The Misadventures of Little Bo Peep

 9/23/10

The Misadventures of Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep looked around. One minute, she was tending her sheep in a vast green meadow; the next she was surrounded by tall buildings and loud vehicles buzzing around at super speeds. She felt a nudge against her calf and looked down to see the  black face and egg-shell white coat of Serta, the littlest of her sheep.  He was staring up at her with questioning eyes.

“I don’t know where we are either, Serts,” Peep said tragically. These things happened from time to time in The Land – a rift in space and time would open up and transport its inhabitants to undisclosed locations. It had something to do with too much fantasy in the air, or some such thing. Peep never really paid that much attention to her lessons.

One thing she did know, however, was that she had to get home to Fairytale Pastures. Gripping her shepherd’s crook in one hand she scratched Serta’s head as the two set off in the unknown land.

The ground they walked on was hard and black, the sky a sickly shade of gray. People were dressed so strangely – black slacks and button-up shirts on both women and men. They all looked at her with confused or curious glances but quickly looked away when she met their eyes. These same oddly dressed people dined in fancy restaurants with crystal chandelliers and white tablecloths.  The buildings which didn’t look like farms of homesteads were packed narrowly together and reached up into the sky like spires. The giant metal vehicles whirred back and forth between them, occasionally emitting a loud “honk!” at unsuspecting foot traffic.

She saw a sign on one of the buildings that read “Liquor and Coffee” which she assumed made that building a tavern She went inside looking for a table but all she saw was a long bar with stools lined up against it.  Despite the raised eyebrows and nervous chuckles aimed in her direction, she marched resolutely up to the bar.

“Hello, I’m lost,” she told the barkeep.

“Oh,” he responded, “You must be looking for Pasteur’s Arena on 22^nd and Main.”

Pastures Arena? She’d never heard it called that before, but the description seemed to fit.  Maybe they just had different names for things in this world. So she nodded to the barkeep and asked him for directions.  When he finished, she placed a large bronze coin on the bar counter and left with Serta. The little sheep made a worried bleat but Peep reassured him that they were going home. Shrugging his wooly shoulders gently, Serta ambled after the rushing Peep, doing what sheep do best.

Twenty-second and Main turned out to be nearby and as Peep approached she saw outfits more akin to what she was used to. Girls were wearing poof-skirts and corsets with little bonnets and Mary-Jane shoes, while men had tunics, leggings and swords.

“Hi!” Peep said, poking one girl in a pink and white floral dress, “My name is Little Bo Peep. Can you tell me where I am?”

“Ohhhhhh …” squealed the girl, “You DO look like Little Bo Peep! And you’ve even got a real sheep with you! What a cutie! Can I take a picture with you?”

Peep’s mouth dropped open,  “Uh thanks, his name’s Serta…and sure?” She responded to the second question.

One of the girl’s friends ran over with a camera and she threw her arm around Peep’s back and gave the camera a cheesy grin. “Make sure to get the sheep!” She called out to her friend.

‘Click’ went the camera.

The girl was talking a mile a minute, “I don’t think you’ll get in there with Serta though. There’s a no-dogs policy.”

Peep looked at the girl, “Where’s here?”

“Pasteur’s Arena, of cours, for SuperAnime Con!” The cute girl bubbled, biting her lip confusedly. When Peep gave her a blank stare she said, more hesitantly, “Washington, D.C.?”

Washington D.C.!? Peep groaned, she was definitely far away from Fairytale Land!

Shermie Cat Moves - Flash Fiction #6

This story spanned over 2 days as I wrote it yesterday and rewrote 1/2 of it today. I tried to do the 5/5 paragraph thing again, but got a little carried away so there are a few extra sentences in there.

Though I still tried to stick to this format: Compound. Complex. Simple.

EnjoY!

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Shermie and the Move

Human was moving. She was leaving the House that she, Shermie Cat and Luna Cat shared and was moving to another House occupied by Other Human. New House came with some creatures that were very strange to Shermie. These weird creatures made The Move kind of scary for him. However, he didn’t have much choice and he believed that Human knew better on this one.

