Tuesday Tales: Writing Funny

Welcome to Tuesday Tales, a weekly blog featuring diverse authors posting excerpts from their works in progress based on word and picture prompts. I continue to regain stamina and slowly get back into the swing of things, after a major medical event. I’m so pleased you can join me today, This week the word prompt is funny. My snippet is from a new paranormal piece. Enjoy the other authors at Tuesday Tales.

She breathed in its heavenly aroma—exotic, sweet, and a little peppery. “Oh, that’s amazing. So unusual.” Her eyes closed in delight. “What’s in it?”

Silver eyes glittered. “Sniff again. What do you detect?”

“Jasmine, maybe sandalwood. Subtleties and then something very heady. Tuberose? Ylang ylang? It’s hard to tell.”

“Layers lie beneath the obvious.”

“Violet?”

A tinkle signaled the opening of the door. Dru looked back to see a man enter. Strikingly masculine, dark haired, dressed in jeans and black tee shirt, his glance fell on her without expression and then swept over to the shop owner. He gave a quick nod in greeting, before making his way toward the far corner.

The older woman lowered her voice and unfolded a small square of paper. “Excuse me, I must speak to the gentleman for a moment. Here is the sheet that accompanied the aromatic oil. Read it thoroughly before you decide whether it might suit your needs.” She handed Dru the paper but placed the bottle of oil safely out of reach on the back shelf before heading over to confer with the newly arrived customer.

Dru still had the puff of scented cotton and held it to her nostrils before leaning over with elbows on the counter to read the crinkly instruction sheet.

Her eyes widened. Or, rather, it wasn’t instructions, or even a list of ingredients. Or maybe it was, who knows? She couldn’t decipher it. The words looked like Latin, of all things. How funny. She shook her head as if it had cobwebs. The first part of the text had the shape of a short poem or verse and read:

Exquirentibus veritatem
Ne decipi
Altum ire
In mare
Fode inter ruinas
Et invenietis ibi
Aurum caelesti

Maybe it was a spell? Dru’s spidey sense revved up to overdrive just as the conversation from the corner intruded into her awareness. Although the man’s voice was low, she distinctly heard, “I warned you before. You mustn’t allow that to happen.”

I hope you enjoyed the snippet based on the word prompt funny. Thanks for stopping by. Return to Tuesday Tales.

Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance