forum Word of the Day prompts (Day 55)

Started March 30, 2018 by @AmmyPajammy

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Wow! I can't believe it! I didn't realize how popular this post was, I'm tearing up a little 😊 I'm so proud of you guys. I promise to restart this. Starting Monday, I'll make up for all the days I stopped, and then I'll continue on schedule. The Word of the Day is back in business baby!

I’ve been following this thread every day; I just haven’t gotten around to posting until now. I’m going to try to use all 33 words in the same post to make up for it (hopefully I didn’t miss any)!

I turn the corner onto Maple Street, my heart palpitating with each step. I can see the dilapidated mansion from here. Time to change.
I quickly look behind me, then in front, and then to each side. No one’s around, and most of the houses have their curtains drawn; as for the ones that don’t, I don’t see anyone through them. Despite this stroke of serendipity, though, I surreptitiously wander off the road behind a tall cedar, close my eyes, and concentrate as hard as I can, and the familiar surge of energy ripples through my body as I imagine the words Loading HALIFAX CASNER blinking in front of me on a digital screen. Got to be in Hally mode now.
I smile as I look at my hands to see my fingernails which are no longer gross and bitten down and pull down a few strands of hair to corroborate that it’s a lighter brown than when I was Oliver, and desperately hope that the rest of me looks exactly like I should. I wish I could change my clothes whenever I shapeshift. Oh, well. Got to have a few drawbacks, I guess. At least I made Hally have the same body shape as me.
I step back onto the road and make my way up to the mansion. It looks scarier up close. The grass is uncut, there’s a silver knocker in the shape of a lion’s head, and I can see ivory curtains, dusty and frayed, through the windows. Joel arrives a couple of minutes later.
“Hey, Hally!” he says with a grin. I don’t know how he can have so much zeal considering what we’re about to do. Then again, he’s the total antithesis of me. He’s congenial, adventurous, and audacious, while I’m an aloof and lackadaisical coward.
“Hey, Joel,” I say, silently lauding myself for my successful transformation.
“You ready?” he asks, his cerulean blue eyes sparkling.
“Yeah,” I lie, reminding myself that Halifax is braver than Oliver. “So, where’s your paperclip?”
“Right here,” he replies, pulling it out and flashing it before trying it in the lock.
“You sure you can pick it?”
“Positive.” He jiggles the paperclip in every direction, and after a minute or so I’m about to say that we should try something else when he twists the paperclip and I hear a click. He beams and swings the door open, gesturing grandiosely at his achievement.
“Wow, awesome,” I remark, impressed by his ingenuity.
“Let’s go,” he says, smirking mischievously.
I trepidatiously follow him into the first room. It’s pretty dark considering it’s only three in the afternoon, but Joel flicks on a light switch and I gawk at the surroundings before cautiously shutting the door. I close it enough so we’re not out in the open but leave a gap just small enough so we can make a quick escape.
“Whoa,” says Joel breathlessly. There’s a brown desk with an intricately decorated lantern on it, a large faded pink sofa, and a now-brightly lit chandelier with dozens of little lights in it. On the walls there’s a stained glass window and a wooden shelf filled with an eclectic range of flasks with a rainbow of liquids and powders and diminutive stones and other stuff inside, labelled with mysterious symbols. I go over to a bookshelf and pull out a heavy blue tome with some more weird symbols, a facet that only accentuates the creepiness of this place.
“This is freaky,” I say.
“Come on, I thought you were brave,” Joel says teasingly.
“Yeah, well, that’s a complete and utter fallacy,” I mutter, staring at a cobweb in the corner. Ugh. I hate spiders.
“Look at these!” he says, holding up two of the flasks and holding one of them, with bright blue liquid in it, up to the light. The other one contains a crimson solution that looks thicker when he swishes it which reminds me of blood, although I really hope it isn’t.
“Yeah,” I say uneasily, fully aware I’m acting like Oliver right now but too uneasy to really care. I open the book just as I hear a loud tinkle of broken glass on the floor, a sound that’s only amplified by the eerie silence of the mansion. My head jerks up at Joel and my jaw drops in horror.
