Month: April 2014

Spirit Hunt

/ Steve Lakey / 8 Comments

halloween-1381145370gDe

Photo: Halloween by George Hodan

 

Welcome to “Spirit Hunt – When the Night Demons Visit”. We review last night’s Investigation at the Amphitheatre.

Cameras focused on clairvoyant Dan T. Inferno, who felt the building had seen ‘Wild Times’.

The team reacted nervously, as they heard a guttural growl, which Dan believed to be the spirit of a terrible Demon. The producer later admitted that his stomach was ‘off’ and may have been the source of the rogue noise.

At 3.02am, all the team’s electrical equipment simultaneously ‘died’. Paranormal activity or overloaded power grid?

A candle lit vigil continues, with the crew repeatedly chanting, “Toga! Toga!”, after consuming several bottles of chianti.

 

100 Word Challenge

This is my contribution to 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups, Week #131. This weeks prompt is …when the night demons visit… For more details, visit Julia’s Place. 

Stuck in a Rut?

/ Steve Lakey / 10 Comments
Plough

Copyright: Al Forbes 2014

 

People say that I should have moved that pile of mechanical wreckage away from the ‘For Sale’ sign. That it ‘sends out the wrong message’.

To be honest, there was a time when I didn’t know if I’d rather sell the farm, or have the bank take it off me. I’d had it with farming, despite that being all I’d ever known.

That pile of rust was my father’s pride and joy. The first plough he was able to buy from new. When the time came, he handed it down to me. But then our contracts kept reducing in value, year on year. We’d have been better off taking European subsidies to not grow certain crops. You couldn’t make it up!

But now I’ve found a better way. I’ve got myself an even bigger government grant to start a Living Farm Museum. Some of it will show how some farms have gone to the wall. Other parts will form a working enterprise, selling straight to the public. No expensive middlemen taking their cut.

I’m sure Dad would have been proud.

 

This is my contribution to Sunday Photo Fiction, 27 April 2014, hosted by Al Forbes. If you’d like to know more, click the logo.

spf

 

If you’d like to read the other stories, click the blue frog!

Someone… Under the Radar

/ Steve Lakey / 21 Comments

Acoustic club

Photo: Copyright Björn Brudberg

 

You’ll probably recognise the legendary axeman, sitting on my right. We have an intimate atmosphere here at the Under the Radar Club. The sort of place where legends can take a break from those sterile arena tours, and play up close and personal to a few lucky punters.

I’m honoured to have sat close to the biggest names in Rock. Well, almost.

To be honest, we’ve all seen the cream of the crop, on TV at least. But their tickets cost a fortune! So here, we’re nurturing the lookalike Tribute acts. Giving them their first break.

Tonight, it’s David Filmore!

This is my contribution to Friday Fictioneers, 100 Word Photo Challenge, hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. 

To view the other stories, please click the logo.

friday-fictioneers

Life Lessons from an All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant

/ Steve Lakey / 2 Comments

indian-food Photo: Indian Food by Jm Verastigue

 

Last night, together with my wife and a couple of friends, I had a meal in an All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant. In the UK, it’s not that common to have an all-you-can-eat-buffet, outside of breakfast or lunch-time specials.

It was a huge Pan-Asian restaurant, and there were sections for Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese and many more types of food. Even British-style fish and chips (maybe that’s what the ‘Pan’ part meant!)

The selection seemed almost infinite. And when one food tray was starting to run low, it was soon replaced with a full one. A small army of staff kept everything running smoothly. As soon as you had emptied your plate, it was whisked away, and you were free to help yourself to another, and fill it with whatever you wished.

Not being used to the idea, it was very tempting to overdo it. And I did. Each time I went back for another helping, I thought, I’ve got to get my money’s worth!

By the end of our two hour table reservation, I was completely stuffed, to the point of being uncomfortable. But why?

Apart from the obvious answer being ‘Greed’, a part of me must still be focusing on a ‘lack’ mentality. That I’ve got to ‘get it while I can’, and if I don’t it will be taken away from me. Instead of stopping when I was comfortably full, I had to take more than my fair share.

And yet, like Universal Supply, I knew my own supply of food wasn’t going to run out. There was clearly more than enough to go around. And me taking whatever I wanted wouldn’t result in someone else going without.

Maybe I should go there more often, until finally I ‘get it’! Or maybe I should make more of an effort to ‘get it’ in practice, rather than just in theory.

Sometimes, ‘self-help’ and ‘helping yourself’ can mean the same thing.

More of My Twitter Fiction

/ Steve Lakey / Leave a comment

 

Mac Mouse

© 2014 Steve Lakey

 

  • All the feedback from our house viewings is consistent. Nobody sees “Here be Dragons” as a positive feature. Too much a fire risk!
  • Ignoring the rising tide of Global Warmers, he kept his head deep in the sand.
  • Is reincarnation the ultimate makeover? Or is it a Make-over by the Ultimate?
  • He wore purple laces at the club, and was always first on the dance floor. But he just couldn’t find the nerve to ask her out.
  • Jim sifted through the divorce papers in the hope of finding a mistake. After a fruitless search, he sadly put pen to paper.
  • All Jim’s siblings dutifully came to his viewing. Which was more than they had done while he was still alive.
  • Fleeing persecution, she sits behind cold steel bars. Awaiting her fate, trapped between two countries.
  • The great day had arrived! The Boss who had made their working lives a misery was finally about to retire. What? Leaving? Do!
  • The lads are up for back-to-basics camping. No beds? Cool. No water/electric? That’s OK. No phone charger? Dad, come and get us!
  • Chess champion Ivan thought he had the supercomputer on the run. But when the program attacked, the Grandmaster became its pupil.
  • “If you want to hand out sunbeams, you got to deal with the occasional hailstones” – Weather Presenters’ Handbook
  • Companies of tragic heroes, under Flanders fields. Hidden from our sight, a Century ago.
  • Today was a sad reminder: the number of International Happiness Days left in his life was slowly, but surely, running out.
  • Jim thought that going busking every day would drastically improve his finances. But it only made a small change.
  • He loved it when the girls said “Ciao!” He could pretend, just for a moment, that they were saying “Hello!” and not “Goodbye!”