show immediately. This could be because I’m late accessing my blog or due to time differences, but I will get there, I promise! I look forward to reading your responses, and as always thank you all for your continued support.
The visuals from last week are still floating in my eyes. So, I couldn’t think of anything other than a visual prompt for this week.
You are free to choose any one of the two images given below, and create a piece based on it.
You are free to use any medium you like to describe.
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Cassandra stumbled and fell getting off of her bed. She drug herself to the bathroom. Her vision blurry and somewhat odd. She tried to look at herself in the mirror. What was she seeing? Her face was separated as if she was looking into a fun house mirror, but this wasn’t fun. Was she dreaming again? She raised her hand to her face and she saw her hand, also fractured in the mirror. It was her and she wasn’t dreaming, but why was she seeing such a fractured image of herself in the mirror? She didn’t catch on right away.
She looked away. She didn’t know what she was seeing. Something was wrong and she was scared. She wanted her mother, but then remembered that she was supposed to be babysitting. Oh my God, the children she mumbled. What had happened to the children? They were too young to be alone and her other sister, Kimberley had a date tonight so she wasn’t home. Cassie was in charge and she couldn’t even deal with herself right now.
She vaguely remembered that she had received a box of chocolates in the mail and she assumed they were from Wayne. She loved chocolate and dove into the box and ate several of them and then remembers nothing until she woke up on her bed and stumbled into the bathroom to find her image fractured in the mirror. Was she drugged? Surely Wayne wouldn’t have drugged her. There wasn’t a name on the box that she remembered. It could have been from anyone. The chocolate, it had to be the chocolate.
Her face turned white at the implication. She had to get help. She couldn’t be responsible for her younger siblings. They were all under four years old. She had started to shake uncontrollably and she backed into the corner of the bathroom, not wanting to catch a glimpse of her face in the mirror. She was whimpering and starting to talk to herself. She didn’t know what to do. She needed her mother or at least an adult.
I’ve got to get next store for help she said. Mrs. Banks would help me, if she’s home tonight. Right now any semi-adult would help. There was almost always someone next door at the Banks house.
She headed down the stairs, looking for the children, but she didn’t see them. Oh God, where were the children? Mom is going to kill me.
She struggled with the door knob and finally got the door open. Stumbling across the lawn, she aimed for the Banks’ house. Please someone be home. The next house down was the Callan’s house. She fell up the porch steps and banged on the door as hard as she was able, although it hardly made a sound. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t trust herself to follow a line back to her house or further on to the Callan’s house. The Banks had to be home she pleaded with herself.
Thomas Banks, the oldest child, opened the door. He took one look at Cassie and called his girlfriend Ginny. “Something is wrong with her,” he started to sound frantic himself. “Help her into the house and on to the couch.”
Together they got her inside the house. “Cassie, Cassie…what’s wrong?”
All Cassie could manage was, “Where are the children? Oh God, where are the children?”
Thomas and Ginny exchanged looks. Thomas told Ginny to go next door and see if she could find the children. She must be talking about her little sister and two little brothers. Kimberley was older and could certainly take care of herself and the children so she must not be home either. Their mother was probably at work.
Thomas, hesitated and then picked up the phone. “9-1-1 what is your emergency?”
Thomas was flustered and didn’t know what to say. “I am not sure. I have my neighbor here and she’s acting very strange. My girlfriend when to find out about the little children she says she was watching. If I had to guess I would say she was on a drug of some sort, but I am not a doctor. Plus she doesn’t take drugs. We need help here. She’s mumbling and fidgety and she looks terrified.”
“Help is on the way. Stay with her. You mentioned children. Whose children? Hers?”
“No her younger siblings. There are three of them and they are all under four years old. Cassie is 19 years old I believe.”
Thomas’s phone rang. It was Ginny. “The children are all in bed sleeping. They all seem ok. I will stay here with them. How’s Cassie?”
“She’s pretty messed up. I called 9-1-1 because she needs more help than we can give her. I will see you once their mom gets home or if they take Cassie to the hospital. Actually their mom is going to need us to watch the little ones until Kimberley gets home because I am sure she will be going to the hospital to be with Cassie.”
Just then sirens could be heard in the distance. Help was on the way. Cassie started screaming, “I can’t look, I can’t look!”
Thomas allowed the paramedics in and stepped away from Cassie. She had started to punch at something only she could see. She pleaded for it to go away and to leave her alone. When they tried to touch her she flinched and told them to leave her alone and go away. “Don’t let the babies have the candy, bad candy!”
Confusion reigned. Thomas called Ginny and asked about candy in some form. She keeps warning us not to eat the candy.
Ginny looked at the coffee table and there was a box of chocolates sitting there and they were open. Several pieces had been eaten. She told Thomas who informed the paramedics who were still struggling with her. Drugged Candy? He was told to get the candy and any wrappings that might have been with it.
Thomas came back and gave it to the police who had finally arrived on the scene. One of the officers was told to take it in and get it analyzed right away. She appeared to be reacting to a drug although they were not sure which. The paramedic sent one of the EMTs over to quickly check on the children to make sure they were actually sleeping and not, God forbid, dead.
Cassie was given an injection of Diazepam to try and calm her down. They had to get her to the hospital quickly. It was unknown how much of whatever drug had been injected into that candy she took. They couldn’t take her in kicking, screaming and punching at something only she could see.
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Tessa –
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
Tessa Dean - Author 