WELCOME TO FRIDAY FICTIONEERS.
As always, writers are encouraged to be as innovative as possible with the prompt and 100 word constraints.
Henry David Thoreau said it best.
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
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THE CHALLENGE:
Write a one hundred word story that has a beginning, middle and end. (No one will be ostracized for going over or under the word count.)
THE KEY:
Make every word count.
THE RULES:
- Copy your URL to the Linkz collection. You’ll find the tab following the photo prompt. It’s the little white box to the left with the blue froggy guy. Click on it and follow directions. This is the best way to get the most reads and comments.
- MAKE SURE YOUR LINK IS SPECIFIC TO YOUR FLASH FICTION. (Should you find that you’ve made an error you can delete by clicking the little red ‘x’ that should appear under your icon. Then re-enter your URL. (If there’s no red x email me at Runtshell@aol.com. I can delete the wrong link for you).
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- Make note in your blog if you’d prefer not to have constructive criticism.
- REMINDER: This page is “FRIDAY FICTIONEERS CENTRAL” and is NOT the place to promote political or religious views. Also, you are responsible for the content of your story and policing comments on your blog. You have the right to delete any you consider offensive.
**Please exercise DISCRETION when commenting on a story! Be RESPECTFUL.**
Should someone have severe or hostile differences of opinion with another person it’s my hope that the involved parties would settle their disputes in private.
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copyright – Indira (follow the link to her first FF story) by way of Scott Vanatter
- To post the prompt to your page simply right click on the picture and then left click “Save image as…” This will download it to your computer. Then paste it into your blog page. Please respect the copyright and use it only for Friday Fictioneers purposes. Any other usage requires permission from the photographer. Thank you.
EPILOGUE
“Hard to believe you’ve been gone these many years, Alvin.” I stare at my wedding photograph taken in 1953. Or was it 1958?
“You should see Emerson. Looks like you when we met. So handsome and sure of himself.
“He took me to the grocery today. I got lost in the cereal aisle. Doddering old bat.
“You’d laugh at your ‘Mrs. Intellectual’, Alvin. Can no longer understand the books I wrote.”
“Mom, you need your rest.” Emerson shuts off the light.
“Please kill me.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Mean what? Tell your father to come to bed. It’s getting late.”
Rochelle,
this is such a bittersweet story, looking back at a good life that has all but passed away. The line “Can no longer understand the books I wrote” is especially sad. That would be hard for a writer to accept. Great, great story, as always.
-David
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Dear David,
Thank you for you comments. That line, above all, personifies one of my greatest fears.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Since I write at a 3rd grade level, that would be particularly scary!
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sad she is putting herself down. She remembers she wrote books, but doesn’t understand their content. That is the worst thing, as said in the comment above. well done
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Dear Nightlake,
I think it’s more of a grasping at her last few shreds of lucidity than putting herself down. I guess you could call this my looking my fear in the eye story. Thank you for commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Getting older should be a nice way to continue life, but for so many it is a scary and depressing experience.
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Dear Joe,
A part of me finds it frightening. I’m hoping the term Golden Years will apply. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I just pray I live that long. My brother, mother and father have all passed. It scares me to think about the future.
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Funny how this week’s picture seems to lead many to ponder on old age !
Sweet but sad story!
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Dear Gabriella,
There does seem to be a pattern, doesn’t there. For me it was the first thing I thought about when I saw the picture. It also had something to do with the photographer’s title, “Fleeting” .
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Nicely written Rochelle, on a poignant subject that we all ponder from time to time.
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Dear Sandra,
We’re seeing that with my mother-in-law. Moments of lucidity and then suddenly she’ll say it’s time to go home, which is where she is. Thank you for your kind comments.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You’ve captured the subject so well. I love how the character bounces around from reality to reality as dictated by her disease. My new favourite from you, Rochelle.
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Dear Denmother,
Glad you liked my story that much. It’s a cruel disease that leaves no survivors and a lot of wounded in its wake.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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This one hit me right between the eyes, as your stories have a tendency of doing. And what an awful thing..to not even remember the books written….the last few lines……so real, so tragic.
