The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. In a hundred words or less, what story does it tell?
PHOTO PROMPT – © C.E.Ayr
Genre Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
BEFORE KILROY
“Papa, tell me about your crazy friend Joseph Kyselak.”
“Not crazy, eccentric, Ilsa.” I squeeze my daughter’s hand as we walk down the street. “You’ve heard this story a hundred times.”
“Tell me a hundred and one.”
“Very well. Joseph bet me that within three years he would be famous all over Austria.”
“He is, isn’t he?”
I miss his easy laugh, sense of humor, and adventurous spirit. Cholera took him last year, but not before he won the wager. If you visit Austria you’ll see his name everywhere.
Ilsa traces the letters Joseph engraved on a nearby wall. “Kyselak”
.
.
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Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
What an intriguing way of telling the story of such a pioneer of graffiti..
I think Halfdan was a little earlier, but only made that one inscription in Hagia Sophia:
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Dear Björn,
Those Vikings! They were always first, weren’t they? Thank you for the photo. It does seem that Kyselak left his mark–everywhere. 😉
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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And poor Halfdan only at that one place.. but it was a long way from home.
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Aren’t we glad we have a Viking in our midst, Rochelle?
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Brilliant and fascinating.
And, yep, never heard of him.
Can I just say that I love your choice of pic this week!
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Dear C.E.
I’d never heard of him either. Although the story was a tug o war this week. 😉 I’m glad it worked.
Your photo is stunning. There’s a lot to see in it. I hope it will inspire imaginations this week.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Another interesting piece of history and told so well.
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Dear Loré,
I’m pleased you liked my story and took the time to comment. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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sheesh, that is sure to get the brain working.
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I just looked him up~couldn’t possibly have known of him otherwise. Should we really refer favorably to the father of graffiti & tagging? “Kilroy Was Here” is interesting but people have been taking it all to excess
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Dear Larry,
I’d never have known about him either until I started on the research trail. I think I’ve learned more over the past three years of writing for Friday Fictioneers than I ever learned in school. At least I’ve learned enough trivia to be somewhat interesting at a dinner party. 😉
How one thinks of Kyselak is personal. I found it to be an interesting story of someone who made a name for himself.
shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve learned a lot this way too. At least the internet can keep us informed by way of sites like this
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I love this picture! Yay for beautiful graffiti. 🙂
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Dear Anne,
It is a cool picture.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Love it.
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Thank you, J. Hardy. 😀
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What an interesting story … a piece of history too! 🙂
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Dear Georgia,
I can’t resist obscure history.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
I’m glad you can’t resist … it makes for interesting reading! You’re welcome
Ciao, Georgia
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What an enjoyable way to learn about this man!
janet
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Why thank you, Ma’am. It was fun to find and write.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I love it! I hadn’t heard of this guy until I googled him just then. I love how your story made no sense at all until I found out who Kyselak was, then it was like a light bulb. Beautifully told. Bravo 🙂
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Dear Jessie,
I’m glad my story finally made sense. Fun bit of history I thought.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I loved your story Rochelle! I got a good chuckle from the photo of the Kilroy graffiti. I haven’t seen that guy in years!
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Dear Joy,
I’m pleased that you liked my story. Always happy to provide a chuckle. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Fascinating.
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Thank you, Yarnspinner.
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Once again, Rochelle, you’ve taught us! Like many others, I immediately Googled him (what would we have done pre-internet?)
To think I used to doodle the “Kilroy was here” image without knowing what it was!!!
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Dear Dale,
Kilroy has always been here, hasn’t he? At least in our lifetimes. I’m happy to have shared my new-found knowledge.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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He has indeed!
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Even earlier, masons were leaving their signatures on gargoyle’s heads high on cathedrals, and aborigines left handprints. Man has been saying ‘I was here’ since before writing!
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Dear Liz,
Everyone wants to be remembered.
Thank you for taking the time from your moving to read and comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Enchanting and educational!
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Thank you, Lorna. I love it that you found it so. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh, interesting. Another great historical fact, Rochelle. Keep them coming.
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Dear Alicia,
As I find them, I’ll keep writing them. Great fun!
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
You are so very good at your pieces of history. I love the clever subtlety of your style.
I finished reading your Please Say Kaddish For Me and have just reviewed it on Goodreads and Amazon.co.uk and awarded it 5 stars. I’ll check if the review automatically goes up on Amazon.com. If not, I’ll put it there, too.
Sorry, I’ve not been participating in Friday Fictioneers since the beginning of July, but have had my nose to the grindstone with a writing project of my own. I had meant to return fully to all aspects of my blogging in August, but haven’t quite caught up with myself yet.
Hopefully, I will get back into the routine of 100-word story-writing soon.
All best wishes
Sarah
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Dear Sarah,
I understand about having other things to deal with. I hope your writing project is going well.
