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Monday, 15 April 2013

An A-Z Story - M


This Challenge really is majestic. It's the start of Week 3, M for Monday, and I hope everyone's still having a magic time.

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.

Thank you for the mercurial 206 words mentioned as contenders over the weekend. The following five have been marked for the mission to continue my story:

Lanky (suggested by Rhonda)
Lover (suggested by Gwen Gardner)
Lost (suggested by Silvia Villalobos)
Loquacious (suggested by Empty Nest Insider)
Lobster (suggested by Melissa Sugar and chosen out of a marvellous 29 words - mad props to you!)

So here is the story so far including the latest melee of contributions:


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.

Please take a minute or two to help make my story with your M words! 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.

55 comments:

  1. L is for Lol... At this -> "and kept babbling about his wife and lover, who Acatour hoped were the same person"

    And M is for

    Mistress
    Misty
    Maudlin
    Memory
    Mirth
    Murder
    Miscellaneous

    D is for Deecoded

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ummmm


    M is for...MOUSE! :)

    Okay, that was unoriginal. I like that lil pic you have up there though. And mice always remind me of my cats...unsurprisingly if you know about all the rodent-scapades I live through.

    ReplyDelete
  3. M is for;

    mortal
    munch
    movie
    muffin

    Have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've missed the past post or two, I think. I really like how this story is shaping up so far!

    Some M words:

    mist
    melee
    massive
    mammoth
    miracle
    mindless
    mystery
    mystical
    mandarin
    mess
    mountainous
    morph
    mint
    miller
    malice
    missing
    minstrel
    map
    moan
    mental
    mirror

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yay! You used one of my words. Thanks :)

    Monkey
    Monday
    Misty
    Mummy
    marvelous
    moko (it's a Maori tattoo on the face)
    mindful
    merrily
    Montana
    meticulous

    ReplyDelete
  6. March,
    marriage
    month
    mayhem

    Hope you had a good rest yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Magic
    Magicians
    Mad
    Money
    Monk
    Moody
    Manipulate

    ReplyDelete
  8. Muse...mystic,,maybe, myriad, miracle,menace, memories, mostly, mirage, miss, mesmerize, Mongolic,maniac, mistake...
    P.S. Do we have a limit or can I pen down my entire lexicon over here?? :D This is sure fun!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Magic
    Malignant
    Mighty
    Mouse
    Melons
    Mud
    (:

    ReplyDelete
  10. magnificent
    mother
    moose
    marmalade
    mistake
    microphone
    mica
    marmaduke
    monster
    monstrous
    made
    maid
    mister
    milkweed
    mousse
    malise
    malady
    morose
    maline
    man
    mermaid
    mail
    male

    ReplyDelete
  11. And you actually made lobster work!
    Mesmerize, metaphysical, misanthrope.

    ReplyDelete
  12. LOL, I love that you threw lobster in there. And loquacious. I actually had no idea what that meant till about a year ago, haha.

    Um...

    Mother
    Maid
    Mastermind
    Muse
    Melody
    Microphone
    Meditate
    Murder
    Masochist

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. mellifluous
    mermaid
    merman
    manatee
    mask
    mourning
    morbid

    ReplyDelete
  14. Make believe
    Mob
    Misanthrope/Misanthropic
    Mental
    Mention
    Marrow
    Mark
    Mardi Gras
    Mere
    Mare
    Mail
    Male
    Moth
    Mothball
    Motor
    Mummer
    Mumble
    Mumbojumbo
    Muscle
    Mineral
    Milk



    ReplyDelete
  15. I was wondering how you'd get that lobster in there.

    miniature
    moose
    marching
    moola
    messy

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi, Nick,

    Hope you had a great weekend....

    Mischievous

    Mannerisms

    Melancholy

    Miraculous

    Mirror

    Mainstream

    Molases

    Microcosm

    Misery

    Miracle



    ReplyDelete
  17. The only one I could think of is Muggle.

    Now *THAT* would be an interesting thing to read about in this story :)

    Jamie Dement (LadyJai)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like how this story is developing :)

    My M words:

    Messy
    Mat
    Marigold
    Mourn
    Mandible

    ReplyDelete
  19. main
    miracle
    monster
    missing
    memory
    mystical
    music
    mix
    machine
    micro-chip
    macabre
    Monday!

