The Unicorn Challenge: Sandbags at Dawn



Beryl draped the second sandbag over the first, over the sign’s stand. Berylette, the imp perched on her right shoulder, whispered they’re peeling, the letters, peel them more, rearrange the letters, extend the tour.

On her left shoulder, Berylene threw her halo around the back of Beryl’s head, which caught on one of Berylette’s horns with a loud clang, before returning around the front of Beryl’s head like a circular boomerang. Berylene whispered you can’t do that, it‘s already too long, sending them that way will be wrong.

“Ladies! Ladies! Please! Be quiet!” Beryl shouted, mopping her brow and temporarily dislodging Berylette. “I’m not listening to either of you. I’m not opening the shortcut, ‘Ene, and I’m not making them go the long way around, ‘Ette. However, I am keeping hold of this third sandbag for my own personal collection. ”

Good idea, block the road, force a different path ne’er told, Berylette fizzed with joy.

Yes, for the beaver’s dam, I see, block the force of the swelling stream, Berylene began to glow whiter than white.

“No, neither. I’m still not listening to you. I’m keeping this one to use with the others and prop the doors open tomorrow morning to allow some cool air to flow through the house for once.”

Berylette and Berylene said nothing in agreement. Beryl knew that the only way for silencing her hot-headed consciences was to keep them cool, especially before working on the road. Sandbags at dawn being her latest idea.

The Unicorn Challenge, from Jenne Gray and C E Ayr : to post something up to 250 words using a picture provided by them as a prompt. This week, we visit Beryl. Remember Beryl? She’s somehow, bizarrely, got herself a job working on the roads. Unless this Beryl isn’t that Beryl. It seems unlikely, but that Beryl keeps popping up in the strangest of locations.

๐Ÿฆ„

Visit Jenne’s blog for more details on this challenge!

๐Ÿฆ„

17 responses to “The Unicorn Challenge: Sandbags at Dawn”

  1. jenne49 avatar

    Goodness me, opposing consciences that speak in rhyme – nice one, Tom.
    But Beryl seems to havde the measure of them.
    A fun story and I like the word play on ‘sandbags at dawn’.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Jenne. I was quite surprised with where this story went. When I first saw the photo, I couldn’t think of anything, so looked at the individual elements. The sandbags jumped out at me, and the phrase sandbags at dawn popped into my head… and then, I just wrote! Towards the end, I thought that the character should be Dawn, but decided to stick with the Beryls! ๐Ÿ˜Š

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Doug Jacquier avatar

    Well, that went into multi-layered mayhem pretty quickly. Fun take on a difficult prompt.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Doug. I had to use one element and then go from there! Mayhem’s always good in stories, I find! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Eugi avatar

    Wow! Superb take on the prompt, Tom!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Eugenia! It was a bit of a surprise to me, actually! ๐Ÿคฃ

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Eugi avatar

        Mos welcome, Tom!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar

    Very cool take, Tom! I guess I should pay more attention to the voices in my head!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Nancy. ๐Ÿ™‚
      I have a cast of (possibly) thousands of Inners, I write about them on the blog sometimes, so it seems only fair the characters should have them too! ๐Ÿคฃ
      This was a tricky prompt. Fun, but tricky!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar

        It will be interesting to read all the different takes.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Tom avatar

          The main lot who appear are an Inner Tom, Thomasina (my Inner Woman), Fingers (my Inner Typist), Tummy (my Inner Mummy (he’s quite new, bizarrely!)) and Tombie (my Inner Zombie). They seem quite Halloweeny, but they turn up at any time of the year! I ๐Ÿ˜ƒ They turn things into a right farce!

          Liked by 1 person

          1. The Sicilian Storyteller avatar

            I’m looking forward to meeting all your Inners, Tom. Sounds like a fascinating bunch!

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Tom avatar

              “Fascinating” is one way to describe them…! ๐Ÿคฃ They should be along soon… they’re due another outing! ๐Ÿ˜Š

              Liked by 1 person

  5. Chris Hall avatar

    Nicely done!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Chris! ๐Ÿ˜Š

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Keith's Ramblings avatar

    A delightfully different take Tom. You’ve got me wondering if there’s a word for a person that collects sandbags!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tom avatar

      Thanks, Keith… and you’ve got me wondering that now, too! ๐Ÿคฃ

      Like

Leave a reply to Tom Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.