Revenge of the Shoemaker's Elves

Master Class 2013 #11: Desperation, Authority, and a Lamb
"It was Tara who set the bar highest this week with a fantastic tale of fatherly love in A Father’s Right.

Tara to chose the first line of the last paragraph from any book of her choosing. She chose Lamb by Christopher Moore. Your challenge this week is:
“That’s all I remember.”

You cannot use this line to begin or end your story. In fact, you have two choices this week. You can use the line anywhere else in your story or you can write a story based on the prompt without using the line at all. If you need an example, check out Words with Teeth‘s submission from last week. He did a fantastic job of using the prompt as the basis for his story without inserting the line at all."

I have no idea where I came up with this last minute silliness, forgive me...

I resumed awareness on the cold of a concrete floor.  The painful stripes woke at the same time.  The floor's penetrating chill was a blessing, I suppose.  A soothing balm against my skin.

Where did these welts come from?  They adorn my arms and legs in random pattern and size.  On my back I can feel burning tracks of raised flesh.  There is throbbing lump on my head.

I remember walking through the mall, shopping for shoes to match the new suit.  I tried so many pairs, none were right.  The colors were off, the toes pinched.  The heels were not the right height.  

The clerk was as frustrated as I was.  It seemed for hours, he brought box after box.  Measured and remeasured my feet.  He kept a smile fixed on his face.  Even when I waved the last half dozen away, he smiled.  There may have been a slight twitch in his left eye, though. 

That's all I remember.  The clerk stalking away with disarranged boxes of tissue paper and mismatched shoes.  

I wonder who puts them all back the way they were?

Blech Magic

Alrighty then, I couldn't resist.  One silly story inspired by three prompts.  (I may have pushed a bit on Lance's 100 Word Song, but I couldn't get "disaster" out of my head.)

So, here's my bit for the 100 Word Song, Write on Edge, and Trifecta.  

Concrit Away!!

100 words inspired by 311′s Beautiful Disaster. http://youtu.be/bDQlSUjqsuo

Write at the Merge; Week 7
This week, be inspired by the sense of smell. It’s said scent is the strongest tie to memory, and aroma is a powerful force—for good and awful! Is your nose engaged? Now I give you the word Elixir:

elixir |iˈliksər|
noun
a magical or medicinal potion: an elixir guaranteed to induce love.
• a preparation that was supposedly able to change metals into gold, sought by alchemists.
• (also elixir of life )a preparation supposedly able to prolong life indefinitely.
• a medicinal solution of a specified type: a natural herbal cough elixir.
ORIGIN late Middle English: via medieval Latin from Arabic al-’iksīr, from al ‘the’ + ‘iksīr from Greek xērion ‘powder for drying wounds’ (from xēros ‘dry’).

Trifecta: Week Sixty-four

DWELL

1

: to remain for a time

2

a : to live as a resident

b : exist, lie

3

a : to keep the attention directed —used with on or upon<tried not to dwell on my fears>

b : to speak or write insistently —used with on or upon<reporters dwelling on the recent scandal>

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.

• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.

• The word itself needs to be included in your response.

• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 

• Only one entry per writer.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.  Please join us.

This week's word is dwell.  

Blech Magic

All she needed to accomplish in this phase of her testing was a simple fireball. She hadn't counted on the sensory effects of the elixir the Master Mage had insisted she drink.  

It not only caused double vision, but enhanced the odor of the several unwashed bodies assembled to watch her performance.

Trying not to dwell on the smell, she focused on wand-play and incantation. The fireball finally formed in her hand.  The deep breath of relief she took was her undoing.

The vomit infused disaster she'd created, though ensuring her expulsion, had at least cleared the room of stink.