This story is a bit rambling. I was asked to pick the theme for this week. Rather than select from the usual group of topics, i decided to make a list of Jeopardy categories and pick something from that list.

I came up with:

• Amateur lumberjacks of the ancient world
• Words beginning with the number 5
• Fluffy farm animals
• "What am I drinking?"
• Three feet above the earth
• Nature scenes I wish I could un-see

I was unable to pick only one. They are all so very good yet horrible at the same time. I asked my son to do the selecting. The response was he was planning on using them all and challenged me to do the same.

I decided to go him one better. As bonus points, I incorporated the exact wordings of each of the six themes at some point during the story.

Disclaimer: I am aware that none of the primary characters were young men at the same time and the Hindu (aka Arabic) numbering system was not invented until centuries later. I hide behind artistic license as defense for any historical inaccuracies.

Young Socrates swung his tawny axe. A beautiful swing and perfect hit, precisely three feet above the earth on which he stood. Sweat glistened on his brow, his muscles ached. Still he swung and swung and swung, hitting the olive wood log over and over again. He wanted more than anything to steal a glance at the competition. Did he have a chance? Coach had admonished him after the last Olympics to never get distracted, never lose focus. He took another swing. He heard a cheer go up. Sneaking a glance, he saw Pericles had finished. The young man stood, breathing heavily, arms held high, drinking in the cheers from the crowd.

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Iesha woke with a start. The alarm flare had been fired off. It made a shrieking sound as it climbed into the night sky and then a low explosion as the world around them turned bright red with glowing flare dust. Her heart froze. She could see the red glow through the entrance flap in the large tent she was in as it was buffeted by the winds. The flare dust would last for only a few minutes in this wind. Just like it had last time.

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A fire hose was open in the sky above the small town of Duncan, Missouri, and Mark Thompson was under it, in his car, on a road that if the local weather forecaster was right, would be underwater by this time tomorrow.

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1711 A.D. – Nantucket

She finished up her work for the day with precision. She was sharp, quick, and very much proud of her certainty in putting things in order. Just as her hands had begun to ache fiercely and she fiercely longed for the fresh cup of tea she reminded herself of her unwavering discipline to complete the task at hand. She had dusted and oiled their tools and stowed them in their proper places. She had swept and snuffed the candles to the wood room and moved into the next warmest section of their house with the lantern. She had her own house. Well, it was her and her John's house. She simply had all the time in the world, and if there was anything she had had too much of, it was that. She had grown rich in it and painfully aware of it and after all the years spent alone, she was just about finished with it.

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Another story in the pirate theme. The title popped into my head one night as I was falling asleep. It would not be denied.

Sarah is an army brat. Her dad is an Army Ranger. Fortunately, he has been working a desk job for the past few years. Her mom is much happier now. She remembered years past her putting on a brave face as he left the house for “undisclosed location”, then the constant worry until he once again appeared at the door. Life is good, except for the moving every six months. For the past four months they had been living in a small south Texas town. The bright side is she now knew how to make new friends fast. She has a new best friend, Julie, partners in crime as they like to refer to themselves.

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This week the chosen theme was pirates or pirating in any sense. Quotidian is an unusual word and means ordinary or everyday, especially when mundane.

Jessica and Bob sat down at their Toscana extended dining table with gray wash finish. Jessica recently acquired this gem at Pottery Barn. She considered it quite the find actually and it was the perfect complement for the faux distressed photo collage frame she picked up at Pier One.

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