Wednesday 17 April 2013

An A-Z Story - O


So, the Challenge is more than halfway over. So many of you are doing outstanding work - keep it up, the way out is in sight!

My theme is as follows: each day I will ask for words beginning with that day's letter, which I will randomly select five from to use in a sentence in an ongoing story. That sentence will be posted the next day when I'll ask for words for the next letter. So my Z sentence will appear on May 1st.

An overwhelming 252 words were offered yesterday, and from them random.org has ordered the following five to be used:

Narcotics (suggested by KRITI)
Numbing (suggested by Rhonda)
Need (suggested by C. Lee McKenzie)
Numbskull (suggested by Margo Kelly)
Nunnery (suggested by Mel)

Onto the story as it stands now...


Angels had always had a certain ambiguity, being both human and divine, reflected Acatour with an acute sense of malaise as he looked down on the arable fields of medieval England. A bird flew past making a belligerent shriek, unnerved it seemed by a boggart; Acatour descended, thinking it would take a brainiac like him to unravel the poor soul’s beginnings and why it had not reached Heaven.
     York Cathedral hove into view, shrouded in wooden scaffold as part of the local bishop’s campaign of restoration; but before he could challenge a carpenter over whether any of his colleagues had fallen to their doom, his presence was announced by the crawdad he’d eaten back in 20th century New Orleans repeating on him. He wiped dribble from his chin as the remains of the crustacean narrowly missed the workmen to land in the dew of the graveyard, berating himself for his debauched and unangelic behaviour the previous night; why did that dame have to desert him? The effervescent Ella had always been eager for exciting adventures, but when he’d asked her to accompany him on this esoteric time travel mission, she’d called him a crazy drunk and left.
     It did sound rather fabulous, in the true sense of the word, he thought to himself as he descended further before landing on an empty area of scaffold, all the better for making himself visible; next to him was some viscous fluid, making him think that any fall from this precarious structure would surely be a fluke. Stepping away from the gel-like substance, he felt something watching him and turned to see a Gardengoyle on the wall next to a carved bunch of grapes, which caused the gregarious sounds of the workmen to die away as two thoughts rang clearly in his head: what was it doing here, and did he detect guilt in the creature’s eyes?
     That horrendous stare was starting to give Acatour a headache when a workman with a harried expression shimmied up onto the platform via a hemp rope, his arrival causing an apparently hilarious reaction in the Gardengoyle. “Hey, you!” said the workman, stomping towards Acatour, but something seemed to interrupt his progress, drawing him inexorably towards the island of iridescent liquid, which seemed entirely illogical to the angel until he sensed the impish carving’s illicit intentions.
     The workman slipped on the puddle and waved his arms frantically like a jester, trying not to fall over the edge; in that moment Acatour sensed the wickedly joyful mirth of the Gardengoyle and grabbed the man’s arm, saving him from jeopardy and causing the creature’s joy to dissipate as it contemplated a future in Paranormal Jail.
     “Thank you,” said the man, “my darling Kate is too young to become a widow,” but upon saying this he started to keel over as if affected by his own version of Kryptonite; Acatour had been ready to show kindness to the grotesquely kitsch Gardengoyle, but now saw the only solution was to destroy it. While struggling to hold on to the lanky workman - who had become rather loquacious and kept babbling about his wife and lover, who Acatour hoped were the same person - and stop him from being lost over the edge of the scaffold, he cast around for any tools or discarded carvings he could use as a weapon and finally alighted on a rather hefty rock lobster, which, it occurred to him, would be much more effective than a crawdad.
     A look of merriment crossed the creature’s face that was quite deranged considering it was about to be smashed to smithereens, before it melted into the rock leaving nothing but smooth stone - it was magic, of course - and Acatour quickly descended the monumental structure, past more workmen and a rather flustered merchant, and burst through the main door just as matins was beginning. Two hundred heads turned towards him in a space as quiet as a nunnery, and he felt like a numbskull for interrupting, but he had a need as urgent as a junkie looking for his next narcotics to get that Gardengoyle before it did any more mischief; the next thing he knew, a numbing pain and squeezing sensation on his head told him the Gardengoyle had found him.

Obviously, I am going to need your O words to continue this odyssey! You can offer as many as you like, and they can be as obscure and outlandish as you like (feel free to use a dictionary for inspiration). The more words you suggest, the more chance you have of one being picked. It doesn't matter if you suggest the same word as someone else (as I know not everyone always has time to read all the comments); each will count as its own entry.

45 comments:

Carrie Butler said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carrie Butler said...

You are rocking this A-to-Z, Nick! :)

How about "oligarchy"?

Heather R. Holden said...

Oh, what a cliffhanger! Can't wait to see what happens next...

Some O words:

ostentatious
ostrich
odor
ogle
outsider
oar
olive
octane
oscillate
omen

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

ogle
ooze
odyssey
offer
occupy
oology
opaque
opal
oil
ounce
ought

Cynthia said...

oracle
oddity
origin
orange
octopus

Sally said...

