‘Fiction In A Flash Challenge’ Final Prompt for 2020. Week #29 Entry Part 1) by John Howell @HowellWave and Suzanne Burke @pursoot #IARTG #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #FlashFiction

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to Part 1)  of the entries for my weekly: “Fiction in A Flash Challenge” FINAL IMAGE FOR 2020 Week #29.

Today I’m featuring contributions from entry 1)By John Howell and Entry 2) My own contribution.

Last week I set the following Challenge:

Hello everyone and welcome to my new “Fiction in A Flash Challenge!” Each week I’ll be featuring an image and inviting you to write a Flash Fiction or Non-Fiction piece inspired by that image in any format and genre of your choosing.  Maximum word count: 750 words.

This one-line contribution by John Howell.

“If I hadn’t had three margaritas, Marge, I’d swear I see a rainbow in the desert.”

John Howell can be reached here …

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A few words about my own contribution.

Thanks so much for joining me here. This will be the final prompt for 2020. Thank you all for taking part in the journey. I have always been humbled in the presence of Rainbows. For me they speak of life’s journey. They speak of beginnings and endings. They gift us with hope to light the way into an uncertain future.

The nightmare year that has been 2020 is coming to its own end. I had so much I wanted to say yet I struggled with the way to find the words, and then a memory caught my attention. A sweet memory of a marvelous poem that says it all for me.

I share it with you here, along with the marvelous musical adaptation. There have been a few recordings over the years but this one is for me the most moving.

DESIDERATA

By

Max Ehrmann.

Desiderata

GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

By Max Ehrmann © 1927

https://youtu.be/Xjv2IG2ncCc

 

 

Thanks so much for joining me here today. I look forward to your comments. I will as always featuring each new contribution as I receive them.

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