(thanks to cheezburger.com for the photo)
These pieces are called ‘flashers’. They are short scenes or stories of 200 words. They aren’t easy to write, but they are instructive. They exact a certain amount of discipline, as in learning not to love all your words.
Lady Nyo
–
Laura twisted in the wind. Well, rotated in the air conditioning. Bart had a new kick, called ‘Shibari’. An ancient Japanese practice of wrapping things. Precisely. With hidden knots. She should have thought twice when he insisted she strip.
Arms wrapped behind her back, more rope holding her legs together, she sighed. She didn’t mind hanging upside down, was even getting used to the headaches.
Bart, however, was having a bit of his own transformation, and Laura didn’t know if she liked this one bit. He was becoming ‘weirder’, taking up hobbies. Piercing was one, this shibari another. Laura was seeing Bart in a different light, helped along with her new, nighttime vision.
*Goddamn Japanese! Why can’t they stick to wrapping small packages?*
Bart told her ‘shibari’ was the ancient art of “wrapping the heart.” She bought it, didn’t even mind the bananas, mangos and kiwi he stuck between the bindings. He was, after all, a common fruit bat.
Up on the roof, Bart had other plans. From under his wings, he drew out a new black, leather- riding crop. He slapped it on his palm, laughing with glee.
Laura was about to obey.
–
Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2008, 2012
Tags: "Metamorphosis IV", bats, dversepoets.com, fiction, flasher, Jane Kohut-Bartels-author, shibari, Short Story
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
May 22, 2012 at 7:56 pm
A fantastic display of the power of 200 words! I’ve recently played along to a 100 word prompt and you are so right. This is an amazingly difficult process for those of us word addicted…and you have done a masterful job!
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May 22, 2012 at 7:58 pm
well now, i know a few magazines that are looking for something just like this…smiles…flashers is the right moniker for them..smiles…i am having too much fun with you…and i wonder at what point she realizes she got herself in a bit too deep you know…yikes…fruit? ahem i mean to each their own…smiles…nice write jane..
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May 22, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Hi Brian!
Lordy, I don’t know when last I have submitted to a magazine….years and years ago…and those were long articles on permaculture and Quakerism….LOL! Nothing like this~
Fun is always good, Brian, even at my expense. LOL!
This is a very quirky work….out of left field…and I think it was because of the overload of Japanese studies back a few years ago…about 4 or so. I was getting so deep in the culture and history that I needed to come up for air. And…I am VERY anti-bdsm stuff…after learning about it and doing a little practice. Some people act like it’s a religion…and I guess to them…it is.
Not to me! However, I can appreciate the ‘art’ form of Shibari…or could. In the hands of wankos it’s just…wacko.
Thank you, Brian for reading and your comments…always appreciated.
Jane (Bart IS a fruit bat hence the fruit…)
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May 22, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Hiya Tash!
100 words is MUCH more difficult. I haven’t ever tried to do that…and you are right! We are addicted to our words, and reining them in is very difficult. Every word has to count double when you do flashers….
I hope you post some of your 100 word prompts …I would love to read them.
And thank you, Tash…for reading and your comment.
Jane
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May 22, 2012 at 9:58 pm
This series was both hilarious and disturbingly realistic, Jane–I loved it (esp the “..now a widow” line.). Always good to let the pen go where it wills, and see what happens–can be uneven, but it usually has a purpose, and these are lovely exercises in irony and double entendre, as well as being a word discipline to match the sort of bondage discipline–you do it excellently–tie me up in 200 words and who knows what contortions you’d get. 😉
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May 22, 2012 at 10:17 pm
ROTF! Hedgewitch, your comment made me wet my pants! LOL!
Yep, I think sometimes we constrain ourselves because we have a certain ‘idea’ of what we want to project, and it’s cutting off some very important aspects of what we can ultimately do.
The word discipline…of 200 or (yikes! 100 as Natasha is doing…) makes a writer really consider a lot of things….every word has to make double duty in an important way, and you clean out the sludge that comes from our longer attempts…I produce a LOT of sludge…
The final pieces devolve into pure silliness…and that’s ok, because they are a relief to write and for some…to read. I had a lot of fun with these, but I don’t want to continue to add to them. I think I have learned my limit on irony, etc. LOL!
Thanks, Hedge, for reading these and for your lovely comment.
Jane
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May 23, 2012 at 12:35 am
Oooh! Where is it going next? I am loving these.
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May 23, 2012 at 12:46 am
LOL! Rosemary!
They are quirky, and there are (I think…) 4 more to post…I will post one a day if I can remember. So glad you like these…and they are meant to be fun and entertaining….probably not to everyone, but I hope they entertain some here.
Thank you so much for reading this IV and hope you enjoy the rest. ( and the first 3 are on the blog close to this one.)
Jane
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May 23, 2012 at 2:17 am
Oh my! 0_0 Not at all what I expected here. Love it just the same. 😉
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May 23, 2012 at 8:13 am
LOL! maybe it will ‘bloom’ for you after surgery! And the best of luck with this, Yousei Hime!
Hugs,
Jane
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May 23, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Woah, this took quite the turn at the end. It’s cool how, only in 200 words, you were able to include such twists. These “flashers” do seem difficult to write but you did well within the constraints. This had me Googling for more info. on Shibari… interesting write.
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May 23, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Hi Alex…
flashers are difficult but I think once you get a certain ‘mind set’ about them, they fall into place. Actually, being mindful of your words, and making them do either double duty or just shortening our lengthy thoughts makes what works.
Shibari…It’s a fascinating subject, and something I wrote a series on, “Shibari Series” in my first book, “A Seasoning of Lust” from Lulu.com in 2009. I practiced it for a while, learning the ties and then getting bound. You have to (always) be aware of the mentality of the binder, because it can be a really bad trip…and dangerous. Depending upon circumstances. Luckily for me, my husband was there when I was bound by this man who turned out to be a wacko…and because he was pissed at me…he bound me badly. Not in any danger, but just showed his ass. I went on to be bound correctly later, and then??? Well, fell out of practice because in the West there are so many nut cases who proclaim themselves as ‘shibari experts’.
But learn the practice in Japan…the history, military and the theater and stage usage and you will find something fascinating. It’s a deeper subject than our Western bondage…that has more to do with straight bdsm, and I don’t recommend that practice. Ugh. And it’s not necessarily called shibari in Japan.
Lady Nyo
It really is all about the connection…the mental communication between the binder and the bound. When that connection is not there….it’s pointless.
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May 23, 2012 at 9:36 pm
Very cool!
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May 23, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Hello Mama Zen!
I have pedaled down from visiting, but I have missed you! I will come over this week. I wish you had been my mama!
Hugs,
Jane
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May 24, 2012 at 9:39 am
I’ve heard about this art, and think it fascinating how the erotic stirrings of the heart manifest themselves. This little story has a lot of tongue in cheek, and its humorous side is very charming.
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May 24, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Hi Chaz….yes, shibari is an art, but there are a lot of fools who claim to know what they are doing and don’t.
Glad you see the humorous side of this series…that, for me is what makes it work.
Thanks for reading and your comment.
Lady Nyo
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