Thursday 30 April 2015

Z is for Zooid


We made it! Time to catch some Z's.

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: Zooid.

Zooid: An individual member of a colony of invertebrate animals.

Zachariah watched helplessly as every day members of his colony were eaten. As sea worms, they spent their time bedded into the sand, their upper bodies swaying in the currents. But it made them prime targets.

One day, he felt different. Stronger. One of his best buddies, Hubert, was being viciously attacked by a crab. He swung around in a wide arc and clobbered the critter between the eyestalks. It actually had an impact, and the crab scuttled away, stunned.

“Wow!” said Hubert. “Thanks. How did you do that?”

Zachariah flexed his muscular body. “I think I grew a spine!”

51 comments:

Sally said...

All your stories have been great this month. well done for doing the A-Z this year. I learnt a lot of new words, whether I remember them and use them is another thing altogether. Loved all your flash fictions using the words you chose for the letter of the day.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nick - love this Zooid story .. it's very clever - and all your postings have been to read ... great idea for the A-Z ... cheers Hilary

Tasha Duncan-Drake said...

LOL - I love it :) How very evolutionary of you. Thank you for a great AtoZ, all the wonderful stories and all the wacky words :D
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

JeffO said...

Ha, great fun, Nick. Congratulations on reaching the end!

Jennifer Hawes said...

Terrific:) Great job on the letter Z!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Grew a spine - hilarious!

Dee said...

Haha I liked that last line. Nice one!

Congrats on crossing the A to Z finish line! I think I'll go back and read all your stories since I missed a lot of them. The ones I have read are really good.

A Deecoded Life

Jean Davis said...

ROFL. For some reason a sea worm named Zachariah already had me laughing at the start. The ending was even better.

Thanks for all your word support this month!

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Aww, funny way to end your A-Z!

Chrys Fey said...

Tee-hee. I love that last line. It made the whole story.

Congratulations on making it to Z! :)

Tyrean Martinson said...

Love this tongue in cheek ending! Thanks so much for sharing your talent, Nick! Love your stories!

Michael Abayomi said...

LOL. Okay, that was just... hilarious. Congrats on making it to the end of the Challenge, Nick. :D

jaybird said...

Nick you did a wonderful job with this A-Z! Congrats on finishing this challenge. Thanks for checking in with me and following me on my A-Z tour.

TBM said...

So glad Hubert survived. And loved: grew a spine. Excellent job!

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Ha-ha, loved the end. Good for Zachariah!

Tamara Narayan said...

HA! Great one to conclude the challenge. "I think I grew a spine!" That's rich.

Bish Denham said...

Too funny! Though I didn't stop by every day, I enjoyed each of your stories.

Sarah Foster said...

Haha, that was a great ending! Congrats on finishing the Challenge!

cleemckenzie said...

Ha! Great way to wind up the A to Z! A good laugh. Congrats on making it through the Challenge. It's been fun visiting your words of the day.

David P. King said...

That was clever, and a new word for me. Maybe that should be the name of my next alien race?

Congrats on surviving the challenge! :)

David P. King said...

That was clever, and a new word for me. Maybe that should be the name of my next alien race?

Congrats on surviving the challenge! :)

diedre Knight said...

Delightful! Inspiring for Zooids everywhere ;-) It has been a real treat reading your posts each day, thanks!

Kathryn Thornton said...

Love your sense of humor! Great story. One of my favorites.
Congratulations on completing the challenge and thanks for expanding my vocabulary and sharing your gift for story telling.

A Tarkabarka Hölgy said...

Hahahaha XD A worthy pun to end the challenge on a high note! :) I enjoyed your snippets, you had a great theme going this year. Congrats on crossing the finish line!

@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

Julie Flanders said...

LOL great to end the challenge with a laugh. Very cute!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

LOL. Your stories have been so enjoyable. Great entertainment.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I love the last line. It's perfect.
Congratulations on finishing the challenge.

~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

Misha Gerrick said...

Hahaha cute.

Congrats on the win!

Nick Wilford said...

Thanks everyone! I'll be round to congratulate you all. I did want to end on a lighthearted note.

Annalisa Crawford said...

Fantastic ending. A funny word though - seems a bit redundant.

Congrats on surviving April :-)

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

Keith's Ramblings said...

Nick, a lovely ending to an informative and entertaining month of words!It's been great fun and I look forward to reading more of your words of wisdom in the future. And if you ever come back to your hometown I'll have a beer on a bar in Brighton just for you!
Keith's Ramblings

Anonymous said...

I missed all the stories until today. I will be sure to go through and read the others in the coming days.

J E Oneil said...

Ha! This was great. I guess he's not a zooid anymore :).

djinnia said...

OmgI died laughing! This is epic!

Congrats on finishing!

Shell Flower said...

Hahaha, great ending. You've really rocked the challenge this year. I hope you got some ideas for future writing from this, too. Happy Z!

Liz A. said...

That's a great Z word.

betty said...

What a cute way to end the challenge; so glad he grew a spine and could help out his friend :)

Congrats on making it to the end!! A job well done!! You had a great theme and you presented it really well!!

betty

Scribbles From Jenn said...

Hahaha! That actually made me laugh out loud! What an excellent end to a great month. Congratulations!

Scribbles From Jenn - Visiting from the A to Z Challenge

LovetakesTyne said...

Haha! Nick, you certainly got this theme rocking and going until the end! Kudos to you! I love that you introduce some new words every time, not to forget the catchy stories that you write about them.

More powers!

Kristine | lovetakestyne.com | A to Z Challenge

Anonymous said...

That's one powerful worm. Congrats on finishing the challenge.

Blogoratti said...

That was an interesting read!

Sara C. Snider said...

Haha! Good one! I really enjoyed your stories, Nick. Thanks and congratulations on finishing the challenge! :)

Melissa Sugar said...

Nick, you have a wonderful and creative imagination. You've written amazing stories with such unusual words. Every time I had the opportunity to visit your blog during the challenge, it was a treat.

Michelle Wallace said...

Congrats on reaching the A to Z finishing line, Nick!
I’m just sorry that I didn’t get to read all your posts.
This was my 5th challenge, but this time round I didn’t get to visit as many blogs as I’d have liked to…
See you next year for another month of “alphabet madness”!

Deniz Bevan said...

*giggle* Love the image of the sea worm flexing!

Mina Burrows said...

Cute and clever! Loved it. :)

Jay Noel said...

Very clever!

Congrats on finishing A-Z this year!

Carrie-Anne said...

Great story! I love how the mood shifted from hopelessness to hope.

J Lenni Dorner said...

J here, stopping by from the #atozchallenge. Thank you for visiting by my blog recently.
LOL! Grew a spine. OMG that was great. It was like the happiest evolution story ever. Love it!
-J @JLenniDorner

Anonymous said...

LOL! I think this one is my favourite. Thanks for a great series, and congrats on finishing A to Z!

Anonymous said...

What a nice story, and a great idea for a theme!