Tag Archives: writing challenge

In Other Words: Take It Out On the Tree

Posted on by under The Stories

This piece is written in response to Patricia’s IN OTHER WORDS CHALLENGE. You can check out the other posts in the challenge by clicking on the underlined link and following the little blue frog.

In Other Words

The quote of the week is…

“The Christmas tree is the dot on the “i”.”
Frank Taylor

Take It Out On the Tree

By JE Lillie

Things that send you over the deep end. Straws that break camels’ backs. Mole hills that become mountains. It’s the story of my life!

It is never life’s tragedies that break my spirit. I can handle the heart attacks, the sudden deaths and the out-of-nowhere divorces. Personal bankruptcy or the thought of national economic collapse don’t even make me bat an eye.

But let me burn the rolls for the turkey dinner or let the cat knock down the Christmas tree and break just one glass bulb, suddenly my world is coming to an end. I am ranting and screaming. I threaten the cat with a tennis racket future. I promise certain death to anyone at the table who might comment on the state of the dinner rolls.

Christmas is never ruined by the caskets or the court cases. It’s the slanted star and the broken bulbs that set me off. I spend more time grumbling at the Christmas tree than commiserating with the relatives who are screwing up their lives. Maybe that is the point! If I yell at the tree or threaten the cat, if I burn the rolls to a crisp they can’t yell back. The Christmas tree is a safe place to put my anger, my fury at how others are messing up the holiday. That means it’s not about the tree at all. The broken bulb is just a stand in for the brokenness around me, the brokenness I feel I cannot address because it’s Christmas after all. It’s supposed to be a season of peace on earth, good will to men.

I leave you with a thought this Christmas. If the people around you are just plain ruining the holiday for you, stay sweet. Smile when the family’s around and in your private times take it out on the tree!

My Biographers

Posted on by under The Stories

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Your Life, the Book.”

The Daily Post has asked, From a famous writer or celebrity, to a WordPress.com blogger or someone close to you — who would you like to be your biographer?

In spite of my writings here and the fact that I live a very public life as a Staff Pastor in a  New England church there are few people who know me intimately enough to do the job of writing my biography. While many see the outside there are few who have watched the interior workings of my life and even fewer I would entrust my journals too.

I think it would have to be my children.

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Maybe my sister

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Or my best friend Jody.

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Things You Should Tell a Ten- Year- Old

Posted on by under The Stories

Rochelle hosts a group of some 100 writers weekly to tell tales from a picture she posts. The stories have to float around that magic number 100. So they don’t take too long to read. If you will click on the picture below it will take you right to Rochelle’s site and you can read all 100 or so stories there.

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Photo by: Roger Bultot

Before you go here is my 100-word story.

Things You Should Tell a Ten -Year- Old

by JE Lillie

My mother was one of them helicopter moms.

I didn’t mind her cutting the crust off my sandwiches or ironing my underpants. I guess I didn’t even mind her brushing my teeth but she never even let me play outside. She said it was too dangerous.

Here’s a heads-up hover moms, boys need to play. She may have locked up her gun, but the bullets she kept in her top drawer.

How was I to know you shouldn’t bake gun powder? The explosion was epic!

In Other Words: The Heart-Hole

Posted on by under The Stories

In Other Words

Well here we are for another week of “In Other Words” the flash fiction writing challenge where Patricia gives us a quote and we have to write a story on it. You can find other contributions to the challenge at

http://patriciasplace.me/2015/03/25/celebrate-the-journey/

This week’s quote is…

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road
and celebrate the journey”
Barbara Hoffman

Ireland 517

I found him sitting in his living room with the curtains drawn. The floor was littered with empty bottles. He hadn’t changed his clothes in days.

“What are you doing to yourself son?” I held my hand to my nose trying to block out the stench of  stale sweat and booze which assailed my nostrils.

“She’s gone dad. She took the kids. What am I going to do?”

Tear stains streaked dirty lines down his cheeks etching age and weariness in every corner.

“You are going to open the curtains and start living.” I said sternly.

I threw back the thick velvet drapes she had chosen and thought to myself they would be the first things to go. The sunlight glinted off the photos of my grandchildren. He squinted in the brightness. I felt a lump of pity rise in my throat.

“Go shower.” I ordered.

Once I heard the water running I cleaned up the empties and tossed the wrappers of too many nights of take out into the trash.

My son had fallen down a  hole in his heart. It was deep but then I had climbed out of similar pits. We could do this together.

I went to the radio and turned up the music.

Britain Abroad

Posted on by under The Stories

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Study Abroad.”

Today the post has asked us this question, “If you were asked to spend a year living in a different location, where would you choose and why?”

I would like to spend a year travelling and studying in England, Wales and Scotland. I have been to both Ireland and the Netherlands. Great Britain stands deeply connected to both of those places.

I did spend a week preaching in the region around Liverpool in the ’90’s but I would like to go back and spend some time studying the Welsh revivals which in many ways gave rise to my own fellowship of Pentecostalism in America. I would like to visit the places where the Methodist and Presbyterian revivals had hold.

I’d love to spend some time at Oxford and return to the church in Liverpool where I preached before the turn of the Millenium. To have a whole year to study the faith of this ancient land would be really neat indeed!

In Other Words…A Total Misunderstanding!

