cackle
verb, intransitive. To give a raucous, clucking cry (of a bird, typically a hen or goose). To make a harsh sound resembling such a bird’s cry when laughing. Also a noun.
Morose after her long night in the nearly-deserted office, Anna trudged the store aisles, wishing someone else would do the grocery shopping for her once in awhile. It got so old, so tiresome, week after week--the same choices, the rising prices. It was always different, yet it never changed.
She finally came to the end of her list and made her way to the checkout stations at the front of the store. A few more customers were there than there had been when she started shopping, but not many. She had her choice of registers, and when Erin smiled and beckoned, she chose hers. Her bad mood didn’t lift at Erin’s pleasant greeting, and she knew her glum reply wasn’t very polite. She just couldn’t seem to shake off her depression.
As Erin scanned the last few items, Anna heard the cashier at her back cackle, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the coolest of them all?” She saw Erin’s face crumple, then return to its usual bland expression with effort. It was as if Anna had been waiting for that inspiration all night, and perhaps she had. A profound belly-laugh gripped her and she let it take hold, let it out as she counted money, handed it to Erin and watched her count out the change. She was still laughing aloud as she put her purse away and pushed the cartful of sacks out the door to the parking lot.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Babble
babble
verb, intransitive or transitive. To talk rapidly and continuously in a foolish, excited, or incomprehensible way. To utter something rapidly and incoherently. To reveal something secret or confidential by talking impulsively or carelessly. Also an adjective or noun.
After the crash echoed through the building, he rose from his desk and went in search of its cause. It had sounded as if it came from the warehouse at the rear of the shop. As he approached that area, he joined a stream of others from the front offices, all babbling at once.
He did not join the chatter. He was thinking about what could have caused a noise loud enough to startle everyone in the front of the building. Nothing but silence had followed, and if anything, that was more ominous than the crash. He hoped he would find only a spilled pile of merchandise or a crumpled wall panel that had been hit by a forklift: anything but an unconscious or injured employee.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, intransitive or transitive. To talk rapidly and continuously in a foolish, excited, or incomprehensible way. To utter something rapidly and incoherently. To reveal something secret or confidential by talking impulsively or carelessly. Also an adjective or noun.
After the crash echoed through the building, he rose from his desk and went in search of its cause. It had sounded as if it came from the warehouse at the rear of the shop. As he approached that area, he joined a stream of others from the front offices, all babbling at once.
He did not join the chatter. He was thinking about what could have caused a noise loud enough to startle everyone in the front of the building. Nothing but silence had followed, and if anything, that was more ominous than the crash. He hoped he would find only a spilled pile of merchandise or a crumpled wall panel that had been hit by a forklift: anything but an unconscious or injured employee.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Camp Ross Trails in the Queen City Discovery Blog
I ran across the Queen City Discovery blog while surfing. The link below is about the old Girl Scout camp where I spent a few weekends with my troop in the early 1960s. Those campouts were the inspiration for the title story in my anthology: Decision at Camp Ross Trails, and Other Stories, published for the Kindle -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007EDBNIO -- and on Smashwords for all other e-readers -- https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/175357 .
The place changed a lot after it was closed in 1989, but the 2005 photos on the Queen City Discovery post brought back a lot of memories nonetheless.
Queen City Discovery: Camp Ross Trails
Ann Witz's 1999 photos give a better idea of what the camp looked like in its heyday -- http://camprosstrails.intuitwebsites.com/index.html
The place changed a lot after it was closed in 1989, but the 2005 photos on the Queen City Discovery post brought back a lot of memories nonetheless.
Queen City Discovery: Camp Ross Trails
Ann Witz's 1999 photos give a better idea of what the camp looked like in its heyday -- http://camprosstrails.intuitwebsites.com/index.html
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