Five-Hundred Word Challenge 694: Mysterious Tunnel

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Through the fields and under the sky there was a tunnel. Where this tunnel led, few people knew as it appeared one day and seemed ominous enough to make people uncomfortable about the idea of going anywhere near it. As such, they ignored it and pretended it was not there most of the time.

However, this tunnel had nothing ominous about it, for it was just the result of a small creature tunneling its way under the surface, doing its thing. It was looking for something. It was probably food that this creature was looking for, though we’re going to pretend that we can’t really hazard a guess as that makes the story more interesting, but only in this particular scenario, though I’m sure there are plenty of other scenarios where the same applies, but I digress.

And so it was tunneling and looking for something mysterious. Soil was constantly tossed aside and digging remained steady. The creature was unable to be stopped other than under its own will, which is the way it was to be. It was a voracious little digger and this led to great results when it came to tunnel length.

On the outside, before people pretended the tunnel did not exist, many awaited to see if something would come out of it. It was large, though not large enough for someone to go into it and they could not dig around it due to a great deal of rocks surrounding its entrance. Of course, nothing came. It was just there, sitting, mouth open and full of dark.

The creature kept going deeper, passing by various sediments that were found in the layers of which it was moving through. Eventually it stopped moving downward as the risk of structural collapse from pressure was too great for it to ignore. Instinctually it felt that it could not go further. Whether it could or not is another story, but right now that does not matter as it is not important to this particular story. What is important is that this little critter of digging prowess turned around and started digging away from the down direction, still looking for something.

Eventually on the outside people stopped pretending the tunnel was not there and tried to send devices in to work out where the tunnel led. Due to the length of time since its first discovery, all they saw was a great length with a lot of disturbed soil. They could not get anything along far enough to be able to see where it ended.

The tunnel began to cause a strong sense of discomfort to the people and so they covered its entrance in the hopes that it could be forgotten and grown over by the area’s vegetation.

Inside the tunnel the creature kept on digging away, trying to find whatever it was that it was looking for. It didn’t need an open entrance all the time. It was more than happy to create a new one when necessary.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:43:19

I started off thinking of writing something nonsensical. A few sentences in I tried to work in the idea of two different stories kind of related to each other. The idea came across, but the execution is lacking, I think.

Most of this feels like a smooth read (I think), but I don’t feel as though it is strong enough a piece of writing.

Written at home.

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Surrounded by Silhouettes

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

This shot was taken last month whilst walking around near where I live.

I like how clear the shape of the trees comes through contrasts with the developed area (most of which I think has to do with, among other things, collecting rubbish from The Cooks River, as this small development and setup is [as far as I’m aware] owned by Sydney Water), which is mostly quite difficult to see.

I think the sense of dusk comes through quite well. There’s little visible sky, but there’s little that is clearly visible in the photo. It’s a scene at low light and so general shape becomes more prominent.

I hope you enjoy.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 51: Long Days Stretch

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Long days stretch on far beyond what is normally seen, but perhaps they don’t. It’s more that they are keenly felt and they often cut deeply and slowly, almost to the point where you don’t notice their presence.

Well, that was a good opener and now I have nothing left, so I’m going to see if I can keep on going. Going to see how far I can get before I throw in the towel, as they say. Maybe. Maybe I’ll just give up before then. The day was very much a long one and I am tired and in dire need of rest. Perhaps I’ll be able to pull through. Not really sure. I guess we’ll see.

So anyway, long days stretch on toward an eternity far beyond what is normally seen, but they are always felt. They are felt infinitely, though perhaps – now that I think about it – they aren’t always felt until after the fact. That would mean that they aren’t always felt and that they do not infinitely stretch, though it could actually meant tat they are just that sneaky. At this point anything is possible, though not anything is possible, so perhaps I’m just overthinking the whole thing. At the same time, maybe I am not thinking enough. I don’t know and I don’t care. What I do know is that today was most definitely a day of considerable length crammed into a day of regular length and so it really dragged hard in places.

