Tags
beauty, butterfly, dorindaduclos.com, flowers, Laurelwood Arboretum, monarch, nature, Night Owl Poetry, Photography, red and yellow flowers, Wordless Wednesday
All photos ©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
01 Wednesday Aug 2018
Posted in My Photography, Photography, Wordless Wednesday
Tags
beauty, butterfly, dorindaduclos.com, flowers, Laurelwood Arboretum, monarch, nature, Night Owl Poetry, Photography, red and yellow flowers, Wordless Wednesday
All photos ©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
31 Tuesday Jul 2018
Tags
#poetry, 31 days, comedy, crime drama, dorindaduclos.com, fun, July prompts, limerick, Michelle, Night Owl Poetry, poems, rhyme, Thank You, word prompt, writing, ~M
Now that July’s challenges are through
I have to find something else to do
I suppose, with this time
I could write you a rhyme
Or perhaps, a limerick or two
**********************************************
A HUGE Thank You to all who stuck with me while I took you on the crazy adventures of Agent N. Owl and her crew, and to all who grabbed bits and pieces of the story! Remember, you can find it all here: On the Trail of a Mastermind
The end result? 13,195 words (phew) And ~M is still on the loose!!
But seriously…
I could not have done this without Michelle!! Her writing prompts were the catalysts to this entire story. I can’t thank her enough for doing these writing prompts every month, no matter how busy her schedule may be!
Bring on August! I can’t wait!
31 Tuesday Jul 2018
Posted in July Writing, short story
Tags
#JulyWriting, army, arrested, arsonist, Australia, Auti, book, Brian, candles, car, Charles, cobblestones, crime solving, dark, detective, dinner, doors, doorway, dorindaduclos.com, drums, eruptions, fire, game, gas, jiggled, joggled, magic, Michael, mind games, Night Owl Poetry, Penelope, persnickety, plane, powerful, Putting My Feet in the Dirt, riddle, Sarah C, schemes, sleeping powder, The Tenneesee Poet, tunnel, Walt, windows, words, writing, writing prompt, ~M
Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice! If you’ve missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!

After all this, enough was enough
The case had been extremely tough
I needed to take a vacation
Far away from the station
Somewhere that wasn’t so rough
~M was gone now, the case had been closed
They didn’t need us, so I left, unopposed
Packed my bags in my trunk
To get away from this funk
But whereto, I would leave, undisclosed
Far away, from the city and grime
Of having to fight all this crime
Had enough of the dirt
And that lemon dessert
Need to just relax for some time
Managed to survive Fred and Cory
And Mildred, well she’s another story
Then there’s Walt with the flame
That’s the name of his game
Now, cooking things in his own laboratory
Penelope, thank God, flew back to Perth
Michael has finally gotten rid of his girth
Swore off lemons for life
Gave them all to his wife
No longer looks like he’s about to give birth
Sarah’s back at the office, what a gal
She’s really become quite a pal
Saved me from those awful chains
By simply throwing her planes
Take her with me, on vacation, I shall
As for ~M and her girls, they disappeared
When the time for their trials had neared
Left a note, an inky indenture
“See you soon, on our next adventure!”
Three masterminds on the loose, oh dear!
And so ends this case, rather grand
Though nothing went as we planned
Still, there may come a day
But now, there’s nothing more to say
Let me be, with my feet in the sand
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Until next time, this is N. Owl, signing off 🙂
July Writing Prompt – Inky Adventures – Day 31/31 – The entire 31 days can be found HERE
©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0
31 Tuesday Jul 2018
Tags
#poetry, calm, cope, darkness, dorindaduclos.com, Hope, life, Night Owl Poetry, panic, poems, shout, writing
Dedicated to all who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. I feel your pain…

My body shivers, at times, it quakes
Hour upon hour, never ending
I think, this must be a grave mistake
And life plays its game, quite offending
I try to be calm, breath in and out
But nothing is working for me
All I really want to do is to shout
Allowing the darkness to break free
But the darkness is my only hope
It comforts me, right to my core
Helping me find the right way to cope
When I’m wondering, what it’s all for
©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0
30 Monday Jul 2018
Posted in July Writing, short story
Tags
#JulyWriting, army, arrested, arsonist, Australia, Auti, book, Brian, candles, car, Charles, cobblestones, crime solving, dark, detective, dinner, doors, doorway, dorindaduclos.com, drums, eruptions, fire, game, gas, jiggled, joggled, magic, Michael, mind games, Night Owl Poetry, Penelope, persnickety, plane, powerful, Putting My Feet in the Dirt, riddle, Sarah C, schemes, sleeping powder, The Tenneesee Poet, tunnel, Walt, windows, words, writing, writing prompt, ~M
Join me every day at Noon EST for the continuing adventures of the bungling detective, N. Owl, in her quest to bring the mastermind, ~M, to justice! If you’ve missed any episodes, you can find them HERE!

