Almost A Wordzzle

As some of you will know the Mistress of Wordzzle Raven has been off line for a week or so – hope you’re ok out there and manage to get your computer up and running

In the meantime my friend Argent has put a response onto Raven’s blog suggesting we carry on and provided some words (though you may get more response if you put the words on your own blog whilst Raven is away).

So although I will not be returning long term to the world of wordzlle I am writing the below in a display of solidarity!

The rules are simple – you get a list of 10 words, you get a list of 5 words and you can write 1, 2 or even 3 whole stories using the 10 words, using the 5 or using all 15

Argent’s suggestions were:

For the 10-worder:
Minute, shave, orange, cardboard, scissors, speaker, calligraphy, wooden, picture, juteFor the

Mini:
Hope, milk, freshness, earring, blinds

And since we were following the adventures of the HMS Frightfully Sorry I think we shall return one final time to the ship that put the sick back into seasick for…

FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND

Captain Hogarth dipped his razor into the bathwater and cleaned the blade before continuing to shave. Steam rose steadily from the water and clouded the picture on the desk. He reached for the towel made of jute that had been a gift from King Wataniki the week previously and frowned in thought.

There had been something very familiar about King Wataniki, despite the huge earring, ceremonial scissors and deep voice, yet Jenkins had insisted that they had never met before the ship naming ceremony. Still, as Captain Hogarth thought back to that day he couldn’t help but feel that the King’s ceremonial mask might just have been made of cardboard.

Hogarth’s train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. First Mate Jenkins peered around, ‘Good morning sir’ Jenkins greeted, ‘Are you decent?’

‘Never been more so Jenkins’ Hogarth boomed, ‘Come in!’

Jenkins did so, caught slightly off guard by the Captain’s unusual ability to remember his name. He placed the mug of hot milk down on his Captain’s wooden desk and saluted
‘Everything ok sir?’ Jenkins asked

‘Not quite’ Hogarth replied, taking a minute to peel an orange before putting his train of thoughts firmly back on the rails, ‘I was just thinking to myself that there was something terribly familiar about King Wataniki’

‘No sir’ Jenkins replied, turning almost naturally to the windows and adjusting the blinds so that his Captain wouldn’t see the mild look of panic in his eyes. The slats opened slightly, bringing with them the freshness of the sea air

‘And you are sure that we’ve finally arrived in Hogarthland after all this time?’

‘Absolutely sir’ Jenkins replied with a smile full of hope that his Captain wouldn’t see the crossed fingers behind his back

‘Only I was looking out of the window earlier’ Hogarth boomed, ‘And I couldn’t help but notice that the coastline looked a lot like France’

Jenkins couldn’t help but wince slightly as paused and thought back to the conversation he’d had with the men two weeks back. He’d tried again and again to persuade them to head for the less familiar shores of Holland, but they had insisted that the beaches of Calais had to be seen to be believed at this time of year. It hadn’t been hard to find a foreign-language speaker in France and the addition of an old toilet seat as an earring and a quickly drawn mask with some impressive calligraphy had been just enough to fool his Captain at the time – but even a mind as blunt as the Captain’s was beginning to sharpen after a few days rest

‘There is an awful lot of similarity with the two, sir’ Jenkins agreed

Hogarth stared at his first mate for a long moment, then the moment of sanity finally slipped away and he smiled and splashed a few more suds onto his naked torso, ‘I say Garak!’ he boomed, ‘I don’t suppose that you could find my rubber duck could you?’

‘Certainly sir’ Jenkins smiled, secure in the knowledge that everything was back to normal, ‘And it’s Jenkins sir. Garak stayed behind and married a pirate queen sir’ With that he bowed and left the room, chuckling slightly under his breath.