I so appreciate your stunning review. My agent posted it on her website as well with a link to it on Facebook. Sandra also posted a stellar review on Amazon.co.uk. However, neither of your reviews went to Amazon.com. I’m not sure how they do that. I also have a lovely review from the Canadian site. it also didn’t transfer. One would think they would but I’m not sure how exactly it all works. Nonetheless you get a hearty thank you from me.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment on my little story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
PS Due to a life changing event I’ll have some more time to devote to FF and writing. 😉
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Dear Rochelle,
Thank you. Yes, my writing project is going very well. I’ve just finished my read-through of the novel from hard copy today. Nearly there, after countless drafts (being somewhat of a perfectionist). I’m both excited and nervous at the prospect of seeing it in print, hopefully at the beginning of December.
Wow, fancy your agent posting my review on her website. I’m most honoured and hope that it results in many more sales of your wonderful novel. I’ll go to Amazon.com and post my review there. It’s possible, I know, as I’ve done it before in both places.
I do hope your life changing event isn’t one of ill health or suchlike, but I’m glad that you are turning it to positive use.
All best wishes
Sarah
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As always, beautiful and educational. I had never heard of the man either. People see a blank space, they want to write or paint on it, I think that’s in our genes if you think of the cave painting from 40K + years ago.
And I love the picture, too.
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Dear GAH,
I had a teacher in high school who covered a bulletin board with a blank sheet of paper. Surprisingly no one wrote on it. His aim was to see how long it would take for students to take advantage.
I’ve always been a doodler. A sheet of paper isn’t safe around me.
Thank you for reading and commenting It is a great picture. I couldn’t resist choosing it.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve heard from similar experiments, some successful, others not. With younger children who haven’t learned yet that they ‘can’t draw’ it would perhaps have been covered in rainbows. We have a horse sculpture in the city where I work. It’s redecorated regularly and illegally by naughty citicens. I don’t know of anyone who would have been arrested for it, though. I thought you might like to see it: http://www.holbein-pferd.de/ (no idea if you read german… not much text anyway.)
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I don’t read very much German even though I took a year of it in high school. 😉 I did enjoy the pictures. It seems that decorating that horse is a favorite pastime.
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Haha! Awesome. I didn’t know who the father of graffiti is. Now I do. As always, you educate and entertain all in one shot. Fun story!
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Dear Eric,
Up until this past week I didn’t know that graffiti had a father either. 😉 Thank you for your kind words.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Once again you have introduced me to an intriguing new bit of history. What an interesting fellow! Your story is well written.
All my best,
Marie Gail
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Dear Marie Gail,
There’s nothing more exciting to me than finding an obscure bit of history and gleaning a story from it.
Thank you for your generous compliment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve had a soft spot for graffiti ever since living in Bristol where Banksy left his mark. I love the idea of the father of grafitti … although I suspect these days tagging with one’s own name is a fast route to the criminal courts.
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Dear Jennifer,
Now I’m the one who had to Google for Banksy. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve never thought of graffiti having a pioneer.
Thanks for making me think.
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what a great thing to learn, huh? I would never have thought about it either.
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Dear Dawn and Samantha,
When I read about Kyselak I couldn’t not write about him. Who’da thunk it?
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Interesting story Rochelle, always something new to learn when I come to your site. And this time your story spurred me to do a little research of my own. In the UK many motorway bridges have the word ‘Gouranga’ graffiti’d on them. II discovered it’s a Hare Krishna mantra meaning “Be Happy”. And there was I thinking it was only some lout spraying nonsense just because they could. 🙂 Good story!
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Dear Sandra,
I wonder if George Harrison had anything to do with the ‘Gouragna’ graffiti 😉 (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
I’m always pleased when you like my stories.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks and an interesting story. I thought I saw his tag on a passing train last week. He lives! Also an interesting piece of info from Sandra. Gouranga.
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Dear Patrick,
It might have been Kyselak’s tag or, then again, it might have been Kilroy 😉
Don’t worry, gouranga.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Once again, with so few words, you’ve ignited my interest…sending me off to research. I can’t help but think this was an early form of shared art journaling.
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Dear Chris,
As I’ve said before, Kyselak was a man who made his mark in the world. 😉
I’m pleased that I ignited your interest and that you took time to say so.
Thank you and Shalom,
Rochelle
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Again, I am enlightened. What unusual bits of history you bring into your story, Rochelle! It’s brilliant.
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Dear Vijaya,
My favorite part of Friday Fictioneers is finding obscure bits of history and fashioning them into a flash fiction. I’m pleased that you enjoyed this one.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hi Rochelle,
This was new to me also but I do love how we learn so much from participating in these flashes. Great story. I agree with you I have learnt more facts since blogging than I ever learnt at school.
Cheers Irene
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Dear Irene,
The excitement of learning new things and then crafting them into stories is one of the things that keeps me with Friday Fictioneers. The other thing is the fascinating, global community it has created.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hi Rochelle,
This is a lovely but sad story. You tell it so sweetly in so few words. I can imagine that little girl so curious and full of questions.
Solo
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Dear Solo,
You’ve done a wonderful job of reading between the lines. Thank you for leaving such a lovely comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Hermione Melville,
I once scratched my name in an outhouse door. Does that count?
illegibly yours,
Ishmael Starbuck
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Dear Ishmael,
Was your name prefaced by “for a good time call?”