That’s all past now and it seems that, in order to try and compensate for the drag, the day is speeding up and soon I will have to find myself in a position of napping for a great number of hours before I need to wake up in the morning and resume attempting to do things that lead to some sort of conclusion of sorts. Perhaps it is the process of further digging myself into a rut so that I can find myself living a life of pure routine, or something. Not necessarily anything bad about that, of course, but… actually, I do need a bit more routine at the moment. At least I think I do.

Anyway, the day feels like it’s speeding up a bit and so I find myself racing in a race I cannot possibly win as I’m trying to win against time, but time has the advantage of being less tired and more energised than I am. It is significantly more constant than I. Even if I were able to be half as constant as it was, I still would lack anything resembling a chance, so I must make do with what I have and so I spend my time right now dancing on the infinite ribbon of time as it rapidly contracts as it knows that it can do so as soon I will be asleep and there is little I can do about that.

I could stay up, but I need to be functioning tomorrow. There is more work to be done and that work involves dealing with people yelling at me for a while, though some might not. There definitely will be dealing with people who press the wrong option and will remain adamant that they have not. Not that I’m complaining of course. I would never dare dream of complaining of having to deal with a constant stream of customer aggression whilst looking for another job. Never do that in a million years. Maybe one, however.

Anyway, I think I’ve gotten the point across, though I haven’t made much of a point at all. Right now I’m just rambling. I’m just trying to get things out of me before I go to sleep. It’s been a long day and I didn’t get as much as I’d like to have gotten done done. That’s a constant. That’s something that will never change. It’ll be less of an issue if I stop procrastinating so much, which was the main reason as to why I didn’t get much done today. Hopefully after work that can be turned around a little.

I say that, but it’s really up to me to push through the being tired. That’s what I need to do. So long as I can do that, then I should be alright. I’m doing it right now. I know that if I can do this now, then tomorrow should not be an issue. I should be able to push through all the fatigue and get to writing and working on music and processing photos and so on and so forth, so what am I doing right now? I shouldn’t be writing; I should be writing.

Well, at least right now I’m doing something that is productive, though perhaps empty. Not really sure. Not sure if I care either way. I’m enjoying doing this right now. Might not alter, but right now I am. I’m letting all of this come forward, though little has, now that I think about it. Oh well. At least there is something that can be seen as the production of a work that involves the creation of text in a form that is able to be read, though clearly is written by someone who perhaps should have a rest, but has spent too much time resting. You get the idea. I don’t. Or I do.

Well, I guess now that that is all out of the way I’m going to wrap this up,. There’s a few other things I need to take care of before I start resting and closing my eyes, so I need to be a bit more efficient. The time is compressing itself more and I cannot keep up, so I need to take advantage of what I have right now.

However, once more I don’t know as to how I should wrap this up. I guess I should do so using a series of words that form a sentence and I’ve plenty to chose from.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 13:17:97

I’m happy with this, but I think I can do much better.

Written at home.

 

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 693: Cold and Warm

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

One is cold and the other is warm and there is no transference of temperatures between the two. Not really a big thing at the end of the day, but of course like many things that feel a bit weird, this feels a bit weird. Time to feel out the feeling, it seems.

Looking in one direction and then looking in the other and there is no obvious tell for this experience that is being experienced. Is that a bad thing? Is that good? Who knows? Perhaps the action of movement quickly will allow one to warm up to the temperature of the other. There is only one way of telling, and that is through the action of doing of which is something that will commence shortly.

Once it commences movement will flow through time and space and create an image that stretches onward, further trailing forward as it follows the hands, but of course being fixed at a starting point so that the stretching creates some sort of blur that increases in its length as the hands keep on taking actions so as to create warmth that will hopefully spread and transfer the cold out so the warmth can take its place.

Soon the hands need to move away from their starting area in time and space as they no longer are visible, and so they traverse up and toward a higher location, farther and farther away until their actuality is no longer visible in any direction based on standing near where they started. They are beyond the horizon and they are beyond the sky.

They keen on moving farther and farther until there is enough space for them to keep on trying to get the warmth in into the one that is cold. There is only a ribbon of the suggestion of their movement in a direction that follows behind, still growing in length due to the being fixed at a starting point.

