Last day of 2024 (unless you're Down Under, in which case, Happy 2025!!). Comp is at 10 entries and I am actually keeping up with them, though I do need to read the latest from TheShyThespian.

Brewing up some Fire-Roasted Saint Drogo for our final pot of coffee for this year. Teas are Naughty & Spice and Darjeeling. There's hot water so you can select from our other fine teas or whip up a mug of hot chocolate (mini marshmallows available). Sodas are stocked if you need something cold (see reference to folks from Down Under above).

Happy New Year, Inspirators!! Here's to a 2025 full of great stories to tell!!

10! We're at 10!! And it's TheShyThespian so I know it will be good when I get to it later this evening.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/flash-fiction/alone-8

It has been years since American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles first covered Elton John's hit "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" to great acclaim. IIRC, John himself is a fan. Here she revisits it for a concert at Kennedy Center that is being broadcast on PBS for New Year's Eve.

The program is apparently a career retrospective so I'm hoping she dusts off the orchestral version of her song "Brave" that she did in the same venue a few years back. That song is powerful to start with but with the National Symphony as her backup band? Wow.

Quote by Molly
I took a few days away to sort some things and I'm very excited to see so many stories in the queue!

Ape excited, too!!!!

By the way, I love the comp image. Very evocative. Not sure who does the work for those nowadays but if it isn't you, pass on my thanks and appreciation.

Quote by verbal
Ms. Depp is good (and kinda hot).

I had a bit of a thing for her mother, French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, back in the day. Some of her music videos got airplay in Canada. Lily-Rose does seem to take after Mom in that regard.

Quote by gillianleeza
I hope the movie lives up to the hype.

I am hearing good things about Lily-Rose Depp in it (not surprising given her parentage) but not much more, though I am trying to minimize spoilers. Then again, as an almost lifelong Dracula fan who has seen the two previous versions multiple times, is there much to spoil?

Good morning! My work computer hates me. Office wants to activate but won't. Probably should have just booked off this week but I am on vacation in two weeks anyhow so figured it was kind of redundant.

Coffee du jour is Deathwish Dark Roast. Teas are Assam and Yorkshire Gold. Hot water is ready for other fine teas or hot chocolate. Sodas are stocked if you need something cold.

How's things with you on the penultimate day of 2024?

Woo hoo, eight up and I hear rumours of a ninth in the queue. This is moving along rather well.

Quote by verbal

I'm in.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/flash-fiction/sixteen-minutes

Except it isn't showing as being a comp entry. Did you remember to hit the switch? Weird that Sherzahd didn't notice when approving.

Quote by JamesPBear
He figured out in university that if you cook, you don't have to clean up

My son learned to cook in university but not sure if that is why. He is now the cook in their household. I haven't had his cooking in a while but when he moved back home for a while during the pandemic, he whipped up some nice stuff.

SEVEN!!!!! SEVEN WONDERFUL STORIES ABOUT SILENCE!!!!!

(is it even appropriate to shout about this comp?)

How about a song called just "Silence"? Electronic music act Delerium put this one out 25 years ago. The track features Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan on vocals (the band is also Canadian). There's a ton of remixes out there by various DJs but this is the original track.

Quote by verbal
but for some reason I don’t like to submit on weekends

I know that our dear friend Rump used to advocate against posting on a weekend just due to traffic patterns but I never really did any research to see if it actually worked. Here is probably less of an issue in any case. He had another site in mind.

Skipping ahead 60 years, this song is a new song from a new band. Sort of new. Cemetary Skyline is a supergroup whose members are veterans of the death and black metal scenes across the Nordic countries. This group, though, is neither of those genres. The title of their (amazing) debut album probably sums it up best: Nordic Gothic.

Lead singer is Swede Mikael Stanne, lead singer of Swedish melodic death metal act Dark Tranquility. I think this is the first album I have heard where he never growls or screams, just sings in his remarkably smooth baritone clean voice. "When Silence Speaks" was one of the singles and this haunting ballad is one of my favourite songs of this year. Not sure why it didn't come to mind when I was writing my comp entry. I might have ended up with a rather different story if it had.

So since our current comp is themed around silence and borrows its title from a famous song on the subject, thought I would share some songs on the theme of silence. Others are welcome to contribute.

First up, the song that that gave the comp its title. "The Sound of Silence" was released by American folk legends Simon and Garfunkel as an acoustic folk ballad in 1964, with a version that added electric overdubs in 1965. Paul Simon wrote the piece, one of many brilliant compositions from his pen. It had a bit of a revival in the past decade following a cover by American metal band Disturbed, who put a darker edge on the song. David Draiman's magnificent baritone was perfect. And with that revival came a wave of new covers.

My favourite, after the Disturbed cover and original, is this one by English choral octet Voces8. It is kind of its own thing, leveraging the vocal style of the group, whose repertoire includes everything from Renaissance hymns to contemporary folk and pop.