Shalom,
Hermione M.
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Ok, great story as always, a fascinating little detail on the first ‘tagger’… but I followed that link & was delighted at the following:
…”in fact, the people from Vienna were obviously well known for committing suicide in very unorthodox ways”.
That is some awesome (and very bleak) history.
🙂
KT
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Dear KT,
I’m glad you followed the link. It is a rather bleak history, isn’t it? You have a knack for reading between the lines an seeing what I want the reader to see.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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such a cute story
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Thank you, Dee.
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Lovely story, I looked him up on Wiki!
I loved eager Ilsa saying ““Tell me a hundred and one.”
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Dear Ali,
I’m glad you took the time to do your own digging. I did put a link on the page as well.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I really liked this story! Also enjoyed how you tied it into the Kilroy icon. At work, I would sometimes visit someone’s office and, if they weren’t there when I needed them, leave a note with that drawing, and write “JB was here” along with my phone extension. When I started at the company over thirty years ago, people knew that the origin of the drawing was Kilroy. As the years went by and my colleagues were increasingly younger, they just thought it was a cute drawing. Damn.
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Dear Jan,
I love it that you leave the sketch on your notes. 😀 Your younger coworkers probably think you’re terribly clever and original. Go with it. 😉
Thank you for sharing that and for liking my story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Fun! I’ll be sure to look for that next time I am in Vienna. So happy your books is out – can’t wait to read it! 👍
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Dear Erin,
If you go to Vienna be sure to take pictures. 😉
I’ll be interested to get your feedback on my book. There was something incredible about reading it myself in a printed book form that was akin to holding my sons in my arms for the first time.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Admittedly I didn’t know this story, though I know the term… as always, interesting and very informative!
Congrats on the wonderful reviews for your book, Rochelle; you have certainly earned it! Mazel Tov!
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Dear Dawn,
Half the fun of Friday Fictioneers for me has been all the obscure little factoids I’ve learned. 😉
Thank you for the congrats on the book. I’m overwhelmed by some of the reviews…and happy.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What a brilliant story you have for the prompt. You never cease to amaze me, Rochelle, and I learn something new each week. Wonderful story. I look forward to reading your book, too. I’m planning on it!
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Dear Amy,
I’m glad you like my story and ecstatic that you plan to read my book. 😉 I hope you enjoy it, too.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Once again, I have learnt something new! Very interesting indeed.
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Thank you, Francesca. Glad you liked and learned.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Ditto on the learning something new. I had no idea. Thank you.
The prompt this time was inspiring!
Hope you’re feeling better!
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Dear Yolanda,
I’m glad the prompt inspired you. I love the photo, too.
Thank you for the well wishes.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Nice story and another interesting piece of knowledge to tuck away for future reference. I like the dialogue, too.
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Dear Margaret,
We live in a blessed time when it comes to the availability of knowledge. It’s so much fun to find these little obscure nuggets. And even better when a story I’ve shared sparks interest. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hi Everyone!!! I’m back and I brought Ethel & Cheryl with me!
http://tedstrutz.com/2015/08/21/a-whale-tale/
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Rochelle… “Tell me a hundred and one.” I love that… typical Wisoff-Fields touch. And of course… learned something new.
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Dear Ted,
Welcome back! Ethel and Cheryl, too. Glad you liked my story. Thank you.
Shalom
Rochelle
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wonderful as always. I always learn some new historical facts from your stories 🙂
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Dear Samantha,
I share ’em as I learn ’em. 😉
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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It’s interesting , beautifully written story only you can write. Thanks for something new again. I didn’t know about it.
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Dear Indira,
I’m always happy to pass on little historical nuggets. 😉
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I love graffiti and take as many photos that I can to showcase the talent in our city…where I work it is interesting to see one wall of art within a few weeks has been tagged and there is a story..discourse I am not privy to but oh so very interesting.
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Dear Cheryl Lynn,
It seems that we all want to be remembered, don’t we?
Thank you for dropping by and leaving your mark.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle, Tell me a hundred and one – YOU ARE BRILLIANT!!!! Perfect perfection!
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Dear Nan,
You humble me.
Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Brilliant writing and a history lesson to boot! Love it!
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Dear Akash V,
Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a lovely comment.
Welcome again,
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I love how the original photo – which is amazing in itself – prompted something in you to search out “the father of graffiti” – and then to pen such a wonderfully crafted little tale. Fascinating and fun. 🙂
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Dear Sasha,
I take the Thoreau quote at the top of the page seriously. There are times I’ll use the prompt in a more literal manner but most of the time I don’t. There are so many ways to go with one picture. I don’t fault anyone for taking the literal route but I do encourage everyone to step outside the box.
Often I’ll start a Google search with a word from the photo, in this case “wall.” Graffiti showed up immediately and I followed the trail.
In any case, I’m pleased that you enjoyed my story and that you decided to join the fun this week.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I can so appreciate how you choose to work the prompts at times – sometimes I have to remind myself not to be so literal in my interpretations.
Shalom
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