Last week, I introduced the Literary Games series with a simple writing prompt: "Whispers Before the Flood".

This week, there's another literary game. But first ... the entries from last week.

4 Authors Respond to the Prompt

In the first Hive Literary Game, we had four Hive authors respond to the prompt with original stories. I proudly share those stories with you below.

Amelia's Secret by @beckyroyal

The golden rays of the sun seeped through the window, brightening everything in its wake. Amelia stirred on the bed. The sun's ray touched her chubby cheeks ever so lightly.

Rousing from her dizziness, she checked the clock on her bedside table to discover that she was almost late for work.

Read the rest of Amelia's Secret

The Mountain Listener by @alonicus

It was the seismic monitors that picked it up first. An event somewhere in the Himalayas that make the needles jump and skitter on seismometers halfway around the world.

Experts sprang into action, telephoning each other and exchanging theories about what had happened within minutes of the event.

Then reports started coming in from Northern India and Nepal of a surge in the Gandak River. A wall of water six feet high swamping nearby fields and heading for the Ganges.

Read the rest of The Mountain Listener

The Silent Warning by @ozd

Amonka village is a beautiful but small community that is nestled in the southern part of Africa. Its people are loving, peaceful, and accommodating. Though a small community, the village is always bustling with different activities. They are happy people and content with their way of life.

On this particular day everyone went about their daily routines as usual; no one sensed there was a danger lurking beneath the surface. Meanwhile, all the animals in the village had been acting strangely for days. It started with the birds, who flew away in their numbers; then their cattle fled to the mountains and hills around the community; even the usually docile goats disappeared into the mountains too.

Read the rest of The Silent Warning

Parlor Tricks by @esbat

“It was a victimless crime”, that's what we would have said to ourselves if we had a conscience, but still the paper shredder couldn't cope. After the leak, when the results could no longer be disguised and the real figures were known, the day came when the whispers of the most fearful investors would soon turn into cries of anger. Before long we would find ourselves in hot water, swamped by lawsuits from all those clients demanding their money back.

Although dodging jail seemed impossible and was not now on the management's agenda, there were many traces to erase, starting with where most of the company's funds had been diverted.

And Now: Literary Game No. 2

Literary games come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. This week, I've got something unique.

English has no native words that end with the letter J. There are a few words in the English dictionary that end with the hooked letter, but those are borrowed words from other languages. For example, Haj is an Arabic word that means "pilgrimage", and Raj is a Hindi word that represents British colonial rule. While these are not native English words, they are recognized words in the English language.

Here's your assignment: Invent an English word that ends with the letter J. Give that word a unique meaning. Then write a short story or a poem that uses that word in some way that makes sense in the story or poem.

This is a 3-part writing exercise. To repeat, these are the 3 parts:

Make up an English word that ends with the letter J
Give that word a unique definition
Write a story or poem of any length that uses your new word in a way that makes sense in the story or poem

Your word can be a noun, a verb, an adjective, a preposition, or any classification of word as long as it is a native English word. Imagine a native English speaker using the word in everyday speech. That's your word.

Here are the summarized rules for Literary Game No. 2:

Create a new English word that ends with the letter J
Give that word a unique definition
Put that word in a story or poem of any length (try to keep it short, if possible)
Publish before next Tuesday, June 3, 2025, 12:00 UTC
Tag your story #literarygames. You can use any other tags you want (as long as they are appropriate - no TAG SPAMMING), but you must use #literarygames.
Read other participants' stories, upvote the ones you like, and comment.
Post your story or poem into any appropriate writing community. Follow that community's rules.
Upvote and reblog this post.
After publishing, drop a link to your story or poem in the comments below.
HAVE FUN!