I’m one of those messy people who eats while working at my laptop. That means tiny crumbs and not so tiny orts (my favorite crossword puzzle word) get sprinkled all over my keyboard.
Owning my messiness, I’ve taken prophylactic measures to protect the inner workings of my precious MacBook. A silicone cover fits snuggly over the keys, keeping any and all morsels out of the nooks and crannies of my keyboard.
After nearly two years, I think it’s time to replace my keyboard cover. I’ve worn a hole in one of the key pads. Apparently, I have a particular affinity for the letter A.
In the few words I’ve written here, I’ve typed the letter A 34 times. Even my name includes two A’s.
For a different prompt a few years ago, I was challenged to write 500 words without using the letter E. It was harder than I expected, but I was able to do it, and my story actually made sense. I did have to get creative with sentence structure, word choice, and avoid common articles. The word “the” caused me fits.
Let’s try something a little different. For this challenge, write 100 words (no more, no less) on any topic, any genre, but without the letter A. That means, no and’s, no an’s, no also’s, no as’ , nor at’s, nor all’s, nor was’, nor can’s. You can’t use what or that. No word that contains the letter A.
Get the idea? Or, should that be – get the concept? (See what I did there? There’s no A in “concept”.)
Be inventive, be ingenious, but do it without using words with an A.
Have fun, and good luck!
“All the learnin’ my father paid for was a bit o’ birch at one end and an alphabet at the other.” ~ George Eliot
For this week write 100 Words without using the letter:
A
Without using the letter A, write 100 Words, no more, no less, then link back to this post, or leave your submission in the comment section. Remember to keep spreading the love with supportive comments for your fellow wordsters.
Thin spiral notebook 
Ellen wondered whether she’d woken up in 1940. How else to interpret this room devoid of embellishment, no electronics in sight? Wincing, she tried to piece together the events of the previous night. Yes, she’d “borrowed” her elderly neighbor’s Oldsmobile, but no one ever drove it, so why not? Emmeline Ingersoll couldn’t see so wouldn’t know to miss it, Ellen figured. Emmeline, never quite right once she’d lost her first child, Lily. Her second, too.
Now the door opened to show this oddly dressed nurse holding something white. “Miss Ingersoll,” the nurse soothed, “won’t you hold your Lily, even once?”
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Very Twilight Zone-ish, with a mix of Stephen King’s “Christine.”
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Sarah . . . you make me want more. 🙂
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I’ve posted mine!
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This was easier than I thought it would be, Tara. Lots of fun and I was even able to add a scifi/fantasy spin to it 😀
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This was a rough one – but lots of fun! Thanks for the prompt. Here’s my piece: https://fictiontrials.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/sleepless-night/
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I’ve got to keep you all guessing. Nice job.
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I went into this one thinking it was going to be extremely difficult – I mean, c’mon! Don’t use “A?” – but it seems as if the writing gears clicked immediately. Thanks for this one, Tara!
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Easy peasy!
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Not blogging at the moment, so I wrote a quick one on my Facebook page. 100 words without using ‘A’. This was fun! Really pushed the limits 🙂
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I really like this – it’s emotionally charged and it didn’t seem like you had any trouble at all with keeping the letter “A” out. Nice!
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