Round 1: atmospheric / illicit thrill

Flying so high with your head in the clouds
Departing a perfectly good conveyance
Is not a natural act

So make it au naturel
Helmet, goggles, chute and boots
Privates to the wind

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round1

Round 2: a twist of shadows / a stab of light

Walking in the shadows in the dead of night, the moon the only illumination. Spooky is not something she does well.

Suddenly, a flash of light stabs at her from the shed in the back.

“Molly, you should be sleeping,” said Mabel the cow.

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round2

Round 3: did you feel that?

“Aaaaaaah!” My wife woke from a sound sleep, eyes like saucers.

“Honey, relax – it’s probably just an earthquake. Or fracking.”

“That was no earthquake,” she screamed. “There’s a boot stuck in the ceiling!!”

I sighed. “Mice…”

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round3

Round 4: the loudest sound is that of a breaking heart

The argument lasted well into the night, waking the neighbors. When it was done, there was silence…

Until the sound of the third they had made shattered into a million pieces. A perfect pair no more.

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#SlamWords #40Ed #Round4

Round 5: dripping red / tapping stone

The waterfall slowly began to change. First orange, then a blood red. No one knew why.

A little boy heard a tapping, which was masked to everyone else by the rushing water. A hermit was tapping on a stone gargoyle…producing more blood with each tap.

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round5

Round 6: echoed footsteps / uneasy silence

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hall. The assembled fell into an uneasy silence as the steps cam e closer.

“I’m sorry, all – I could only find tap shoes to wear tonight,” the Father said.

The echo was replaced by a collective exhale.

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round6

Round 7: cold breath / sudden gasp

The couple walked hand in hand, their breath visible in the cold evening air. Their bliss was shattered by a hand grasping the woman’s shoulder. She gasped in terror.

Her father stood behind her. He had been dead thirty years. He regretted her fainting.

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round7

Round 8: the feel of the blade / scattered thoughts

Mike Tyson once famously said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

I bet your thoughts will scatter once I plunge this blade into your side…

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round8

Round 9: fading awareness / one last question

What will you think as your life fades away? What if the last thing that you hear…

Is a song?

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#SlamWords #40Ed #Round9

Round 10: never again / a bloody vow

He looked in amazement as his own blood pooled in his palm. It traced a rivulet from the needle in his forearm. He was sure that this dose would do it.

He realized that he couldn’t stop. It was the last hit he took. Never again.

#SlamWords #40Ed #Round10

Encore Round 1: flashpoint / the beginning of the end

The world had been moving right along – business as usual. No one anticipated what came next.

Except the science fiction writers.

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Encore Round 2: unnerving silence / slow scrape of time

They sit in matching chairs, surfing the web on their tablets. Not a word is spoken for hours.

They both despair at the malaise of their union, but neither makes the first move to repair it.

The clock ticks away on the twilight of their lives.

#SlamWords #40Ed #EncoreRd2

Encore Round 3: eviscerated / exsanguinated

The hiking group came upon the body of a fawn that had been eviscerated by vultures. Most of them were repulsed, but Kevin was fascinated. He could not stop staring at something so beautiful.

The others departed quickly.

Soon it was Kevin’s turn.

#SlamWords #40Ed #EncoreRd3

Encore Round 4: denial / etched in acid

“It’s an old suit of armor,” he explained. “Look at the acid etching on the arms.”

Paul looked closer. “It says that the house of Marshal is evil.”

“That’s an old myth,” said Thomas Marshal, in a voice well-practiced in denial.

#SlamWords #40Ed #EncoreRd4

Encore Round 5: ambushed / no clue as to why

Your words slice at me
Like a jungle ambush
My feelings aflame
A bright burning bush

You gave me no warning
No clue as to why
Left here all alone
With reason to cry

The rebound
Is nigh

#SlamWords #40Ed #EncoreRd5

Encore Round 6: sharp turn / dead end

The hooligans are out tonight, looking for trouble. I make a sharp right turn into an alley I know. They follow, tires screeching.

It’s a dead end. I tuck into an opening and watch them fly by, awaiting the inevitable.

I smile, but know I shouldn’t.

#SlamWords #40Ed #EncoreRd6

Encore Round 7: warning signs / too little too late

Did not see the warning signs
Flashing in your head
My appetites are manifest
I knew you’d end up dead

The protests you have made to me
Too little, and too late
Your essence drips and fades away
Not bad for our first date

#SlamWords #40Ed #EncoreRd7

Encore Round 8: a killing wound / dying light

The killer strikes in the dying of the light, better to not be known to his victim. He leaves not a single clue, except for his killing wound – a plunging strike to the heart.

The detective thinks, “Man, if we could just get this guy laid…”

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Encore Round 9: splatters and drips / death is never easy

The walls are covered with the evidence of foul play. Splatters and drips of blood, sprayed on in a fit of anger. It looked like a hell of a fight.

To the last…

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Encore Round 10: smoking gun / paper trail

The staff worked through the weekend shredding documents. The boss was determined that there would be no paper trail.

His focus on paper was pointless since there was literally a smoking gun on his desk.

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