    Happy Monday Nick!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow, what a challenging challenge!
    Love the part about the crustacean. LOL

    malformed
    macerate
    mammose

    ReplyDelete
  21. My M words are:

    Monstrous
    Machine
    Market
    Melons
    Morosely

    ReplyDelete
  22. That's quite a story so far!

    M words...melancholy--just love the sound it makes as it rolls off your tongue. Malmute--love the dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You have plenty of M words... great post btw!
    Dani @ Entertaining Interests
    #warriorminion

    ReplyDelete
  24. Amazing story - very original and vivid!

    Here are some suggestions for M:

    Marionette
    Mediocre
    Midget
    Momentum
    Mutation

    - Zainab @ Metamorphosis

    ReplyDelete
  25. Okay, count in Metamorphosis as well :D

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a fun idea, Nick!

    Hmmm...some of my favorite M words are:

    Musty
    M&M's
    Mine
    Mommy or Mom

    ReplyDelete
  27. Moody
    Make
    More
    Mega

    I really love your A to Z. SO fun! :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. What a great story you have going here!

    Metacarpal
    Mob
    Moccasin
    Manzanita

    ReplyDelete
  29. My M words would be:

    Malarkey
    Munching
    monumental
    monstrosity
    Makebelieve

    ReplyDelete
  30. Well, hello ... M is for MARGO :)

    Haha - love this - so much fun.

    Here are my words:
    Margo
    Merriment
    Mayhem
    Mysterious
    Marvelous
    Money
    Marmalade
    Manga
    Marmott
    Mischief
    Monoco

    ReplyDelete
  31. magnificent...that's my thought and my word for the day!



    ReplyDelete
  32. Mighty
    Magnificent
    Millennial
    Majesty

    "M" thought for the day.

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

    Mary Montague Sikes

    ReplyDelete
  33. So many good words already.

    Meek
    Mum
    Mollusk

    ReplyDelete
  34. Meat, melon, mustard, mutton, munch. It's almost lunch time, can't you tell?
    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  35. A lobster would be better! Here are my M words: manifestation, magnetometer, mariniere, metamorphosis, mite, and monocle.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I love the little mouse pic. <3 And I do hope the wife and lover were one and the same LOL.

    Milky
    Merriment
    Melancholy
    Maestro

    ReplyDelete
  37. that last line made me laugh. :D great story. Here are some M words

    Melody
    Malodorous
    Malificent
    Magnet
    Mentor

    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

    ReplyDelete
  38. I've been having a great time hopping on to catch up on these posts. I'll be sad to see them go at the end of April!

    maleficent
    marginal
    mysterious
    moniker

    ReplyDelete
  39. Free association time, but the mouse totally reminds me of Mouad Dib...for those Dune lovers of you out there:)

    ReplyDelete
  40. Megatrone
    Minion
    Mendacity
    Mordant
    Make-out
    Meager

    I tried.

    ReplyDelete
  41. mythical
    monstrous
    marginal
    map
    morbid

    ReplyDelete
  42. Wow, M already. Your story's coming along great!

    mommy
    mule
    mocassin
    mukluks
    mosey
    mover
    musketeer
    mambo

    ReplyDelete
  43. I'll just give you my word for the day: mellifluous

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thank you everyone!! I think this is the most multitudinous menagerie of words yet! :)

    ReplyDelete
  45. This sounds fun!

    Mystical
    Merriment
    Metamorphosis
    Matriculate
    Mastoid
    Metric
    Metronome
    Millstone
    Malleable

    I hope I have offered something new for your use tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I'm probably too late, but here goes:

    marriage
    merchant
    menage
    magnetic
    mead
    mince
    mucous
    mourne

    ReplyDelete
  47. Rock lobster. Yes, I totally am breaking out into song.

    Here's my words:

    Macadamia nut
    Microscopic
    Midnight
    Majority
    Mantra






    ReplyDelete
  48. Malevolent
    Mellifluous
    Multipurpose
    Malingering
    Mischievous
    Mournful
    Mixed-up

    ReplyDelete
  49. malapropism
    mal de mar
    malfeasance
    magma
    matins

    Wasn't there a fire in the York Minster?

    ReplyDelete
  50. maleficent, murky, mottled, mental, minty

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  51. My goodness! Thank you for this mesmerising mixture. New sentence up soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  52. It's amazing how creatively you pull this all together! Thanks for letting me be a part of it. Sorry I didn't see this sooner.

    Julie

    ReplyDelete