Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

Waiting for Susie

PHOTO PROMPT © Nancy Richy

The elderly man in the righthand corner made me think of a someone who has dementia. He’s waiting for his little daughter to come out of the library, like she used to. All the while, Susie is sitting beside him, trying to get him to remember who she is. (So sorry to preface! Unfortunately, this just didn’t come across in the writing this week…)

Waiting for Susie

The woman sitting next to me said it’s 2024. I shook my head. “It’s 1965, and I’m waiting for my daughter to come out of the library.” 

She nods and smiles—what a jokester!—and says she’ll wait with me. 

While we sit, she asks about the building’s architecture—something I’ve always loved—then lets me rant about that awful hippo. “Why’d they put it up and ruin the view?”

She smiles, but seems to have tears in her eyes. I thought she called me Dad once, but it must have been Dan. 

Where’s Susie, I wonder? It’s getting late.

As always, many thanks for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! Stop over and read a wonderful array of 100-word-fiction pieces based on this photo prompt!

Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

Making a Break

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Making a Break

Alissa always imitated the neighbor kids. She liked what they liked and played what they played.

When the tiny library appeared, they wandered over and she followed. Turning pages, Alissa felt like heaven had opened. They would come here every afternoon from here on out. How could they not?

But the next day the kids voted to play soccer. Soccer. For the first time in her life, Alissa was torn. She trudged after her friends, paused, peered backward, then made her decision.

“Hey, Alissa! Where ya goin’?”

Sprinting toward the library she shouted over her shoulder. “I’ve gotta read!” 

As always, many thanks for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! Stop over and read a wonderful array of 100-word-fiction pieces based on this photo prompt!

Posted on in 100 word fiction

Tangled in a Web

Tangled in a Web

Most mornings Elsie climbed to the hilltop, watched the sun rise, and studied spiderwebs. The works of art were also hunting tools: dainty yet deadly. 

She wondered whether the insects that fell prey were hypnotized by those silky strands, beaded in glorious dew, and were lured by their beauty before being snared and dissolved. She exhaled deeply. 

When Elsie pushed open the front door, she took note of his broad shoulders, square chin, and alluring cologne. He scowled. “Don’t give me that look, and don’t even ask. I’ll be back when I get back. Probably late.”

As always, many thanks for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! Stop over and read a wonderful array of 100-word-fiction pieces based on this photo prompt!

Posted on in 100 word fiction

Seeing in the Dark

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

Seeing in the Dark

I was wrong. I thought I needed solitude, but walking here where we used to be together, I finally see. 

This lonely darkness is a cruel teacher. She stands at the head of her classroom, surrounding me on four sides with blank blackboards, tapping with her pointer, taunting me to write my error for all to see. Write my regrets with the chalk of sorrow. She tugs my wrist and cackles. “You made your choice, stand up and own it. Write it fifty times.” 

I shouldn’t have let you go. 

I shouldn’t have let you go…

As always, many thanks for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! Stop over and read a wonderful array of 100-word-fiction pieces based on this photo prompt!

Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

The Memento

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

The Memento 

He kept it? After all these years? Yes, it’s unmistakable. On that shelf.

In the glass I see us again: Magic colors in the night sky, white steps that crack and crunch, snowflakes melting in our warm breath. 

Oh, the wonderful power of memories, stored anywhere, hidden in plain sight, wrapped mysteriously around innocuous things—a sound; a color; a tower of silica sand, molten, cooled, frozen in time. 

I lift the memento, cautiously, trying not to tremble. “This looks special.” 

“Isn’t it pretty?” He shrugged. “I can’t for the life of me remember where I got it.”

As always, many thanks for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! Stop over and read more 100-word-fiction pieces based on this photo prompt!

Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

Seeing Red

PHOTO PROMPT © Mr. Binks

Seeing Red

“You wanna ride that?” Mercy shuddered.

Dean squared his shoulders. “Definitely.” 

He and Rusty had discussed it the night before. “If you don’t ride The Lightening Bolt, she’ll think you’re a coward,” Rusty had insisted, spiking his red hair with his fingers. 

“Suit yourself,” Mercy shrugged. “Rollercoasters terrify me.”

She’ll be so impressed, Dean thought, waiting his turn. The line moved more like a lethargic slug than lightening. 

After the ride, Dean rushed through the gate.

“Did you see me? Hey, Mercy?”

“Lookin’ for that cute blond?” A ride worker asked. “Saw her headin’ thata way with some redheaded feller.”

As always, many thanks for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! Stop over and read more 100-word-fiction pieces based on this photo prompt!

Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

The Perfect Pie

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

The Perfect Pie

For the most part, Granny was a terrible baker. Her cookies were charcoal-edged and her biscuits kept the dogs busier than marrow bones. But her pies? Perfection. 

I’d follow my nose to the kitchen where the counter was sprinkled with flour, fruit scraps and dirty utensils. I complimented and coaxed, poked furtively in cabinets looking for recipes. No luck. 

Years later she neared the end. “It’s my last chance to ask. What’s your pie secret?”

Granny leaned closer. “I make every one from scratch.” She giggled. “Then I pitch it and buy another, ready-to-bake, from Pie in the Sky. Perfection!”

Many thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting another round of Friday Fictioneers! Drop by to write your own 100-word fiction based on the photo prompt or to enjoy the work of other writers!

Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

Finding Happiness

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Finding Happiness

“This is your atelier?” Amy gasped. “It’s stunning!” 

Priscilla grasped the chilly railing. Beautiful, she thought, but lonely. 

“Remarkable!”

And unrelateable, Priscilla swallowed hard. 

“Breathtaking!”

And so distant.

A different Priscilla’s words hijacked her thoughts—Happiness is like a crystal… She chuckled. “There are some downsides, but it’s my treasure.”

Priscilla Leonard’s poem Happiness was on my mind this morning, so I worked it in!

Many thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers! To read more 100 word stories based on this photo prompt, click here.

Posted on in 100 word fiction, Friday Fictioneers

Treetop Memories

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

Treetop Memories

“Can’t we just build regular cabins, Father?”

“Ah, my son, why do tourists come here?”

“To explore ruins, visit the acropolis, see the Chimera, walk by the sea—”

“They want experiences, memories, adventure!” 

“Maybe… I think people like to be comfortable…and safe.” 

“Tsk. Everyone sleeps on ground. Those who come to my pension hope to sleep in treetops with birds! They want snug nests, sunlight sprinkled on leaves, wind in hair. Build these, and birds will fly to us from all over the world!”

“Won’t the tourist sites be enough?”

“Certainly not! They will best remember the treetop!”

To read more 100 word stories based on this photo prompt, hop over to Friday Fictioneers, hosted by the lovely Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.