One of the creatures had four legs and fur and pointy ears just like a cat but was actually a Dog named Sidnie Frog. (Sherman would never understand why a Dog allowed herself to be called a Frog; it was all too confusing to him). Dog had some bizarre behavior that made Shermie’s cat-dignity cringe. She would follow Human and Other Human around New House all day then stare up at them with a longing doggy gaze. Dog was obedient to all of Human and Other Human’s commands and Sidnie Frog Dog had made it clear that she loved Other Human. That was silly to imagine for while Shermie cat did love Human, he would never stoop to admitting it, not even to himself.

The other creature was neither Cat nor Dog but not quite Human. The Humans called her Kid and she seemed to interact with them as if she was ALMOST a human. Sometimes she would act more like Animal, becoming prone to ear-shattering, vocal cries and unintelligible words (though no self-respecting Cat would ever would ever admit to doing THAT!). She also didn’t seem to understand that Shermie was Cat. She’d try to dress him up or treat him like a toy or *gasp* a Human! Being mistaken for a Human was almost the greatest embarrassment for cat, only below being mistaken for Dog.

In New House Dog chased and barked at Shermie. He returned the kind gesture by hissing and chirping and, sometimes on his bad days, he’d swipe Dog on the nose. She was so fun to tease that Shermie would creep up really close then dart away as Dog yapped and gnashed her teeth. Kid wasn’t so bad either. Shermie found her bed an ideal nap zone as it was full of pillows and blankets.

On the upside, New House, from now on referred to as just House, did have a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. It had new sunny spots that Shermie could spend hours in and it even had an outside area where he could sniff the breeze and watch the bugs! Most importantly, Human was there with the food while Other Human even provided a few head scratches. There were also new boundaries to push! He got himself shooed off the table multiple times a day for a great thrill. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad living in New House, after all!

Shermie Cat and the Otherside - Flash Fiction #5

So this time each sentence of the middle 3 paragraphs had to be one each of Complex, Simple and Compound in that order. I might've failed, but here ya go.

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Shermie Cat and the Otherside

Shermie Cat had always wondered what the world was like beyond Door. The Humans were always passing in and out as if it was no big deal. Why did the humans find the world outside Door so fascinating? They would disappear through Door for hours or days on end and return with both sadness and relief. Somehow, some way, Shermie cat was going to have to find a way through Door so he could see the wide, wide world.

Every day, he crouched by the entryway, peering with his keen yellow eyes at the land beyond. It was a long corridor of neutral tones that stretched as far as Shermie could see. Other portals, Doors, lined the sides of the hallway. They beckoned to Shermie and they enticed him with endless possibilities of exploration. Shermie yearned for the chance to dart out on his long legs and frolic in the wide spaces of the Otherside.

Then one day, his lucky break arrived! Human had taken Dog out so she could do her unsightly doggy business and left the door ajar. Other Human sat tapping away at his glowing picture box. Shermie was alone and he was going to make the most of this opportunity! Wedging a paw between Door and Wall he carefully pried it open. He gazed out into the Otherside.

Carefully he placed his fuzzy gray and white paw ove the threshhold between Door and House. He set it down on the Otherside so gently that even his sensitive cat ears couldn’t hear the tap. Miraculously, nothing happened! He raced out into Otherside as fast as his legs could carry him, and all he left behind was the tinkle of his little bell. Then he heard a “click” behind him as he spun around to see that Human had reentered House and closed Door behind her!

“Oh no!” he thought as he froze in his tracks, his little cat body trembling. He was stuck in the Otherside, forever!  He started to check all Doors for his own. Darting back and forth, he wove through Otherside. “Shermie Cat, what are you doing out here?” He heard Human say. Shermie saw one Door finally peep open and out poured light! Shermie looked around, shrugged his cat shoulders, Just out for a stroll, he said as he nonchalantly looked up at her. Sauntering back to House, he realized that his ears were flicking with a little bit too much excitement to be Home.  Hopefully, Human didn't notice...

The Adventures of Shermie Cat = Flash Fiction #4, Revised

Hi!
So apparently, according to der Maan, I didn't do so well on my sentence challenge yesterday. Here are his definitions:

1). Simple Sentence - Sentence w/ the same subject for each verb.

•  I ate steak.
•  I ate steak and drank soda.
•  I ate steak and I drank soda.
• *I think that I ate steak last night.

