Reveille – A Six Sentence Story

January 13, 2017 Off By Lisa

There would be no battle today.

Try as he might to muster the troops, they were slow to form this morning and did not show face; they knew there was no real penalty for showing up late, aside from the steep one he would impose upon himself for failing to make them comply. But that was his problem, not theirs.

Minute after hour he coaxed, forced, and cajoled until finally they assembled, falling into haphazard ranks and files, letters becoming words, sentences, paragraphs, working in concert and flowing freely from his pen.

Still, they were in no condition for battle. The only battle fought today would be the one to save himself.

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Each week, the lovely and talented Ivy Walker hosts a link-up challenging writers to spin a tale in six sentences – no more, no less. 

This week’s cue is RANK.

Click on the link right here to link your own post and read more Six Sentence Stories from some wonderful storytellers.

CategoryLife Self
Tagsfiction Six Sentence Stories writing

About The Author

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

10 Comments

  • Josie Two Shoes says:
    January 13, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    Such a cool and clever take on the cue word for this week! Here I am sensing a Civil War scenario, and then I see that the real war at hand is to get the words to fall into place on the page. The struggle is real! The feeling of accomplishment when it’s finally done is awesome! Keep commanding those lazy letters to get their act together! 🙂

  • Just J says:
    January 13, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    It’s true that we are often so hard on ourselves when we can’t produce writing that we feel we should, and then equally hard on what we do come up with, comparing it to everyone else’s and declaring it weak. Writing is most definitely something that we can practice with regularity, but it cannot be forced, or that will show in the result. Learning to let words flow, that’s easier said than done, but when it happens the result is awesome!

  • UP says:
    January 13, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    My hardest fought battles are with myself.

  • Pat B says:
    January 13, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    What a unique story for this cue! I certainly could relate to this.

  • GirlieOnTheEdge says:
    January 15, 2017 at 8:03 am

    Nicely done, Lisa. It is a battle I’ve been facing for….well you know 😀
    Persistence is the key isn’t it? Knowing when to push yourself and knowing to lay low and let those “troops” assemble. A frustrating process at times.
    “Still, they were in no condition for battle. The only battle fought today would be the one to save himself.” This line – every day.

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