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Dear Managua,
Your comments humble me. Thank you.
shalom,
Rochelle
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A sad and scary thought to have our memories fade. These memories that make up our personal history. You’ve captured that fading well.
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Dear Dave,
When I first saw the picture with the title “Fleeting” it was the first thing that popped into my head. It’s a subject up close and personal to our family. And I have to wonder what it feels like to be the victim of such a cruel disease. So I faced my greatest fear and wrote about it.
Thank you for your kind comments.
shalom,
Rochelle
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This is a horribly sad story. I’m seeing my grandmother go this way at the moment and my mum is finding it so hard to convince her that she needs help.
It’s especially sad because there’s so much you can do for dementia these days given you start doing the therapies early enough.
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Dear Miss KZebra,
I agree, it’s a horribly sad story. Alas, those therapies seem to only delay the inevitable.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting.
shalom,
Rochelle
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My father had Alzheimer’s. He passed about 2 years ago. Did I ever love him – though he didn’t remember me. We sang together though. I remembered all his old songs, and he’d remember them too when we’d sing together. – even though most days he couldn’t string together a full sentence. Now, neither can I. You remember me, I’m…
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Dear Randy,
Thank you for coming by and sharing your story. I’m truly touched by it. I can picture the two of you singing and wonder what songs.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Bei Mir Bist du Schein, Oh how I hate to get up in the morning (The Bugler’s song), It ain’t gonna rain no more, Down by the old mill stream, The Drinkers song (drunk last night, drunk the night before, got to get drink tonight like I never got drunk before..), By the light of the silvery moon…
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Sweet.
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As always, Rochelle, some nice ‘slice of writing’. The quote by Throeau should be the Friday Fictioneers motto… it sure is yours.
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Dear Ted,
The Thoreau quote is definitely my motto and mantra. In posting it as part of the weekly intro/rules section, it’s been my hope that other Friday Fictioneers would make it theirs as well.
Thanks for your kind comments.
shalom,
Rochelle
(perched on a stack of phone books to reach my computer)
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Excellent and a clear picture of Alzheimers
I don’t fear dementia I fear biting people if I do have it…
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Dear Moondustwriter,
Thank you for your kind comments and the visual that made me laugh.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Such a sad story — but I’m strangely okay with that. Well written as always, darling.
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Dear Helena,
Glad you liked my story, despite its sadness. I’ve been accused of being dark and melancholy in my writing. And I’m okay with that.
shalom
Rochelle
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Ma’am! A classic narration there. A question though: Did she remarry or what is the tell your father to come to bed?
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Dear Charles,
A classic? Very nice words to read indeed. .As for your question. The MC is a woman who is succumbing to Alzheimer’s. She’s speaking to her dead husband’s picture and trying to hold onto shreds of her mind. By the end of the story she thinks he’s still alive. Hope that clarifies things for you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
I’ve already told my family that if I lose my mind or body to ill health that they should let me die. I wasn’t nice about it either. I told them to take me out behind the garage and shoot me. While I don’t believe in going gently into that good night. I do believe in going out in a blaze of glory before I start peeing in plants.
Your stories, though short always speak volumes to me. I hope that someday, my FF will do the same for my readers. Thank you for letting me into your world my dear.
Love, Renee
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Dear Renee,
Like you, I want to go with my mental faculties in tact. Both of my parents did but they died relatively young of the diseases they created for themselves.
Keep writing, my dear. Someday is now. Always a pleasure to have you in my world.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m sad you lost your parents, but I’m sure you were relieved that they died during the early stages of their diseases. Growing old is inevitable, but I wish the body and mind didn’t deteriorate so badly. In my soul I will always be 17. Aging is a wonderful thing, The alternative, not so much.
I’ll keep writing my darling. I’m stubborn about it. 🙂
Love, Renee
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Dear Renee,
Actually neither of my parents had dementia. I say they passed away from diseases they created because my mother died of lung cancer due to years of smoking and my father of congestive heart failure from neglecting his type 2 diabetes. So not the early stages of anythings. But they both had their minds intact. 😉
Shalom, Rochelle
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I understand now. It still hurts to lose them…
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Thirty years plus. Still miss them. Grateful for their lives and, subsequently, my own.
