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Monday, 20 April 2015

Q is for Quire


For this year's A-Z Challenge I have selected a word from the dictionary for each day and written a story around it with a 100 word limit. For extra interest I have chosen words that are unknown or unfamiliar to me. All definitions are from the Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus 2007 Edition. Today's word is: Quire.

 Quire: 1. 25 sheets of paper; one twentieth of a ream. 2. Four sheets of paper folded to form eight leaves, as in medieval manuscripts.

 Before we get onto the story, just wanted to ask how's everyone doing? Can't believe there are only ten days to go. At this point, I don't have any pre-written stories left. At five this morning, I had nothing for Q, and I was surprised that the dictionary section was quite small and I knew most of the words. I think this story shows that I need more sleep.

Also, this week we are putting our house on the market, and we have been carrying out renovations and doing viewings, so I'm sorry I haven't been round to as many blogs as usual. Hopefully this will get a bit better.

* * *

Friar Jacob had the most boring job, folding sheets to form a quire, then taking them to Friar Dominic who did the exciting bit of writing all those words and doing those fancy-schmancy pictures.

He folded with mathematical precision and looked across the garden at Dominic’s open window. He was sick of walking all the way around.

Maybe if he folded here… and just here…

He didn’t know why, or how, but he’d ended up with a pointy object with wings. He drew his arm back and sent it flying. It landed on Dominic’s desk.

That was much more fun.         
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38 comments:

  1. Hilary Melton-Butcher20 April 2015 at 06:55

    Hi Nick - good luck with the house sale .. and Quire is a good Q word .. I've always loved the thought of the careful folding before technology came in .. but now I shall forever think of Quires winging their way across rooms ... great twist ... cheers Hilary

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  2. Sara C. Snider20 April 2015 at 07:13

    Hehe, what a cute story! Friar Jacob sounds like my kind of guy. You also get bonus points for using "fancy schmancy." ;)

    Challenge-wise, I'm doing OK. Honestly, I wanted to be done with my posts before April (yeah right...). As it is, I'm currently on X and should finish my posts this week (phew!).

    It was good meeting you through the challenge! Best of luck to you with the remaining A to Z - ing, and with the house sale, too!

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  3. Rosie Amber20 April 2015 at 07:17

    A good Q word, dropping in from the A to Z and giving your blog a shout out from my letter Q today https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/

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  4. Scribbles From Jenn20 April 2015 at 07:43

    Good luck with your home sale. All is forgiven, selling a house is tough work! Love the Q word and the story.

    Scribbles From Jenn - Visiting from the A to Z Challenge

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  5. Laura Clipson20 April 2015 at 10:26

    I like this one, it's playful :)

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  6. JeffO20 April 2015 at 11:38

    Best of luck with the sale. It can be quite stressful living in that kind of situation. Hang in there!

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  7. Alex J. Cavanaugh20 April 2015 at 12:43

    The first paper airplane!
    Good luck getting the house ready for market.

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  8. Jennifer Hawes20 April 2015 at 13:02

    I think sometimes we do our best writing when we are stressed or under pressure. Good job! I wasn't prepared either for today's Q post.

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  9. Tamara Narayan20 April 2015 at 13:35

    It may have been quick, but it was still fun and funny. I've got blogs written for only two more days, so that's on my to-do list. I don't envy your list--moving and selling a house-good luck!

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  10. alberta ross20 April 2015 at 13:52

    great story and a great word I have always liked it - and the whole business of paper making - the first unmanned flight well well who would know:) all the best for rest of the challenge - I'll try and pop in again
    http://didyoueverkissafrog.typepad.com

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  11. Holly Jahangiri20 April 2015 at 13:59

    Oh, how delightful! I do hope Dominic had a sense of humor.

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  12. Tasha Duncan-Drake20 April 2015 at 14:12

    I'm guessing Friar Dominic is either going the throw it back and there will be an undignified throwing war, or he will look at Friar Jacob with a disapproving frown ;)
    Hope the house marketing etc goes well.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  13. Chrys Fey20 April 2015 at 14:27

    That was a fun and cute story.

    You don't have any stories left? I wish you luck with the remaining 9 days! And I'm curious now more than ever what you'll come up with. This Challenge actually came at an inconvenient time for me too. I moved just before it started and now I'm planned on an ebook release in two days. I hope we both get there this Challenge in one piece. ;)

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  14. betty20 April 2015 at 14:36

    I have to agree; making a paper airplane sounds a lot better than a quire :)

    Oh my gosh, lots on your plate! I hope the house sells quickly; such a "pain" do deal with viewings especially it seems here everyone always wanted to view when it was the dinner time hour.

    betty

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  15. T. Powell Coltrin20 April 2015 at 14:46

    I lose steam about now. Just read my Q post. I am hoping at the end of this A-Z that you will incorporate all of your words in a story. No? Really!