Making my getaway only proved more of hazard than a Godsend. Walt floored the gas pedal to get us away from there as fast as possible. I think I left my stomach about a mile or so back. Actually, it felt more like death dangling in front of me. It didn’t matter, though. The police were coming up fast, siren’s getting louder as they gained on us. Making a sharp turn, Walt pulled in to a parking garage, turned off the car, and we ducked out of sight. The cars whizzed right by us. Pfft, dopes.
Catching my breath, I thanked Walt for his bravery, and said we should split up. This way, even if they did catch up to us, we wouldn’t both be thrown in jail. I had had enough of it already, and didn’t want a repeat performance. Looking around, I exited the car and began walking. I had no idea where I was heading, until I found myself smack in front of ~M’s house. I’ll never learn.
Looking up, I could see a young girl’s head peeking through the curtain. I was guessing it was ~M’s littlest one. I had seen her by the window before. I had to be on the lookout for her older daughter. If one was in the house, the other was out, and that made me nervous. And where was ~M? I continued walking, hoping the little girl didn’t see me. Silly me. These were ~M’s girls. Of course she saw me. Not to mention I was the only one on the street.
I threw my hands up in the air, as if in defeat, and smiled. The front door opened, and the youngest made her way down the path. I waited until she got close enough to me, and then put my hand up to stop her. She did, with a very quizzical look on her face. There was no denying she was ~M’s. I imagined it was how ~M looked at this age. An ever scheming mind hidden in a veil of innocence.
“Where’s your mother?” I asked.
“She’s not home” she replied. “She’s out with my sister. You can wait inside if you like.”
I wasn’t falling for that. I shook my head no, and proceeded, “I know you know who I am, and that I’ve been after your mom for some time now.” She nodded. “But I need to find her and bring her to justice. She can’t keep getting away with these challenges of hers. It’s causing perpetual pandemonium! And those poor pigeons. They’ve be deplumed! (Is that a word?). I’ve been down cobblestone passages, gotten stuck in a parade, dealt with a firebug, lost track of time, had to move mutts and a pesky milkman, and deal with a food fight consisting of lemon mush! I’m exhausted. Please, ask her to come out.”
The little girl looked amused, turned on her heels and went back into the house. It felt like an eternity had passed and still no sign of ~M. I imagined the three of them were in there, laughing away. And I wouldn’t blame them. They had outsmarted my crew and me over and over again. The only thing left was to plead my case and hope for the best. I didn’t get it. A loud roar from the back of the house indicated something was happening. Suddenly, a helicopter was hovering above me, with no other than ~M at the controls. Damn, she’s a pilot, too? That was the end. They waved goodbye and the bird was gone in a whoosh, and a crap load of dirt, flying everywhere, that sent me toppling backwards and plum on my ass. Serves me right.
I picked myself up, booked my flight home and waited for the bashing of a lifetime. I figured my days at the bureau were over. And once again, I was wrong. Chief was waiting for me when I landed, congratulated me for making it back alive, and said “see ya in the morning.” Apparently, other agents hadn’t been so lucky. Even though I had failed the task put before me, he didn’t let me go. Breathing in a welcome breath of air, and sneezing my brains out (I’ll never learn), I headed home. By this time, I realized I was really pooped from all the running around. I chased after a woman who had no intentions of ever being caught. Still…
~M was good, but not that good. Even though she took off with the girls, she left behind the one thing she was never without. Her plume. I knew she’d be back for it, and I’d be waiting for her, but this time, on my turf.
Stay tuned for one more day from this crime solving wordsmith…
July Writing Prompt – Death Dangled – Day 30/31
©2018 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved
Photo via Pixabay CC0