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🙂
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Good work, as always, Rochelle. I love your title – such a bittersweet epilogue to this writer’s life.
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Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your sweet comments. Glad you liked the title.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Your stories are like concentrated drops of fiction. I feel like if I were to add water they would become entire novels. This is such a sad story — getting one’s mind and body to wear out equally is just a matter of chance, I suppose.
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Dear Linda,
Your kind words overwhelm me. I guess i’d rather my body wear out before my mind. My husband’s grandmother’s body outlived her mind by ten years. It was tragic.
Thank you from dropping by.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh my gosh ten years! Well the only blessing is that she didn’t know it, I guess.
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A bitter story .. Well portrayed ..
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Thank you, Shreyank.
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Beautiful and heart-breaking, Rochelle. You have really moved me with this one. I’m glad she has a loving son and her memories (whatever shape they are in) to sustain her.
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Dear Jen,
Compliments don’t get much better than yours. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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As always, things change, and the children become caretakers to the parents. Lucky for them, they have Emerson. Great story, Rochelle!
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Dear E. E.,
I’ve heard it said that the only thing constant is change. My parents both passed while relatively young and still had their minds intact. However I’ve watched several friends take on the role of caretaker. My heart goes out to them.
Glad you liked my story.
shalom,
Rochelle
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That’s something I think we all fear. But back to the dark side again, I see. I really think that’s what you do best, though.
janet
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Dear Janet,
I appreciate your concession. I just can’t write “Village of the Happy People” unless moved to do so. It’s just what I saw when I first saw the fleeting bus photo. The story wouldn’t let go.
Thanks for commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I think as we are entering this part of our lives this fear lies within all of us.
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Yes, Dawn. Many of us are. 😉
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Heartbreaking. I’m so glad that all my older relatives have been saved from that particular disease. Not knowing who you are all the time is so scary
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Dear Carrie,
I can’t imagine it either and the prospect terrifies me. Thank you for commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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As always Rochelle, you’re right on target with your message. I somehow cannot envision you encountering this problem. Ever! Yet, this is a view of potential tomorrow’s
that one can’t avoid contemplating! Very well written. Penny xx
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Dear Penny,
I hope you’re right. Glad you liked my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Potent, Rochelle! Full of sadness that is reality. Woven with excellence!
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Many thanks, Shainbird.
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bittersweet is the perfect way to describe it. the line “Can no longer understand the books I wrote” had such a strong effect on me! It just made everything sadder… still, it’s a beautiful thing to have such a caring son. another brilliant story from you. 🙂
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Dear Kz,
As always, your kind comments are appreciated.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Great poignancy, well presented.
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Thank you, Elephant. Glad you happened by.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It touched my heart Rochelle. You write very well.
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Thank you, Indira. Your photo inspired some wonderful stories this week.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Finally, I’m back with a computer that works! May I kindly ask what kind of vehicle is in the pic? It’s obviously English, that’s about all I can get. At first, I thought it was an ice cream truck. While I wait, I’m off to write… back soon with linky! 🙂
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Okay, so I went with the ice cream truck, forgive me. But I did make it in under the line with only 95 words!
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Make it anything you want, Buffy. Not what you look at but what you see. 😉
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Altzheimers is a dreadful disease. Worse (in the later stages) for those around the sufferer, but before the night closes one down, there will be the terror of knowing that one has it and of being conscious of its progress, experiencing the loss.
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Dear John,
That’s exactly the thought i was pursuing with my story. What would it feel like to know that your mind is going. Thanks for commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Very Nice!
Scott
Mine: http://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/friday-fictioneers-6282013-transition-genre-fiction-rated-pg13/
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Thank you, Scott.
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What a terrible situation to be in.. loosing it gradually.. and I agree, not understanding what you wrote (though I think I would have a hard time understanding the finer details in my thesis…)
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Dear Björn,
I can only imagine what it would be like and hope never to experience it. Thank you for commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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When you reach a certain age, your knees start to snap, crackle and pop when taking the stairs. That’s when you know it’s all downhill after that. I’m getting some sort of arthritic twinge happening in my left thumb and finger. I refuse to let it get in the way of my typing (I’m a touch typist) or writing by hand, And I’m crocheting granny squares for a baby blanket. It may happen, Rochelle, or it may not. Let the future take care of itself. Such a good piece.
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Dear Mary,
I refuse to go down without a fight. Glad you liked my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Very nice. Aging ain’t for sissys! I loved all the stories this week but can’t add mine. The new linkzin thing won’t work for me. I can’t get the code added to make the little blue guy. It may be me, or my computer. I can’t open the download for the new program for install. I didn’t want you to think I just bailed.
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Dear Ms. T,
I apologize for the change in the Linkz tool. Of course it’s beyond my control and I’ve had to relearn it myself. That’s “progress”‘ for you. Let me know if I can help.
Glad you like my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Great job! This hits a little close to home. Hubby was recently diagnosed with dimentia – but at least it wasn’t Alzheimer’s! I work as a caregiver, so I see this sometimes. Very good portrayal.
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Dear Linda,
Thank you for your validating comments. It seems this story hit a little close to a lot of homes, my own included.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hi Rochelle I ‘m so late. It was my first attempt at it so I was very nervous. Still posting my link , please have a look -http://amaltaas.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/friday-fictioneers/. Feel free to say anything to improve my writing.
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Dear Indira,
I’m pleased that you decided to join in the fun.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Loved your story Rochelle. Honestly I can’t bear to think about memories slipping out of one’s consciousness. Beautiful.
I’ve written a story for this Friday 28.06.2013 but I see that the link is closed.
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It shouldn’t be. Try again
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Dear Kalpana,
I see that you managed to link. 😉 Good.
I’m pleased that you liked my story. I faced that fear by writing about it.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Shivers, Rochelle. Beautifully done, as always.
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Dear Troy,
Compliments don’t get better than “shivers.” Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Very poignant and moving. Well done.
Here’s mine: http://unexpectedpaths.com/friday-fictioneers/on-the-road-again/
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Thank you, Maggie.
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Dear Mrs. Kramden,
This gave me flashbacks of my Dad’s dementia. A mind is a terrible thing to lose–and especially hard on the care-giver.
respectfully, Norton
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Dear Norton,
Guess that persona does fit you better. Dementia is a disease that seems to have touched all of us in one way or another. sorry about your dad. That must’ve been difficult for you.
Say hi to Trixie from me.
Shalom,
Alice
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It’ll come to all of us. But maybe sites like this will slow down life’s final demands. Nicely written.
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Dear Patrick,
They say that keeping the brain active is a way to stave off Alzheimer’s. In any case, I won’t go down without a fight. Thank you for your kind words.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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My greatest fear also! So well put too.
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Dear Jackie,
I’m sure we’re not alone in this fear. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You gotta love doddering old bats.
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Dear Tony,
😉 From such doddering old bats comes life stories and, hopefully, wisdom learned along the way.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Nice job. I had to read it twice before I realized it was about dementia. Scary stuff here.
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Dear Shirley,
To me this story is more frightening than all the zombie and vampire stories put together. This monster is voracious and strikes without bullets.
Thank you for swinging by and commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
I think you have captured the slow onset of dementia so well with this. Being lost in time and space is a terrible thing to contemplate when you have all your faculties
Well done
Dee
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Dear Dee,
I can’t really add to what you’ve said. This is the feeling I was going for and happy (?) to know that I succeeded in your eyes.
shalom,
Rochelle
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This is so sad and touching. Wonderful writing.
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Thank you, Sarah.
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Dear Rochelle,
You are very behind in your comments on this story so i’m not going to tell you how good it is until later. (Don’t want to load you down.)
Aloha,
Doug
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Dear Doug,
I’ll get back to you later. Thanks for playing.
shalom,
Rochelle
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You captured the on-again, off-again aspect very well. What a sad, sad story.
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Thank you, Danny.
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