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  16. Unknown20 April 2015 at 15:21

    Hi - You have a fun theme going on there. BTW, I'm dropping in from a shout out to your blog on Rosie Amber's blog https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

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  17. Anonymous20 April 2015 at 15:53

    Ha! I like this one a lot. Paper airplanes do sound a lot more fun. =)

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  18. cleemckenzie20 April 2015 at 16:00

    So now I'm back to never having seen the word before. :-(

    Oh well, I enjoyed the bit of fiction you created to put it into a context.

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  19. David Powers King20 April 2015 at 16:56

    Doing well here, and good luck on your house. Hold it sells quick.

    I look forward to using this word the next time I add paper to the printer. :)

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  20. Bish Denham20 April 2015 at 17:12

    LOL. Clever Friar Jacob! I did not know the word quire before today, but now I do, and I'll remember it, too, because of your clever story.

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  21. Susan Gourley/Kelley20 April 2015 at 17:30

    Did he get in as much trouble as the rest of us when we threw paper airplanes when we're supposed to be working?

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  22. Keith's Ramblings20 April 2015 at 18:18

    The Quire is my favorite part of a cathedral. It's an intimate area where I can sit on the stalls alongside the choir. I like paper airplanes too - duck!

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  23. Sherry Ellis20 April 2015 at 18:50

    Quire is not a word you hear every day! Nice job using it in a sentence.

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  24. ~Sia McKye~20 April 2015 at 19:37

    Now there's a good use of paper when you're frustrated or bored. :-)

    Getting a house ready to sell is time consuming. Do you have another place picked out? Or are you waiting for this one to sell first?

    The latter part of the alphabet articles haven't yet been written here either--titles yes, general outline, pretty much, written, no.

    I thought you did pretty good with your little story, Nick.

    Sia McKye Over Coffee

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  25. Annalisa Crawford20 April 2015 at 19:47

    Drinking tea here, and just ended up coughing it all over myself! Brilliant story :-)

    I use the word Quire in Scrabble all the time, but I've never known what it means.

    I still have to write my T and V posts - I have used up all my ideas :-(

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

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  26. Jay Noel20 April 2015 at 19:57

    I only like to be about five days ahead during the A-Z Challenge. I know many write all 26 posts before the event, which - to me anyway - makes the whole thing lose its charm.

    Well, I had a huge convention this weekend, so I'm totally in trouble. I'm not blogging one day at a time! Yikes.

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  27. Nick Wilford20 April 2015 at 20:15

    Thanks, everyone! I've had a Monty Python vibe come on in the last couple of days. With some of the letters still to go, I get a feeling the rest of my stories are going to be ridiculous!

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  28. Sophie Duncan20 April 2015 at 20:30

    LOLOLOL! For a 5qm piece, that's very funny, maybe you need to write more with less sleep! ;P

    Good luck with the house sale - I've only moved five times and if I have my way I m never moving again!

    I was on holiday for the start of the A to Z, so I could get round everyone's blogs without a problem, but now I'm back at work I'm having to go round blogs in the evening after work, so I'm a lot later visiting, but it's still fun. :D
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
    FB3X
    Wittegen Press

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  29. Fee20 April 2015 at 22:32

    Loving your posts in the A-Z challenge so far. I suspect a lot of us are in the same boat now - my last pre-written post is for S! We all deserve a big pat on the back for getting this far, I think :)

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  30. J E Oneil20 April 2015 at 22:34

    Huh, interesting. That word is familiar to me, although I can't figure out why. Hilarious story, too.

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  31. djinnia21 April 2015 at 00:10

    You can do it!

    I'm still working on v and x. Today I finished u. But I'm happy to have w, y, and z done already. Woot!

    I thought the story was awesome. For a piece written at 5 am. Hope there was coffee with that. Or tea.

    I would srtrangle the Chihuahua alarm clock if there wasn't coffee handy. Not that I don't love the wretch.

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  32. Carol Kilgore21 April 2015 at 00:11

    I love your story!

    Trust that R-Z will come, and they will. Have fun with all of them :)

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  33. Jean Davis21 April 2015 at 01:44

    Great word use. It flows nicely in there. Having just done the whole house selling and moving and all that cleaning and everything else, I wish you luck and lots of coffee...and probably a few bottles of pain relievers.

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  34. Liz A.21 April 2015 at 02:43

    Quire sounds very similar to a word I made up for my fantasy story. Oh well, it's too late to change it now.

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  35. Anonymous21 April 2015 at 03:24

    Great Q word. Good luck with the real estate.

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  36. Shell Flower21 April 2015 at 03:38

    And the paper airplane is invented. Great word, too.

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  37. Debbie D. 21 April 2015 at 23:43

    Must be difficult, dealing with selling your home and juggling the A-Z Challenge at the the same time. Hope it all goes well!
    I ran out of pre-written posts some time ago and it's been a constant struggle, so in other words a REAL challenge. LOL
    "Quire" is another word I hadn't heard before. Thanks for the vocabulary lesson. The end is in sight. WHEW!

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  38. Mina Burrows22 April 2015 at 19:05

    Cute! I would be doing the same thing! Great word choice. :)

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