And so the dance continues and the motion and movement keeps on going, though in the farthest reaches it is far too cold. The space is good, but the temperature external to the actions and their physical containment is too low for anything to be done, and thus it becomes apparent that returning to where they once started might be a better idea, as even though there is no visibility there anymore, at least there was less external pressures affecting the ability to rise the temperature, and so the long, slow and dreary journey begins.

The hands gradually return and in their returning it becomes apparent that through all the actions taken, now both hands are warm. No longer is it split between one and the other. The generation of heat had occurred through the action of working with friction, though it was entirely unintentional. Perhaps a stroke of luck, as some would have it. Perhaps a stroke of skill. Perhaps just a stroke of things happening that allows for heat to warm up hands.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:08:86

This felt like it came out quite easily. There were a few pauses, but there was no struggling. As far as it reads… I’m not sure.

Written at home.

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Spread Your Wings

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

More ibis love.

This time the ibis has its wings outstretched. I can’t remember if it had just landed, it was repositioning itself or if it was about to start shaking to get excess water off of itself.

I like how outstretched and large the ibis’ wings appear, as well as the pattern created by the way the feathers are positioned.

I think there’s something rather majestic about the ibis overall.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week.
I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit.

A lot of what people are submitting will likely end up here.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 692: Rainy Wednesday Ramble

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Alright, so there are birds outside and they are making their bird noises. It was raining earlier, but now it is not raining. I hope it holds out as the rain seems to have a predilection for its ability to detrimentally impact the Internet connection here, which is not something that I find rather fun when I have to work as now I cannot work and thus am not earning money. Fun times, let me tell you.

Still, the sound of birds outside is something I find rather peaceful; at least, right now that is. Sometimes it is highly annoying, which of course is highly annoying, but there are worse things to have to deal with, all things considered and all that jazz and so on and so forth.

Now they’ve stopped and all I’m left with is the sound of my ears ringing out into the nothingness, trying to compensate for what they may or may not think is a lack of sound when there should be some, even though there still is a sound out there that can be heard. It is the sound of music and it is coming from this little computational device that I am using to type this all out.

The music must increase in volume as even though it is audible, it is not audible enough. I want to hear all the things in the background of the music and how they intermingle with what is in the foreground. Does it all become one unified sound, or does it all split off into different things that move toward one end? How rich is the sound? How grand is the song? What is the thing that is the thing?

Instead of doing so, however, I’ll just turn it up only a little so as to not disturb everyone who might still be in a state of rest, as I am not the only person home and others need their sleep at even this hour of the day. It is the way that things go here and that isn’t necessarily an issue, as far as I’m concerned.

It would be nice if the birds returned and brought a little bit of outside noise with them so as to have it travel into the inside of where I am. I’d hear it, find it peaceful once more and then get back on with getting on with what it was that I was doing, assuming that I was indeed doing anything at all, as it seems right now that I wasn’t really doing much but am now warming up and getting ready to tackle the everything so as to be able to get this done and so much more, but perhaps instead of all of that I’ll just have another day of being lazy.

On the plus side there will be many different sounds of which I will be able to experience. They’ll just be coming from this small device I use to write words I use.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:38:26

I feel as though this is weak. I don’t think I let myself wander enough.

Written at home.

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Strepera graculina in Flight

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

I’m glad this photo turned out as well as it did in monochrome as it was rather unpleasant in colour. Shame the background isn’t a little sharper, but the pied currawong looks quite good, I think.

The photo gives a sense of movement. I think it does a really good job of showing how (in relation to body shape) the currawong flies.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 691: The Way Things go

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

It was a long day of not getting much done, but now my ear is relieved of the pain it once endured, thought that happened this morning and not this afternoon, so I don’t know why I’m writing about it now other than the fact that it was something that happened today and I’m in the mood for not doing much writing but still feel a need to do so.

It turned out that there was a small chunk of earplug foam stuck in my ear. It’s out and things are slowly returning back to how they were, which is a small victory as far as I’m concerned.

Other things I’m concerned about is not doing enough reading right now, but sometimes that is the way things go.