Posted on by under The Stories

In Other WordsIt’s time once again for Patrcia’s weekly flash fiction challenge. You can read the rules and follow along by clicking the link below.

http://patriciasplace.me/2015/03/04/the-problem-is/

This week the quote we are working from is

“Lots of people talk to animals. Not many listen, though. That’s the problem.”
Benjamin Hoff

A Total Misunderstanding

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by JE Lillie

“Tell me Verle, How is it we always end up holding the bag?”

“We are beasts of burden Malcolm. Surely you don’t expect your human to carry it.”

“He could help a little.”

“What are you two talking about Strider?”

“My name is Verle and we were talking about this heavy bag you just put on me.”

“Oh you want a carrot, do you?”

“Malcolm did I say anything about carrots?”

“No Verle you didn’t. Oh, he’s offering me one too! Yum I love carrots.”

” Malcolm don’t eat that. It’ll only encourage him!”

” There you go Strider. Now for the next bag.”

“Do you see what you’ve done Malcolm? Now I have to carry two bags!”

“Beast of burden, Verle. What do you not get about that?”

“That’s it I’ve had it. I’m breaking free of this life! Out of my way human!”

“Strider stop!” Down boy! Down!”

“Ouch!”

“You should have known better, Verle. They always use the whips when we get uppity.”

“Sergeant what’s the matter with that horse?”

“I’m sorry Captain, something spooked him. There might be enemy in the bush. We’d better send out a patrol. This horse is really smart.”

“Oh Malcolm my human is so stupid!”

Friday Fictioneers:Escape

Posted on by under The Stories

PHOTO PROMPT -Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Rochelle has given us this prompt to create from this week. You can see how others created stories from this photo at

https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/13-february-2015/

Escape

By JE Lillie

The heat of Florida was unbearable. I was a week in hospital recovering from heat stroke. The tornado in Texas blew my home to pieces. My place in California was gorgeous. That is it was gorgeous until it tumbled down the canyon in a mudslide. In Wyoming I was trapped in my house for two days running by Grizzlies.

I really thought that I had hit the jackpot when I bought the Colonial in Massachusetts. This winter we have had  seven feet of snow in four weeks. Snow seemed so harmless compared to those other things. I died of frostbite after I slipped in my drive. At least I don’t have to  move to Europe.

It’s All Work. It’s All Play

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “First Light.”

The Daily Post asked…Remember when you wrote down the first thought you had this morning? Great. Now write a post about it.

There is this struggle I have had for years as a minister. All the areas of my life overlap. The boundaries between work and play, professional and personal are muddied by the rivers of life. It is so hard to see where one thing ends and another begins. I suppose it doesn’t help that I like my job most of the time. I suppose it also doesn’t help that I define being a pastor as a calling (something I am) rather than as a job (something I do). Finally I guess it really doesn’t help that almost all my relationships are marked or affected in some way by the church.

Here are some examples of my conundrum

1. C.cada- Work or play? I enjoy creating. I enjoy being with creative people. C.cada is a work of the church I oversee.

2. Going to dinner with friends from the church- I am J but I am also Pastor at those dinners. They are fun. I enjoy them immensely. I am still Pastor. I am still on. I know that’s more me than them. Still I don’t seem to be able to shut this pastor thing off…ever.

3. Family Skate Day- I don’t go for the skating. I go for the food (which I really love by the way). I go because I am on staff at the church.

I write a lot about this in my journals and I wonder am I ever just a pastor or am I ever just J? It’s all work. It’s all play. And maybe just maybe that’s OK.

The Daily Post: Sweet Little Lies

Posted on by under The Stories

Today the Daily Post has asked us…

As kids, we’re told, time and again, that lying is wrong. Do you believe that’s always true? In your book, are there any exceptions?

Check out how others have responded to this question at

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/sweet-little-lies/

Santa’s Dead And Other Things Not To Tell A Six Year Old.

Well I guess you can tell where this one’s going. I always wanted Christmas to be about the Christ child for my children and one of the things that has always gone up my left nostril is the commercialism that comes with the season. The American version of Santa Claus as the guy who plasters the Christmas tree with expensive electronics, jewelry and the newest version of everything just kind of irks me. Don’t get me wrong I take pleasure in giving gifts as much as the next guy but when I have to worry about paying the credit card bills or rent something’s rotten in the good ole US OF A.

Now we didn’t want to destroy the “magic” of Christmas for our children, just maybe dent it a little. We found this book called ‘The True Story of Santa Claus” And during the holiday season we began to read this story to our children and answer their questions about Santa. It was at this time that I learned about sharing only as much of the truth as a person can handle. I am not an advocate of lying in any way, shape or form but before a person is delivered the truth they have to be prepared to be responsible with truth. We told our kids the truth and I still think that was right. Where we fell off the wisdom wagon  was in not instructing them what to do with the truth.

So, picture this. We are on our way Christmas shopping at the mall. My six-year-old, very truthful daughter is sitting in the back with her five-year-old very sensitive cousin. And the conversation goes something like this.

Tyler: Oh I can’t wait to get to the store so we can see all the toys. I’m going to look and see and then I am going to write my letter to Santa and he is going to bring me…

Melanie: Tyler your parents buy your Christmas gifts. Santa’s dead.

End of story. If you want a peaceful Christmas season with your extended family let the lie about Santa live long enough for your children to learn to keep the secret…Santa is dead!