2). Complex sentence - Sentence w/ two or more subjects, one for each verb, joined by a subordinating conjunction.

• I think he ate steak.
• I ran around the building while he ate steak.

3). Compound Sentence - Sentence w/ two or more subjects, one for each verb, joined by a coordinating conjunction. The two clauses are equal in weight and can stand alone.

•  I went to the store and he ate steak.

Here's a list of coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.  So I'm not sure of der Maan's sources as I thought a simple sentence was only 1 subject an 1 verb, but I revised my story from yesterday to these specifications. I also took the time to make it a little more silly (with alliteration!). I feel like I could do a lot with The Adventures of Shermie Cat. =) And without further ado - FICTION!

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THE FISH

Shermie Cat dipped his paw into the tide pool. Today, he was going to try to catch some fish. All the alley cats had laughed at his pampered lifestyle he lived with his human, but he’d show them. He could out-fish and out-mouse and out-hunt the best of those garbage-eating alley cats. A little splash to the left caught his attention, and he decided that was the place he was going to fish. 

Fish were a funny lot , always darting around at the slightest hint of danger. His claws were newly sharpened. His reflexes had been honed. He pranced around momentarily, stretching his legs. He was ready! 

He slapped the water with a paw , thinking that the fish would startle. He believed it worked as the fish swam this way and that, blinded by fear.. His claw shot out while he pawed the water furiously. However, no fish seemed to fall prey to his claws when he wrestled with the water. Maybe he’d have to think of another strategy to get those fickle fish to fly onto his dinner plate.

Shermie sauntered over to another place in the tide pool and there was movement under the sand. This was his opportunity to shine but would the fish allow itself to be caught? Crouching down low on his front paws, he wiggled his bottom in the air and he got ready to pounce. He leapt off the rock and his toes dug deep into the sand as he landed in the pool with a splash. His claws caught something wiggling but the fish struck back and bit him on the nose.

With a yowl he shot out of the water, flinging his prize onto the sand. But the prize would not let go of his sensitive sniffer so he rolled around in the sand, pawing at it furiously with his hind legs. It finally let go and scampered away as Shermie sat up wet, wounded and covered in sand.  He began licking his fur, and his wounded pride, in despair. Oh, how the alley cats would make fun of him when they found out he had mistaken a crab for a fish!

The Adventures of Shermie Cat - Flash Fiction #4

So, it had to happen eventually. Here's a flash fiction about my cat. The rules of this one were: 5 paragraphs, 5 sentences each - Paragraph #2 should be all simple sentences, #3 should be complex and #4 should be compound. I tried to conceptualize the structure like I do dependency parsing, but I don't know if it worked.....

And I have no excuse for not posting yesterday, just that I was grumpy. Which is lame, I know. But I'm not apologizing. =P

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Shermie Cat dipped his paw into the tide pool. Today he was going to catch some fish. All the alley cats had laughed at his pampered lifestyle, but he would show them. He could out-fish and out-mouse and out-hunt the best of those garbage-eating alley cats. A little splash to the left caught his attention, that was the place he was going to fish.

Fish were a funny lot. They were always darting around at the slightest hint of danger. His claws were newly sharpened. His reflexes had been honed. He was ready!

He slapped the water with a paw, hoping to startle the fish into confusion. It seemed to work as they swam this way and that, blinded by fear. His claw shot out so that he could paw the water furiously. However, no fish seemed to fall prey to his claws while he wrestled with the water. Maybe he’d have to think of another strategy that utilzed stealth and accuracy.

Shermie sauntered over to another place in the tide pool and he saw some movement under the sand. This was his opportunity to shine but would he make it? Crouching down low on his front paws, he wiggled his bottom in the air and he got ready to pounce. He lept off the rock and landed in the pool with a splash, claws digging deep into the sand. His claws caught something wiggling but then he remembered how much he hated water!

With a yowl he shot out of the water, flinging his prize onto the sand. But the prize had been angered now and it came after Shermie with a vengeance. The kitty, however, was not going to be afraid of a little fish. He pounced on it as it latched onto his nose with a tiny pincher. Oh no, how the alley cats would laugh when they found out he had mistaken a crab for a fish!