33 Comments
User's avatar
Diane's avatar

As always I love it. You know even when life is busy and I'm deleting other people's I make a point of reading yours because they always make me smile x

Gary Mays's avatar

Oh Scott, what a story, and what an incredible imagination, that was great 😃

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thank you and thanks for reading!

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thank you Diane I really appreciate your support.

Verdant Butterfly's avatar

Well, that was a fantastic piece, I must say. Damn troublesome, those microwaves.✨🦋

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Many thanks, lot of credit goes to the mag for the great theme and feedback

Kathleen Hobbs's avatar

Scott, remind me not to ring his doorbell to check in on his dog

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Or the basement lol

Kathleen Hobbs's avatar

Definitely not the basement

M.E. Proctor's avatar

I wonder what my mother kept in the microwave I gave her ...

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Ha, and don’t look inside that dusty bread maker.

M.E. Proctor's avatar

Or the dusty bread box for that matter...

DW Davis's avatar

Whoa. Reeling at the twist with the dog. And the fate of the punk. Great read start to finish.

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thank you, it was a great prompt!

C. Lee McKenzie's avatar

Yikes! You scared the stuffing out of me.

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thank you! Great prompt!

K.C. Knouse's avatar

Good one, Scott. Old Jake didn't mess around, did he? Popped the burglar just like that. You opened the door to the ending with this line: "He was ready to move up in class to bigger game." Thanks for the clue. It made the ending all that much better.

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thanks , my friend. Gotta leave some crumbs. This one benefited from an inspired prompt and some sharp editing help.

Rosie B's avatar

Excellent. That ending!

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thank you Rosie, and thanks for reading.

Madeleine Armstrong's avatar

Love the dark turn this took!

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thank you Madeleine! Definitely was nudged that way!

Joe O's avatar

Masterful, as usual, Scott. Such rich details in character and plot, but not a wasted syllable. Thank you

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thanks as always, thx for reading!

Sharron Bassano's avatar

Nine pins, or ten. Makes little difference in a nightmare. Yikes! That's dark stuff, Scott. And very clever inclusion of the three elements of the prompt.

Scott MacLeod's avatar

Thx yes a little darker than usual gotta go where the theme leads!

Sharron Bassano's avatar

We never know where our stories are going to take us - even if we have the ending planned, it rarely goes in that direction. At least for me - I am always a little surprised.

Sharron Bassano's avatar

PS. Oh... I am a little slow this morning. Just re-read your title. 🙄😂

Sharron Bassano's avatar

🎳 Strike!