Category: Stichomancy Prompts

A Tattoo in the Shape of a Triangle

  • by jen(who is awesome)
  • I like seeing the diving board go boi-oi-oi-oi-oing!
  • potential discombobulator
  • small, stumpy feet
  • returning to my spider-infested college

Tune in next time part 781      Click Here for Earlier Installments

A tattoo in the shape of a triangle didn’t sound too bad, all things considered. I started to relax. Tessa (who is awesome) said, “Not so fast. I like it better when you’re tense.” She ran her hand down into my white lab pants. “I like seeing the diving board go boi-oi-oi-oi-oing! If you know what I mean. It makes the tattooing much easier.”

I didn’t want to be the potential discombobulator of Tessa’s dreams, but there was no way I was going to get a tattoo on my junk. Not even from someone as awesome as (or with such adorably small, stumpy feet as) Tessa. I grabbed her wrist and shook my head. “Not there.”

She pouted, and my heart broke. I felt as if I was returning to my spider-infested college years — a wretched stretch of time bereft of Tessa. It was during those years that she’d learned the art of tattoo, when she’d been a captive of the mimes. I had missed her terribly, but she’d had it far worse. Now that we were finally together again, for keeps, could I deny her anything?

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Tessa’s New Zoot Suit

  • by KentI don’t know if you can tell or not, but
  • yoga at gunpoint
  • –in a coffin
  • visionary, fantasist, poet, and painter
  • the term “Bermuda Triangle”

Tune in next time part 780      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Tessa’s new zoot suit had many pockets, but none of them had any money in them. For a moment I thought that would put an end to the tattoo peccadillo, but she simply told the roving tattooist, “I don’t know if you can tell or not, but this man is a general, and he’s commandeering your ink bottle on official business.”

“No sweat,” the man replied. “That just means I get to knock off early!” He pedalled away.

Tessa hauled me around a corner and asked me what I wanted my tattoo to look like. We didn’t have a needle, but I knew from experience that wouldn’t slow her down. Her talent for improvisation had allowed her to write a lengthy coded message on my chest, and the prospect of going through something like that again was about as relaxing as doing yoga at gunpoint — in a coffin — so I couldn’t even begin to offer design suggestions.

She made me take off the white lab coat. With a faraway look in her eyes, she said, “How about something in the style of visionary, fantasist, poet, and painter Melvil Dewey…” I resigned myself to my fate, knowing Tessa was in a creative fugue state where no appeal to reason could penetrate. “Yes,” she gasped, “I can see it now! A symbol, a shape, that will rehabilitate the term ‘Bermuda Triangle’ for future generations!”

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“There are no squids in the aquarium”

  • by jenThe most extraordinary thing about the man
  • The red uniform
  • undergarments, sneakers
  • Clearly, this man is a fuckwit.
  • equipped with a single, huge gold-plated

Tune in next time part 779      Click Here for Earlier Installments

“There are no squids in the aquarium,” I said, feigning sadness. “No squids means no squid ink, and that means no tattoos for us.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Tessa pointed across the concourse to a man on a bicycle. The airship’s official roving tattoo artist, I realized. What were the odds he’d be right where we were when Tessa got the urge?

The bicycle sported a striped umbrella and a large box on the front like an ice cream cart. The most extraordinary thing about the man, though, was not his mode of transportation. The red uniform, visible undergarments, sneakers, and sunglasses were quite arresting. His mobile tattoo kiosk played an inane chiming tune on a loop.

I turned to Tessa in puzzlement. “Clearly, this man is a fuckwit. All of the roving tattoo artists are. We can’t get tattoos from him.”

“Of course not. We have to give them to each other. We’ll just get the ink from him.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me along as she flagged the artist down.

We didn’t have a choice as to color, for the artist was only equipped with a single, huge gold-plated bottle of ink, and it was as red as his uniform.

“Perfect!” Tessa cried. “I’ll buy the whole bottle.”

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Tessa Couldn’t Have Known

  • by Kentone blissful month
  • you have long, elegant toes
  • clowns that had been said to be lurking nearby
  • the legendary “Zoot Suit Riots”
  • debunk the theory that two pizzas would be smashed together to create

Tune in next time part 778      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Tessa couldn’t have known how her suggestion affected me, because she knew nothing of that one blissful month I’d spent living in the islands as an ink harvester, diving for squid all day, and sleeping on the sand every night. Or, did she know more than I realized? It was unwise to underestimate her investigative skills. Did she know what I’d said to Gladys, my dive master (“you have long, elegant toes“)? Did she know that I fled that tropical paradise to escape the clowns that had been said to be lurking nearby?