Opal
Opulence
Opportunity
oven
octagon
Good luck!

J.L. Murphey said...

oyster
onward
ongoing
orange
occupation
occur
olive
orangutang
occur

Anonymous said...

Orchestra..
Oblivion..
Oblique..
organ..
olive..

M I enjoying it? Hell, yes :D

JeffO said...

Quite well done, Nick. I'd be looking at all these words and thinking, "Oy!"

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Must be getting difficult to select the words.
Oozes, opprobrious, oracle.

Dee @ A Deecoded Life said...

Omigosh what has happened to Acatour??

My O words (no, not that one):

Obliviate
Osteoporosis
Oranges
Observatory
Odd
Oscillate
Obsessed


~ D is for Deecoded ~

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

ornery
ostentatious
obtuse
oolong
otter
owl

Kim Van Sickler said...

You have to be enjoying this! My contribution is Ohio. [Snort]. Would love to see how you work that state in.

Unknown said...

I'm still amazed! Great job!
Old
Orator
outrageous

loverofwords said...

So much fun, so many words.
odious
ocular
octave
offish
oleander
oaf
opus (like the one you are writing)

Bish Denham said...

Orangutan
Organza
Ordinary
Oral
Orchid
Odium
Ocean
Oboe
Off
Overture
Ox
Ozone
Open
Onstage
One
Ogre
Obstinate



Ella said...

orange
ornament
oaf
oak
Oatmeal cookie ;D
orbit
order
Orient
oval

Well done Nick!

Jennifer Joyce said...

My O words are:

Octopus
Opal
Orange
Oily
Oxen

Michelle Wallace said...

Here we go:

Odalisque
Ogee
Ormolu
Outmanoeuvre
Oodles

Good Luck Nick!

Writer In Transit

Emily R. King said...

Hmm, I'll go for one word today. How about "ostentatious"?

Chantele Sedgwick said...

You're awesome at the A-Z thing. My brain isn't that creative... Ha ha. :)

Julie Flanders said...

Oh no, the Gardengoyle strikes back. I should have known he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Otter, Obstinate, Osteopath, Ornery, Ornate

Mina Burrows said...

Almost here, Nick!

oreo
orchestra
ordinary
Othello
oops

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Let's add some glam...how about opulence?

Carol Kilgore said...

Uh-oh!
Oregon
over
overlay
olive
osprey
odd
oddity
orange
orangutan
octogenarian

Unknown said...

You've got great O words to work with! I'm enjoying your creative application of words. And love the ostrich picture. ;)

kjmckendry said...

I'm sorry I've missed so many! It sounds great though!

Opulent
Orchid
Olives
Ostentatious

Powdered Toast Man said...

This idea seems like a lot of work. You are a brave soul.

Orchard
Opague
Orgasm
Octopus
Oh
Ouch
Orca

S.P. Bowers said...

Officious,
Officer,
Offended
Well, since I'm on a roll we can't forget 'Off' either.

Anonymous said...

ostentatious
ominous
orderly
operation
opaque
:-)

Samantha May said...

Can I just say that ostriches terrify me. Something about them is really...creepy.

Oracle
Orb
Omen
Olive
Opal
Ostentatious

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I had an ostrich try to attack me once.

Organist
Osmosis
Overalls
Outskirts

cleemckenzie said...

That Gardengoyle must have a solid grip.

You'll need words like: Ouch! Oy! OMG!

Gwen Gardner said...

*snort* - this is cracking me up!

Orb
Outer
Obstruct
Organ
Obelisk

Christine Rains said...

Oh-oh! Must help Acatour with O words!

Oasis, obscure, odd, okra, and ox.

Rhonda Albom said...

I am guessing I am too late today, but I had to come and read the adventure anyway. I will aim for earlier for P.

Empty Nest Insider said...

I'm still sticking with Oreo's. They really do go with everything. I can't wait to find out what happens next on your Gardengoyle Odyssey!

Julie

Trisha said...

Your theme is so much fun. Here are some O words (I haven't looked at the other comments so apologies for any repeats):

offspring
outward
oval

Rhonda Albom said...

orangutang
outrageous
olives
Ontario
opposite
ouch
Ohhh noooo (thinking of Mr. Bill, ignore this one, but I couldn't resist)

Unknown said...

Here are my words:

Open
Ouch
Oliver
Obey
Ogre

Maria said...

Hi Nick,

I misread your title and thought you were dabbling in erotica. Well, what can u expect with a title with 'story' and 'o' in it?

So glad - for once - that I was mistaken!

Maria
Maria's Book BLog

Nick Wilford said...

Thanks everyone! Running late again but getting on to my post now!

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hey, Nick,

The story is really coming along... Well done!

Here are some O's


Oppressive

Obstinent

Obscure

Opalescence

Ornery

Oracle

Odyssey

Obnoxious

Unknown said...

This story just keeps getting better and better!

Margo Kelly said...

YAY! you picked one of my words!!! I can now die happy. :)