“Joel!” I whisper-shout furiously, leaving the book on the table and rushing over to where he dropped not one, but both flasks, translucent blue and deep red puddles that flow into each other and coalesce—the puddle is a sickening orange where they meet.
“I’m sorry!” he says in panic, no longer showing a blithe disregard for trespassing onto private property but genuinely realizing that we should not have come here.
“Be careful,” I say. “Don’t step in that.” The blue was getting dangerously close to his sneaker, and I have no idea what those strange potions do. He quickly backs away, and I watch the two liquids softly bubble as they flow into each other.
“Oh, gosh!” he exclaims suddenly. “What is that stench?” At first I have no idea what he’s talking about, but then I gradually begin to smell the horrible miasma that pervades the air, something like a combination of burnt rubber and water treatment plants.
“Whatever that stuff you made is,” I say, having to cover my nose with my shirt.
“I can’t stand it,” he says. “Come on, let’s explore another room.”
“Are you serious?” I ask incredulously. “We’ve done enough to this place! Our fingerprints are all over. We’re in enough trouble if anyone catches us!”
“Come on, please, Hally?” he begs, just as the doorknob jiggles. Both of us quickly turn our focus to the door in horror. Joel mutters something under his breath.
“Alright, escape plan,” I say quickly. “What do we do?” But Joel has no time to answer, because the door is roughly yanked open, and a menacing-looking man stands in the doorway.
“Okay, you two,” he says. “You’re coming with me.”
“Run!” Joel shouts. He grabs two more flasks off the shelf, hurls them at the police officer, and launches the giant book I left on the table through the tall window at the back of the room. If the breaking flasks was loud, this is deafening, but I don’t have time to cringe as both of us race for the window and jump through it. I’m panicking so much that I can’t tell if the officer is on our tail or not. I wonder if he’ll shoot us. What an ignoble way to die, being killed after trespassing into a mansion and destroying it to a point where restitution is probably impossible.
I sprint for about a minute before realizing that Joel isn’t with me. I have no idea where he or the officer are, but I can’t let the police find me. The police officer knows what Halifax looks like. I do a quick check around the area as I run. Empty. Okay. Concentrate, Oliver, concentrate.
Loading CODY LIGHT.
And right then, I stumble into a girl.
Oh, no.
She gapes at me as we both get up. I start to run the other way, but she grabs me by my T-shirt.
“What was that?” she gasps. “You had brown hair two seconds ago, and now it’s blond! And your face—it looks so different!”
“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say disingenuously, silently kicking myself over making such an erroneous mistake. How did I not notice her? How? I need to stop transforming while running.
Today has certainly not been my most judicious day.
“I saw you!” she says frantically. “I saw what you did! What are you?”
“I can’t tell you,” I say, shaking my head feverishly. It’s just my luck that as soon as I surmount one obstacle, I run headfirst into another.
“You’re a shapeshifter!” she says, gripping my wrists. “How did you do it? Are you an alien? I promise I won’t tell anyone!”
I nervously glance around to see if anyone’s nearby. A maudlin and somber-looking woman slowly walks down the sidewalk and sighs as she sits down on a bench with a black leather bag slung over her shoulder.
“I can’t tell you here,” I say, shaking my head again. The girl turns around to see the woman on the bench.
“Then come with me,” she says, “and we can talk.”
The gears in my brain turn rapidly as I think about the predicament I’ve just gotten myself into.
I couldn’t just be a normal boy. No, I had to get preternatural powers, didn’t I? And with the hegemony that potential friends have over me, I stupidly let Joel lead me into that house which resulted in me revealing my secret to a perfect stranger. And now I’m trapped.
The very small upside: she never has to see me again. I can go home, retrograde into Oliver, and never turn into Hally or Cody ever again. No one ever has to know it’s me. But considering how fast I’m losing usable forms that I’m familiar with, extrapolate that forward a few days and I’m going to have to come up with a whole new set of appearances.
“Alright,” I say. “Let’s go.”

