50/100 WORDS
Two Plus Seven Is My Number
Thrifty Word Challenge 100 #31: & 50 #52: Numbers
Twenty-seven,. That’s a number that’s popped up continually in my life for as long as I can remember. I spent half my childhood living at 27 Yakubu Avenue Avenue. It’s also a multiple of 9; my birth date. There’s something magical about the number 27, it being the first composite numeral not divisible by any of its digits.
And then there’s the fact that some of the greatest musicians who ever lived died at that age: Hendrix. Morrison. Joplin. Cobain. I still remember having to pull my car over the day the news broke that Amy Winehouse had joined the 27 club in 2011.
And when I tripped and almost broke my neck on a tree root sticking out of the pavement on my road the other day, I wasn’t surprised to look up and see the closest house was no. 27. For those of us who believe in Angel numbers, twenty-seven signals the message of greater things lying in wait. Yeah, like tree roots.
Then last week, my doctors put my meds up from nineteen a day to — yep 27. That’s the new magic number of pills they think (hope) will stabilise this autoimmune condition I’ve developed and put me into remission.
We can but hope.
Everyone’s got a number. Our days are numbered. Having turned sixty this year I’ve become acutely aware that the weeks and months and years I have lived already are far greater than the ones that may lie ahead. …
What number seems to crop up in your life the most? Tell us all, but make it thrifty…
Please choose either the fifty-word or 100-word challenge, not both. See the guidelines for your chosen challenge below.
Remember, in order to be considered for the challenge, you need to write exactly 100 or 50 words (contractions such as ‘you’ll’ and ‘y’all’ count as one, as do articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ and all 23 auxiliary verbs ‘am’ ‘is’ ‘are’ etc. Hyphenated words count as one word.) The editors reserve the right to add or remove words to ensure the exact word count. Please keep an eye on your tags as laid out in the submission guidelines above.
Please use the kicker 100 WORDS or 50 WORDS and ‘Thrifty Words 100 Challenge #31: Numbers or ‘Fifty Word Challenge #52: Numbers' as your subtitle and submit by 9 pm BST on Friday 3rd September. All stories submitted by the deadline will be released the next day in the weekly roundup.
Looking for inspiration? Here’s last week’s roundup. And musical stimulation from Machine Gun Kelly.
TBI editors love to be followed:
Have you seen the results of our last thrifty challenge competition? Check it out.