8 sentences – Facts, Fictions & Fantasies

Writer’s Workshop — Our Last Move

April 8, 2026April 8, 2026Fandango12 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that prompt (or those prompts). I am responding to three of the prompts this week:

Write a post inspired by the word lifetime.
Write a post in exactly eight (8) sentences.
Tell us about your last major purchase.

My last major purchase — and it was a biggie — is one that I will hope will last a lifetime, or at least what is left of my lifetime.

My wife and I bought a new home that is only five minutes from where our son, his wife, and our two young grandchildren live, which has its advantages now that my wife and we have reached the “geriatric” — oh how I hate that word — stages of our lives.

If we need help with something, our handy son can pop over almost instantly to give us a hand, and we can visit longer and more often with our young grandkids, although they do tend to exhaust us old timers with their unbounded energy.

We actually moved in to the new place at the very end of February and we are pretty much done with most of the move-related activity.

All of the boxes are unpacked, everything has been put away where it belongs, all the pictures are hung on the walls, and the place is really starting to feel like home now.

Of course we do miss our previous home, especially our oasis of a backyard and, in particular, our waterfall.

So yesterday we met with “The Waterfall Guy” — the contractor who specializes in building residential and commercial waterfalls and who constructed the waterfall at our old house — about building us an even bigger, better waterfall at our new home.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for June 8th.

*Ours probably won’t have a sitting Buddha on it.*

*Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com*

Writer’s Workshop — The Gown

October 23, 2025October 23, 2025Fandango14 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts. I am responding to three prompts this week:

Write a post inspired by the word moment.
Write a post in exactly 8 (eight) sentences.
Write a story starting with the line “If only she hadn’t bought the red one.” (Note that I changed it from third person to first person.)

If only I hadn’t bought the red one.

It gleamed in the shop window like a promise, daring me to be bold for once, and in the spur of the moment, I entered the store and asked to try it on.

The saleslady said it suited me, that it would make me unforgettable, and that is what turned out to be the problem.

When I stepped into the ballroom at the gala, every eye followed me — even his, my abusive ex.

He shouldn’t have been there — he was still supposed to be in prison — but there he was, looking at me with a mixture of desire and rage.

As soon as I saw him staring at me, I knew I had to leave before there was an angry confrontation, memorable to others if for no other reason than it involved the woman in the sexy red gown.

He followed me shortlly after I left the ballroom and I had no choice but to do what I did because I knew what would happen otherwise.

By the morning, when they found his body in the alley next to the venue, my beautiful, but now blood-stained red gown, was burned to a crisp in my backyard fire pit.

Image conjured using ChatGPT.

Writer’s Workshop — A Crappy Week in Eight Sentences

June 26, 2025June 25, 2025Fandango10 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts. I’m going for just one prompt this week, which is to write a post in exactly 8 sentences.

1. On Monday I received a “Prepare to Evacuate” notification on my iPhone due to a wildfire on Mount Diablo, which is only a few miles east of where I live.

2. The notification said that “no evacuation has been ordered at this time, but it is possible one may become necessary, and you should prepare now in case an evacuation is ordered.”

3. It went on to say, “Gather any important items you could carry with you, including medications, baby supplies, money, important papers, and photos and locate any pets or animals and be prepared to cage or leash them.

4. Fortunately, a few hours later we received a notification advising that “An ALL CLEAR has been issued for the fire in Diablo” and to “Please feel free to resume normal activities.”

5. On Tuesday the above message popped up on my iPhone and no matter what I did, it kept popping up and I couldn’t get rid of it.

6. I finally had to shut down my iPhone and reboot it to get rid of it.

7. And then this morning, right before I left for physical therapy, the toilet in our en suite bathroom started overflowing, and when I got back from PT I tried using a plunger to unclog it, but to no avail, so I called a plumber, who made a house call a few house later and took care of the problem.

8. It was a shitty job, but somebody had to do it, right?

Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

Writer’s Workshop — Convenience

May 22, 2025May 22, 2025Fandango12 Comments

Write a post in exactly 8 sentences.
What’s the importance of convenience? Give some examples.

If there is anyone who despises Donald Trump more than me, it’s my wife.

My wife believes that anyone with money, power, and influence and who uses any of those to benefit Donald Trump doesn’t deserve her money — our money.

My wife believes that Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, is a Trump kiss-up, and she is pissed about how Bezos has made overtures to Trump and his family, including but not limited to, producing a $40 million Amazon Prime documentary deal with Melania Trump, hosting Trump family members at private events, donating $1 million to Trump’s second inauguration, and attending the ceremony, and, as the owner of The Washington Post, turning the editorial direction and content of that once storied newspaper into a shill for Trump.

And so my wife wants me to quit making purchases on Amazon to show my solidarity with her.

But I love the convenience that shopping at Amazon provides.

Yesterday morning I gave my wife the last two AA batteries we had in our house so she could include them in a toy she bought for our grandson whose fifth birthday is coming up on Friday.

Right after handing her those last two AA batteries, I opened the Amazon app on my iPhone and ordered a package of 24 AA batteries and by yesterday afternoon, that package of 24 batteries had been delivered to my doorstep.

But now, in addition to being pissed off at Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos, my wife is pissed off at me for refusing to let one man’s political pragmatism trump the incredible convenience of shopping at Amazon.

Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

Writer’s Workshop — Office Etiquette

May 1, 2025May 1, 2025Fandango10 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts. The prompts I chose this week are #1 — Write a post based on the word etiquette, and #2 — Write a post in exactly 8 sentences.

My first boss felt the need to instill in me a sense of proper etiquette for getting along in the workspace.

“Greet people with a warm smile and firm handshake to make them feel immediately at ease,” she advised me.

“Remember people’s names and use them in conversation to build strong connections and to show respect,” she added.

“Let others speak first and listen without interruption and for understanding, rather than for rebuttal,” she said, “and always remain composed and polite.”

“Looking people in the eye will make them feel heard and valued,” she said, “and know when and how to look away with grace.”

“Hold the elevator, open doors, and say ‘please’ and ‘thank’ you as a demonstration of respect for others.”

My second boss told me to ignore the advice my first boss had given me.

His advice was that it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and the only way to get ahead is to do unto others before they do unto you.

Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

Writer’s Workshop — The Military

February 6, 2025February 5, 2025Fandango17 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts. The prompts I chose this week are #1 — Write a post based on the word military and #2 — Write a post in exactly 8 lines/sentences.

He wants to round up illegal immigrants in America and ship them to Guantanamo Bay and use the military to facilitate that.

He wants Denmark to give Greenland to America for national security purposes and said he would be willing to use the military to get what he wants.

He wants Panama to give the Panama Canal back to America and said he would engage our military if he needs to.

He wants the Palestinian people to permanently leave Gaza and for the U.S. to take it over and turn it into a new Riviera in the eastern Mediterranean, complete with a new Trump Tower and Trump Gaza Resort and Golf Club, and says he would use the military to make it happen.

He unilaterally changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and wants all government and military maps to be reprinted to reflect that change.

He signed an executive order paving the way to ban trans people from serving in the military.

He uses paramilitary militias like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers to further his White Christian Supremacy agenda.

It’s only a matter of time before he uses the military to quash peaceful protests and demonstrations.

Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

Writer’s Workshop — Out of Sight, Out of Mind

December 5, 2024December 5, 2024Fandango6 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts. I chose two prompts for this week: (1) Write a post based on the word “distance,” and (2) Write a post in exactly 8 sentences.

I suppose I was naive when I assured Janet that our love was strong enough to make a long-distance romance work for a couple of years until I finished law school at the University of Michigan while she graduated from Virginia and got a job with the State Department in Washington, DC.

At first, we would call each other every night and talk for hours on end about how my law school courses were going, how she was doing at her job at State, and how much we loved and missed each other.

After a while, the nightly calls turned into text messages as each of us became more involved in our separate lives. They went from daily to three or four times weekly, and the content had changed from lovey-dovey to more like newsy updates.

When it came time for me to fly to DC for my monthly visit, I couldn’t make it because I was having exams, and when it came time for her to fly to Ann Arbor for her monthly visit the next month, she said she was too busy at work to spare a weekend.

When I flew home for Christmas break I learned that she was off on a ski trip to Vermont with some friends from work.

I sent her an angry text asking why she hadn’t told me about her ski trip and she replied that she didn’t want to hurt me but that she had met and was seeing another guy.

It’s tougher than I thought it would be to sustain a long-distance relationship when it’s so much easier to blow someone off via text message than it is to make the effort to enable such a relationship work.

Image credit: Capuski via Getty Images

Writer’s Workshop — Soulmates

October 31, 2024October 30, 2024Fandango7 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts). I chose two prompts for this week: (1) Write a post based on the word “soulmates,” and (2) Write a post in exactly 8 sentences.

From the first moment I saw her, I knew we’d be soulmates. She was everything I’d ever dreamed of — tall, beautiful, smart, funny. My Indian princess, my Pocahontas, and I was her Captain John Smith. She saved me from a life of bitterness and loneliness.

But then our relationship took a turn, and the life she and I had built together started to crumble. Her quirkiness was no longer endearing, and she was put off by my aloofness. The nastiness of what we said to each other and the pain of what we did to one another could not be unheard or unfelt.

We are still together for the sake of the children, but what once felt like soulmates now feels more like we are cellmates.

Writer’s Workshop — My Tedious Task

September 19, 2024September 18, 2024Fandango16 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompts). I chose two prompts for this week: (1) Use the word “beer,” and (2) Write a post in exactly 8 sentences.

My task is to delete all 6,471 subscribers to my old blog. If you want to know why I am having to do that, go here.

Unfortunately, WordPress has no utility that would enable a mass removal of all subscribers, meaning I have to remove each subscriber one at a time.

It takes about 2 seconds per subscriber to remove each one and so far, I have removed 1,771, leaving 4,700 to go. At two seconds per, I can remove about 30 subscribers a minute, and with 4,700 yet to go, it will take me about 157 more minutes, or about 2.6 more hours to remove them all.

But it will actually take me longer than 2.6 hours because I can only remove so many subscribers at a sitting before my vision starts to gets blurry and my mind begins to turn into mush.

So it will probably take me a few more days to finish the job. And once I’m done and all my followers on my old blog have been removed, I’ll be more than ready to celebrate my tedious task with a nice cold beer…or three.

Writer’s Workshop — Shit or Get Off the Pot

June 27, 2024June 26, 2024FandangoLeave a comment

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompt(s). I chose two prompts for this week: (1) use the word “ignore,” and (2) write a post in exactly 8 sentences.