Category Archives: Friday Fictioneers

Shiny and new (Friday Fictioneers)

 

Image by Jennifer Pendergast

‘What’s at this stupid park, anyway?’

Jay was quiet and moody but Eloise continued to push the point.

‘We could have been in New York by now! And I’m starrrrrrrrving.’

She complained getting out of the car. And for the entire walk up the hill. She kept complaining even when they’d arrived at the massive rusted structure.

Jay pulled a black and white photo from his pocket and she finally fell silent. In the picture the clock sculpture was shiny and new. And grinning proudly by its side was a tall man with dark hair, who was unmistakably Jay’s father.

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What books were loved by your 3 year old? See my recent post (and previous year’s versions) where I list my son’s ten favourite books.

Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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The simple things (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Sarah Potter at http://www.sarahpotterwrites.com

​Lookingforlove78 enjoyed snuggling in front of the fire with a bottle of red on a snowy winter’s evening. She said she was more of a beach person. Then he preferred long walks on the sand.

Chat$with$me had a BMW, a penthouse apartment and five Armani suits. She said money didn’t matter. He said he liked the simple things in life.

Hotstuff69 sent a photo that made her drop her phone in the sink.

Then there was Alex. Couldn’t stand wet sand. Rented a basic studio. Lol’d when autocorrect changed ‘duck’ into… well.

He was the one she agreed to meet.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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Searching (Friday Fictioneers)

​Eloise whispered, ‘I’ve never seen a raccoon before. Do they bite?’

Jay peered into the dumpster. Looking up at him was not a raccoon’s face but a doll’s. It brought back a flood of long lost memories.

A bag hidden deep behind his father’s coats. Inside, a knife, a compass, a crumpled photo of a woman on a station, a doll in traditional Latvian dress and five army badges with strange symbols on them.

He gasped as his adult mind remembered the symbols.

There was a crash of cans and Eloise shrieked. ‘It tried to bite me!’

Swastikas.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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Hands over ears (Friday Fictioneers)

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

Image by Ted Strutz at http://www.tedstrutz.com

His eyes lit up. ‘Check out that river! Reminds me of where Dad used to take me when I was little. Such good memories…’

He turned to her. ‘What was your childhood like?’

They’d known each other just over twenty-four hours. Should she describe how she’d sit in her room on a chair with her eyes tightly closed and hands over ears praying for her parents to stop fighting, or the cold nights curled in the backseat with her mum and sisters while on the run?

‘It was pretty good,’ she said. ‘But tell me more about those river holidays.’

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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Nothing good (Friday Fictioneers)

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Image by Roger Beltot at https://plus.google.com/u/0/107716760208067370787

‘There’s nothing good about the cold. Nothing!’

Eloise scowled at the snow outside.

Jay picked up his jacket. ‘Well, I’m getting dinner.’

‘I’m a beach girl. Hot sand. Hot sun. Sunburn. Soothing Aloe Vera…’

He shrugged. ‘Stay here if you like.’

‘Is that a threat?’

‘I honestly don’t care.’

The chill outside hit them hard as they staggered across the icy road. Large snowflakes fell around them and Jay noticed how some settled softly in Eloise’s hair. Without thinking, he put his arm around her shoulders and held her close. She pushed her face into his warm chest and smiled.

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I have exciting news to share that some of you lovely fellow FFs have been asking about. I received a Highly Commended in the Newcastle Herald Short Story competition for my story Bloodstained. Four stories were chosen out of over a hundred entries, so I’m pretty thrilled to be selected. The prize is 10 new books, a weekend pass to the Newcastle Writers Festival (hurrah!) and a Herald subscription. A dear friend from my writers group Diana Threlfo also made it to the Highly Commended list – check out her beautiful short story Unconstrained.

Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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Way too serious (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Al Forbes

Back in the car, Eloise was smirking. From under her shirt she pulled a vintage brass car horn.

“I snapped it off that old-timey car back there. It’s for our long drives.”

Jay’s jaw dropped.

She continued. “I’ll honk it if I think you’re getting too up tight.”

He frowned. “You can’t go around stealing!”

She laughed. “See? You’re way too serious… all the time.”

“This isn’t funny!”

She held the horn up to his face.

“Eloise!”

HEEEE-HONK!

He stopped talking. And the hint of a smile crept into the corners of his mouth.

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I recently finished Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as part of my 100 book reading challenge. See what I thought of it by clicking here.

Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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Tunnel vision (Friday Fictioneers)

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Image by Dale Rogerson at https://adelectablelife.com

Not one of the photos Jay took with his new camera at Tunnel View turned out.

Eloise flicked through the photos on her phone.

‘Here’s the one I took.’

Jay scoffed at the photo she’d taken from the road. ‘Those crowds of people in your photo ruin it.’

She shrugged. ‘It shows what happened. It’s not pretending to be something it’s not.’

In the photo was Jay. Arms stretched high trying to get a perfect shot of the valley with no one else in it.

And attached securely to the end of his Canon EF 16-35mm was the lens cap.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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A bridge is a bridge (Friday Fictioneers)

PHOTO PROMPT © C.E. Ayr

Image by CE Ayr at https://ceayr.com/ 

‘Breathtaking.’

Jay was a statue as he stared at the rust red structure in front of them.

‘Incredible. A hundred times better in real life.’

Eloise shrugged her shoulders. ‘Bit of a let down, I reckon.’

Jay glared at her. ‘A let down?!’

‘One thing, it’s not even-’

Jay interrupted. ‘Gold. Everyone says that.’

Eloise bit her lip. ‘But not just that. It’s… I was expecting arches and pylons and suspension cables. Not this one metal beam across a railway line and a few roads.’

She paused, then asked earnestly, ‘Are you sure this is actually the Golden Gate Bridge?’

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

 

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Braking point (Friday Fictioneers)

‘You moronic piece of @#$%! My beautiful bike. She’s ruined forever!’

‘Ummm…’

‘It’s like you were trying to run me over!’

‘Ummm… Maybe I was driving a tad fast.’

‘A tad? A tad! Idiot!’

‘Ummm… sorry?’

‘The brakes are completely messed up! The gears are everywhere. That chain’ll never go back on. How the hell am I getting to Vegas now?’

Windows down, they sped along the I-15 towards Nevada. Eloise let her hair blow wildly across her face as she struggled to hide her smile. She’d never liked that rusty old thing and the brakes hadn’t worked for years.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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Neon reflections (Friday Fictioneers)

PHOTO PROMPT © Shaktiki Sharma

Image by Shaktiki Sharma at https://shaktikisharma.wordpress.com

It rained on our last night in New Orleans.

But it wasn’t the rain that stopped us going out.

Strong, stable, always-in-control Jay had finally let his emotional guard down. Hunched on the bed, his shoulders jerked with each silent sob. He cried for his dad, for the emptiness and regret that comes when someone close to you dies.

I looked through the window at the glistening street below. The neon pinks and blues reflected in a puddle and shattered when a large water drop fell from the awning above.

It was ever more beautiful than I could have imagined.

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I’ve been selected as a finalist for the Newcastle Herald Short Story competition this year and my story was published today in print and online. It’s a 1000 word piece called Bloodstained about a bird and a woman who find they have a lot in common. Have a read here and tell me what you think!

Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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