Oooh, intriguing story, Eric. Very creative use of those three words.

Not to give you the "big head" or anything ;o) ...but this seems very much like the writing of one Mr. S. King. I suppose you just splat the words out as fast as you could type?

Very nice...it makes me want to go buy the book.

Fantastic! Mark may be on to something (not a big head though). But you need more words to play with ...

risotto, receivership, deuce

Thanks, guys. You're obviously easily impressed -- or under-entertained -- on a Saturday afternoon.

Mark, I consider it an honor to be compared to that great author and one of my all-time favorites, Santiago King.

Deborah, did anyone ever tell you that you have a mean streak? ;-)

Eric, the mark of great story telling...the use of those odd "starter" words was completely seamless...I'd like a copy of the book too! ;-)

What a neat start. And since I'm not above ruining someone else's perfectly good efforts, I will attempt a few paragraphs in continuation with the incorporation of the new words which, I agree, are just mean.

The memory flooded back and the man looked at the scene playing out in front of him, unable to turn his mind's eye to any other thoughts but that evening two years previous when he had first been granted receivership of the church funds. He had met the pastor in a family-owned Italian joint and they had come to an arrangement over steaming plates of perfectly cooked cheesy risotto.

His mind snapped back to the present with the blast of a passing car's horn reminding him that he'd have to fight the wind harder to maintain his lane. Though crossing the line might provide a solution to the deuce of a mess he now found himself in posession of, that wasn't his plan.

At least not yet.

(Ok, so all three of those last paragraphs were supposed to be in italics. I do HTML good.)

Beth, I'm amused at your offering, because of the contrast between it and the one that I have partially formed in my mind. In a stark contrast that might provide an insight into the differences in the ways men and women sometimes view things, my reference to risotto is coupled with a brainpan, and a '32 Ford would provide the context to the word "deuce" (I'll let you work that one out on your own). I hadn't quite fit receivership into the flow, but I was toying with the setting of a high stakes card game with a sinister twist.

Oh, and your HTML blues aren't your fault; it's the way Movable Type handles code in comments. You have to wrap each paragraph in tags -- they don't carry forward into subsequent paragraphs.

But what fun! See how two words---thundercloud and receivership---have propelled the story along in a way I could never have predicted. Eric gave us a "dog-like creature," an "unholy cloud," a desert on the horizon, and Beth provided a "deuce of a mess" so severe that the man driving the car briefly would consider drifting into the wrong lane on purpose.

OK, since I appear to be the word smith for this exercise, here are three more:

bowline, redline, skyline.

Y'all make me feel like I'm in the first grade learning how to write the alphabet.
As I strained to even make it up to the bowline I gasped as water poured into my lungs. (is a bowline the water level on a boat?) My heart approached it's redline, pumping furiously as my desperation grew to make it far enough out of this dark ocean to even see the skyline.

Bob, I'm glad you showed up to bail me out. I was feeling guilty because I haven't had time to respond to Deborah's latest challenge.

Don't be too quick to judge our writing prowess. Personally, I'm almost up to the letter "G" in learning the alphabet! ;-)

Regarding "bowline," unless I'm mistaken that's generally a reference to a knot (so it is boat-related). I'd probably refer to the "water level on a boat" as the waterline, but I also live in the middle of the desert, like you, so what do I know? (I was a Sea Scout, but that's another story, and another century.)

Forgive my presumption, but your story seems to be a bit of an allegory for what I understand of your "real life." Was that intentional, or just a result of your mood today?

Thank you Eric, for letting me play on your blog these past few days. I've been suffering from writer's blues myself, so hitchhiking on your blog helped.

About those last three words: I chose "bowline" because the knot is frequently used as a rescuer's knot. "Redline" was so you could have some fun in your little deuce coupe, and "skyline" to draw the narrative back to sense of unease.

Oh, thank you, Deborah, for giving me (us) a distraction during a time when it was needed! Even though I never made the time to put anything in writing, I had mentally kicked around those last three words.

I also guessed the reason for including redline, but didn't read anything into the other two words (I didn't know that about the bowline). I should have realized that you always choose your words with care and forethought. I, on the other hand, tend to sling mine like a calf slings slobber. ;-)

Now that you mention it, it would make a good allegory for the life I've experienced however I am out of the dark ocean and the skyline has become a beautiful sunset. Despite that there are always the old demons waiting to drag me under if I get to close. Keepin my feet on the ground now. The bowline that rescued me was the accident six years ago. That's cool, a "rescuer's knot" huh. Love to learn new things. Of course I'll still make up definitions for words I don't know. Can be fun.