Saturday, September 1, 2007

Scrabble words...

Scrabble is one of those board games that you either love or hate. If you're good with words, if you are a speller, then Scrabble is the game for you. If you're competitive and think quickly, then Scrabble is the game for you.

There are a host of people who can't spell, hate words in general and are deliberate thinkers. In a weird quirk of fate, they're usually married to the word lovers that can spell anything. And in that case, a Scrabble game between them is a recipe for disaster.

My husband is one of those who struggle to write a complete sentence. Learning disabilities and inadequate schooling before learning difficulties were recognized and remedied resulted in poor writing, spelling, and even reading skills. Now envision, if you will, playing Scrabble with him. For a while it was "What am I supposed to do with a J?" Now, we've worked it out just fine. He plays using the Scrabble dictionary and I play without it. And the odds are about even.

Certain accomodations in life are necessary sometimes. We've been married almost forty years. He has a tendency to ask me the same question twenty times. That, too, is a function of the haywire learning. I've learned to make sure I have his complete focused attention before I provide an answer. Then there's usually a much longer gap before he demands the answer again.

In the meantime, I collect unusual and interesting words both for my writing and for the occassional Scrabble game. After all, you never can tell when you might need an odd word to fill in the corners of life. Such a word completes a space for Sam in todays blog episode. So read on...

Sam silently contemplated the board while he considered the new information. Louella’s dossier indicated she was both telekinetic and telepathic. He suspected there were other talents as well. As for Jonas, the Brotherhood council had plans for him. His wavering loyalty was going to prove extremely useful when he absconded with the purple box.

With a quiet sigh, Sam lined up his tiles. L-U-C-K-Y. Triple word score.

Louella frowned. That wasn’t supposed to happen. She bit her lip as she studied the board. Her left eyelid twitched, distracting her from the opening in the corner. With a triumphant glare she slapped the tiles in place. Z-L-O-T-Y.

Calmly Sam acknowledged her hit. Then without even a flicker, he dropped his tiles in place. T-R-A-I-T-O-R.

Jonas’s shoulders hunched slightly. As he moved around behind Sam, he drew his gun and gently placed it just below Sam’s ear. “Don’t move.”

Keeping very still, Sam willed Jonas to take the bait.

“Louella, get the purple box from the corner. And don’t bother with the innocent act. We’ve known about you from the beginning.”

She flounced over to the corner and seized the box. “Now what, mister macho man?”

“Now we leave. Get your bag.” Jonas snatched the box from her hands, checking to make sure the seals were intact. “Hurry.”

“What are you going to do with Sam?” she demanded sulkily when she returned with her bag. Nothing was working out like she planned.

Jonas laughed. “Good old Sam is going to bite the bullet.”

Don't forget to check Kelly's blog at http://www.kkirch.blogspot.com/ to find out about her new interest. And then go to Amarinda's to find out about her monster vacuum cleaner from hell at http://www.amarindajones.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow is our day of rest, but on Monday Kelly will continue with the perils of Louella, Sam and Jonas. And we may even find out what's in the purple box.

Anny

IMPROMPTU CONTEST FOR LABOR DAY! Leave a comment on either of my blogs or on my webpage at www.annycook.com with your favority legal Scrabble word by midnight EST on Monday. I'll draw a name or two out of the hat and award a couple of prizes.

12 comments:

  1. Oh there's so many places to go with this!! The bullet, is it a sex toy he'll be biting? Is the purple box filled with purple prose or a euphimism for something naughty? Is Jonas jealous for being left out of the scrabble game or getting left with a q but no u's? Hmm. Wait and see.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Poor Sam...I am sure he gets out of this in some cunning way...Kelly will probably make him invisible??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nah, he SPELLS his way out... P-O-O-F !

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have three favs. Anny you already know one is "haj" (the journey muslims take to Mecca). The other two because of the letters I get stuck with, were born out of necessity: "onyx" and "toxic".

    Spells, invisibility. Hmm... you're giving me ideas. Bibity bobity

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh goodness, this is my first time here, I may have to visit more often *giggle*

    Here are some of the wonky words Gram got me with.

    quetzal
    queazy
    quartz
    muzjik

    ReplyDelete
  6. okay - 'poof' - means something completely differnt in OZ so be careful now. And I have a feeling Kelly is going to write about a character called Daren...call it a pyschic prediction

    ReplyDelete
  7. Welcome Polheber2! If you like Anny, come check out Amarinda and Kelly blog spots. Oh heck, make a morning routine of it why dontcha. :) We aim to amuse. Don't we gals?

    And now, AJ, what does POOF mean in Aussielingo? Cause it can also mean a limp-wrister here. Light in his loafers, metrosexual sort.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Welcome Polheber2! Hope to see you around more. And we certainly aim to amuse among other things.

    Poof--pregnant?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the welcome gals, I think I should make blog hopping part of my morning routine, a little wake up so to speak LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  10. my faves are haiku, quark, and zenon!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oooh, I like those. When this is over, I'm going to have a great list!

    ReplyDelete