Time for looking into the archives today! So here is a Flashback Friday post for you as I reuse an old post, with some dusting up (aka formatting) and upcycling(adding context and content) it a bit as well in time for World Kindness Day. This post brought back memories of a sweet news story that made me smile, and for that day in Nov 2013, like the post title says, humanity did shine through a new superhero.

The Flashback Friday Section

[Nov 2021 comments: This section is from November 16, 2013. For the first two parts below, where I attempt some poetic forms, both refer to this news article about Batkid saving the city of San Francisco, which brought smiles all around then, and I am sure it will bring a smile today as well. As for Mike Scott, Batkid, I did a quick check, and from what I could find, he is fine today, and was cancer-free as of Nov 2018!!!]

For Theme Thursday(Illusion) and dVerse: American Sentences

Illusion meets reality – imagination or confusion?
Illusion – she was never there; she loved fiddling with reality.
Illusions of scarcity – salt does pinch by taking big bites of cash
Not an illusion, new superhero in town, Batkid is here!

For G-Man’s Friday Flash 55

Batkid – My new Superhero
Gotham City was all agog
Batkid was in the city of fog

Damsels rescued, robberies foiled
Riddler did not stand a chance.
As this tiny Superhero tirelessly toiled
he led the Penguin on a merry dance!

“Job well-done”, said the crowd
“Here is the key to our city, you have made us proud”
Go,#SFBatkid
~ Vidya Tiru @LadyInReadWrites

For  Book Beginnings and Friday 56 (16 Nov 2013)

From Chengli and the Silk Road Caravan by Hildi Kang

Book Beginnings: Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week — or just a book you want to share. Please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag if you share on social media. 

‘It was the wind that made Chengli decide to leave. Yellow with dust from the desert, it rolled and danced around his ears during the day and pounded black against his eyes at night. A demon wind, it taunted him to remember places long forgotten. A spirit wind, it teased him to recall events he had never known. ‘

Friday 56

‘As they moved nearer, they came to the farmer’s huts, lush orchards, and colorful gardens, all watered by channels of water brought from the river – a real river!’

Back to the Future – Well, Present – Friday

For  Book Beginnings and Friday 56 (Nov 2021)

Since both Book Beginnings and Friday 56 are still active weekly memes (I just don’t join in as often as I want to), I decided to use this post as one of those rare opportunities to participate in these fun and friendly memes.

I am currently reading a few books actually but picking just one for this.

Book Beginnings

EVERYTHING HAS A beginning. And I’m not just talking about things like the shop I ordered my moonstone necklace from, or where it was made, or where the stone itself was quarried. Though that is lovely to think about, isn’t it? Perhaps it’s from some deep, wild cave pebbled with lakelike stones of moons…. But no, that’s now what I mean.

Friday 56

He’s never said anything outright, but no one’s friends with Star Fuentez’s sister just to be friends, you know? They’re always after me for something; that’s all I gotta say about that.

World Kindness Day

Kindness does reward itself, and every little act of kindness matters. No matter how small, those little acts are like ripples in a pond that extend beyond that first one. So you never know how far the reach is when you let a person in front of you at the checkout line, or pay for a stranger’s coffee, or simply smile at someone who looks like they need one (or well, anyone at all)!

On November 13th, World Kindness Day, and everyday, we can do our part and together we can #MakeKindnessVisible, and each of us can be a version of (even if partly) the new superhero! You can choose to be thankful to others in so many different ways, like bake a cake for those who work at your local fire station.

Friday Flash 55

As for G-Man, he was a wonderful soul and he passed away in December 2014. You can however check out his writings on his blog still here. Some of the original 55ers continue to write every once in a while, like here, and that as well as this old post of mind inspired me to write a Friday Flash 55; also because it felt right.

The rules of the 55 as created by G-Man aka Galen Hayes are actually to write without any rules, except for word count. So you would be writing 55 words of prose or poetry, no more, no less, and well, just write away!

Flash 55

Peels of laughter rang across the backyard as Jane put her phone away. Her doctor’s office had called her with her lab results. What she knew now could wait a while longer to be shared; so she took the platter of appetizers with her as she rejoined her family, as they continued singing “happy birthday.”

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, as always, I welcome your comments, suggestions, and recommendations on this post. Have you read the featured books? Will you be attempting a Flash 55? If you do, do let me know via comments for I would love to read your 55!