Well, now with that out of the way I don’t know as to what else I can say. I guess I didn’t think far ahead enough, but sometimes that’s how things go so I guess I’ll need to make up the rest of this as quickly as I can so as to give the whole thing the impression of legitimacy, though perhaps I won’t be able to achieve that. Not sure yet. We’ll find out at the end of the whole thing.

Now that I think about it, I really did not get much done today. I could have gotten more done, but I didn’t. Sometimes that is the way things go, and to be honest I’m okay with that for now. It may be due to being so close to going to bed and feeling rather relaxed, and also relieved about the ear, but right now things are alright. Tomorrow is a different story. Tomorrow needs to be quite productive before the hour of the commencement of work and I think I can pull that kind of productivity off. Will need to see, of course, but see is what we will indeed do.

For now it’s just writing and getting out words and trying to build up a bit more action for the end of the day before I go and lie down and rest my head and sleep and drift off to a bunch of dreams that I may or may not remember.

I felt like that was a conclusion and it kind of was, but now I’ve all this extra space that I feel I need to fill and don’t know what to fill it with, but on the plus side this is filling it, thus fulfilling the purpose of filling space with words even though these were not the words I was hoping to use, but sometimes that is the way things go and… well, perhaps next time there will be more information. There may not be, but there could be and that is something.

But then again, to what would that information relate? I’m not quite sure, but I guess that when I get to the next one I’ll be able to elucidate you all… I think.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:40:41

A few nights ago I wrote down something that I wanted to use as a starting point for writing. Instead of using that, I wrote this instead.

Happy about the ear. Not so much about this text. This came out kind of okay. There’s something that perhaps I could’ve worked into something better, but instead I didn’t.

Written at home.

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Gotta Shake

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

A shot of an ibis shaking water out of its feathers.
It’s not something I get to see too often.

I think I did a good job of capturing the motion of the shake, as well as some of the water coming off the ibis.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 690: Back to the Beginning

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Slight stabbing motion in the sounds but that’s okay as this is the building to something else. It is building to something bigger, but not so massive that it will topple over. All of this is precise and there is some gliding, but it still remains precise. It is on point. It is tight. There is a sense of the ominous, but rather than become something all-encompassing and engulfing, instead it keeps the drama and shifts it into something far more celebratory.

The voices move along with the music and blend to create something far more beautiful and moving than I had expected.

That was the end and now it’s back to the beginning, but I don’t know if I have that much time. Doesn’t matter. It’s soft, it’s warm and it seems to be heralding in the dawn of the morning upon whatever particular place on earth it is focused upon. Long stretch of drone, the brass comes out, more strings continually descend and then the chorus comes in and really enhances the celebratory feel of the whole thing. Almost sublime. Almost entirely beautiful. Rather triumphant. What a way to start an album.

Next what comes in is something a little less triumphant, but more mournful and willing to pay tribute to someone almost along the way. It rings out and reinterprets its source in a way that preserves the original intent of the song whilst carrying it into something new. Underlying melodies and meaning are brought forth and given a bit more focus and a bit more clarity. There’s something gentle and that soon is replaced by something a bit more escalating. Still gentle, but with a bit more confidence. A sense of fondness for someone long gone is more readily available to the listener and to the meaning of the song. It carries forth a beautiful tune and shapes a landscape of personality in a way.

There is more, but there is not enough space to express it all. The tunes carry forward on a small breeze and into the area around me and all I do is let it be absorbed. This is something to be experienced, as they say. Right now I am experiencing it. I am letting myself be carried away along paths of discovery and nuance and I feel as though the music is stronger than it could have been as it certainly is providing something rather satisfying to the ears, though in places perhaps it might’ve been better off being reduced in its time. There is a lot to pull out of this, but at the same time there is little in places.

That said, overall what is being heard is worthwhile. The experience provides something beautiful and highly expressive which works for the kind of music that this just so happens to be. Something rather romantic about it in places, though some of it certainly has an ugliness. It all works well together which is part of what makes it worthwhile.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:38:26

I think that I halted myself whilst writing this. There’s a bit of a struggle from around just before the halfway point to the end.

I think that if I’d been less descriptive and embraced more ambiguity this would be a much smoother read.

Written at home.

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