SLDS Challenge (02/16/24)

Back with my entry for Susan T. Braithwaite’s Spies, Lies and Digital Skies Challenge.

I bitched plenty about last week’s prompt, and this week’s was even tougher. I spent way longer working on this one than that one. Thanks, Susan! πŸ™„πŸ˜‹

This week’s prompt:

Undercover mission at a glamorous event.

Seems simple enough, eh? Yeah, well… Not so much.

First, here’s the one I have chosen as my final entry:

On a crisp Monte Carlo evening, as revelers below celebrate BrenTek’s successful foray into the defense industry with the introduction of the Person-L microchip, our lovely agent, Eva Kovalenko, is awaiting the arrival of one Emil Vasilev.

She had spent the better part of the evening playing a seductive game of cat and mouse with the notorious arms dealer. Stroking his ego just enough, before playfully wandering off to an adjacent gambling table, or to the bar for another drink. Always in his sight, but just out of reach.

Now, however, it was time to relent and give Emil the prize he so desperately sought.

“Meet me in the cloak room upstairs. Ten minutes,” she whispered softly in his ear, letting her delicious brown hair lightly brush his cheek, as he signaled to the dealer that he wished to fold. A lone bead of anticipatory sweat was running past his left ear.

As she gently caressed the cold, resilient steel of the blade in her hand, Eva let out a relaxed sigh. She slipped quietly into the coat room and awaited Emil’s arrival. “Two minutes,” she whispered quietly to herself.

In two minutes, Agent Eva Kovalenko would eliminate one of the agency’s most wanted criminals. But that didn’t matter to her. For Eva, this was far, far more.

In two minutes, Eva Kovalenko would finally kill the bastard who murdered her father.

Some of the other attempts:

I had tried at first to capture an agent slipping poison into cocktails, but could not quite nail it down no matter how I worded things. After that, I settled on the knife, and even that was a challenge. Some were close, others were “No, not quite”.

No, not quite…

I said “discretely”, damn it…

If only you were holding that blade by your side, dear… *Sigh*

Looks like you’re getting ready to take a shot and a bong hit…πŸ™„

Anyhow, thanks for reading, all!

Don’t forget to check out Susan’s blog if you have not already!


Comments

35 responses to “SLDS Challenge (02/16/24)”

    1. I never would have spotted you if you had not told me. Clearly, you are a master of disguise!

      Liked by 2 people

  1. lol Kevin….your humour again 🀭

    all the images are fantastic….the chosen though perfect match to your words πŸ‘Œ

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Destiny. πŸ™ Some of them were so close, but oh, so far lol
      A couple, if one little thing was different, would have been exactly what I needed. I swear, Susan likes giving me fits with these πŸ˜„

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Results definitely worth the fits lol😁

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thanks much. I’m already steeling myself next week for whatever she has in store 🀣

        Liked by 1 person

      3. as long as you enjoying as much as we are …and clearly you are lolπŸ˜‹

        my pleasure

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Side note: I was able to sneak a Van Halen reference into my little snippet that went with the image. Winning! πŸ˜„

        Liked by 1 person

      5. ah…to the sneak a definite win lol

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Indeed. If I am going to suffer, I am going to have at least some fun with it. lol

        Liked by 1 person

      7. keep sharing…the suffering and the fun lol 🀭

        Liked by 1 person

      8. As long as the audience is willing to endure, I’m willing to comply πŸ˜„

        Liked by 1 person

      9. no worries, we enduring lol πŸ˜‰

        Liked by 1 person

      10. Will do. πŸ˜‰

        Liked by 1 person

  2. No…I want a part 2 of the story…I was so invested as to what would happen next… great plot and images as always!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I made it up on the fly. I don’t have a part 2 πŸ˜„

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s ok I will try to resist my temptation for the next prompt! Loved this oneπŸ‘Œ

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thank you so much. I will see if I can come up with a part 2. I had not thought that far ahead, honestly. lol

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Truthfully, I don’t consider myself much of a writer, so I don’t put too much stock in my story telling ability

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I loved the story telling this time. Also no one excels in image creation as you do. Every one has their plus points!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Thanks very much. I truly appreciate that. πŸ™
        It’s odd that I enjoy writing and yet rarely set to and tell a story.
        When I write my posts, I feel I am basically talking, just in print. Not as much a narrative as a plain conversation.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. This made me laugh out loud. Poor Eva, It’s like she’s on the Price is Right, and she’s deliberately trying to show off. Maybe she should get a job on that show? 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Could be a career option if the spy thing doesn’t work out, eh? lol

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Doesn’t look like the spy thing is working out to me πŸ˜†

        Liked by 1 person

      2. At least she’s building a skill, unlike Ms. Shot & Bong in the last pic.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I guess to some folks, shots and bongs are skills πŸ€·β€β™€οΈπŸ˜†

        Liked by 1 person

      4. True. I did consider myself a championship level drinker back in the day for a spell. πŸ˜„

        Liked by 1 person

  4. […] I posted my entry for this week’s SLDS Challenge, I wrote an accompanying snippet of text to go with the image I […]

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Fan-f@cking-tastic, Kevin! I love the image and the story. I see you didn’t get hit too badly with the comedy stylings of DALL-E… subtlety seems to be a major weakness for it, though! Just a wee side note: I featured your rooftop rendezvous image in my February Newsletter with a link back to your post.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. No, not too bad this time around, but I got a couple chuckles out of it lol
      No, it does not appreciate nuance quite yet. πŸ˜„
      Wow, thank you so much, Susan! I am terribly flattered! πŸ™πŸ™

      Liked by 1 person

  6. A great wee story & fantastic images, Kevin πŸ‘ I can see why you chose the one you did as the final result πŸ˜ƒ I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets frustrated with AI; I had to shout at mine one time, told it what I wanted all in Capitals πŸ˜‚ It actually worked 🀣

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Jez! Oh yes, the AI and I wrestle quite a bit more than I would like sometimes πŸ˜„ Often over one tiny detail lol
      I may take a cue from you and try that next time lmao

      Like

  7. […] and he’s now expanded the story into the mini-series, The Kovalenko Chronicles. Check out the intriguing first instalment in his response to last week’s […]

    Liked by 1 person

  8. […] narrative to his image again! (Catch Kevin’s previous image-inspired story series, The Kovalenko Chronicles, for a thrilling eleven-part readβ€”so […]

    Liked by 1 person

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