Sadly, this group has a lot of turnover and several of the vocalists in this video, including the bass-baritone who leads it off, have moved on to other projects and lives.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooood Morning!!

Bit moist around here after getting a white Christmas. Shower, warmer temps, etc.

New comp entry up from some writer I am only vaguely familiar with. WriterGirl or something like that? 😉😋 And it's wonderful. Best Christmas story I've seen this year.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/realistic-fiction/the-most-wonderful-gift-of-all

I'll put on a pot of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe for you to enjoy as you peruse the comp entries. If you're into tea, as I am, there's Darjeeling and Lemon Black. Hot water is on for your other hot beverage needs while there's sodas in the fridge if you're from warmer parts of the world.

Later, alligators...

Quote by gillianleeza
I didn't want to worry about a dog being cooped up all day in our house.

So my family got our beagle (likely mentioned upthread already) when I was still in high school. Mom went back to work around that time, working half days at our family church as the church secretary. And my brothers and I were, of course, in school, high school and then university in my case. The dog hated being alone so generally totally freaked out on whoever was the first one home.

Quote by gillianleeza
I want to see Nosferatu, but my husband does not share my love of all things horror.

Yeah, my spouse isn't into horror and fantasy like I am either. I think she only reads my fiction to be polite. 😕🤣I love both the 1922 and 1979 versions so I will endeavour to see it, but it might have to wait for streaming.

("Love" as in the 1922 is my favourite vampire movie of all time)

Quote by gillianleeza
My brother, nieces, and I took my father out for Christmas lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant.

Wow on that lineup. I don't think we have ever eaten out on Christmas Day save for when on vacation during the holidays. We did Thai takeout for Christmas Eve this year. The Thai place near our house uses halal meat so it's a place we and our Muslim son and d-i-l can agree on.

Two holidays down, one to go. Today, however, is a working day.

Coffee is Costa Rican dark roast. In the teapots, we have Irish Breakfast and Peach White. Hot water is ready. Sodas stocked.

Trying to sort a long-gestating story. The basic outline is pretty fixed now but I am finding myself unhappy with various elements and trying out changes. It is going to be a long one for the long haul.

Jamaican Blue Mountain is on tap for the coffee set.

For teas we've got Yorkshire Gold and Raspberry Royale

Hot water is on standby if you want some other hot beverages. Sodas are stocked for those needing something chilly.

And I whipped up some of my famous pancakes for the day after Christmas. Might help get your blood sugar up as you head out to the sales.

Quote by Molly

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Verbal attacked Santa! 😲

🤣

Happy Christmas, folks!! We've got a white one here in Ontario but whatever the weather, hope you have a good one.

Just in case people have time to drop by, I put on some Fire Roasted Saint Drogo Coffee along with some Naughty & Spice tea. There's a plate of fruit cake and one of Christmas shortbreads if you're looking for a fix of something sweet.

Later, alligators.

Sad to hear about your niece, Anna. That's way too young. Condolences to you and the family.

And there, I am all caught up on the comp. More please. 😋

Quote by verbal
Sam Jackson is in it, so it can’t be too bad, right?

Actually, Sam kind of reminds of the late Sir Sean Connery. He does a lot of mediocre to terrible movies that he single-handedly salvages with his sheer presence. So he doesn't guarantee a "good" movie, but at least an entertaining one.😊

Six stories in the first week. That's good for this place. And a new (to here) writer in tinhatcat. Here's hoping we keep up the pace.

Coffee is on. Went with Tobermory Flowerpot Island. For teas, I have English Breakfast and Yorkshire Red. Hot water is available for other hot beverages like our stock of hot chocolate and mini-marshmallows. Sodas are in the fridge for those where cold drinks still matter.

It's the Eve of Christmas. I hope everyone has a great holiday.

Six stories in a week!! Keep 'em coming!!

Quote by verbal
Arguing against this plan is my recollection that the other four movies are pretty bad.

Second isn't bad, but goes too far over the top. McClane is a pretty relatable, down-to-earth hero in the original. He gets beat up pretty bad and you could almost imagine him losing. There's real danger. But the second kind of makes him into a more standard, heavily plot-armoured action hero and he kind of lost his unique charm. I stopped after that one.

Quote by WriterGirl

The life cycle of my stories of late: I love my idea. Write my story. Read my story. Now think it’s crap. Finger hovers over delete key…

That's kind of been my story (heh heh) this year. It's why I only have four new stories this year and three are comp entries. A comp deadline forces me to rein that in. But my other projects? I just keep rethinking and redoing them. It's the literary equivalent of spinning my tires, I guess.

And the ape is in. Here's my take on the sound of silence. It involves screaming and heavy music. Go figure.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/flash-fiction/scream-away-the-silence

My story is in the queue. Brace yourselves. That surprised me. It went remarkably easily for me. Ending needed a couple passes but otherwise, I was just massaging bits into shape. And the Flash limit wasn't a problem. I danced around it but rarely went over by much.