In any event, even a giant squid couldn’t have restrained me from jumping into the aquarium, so fervid was my nostalgic dive-lust. It turned out there were no squid in the aquarium, but by the time I figured that out Tessa was done rummaging in the costume closet and had selected us matching outfits in which we would look like participants in the legendary “Zoot Suit Riots” — but, even dripping wet, I was determined to choose something a bit more timely.

A white lab coat was an easy choice. Instant credibility! As I shrugged it on, Tessa asked who I was supposed to be. “I’m Professor Trattoria, whose life’s work is to build the Large Calzone Collider and debunk the theory that two pizzas would be smashed together to create the universe as we know it.”

Tessa smirked, shaking her head. She said, “You do know we’re still doing those tattoos, right?”

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“Maybe Fleur has a Point”

  • by jenBreak out the macrame vests and the hip huggers!
  • it’s lust, pure and simple
  • eating pasta barehanded
  • hallucinating and perspiring greatly
  • catch your own squid and harvest the ink by hand

Tune in next time part 777      Click Here for Earlier Installments

“Maybe Fleur has a point,” Tessa said. “Where are we running to?”

“Trust me,” I said. “I’m a general. I know my way around a Contrarian Royal Airship. We’ll find a place to hole up together. But first I need some clothes. Preferably not a uniform, so I blend in.”

“Break out the macrame vests and the hip huggers!”

Tessa always wants me to dress like a hippie. It’s lust, pure and simple. She likes it best when the hip huggers are paisley. If I’m also eating pasta barehanded while hallucinating and perspiring greatly, it’s like porn to her.

“The costume closet is beside the aquarium,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“While I choose your outfit, you hop in the tank, catch your own squid and harvest the ink by hand,” Tessa purred. “That way we can give each other tattoos!”

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Fleur Was Convinced

  • by Kent“dancing till all hours” as my grandmother put it
  • Is it me? My refrigerator?
  • but it’s kind of a secret
  • as fast as my brain can tell my finger to
  • bemused drawl and conman grin

Tune in next time part 776      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Fleur was convinced that this was a Tessabot, but I felt certain she was the real thing. But, had my sister let my wife in on some hidden info? Was I deluded? Did infatuation have my brain “dancing till all hours” as my grandmother put it? Why do such imponderables keep interfering with my life? Is it me? My refrigerator? Is it time to throw away that old pickle relish?

“I asked you,” Tessa said, “which sister you talked to. It’s important!”

“It is important, yes,” said Fleur, still hauling me down the corridor by my collar. “I get that, but it’s kind of a secret. And I wouldn’t tell a robot anyway.”

While she was distracted, I was undoing the buttons on my jacket as fast as my brain can tell my finger to poke them through their holes. That brain must not have done too much dancing, for in seconds, Fleur was holding the empty garment and I was dashing with Tessa down a side passageway.

“Sure, run away,” Fleur said with a bemused drawl and a conman grin. “You gonna run right off the airship?”

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I Edged to the Right

  • by jenthat sister of yours
  • a fleeting intensity in his look
  • too much truth serum
  • sent a handwritten note
  • New York’s elite muckety-mucks

Tune in next time part 775      Click Here for Earlier Installments

I edged to the right, gripping Tessa by the elbow. We could sneak away while Zeus and Fleur had each other distracted. On a vessel as large as a Contrarian Royal Airship there had to be some private place where we could talk uninterrupted.

“I should have listened to that sister of yours,” Fleur said, snagging me by the collar. “She warned me you’d try to slip away.”

Which of my sisters had she been talking to?

“Which of his sisters have you been talking to?” Tessa asked. “Most of them are liars.”

“Go away, Pamplemousse,” Fleur said. “I have business with my husband.”

A fleeting intensity in his look told me Zeus Pamplemousse was greatly vexed to be dismissed like this. “Too much truth serum is poison for a relationship, Fleur,” the giant man grumbled. “You really ought to spare my feelings.”

“If I wanted to spare your feelings I would have sent a handwritten note, and being the daughter of the Contrarian Warlord, it would have been a thing of calligraphic wonder. Now go.” She flapped her hand at him.

“This isn’t over!” he roared. “New York’s elite muckety-mucks will hear of this! You’ll never be invited to another polo match!”

Fleur tightened her grip on my collar. “Come with me. And bring your robotic Ultra-Druid.”