Goodness, gracious! This was definitely a feat! Good work, you are a master of words 🎓

Ok, so I just realized that it's been two whole weeks since I last did this, so there's no way I'll be able to make up for all those days at the length that I normally do it, so I gotta cheat a bit. Ok, y'all -cracks knuckles- let's do this!

The word for May 2 is: ennui

Ennui, which is a noun, is defined as "a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom"

The girls sighed as their mother launched into the second hour of her lecture, an unmistakable feeling of ennui taking hold of them as their minds began to wander elsewhere.

The word for May 3 is: sporadic

Sporadic, which is an adjective, is defined as:

• "(of similar things or occurrences) appearing or happening at irregular intervals in time; occasional"
• "appearing in scattered or isolated instances, as a disease"
• "isolated, as a single instance of something; being or occurring apart from others"
• "occurring singly or widely apart in locality"

Lyra was conveniently never home when Conarith had her sporadic bouts of paranoia and insanity.

The word for May 4 is: melodious

Melodious, which is an adjective" is defined as:

• "of the nature of or characterized by melody; tuneful"
• "producing melody; sweet-sounding; musical"

Despite Dinah's imposing size and build, her voice was quite melodious and disarmed all who heard it.

The word for May 5 is: capricious

Capricious, which is an adjective, is defined as "subject to, led by, or indicative of a sudden, odd notion or unpredictable change; erratic".

Paprika's capricious racing style left her opponents baffled as to what direction she was coming from, or what she might do next.

The word for May 6 is: vivacious

Vivacious, which is an adjective, is defined as "lively; animated; spirited".

Zela, while often aloof and quiet around others, became just as vivacious and verbose as an excited child whenever the subject of history entered the conversation.

The word for May 7 is: aptitude

Aptitude, which is a noun, is defined as:

• "capability; ability; innate or acquired capacity for something; talent"
• "readiness or quickness in learning; intelligence"
• "the state or quality of being apt; special fitness"

While as dainty as any princess ought to be, it was not wise to underestimate Princess Elleen; she was a crack shot with a bow and arrow and had an aptitude for swordsmanship, the likes of which have not been seen since her father's glory days.

The word for May 8 is: zenith

Zenith, which is a noun, is defined as:

• "the point on the celestial sphere vertically above a given position or observer"
• "a highest point or state; culmination"

At the zenith of the sacred mountain, Princess Elleen and her knight finally completed their journey, and professed their undying love.

The word for May 9 is: cantankerous

Cantankerous, which is an adjective, is defined as "disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish".

The cranky confectioner was the textbook definition of a cantankerous old lady. After all, how many old women lived alone in a forest surrounded by bear traps?

The word for May 10 is: stipulation

Stipulation, which is a noun, is defined as "a condition, demand, or promise in an agreement or contract".

Conarith managed to avoid jail time for her crimes under the stipulation that she had to seek help for her mental illness, as well as be separated from her children while undergoing treatment.

The word for May 11 is: discordant

Discordant, which is an adjective, is defined as:

• "being at variance; disagreeing; incongruous"
• "disagreeable to the ear; dissonant; harsh"

The discordant sound of the Central Clock Tower's giant bell rang in the distance.

The word for May 12 is: rambunctious

Rambunctious, which is an adjective, is defined as:

• "difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous"
• "turbulently active and noisy"

Conarith leaped into action and quickly rounded up her rambunctious children before they could follow each other into the river.

The word for May 13 is: succinct

Succinct, which is an adjective, is defined as:

• "expressed in few words; concise; terse"
• "characterized by conciseness or verbal brevity"
• "compressed into a small area, scope, or compass"

You could tell that if Zela did not care for you if she spoke to you in a clipped tone and a succinct manner.

And with that, we're all caught up! Stay tuned tonight for the next vignette!

Today's Word of the Day is: gravitas

Gravitas, which is a noun, is defined as "seriousness or sobriety, as of conduct or speech".