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“Fleur!” Exclaimed Zeus Pamplemousse

  • by KentThat poem is unforgivable.
  • “I say no!”
  • with a grip on his throat
  • time for someone else to be touching your body
  • I thought you were in Africa

Tune in next time part 774      Click Here for Earlier Installments

“Fleur!” exclaimed Zeus Pamplemousse. He fell to one knee and recited:

“Of all that ever once did bloom,
you were the sweetest flower on the moon.”

My wife scowled at him. She folded her arms and replied:

“I do not forget.
Go away. That poem is
unforgivable.“

“They say time heals all wounds,” simpered the Moon Monarch.

“I say no!” Fleur shot back, lunging forward to emphasize her words with a grip on his throat. “Eternity wouldn’t fix what you did.”

Zeus stood up, unperturbed by Fleur’s nails gouging his neck. “I understand, now, that it was time for someone else to be touching your body. But at the time, I was unprepared for what I walked in on. It surprised me.”

Fleur released her choke hold, mainly so she could stop standing on her tiptoes. “You say you were surprised when you walked in? I thought you were in Africa.”

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After Smothering the Fire

  • by jenchasm of emptiness in my heart
  • “Here’s the masterpiece,” I said
  • “Of course I can beatbox.”
  • always been moderately (and occasionally very) embarrassed
  • nervous giggling, hiccuping, and sniffling

Tune in next time part 773      Click Here for Earlier Installments

After smothering the fire, Tessa dressed herself in the vestments of a Contrarian Ultra-Druid. You might think I would be disappointed for her not to be naked any more, but that just tells me you are unfamiliar with the ways of the Ultra-Druids. She looked more obscene now than I’d ever seen her, so obscene it turned Pamplemousse into a mountain of nervous giggling, hiccuping, and sniffling absurdity.

Tessa grinned when she saw the looks on our faces. “Let’s go get that ice cream!”

As we strode through the corridors toward the cafeteria we passed another of Jason’s bottle sculptures. I have always been moderately (and occasionally very) embarrassed about my lack of rap skill when compared to my brother, and now I kept encountering evidence that he was also better at making found art. Tessa saw my sour expression and immediately knew what I was thinking.

“Darling,” she said. “Can you still beatbox?”

“Of course I can beatbox.” That was one realm where I outshone my twin. I smiled.

“At the Academy you were working on your beatboxing magnum opus. Do you remember it? Could you perform it now? For me? Please?”

There was no way I could deny her anything, especially when she was dressed like an Ultra-Druid. I cleared my throat. “Here’s the masterpiece,” I said, and launched into it. When I wrote it I’d been inspired by my love for Tessa, however over the years that we’d been apart it had gained resonance in the chasm of emptiness in my heart. I wanted to really wow Tessa, so I gave it my all.

I got so caught up in my magnificent mouth noises that I didn’t notice Fleur until we were right on top of her.

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My Dash

  • by Kentrolled out from underneath
  • “If I’m going camping, it’s going to be inside.”
  • so many novelty ice cream flavors
  • want to spritz myself with oranges and attract hornets
  • on the clown shoes

Tune in next time part 772      Click Here for Earlier Installments

My dash for the nearest exit from the chapel knocked over several tall candlesticks, but I didn’t slow down until Tessa and I were in the corridor and I’d pulled the door shut behind me. A lone candle rolled out from underneath the door, leaving a trail of wax.

Tessa’s trance broke the moment she was unable to see the Moon King’s socks. “I think I saw something catch fire back there,” she said.

I wasn’t too bothered for Pamplemousse’s safety, but a blaze would put the whole airship at risk. I grumbled, but I opened the door back up to see a cheery fire roaring in the center of the chamber. It consisted of dozens of those damned candles arranged with their wicks together. It looked like an emoji of a campfire, but the heat was all too real. Pamplemousse, meanwhile, was in the process of draping his cloak over a pew to make a tent. He noticed my return, but seemed unfazed, merely saying, “If I’m going camping, it’s going to be inside.”

“We can’t trust him to control that fire,” Tessa protested.

“Why not come with us,” I reluctantly offered. “We’re going to the cafeteria for some treats. No place has so many novelty ice cream flavors like a Contrarian Royal Airship.” The idea of continuing to deal with this lunatic made me want to spritz myself with oranges and attract hornets.

“Sure, that sounds wonderful!” Zeus Pamplemousse enthused. While he collected his cloak and hurried to the door where I was beckoning, Tessa sought a way to put out the fire. The area around the altar held the emergency vestments for a wide range of religious orders. This included the Alamode Evangelicals, whose outfits and facepaint are far too flammable to be of use, but Tessa was able to smother the blaze using the carton the clown shoes were stored in.

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