Mylla gave her wife an annoyed look. It was not enough that Lyra was acting so flippant, but also that she genuinely did not understand the gravitas behind the situation. If Lyra were just being cavalier, that would be one thing. But Mylla knew all too well that her poor fool of a wife truly did not understand.

"Lyra, this is actually a bad thing," Mylla said with barely contained exasperation.

Lyra gave a look of confusion. "Why would this be a bad thing? So your dad's not actually your dad; he loves you like he's your dad, so who cares?"

"How would you feel if you found out that your father wasn't truly your father?" Mylla exclaimed.

"I'd be really confused," Lyra said with a shrug. "I mean, it would be impossible for my dad to not be my dad, considering–"

"That's not the point!" Mylla interrupted. She shook her head. "I swear to the Goddess, Lyra. I love you, but you're just so…stupid!"

Mylla immediately regretted her words when her wife took on a look of shame and hurt. How could she say such a thing to the love of her life?

"Gravitas,"Derrick said, looking slowly towards Bob for confirmation.

Bob sighed, running his hand through his curly blond hair. "It grata not gravitas." Bob looked at the other man complaining, "Gosh Derrick, I taught you this just a minute ago and you can't remember that?! Why on earth am I teaching you Spanish!"

"Fine!" Derrick shouted, miming a gun with his hand, " I'll try again. It's gratata, right?" He finished with a smirk on his face.
Bob sighed again, how was he ever going to get this in Derrick head?
"Why did I even sign up for this?" He groaned.

That was good, but the whole point is to use the word in context to show that you understand what it means.

Oops! Sorry!😯

Hela spun her spear with a determined zeal, watching as the obsidian blade deflect the monster's thirteen arms rapidly. Meanwhile, Cody was charging at it, his sword glowing white in the darkness as he plunged it into the monster's heart. "We did it!" he cheered, holding his hand up for a highfive.
Hela didn't oblige, and after a while, he lowered his hand awkwardly. "This?" she asked, gesturing to the fallen monster. "That was nothing compared to the A-Class from thirty minutes ago," She pulled out the silver sword that it had dropped, turning it over in her hands.

Hela held the sword with reverence, turning the shining blade over. "What does it say?" she wondered out loud.
"Death," Cody said with a strange gravitas, as if he finally understood the seriousness of their mission.

Carl couldn't believe that the boys didnt understand the gravitas of what they did.
All she knew was that it involved two guys and a Titanic reanactment to completely have the pool filled with ice and a fake sobbing Dwayne to completely botch up her pool. These guys didn't even belong here. They were her neighbors.

(How's that? 😶)

It's no biggie! Also, don't be afraid to use any of the other words. I worked really hard on them for you guys despite being sick with the flu 🤒😋

Using the Word 'Rambunctious':

Nidatri gave an exasperated sigh. She was sitting on her haunches, eyes darting left and right as her three hatchlings ran around. It was her second clutch, and, well, it was to be expected for the little ones to start winding up. The green dragonelle had kept them in the cave for most of the morning, and being cooped up for so long, it was no surprise that the little ones were starting to get restless.
The dragonelle finally sighed, standing on all fours. As she started to move, the three chicks started to chirrup, dancing around her paws. Seeing the little ones, a smile came to her muzzle. Nidatri prrumed softly, continuing to walk, being careful where she stepped as the chicks followed closely beneath her. It wasn't long before she was at the entrance of the cave.
The three, rambunctious chicks instantly took off into the open. Nidatri watched, green eyes glowing, pupils thin slits. The dragonelle was on full alert, ready to move swiftly and herd her little ones back to safety should the situation call for it.

Carl couldn't believe that the boys didnt understand the gravitas of what they did.
All she knew was that it involved two guys and a Titanic reanactment to completely have the pool filled with ice and a fake sobbing Dwayne to completely botch up her pool. These guys didn't even belong here. They were her neighbors.

(How's that? 😶)

Perfect