The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.
PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook
The prompt this weeks is of a rotted tree stump. Growing profusely from the wood are rows of turkey tail mushrooms. They look like columns of fans or tails of turkeys.
CLICK THE FROGS TO HOP ABOARD
This week, as I’ll be traveling out of state to visit my brother in North Carolina, I’m taking the easy way and posting a snippet from my novel LAST DANCE WITH ANNIE (soon to be available in audio).
Genre: Literary Fiction
Word Count: 100
ROUGH ROAD TO RECOVERY
Once the doors shut and the vehicle began to move, the EMT picked up the ambulance phone and poised his fingers over the buttons. “Do you want me to call your husband?”
Elise’s panic mushroomed. “Husband?”
The young man’s cheeks flushed as he pointed at her wedding ring. “I assumed—”
Elise swiveled the gold band around her ring finger with her pinkie and thumb. They’d had a terrible fight at the restaurant about her dinner—or lack thereof—as always.
Tony had filled a plate with chicken and vegetables and plopped it front of her. “Dammit, Elise, eat something!”
********************
A few more photos from our recent recording session. Jadyn, the young man in the photo will be voicing the male characters. The young lady sitting is my publisher Lia Wu.










Nicely understated, Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Neil.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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One can scarcely begin to imagine the experience of watching someone fade away before your eyes. Nor the frustration. Well done.
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Dear Sandra,
Looking back on those times I’ve had to face the affect my eating disorder had on my family. Thank you for your understanding comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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“Elise’s panic mushroomed“
Cute.
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Dear James,
Glad you caught that. 😉 Shoehorned in for the prompt…not in the book.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m intrigued! An interesting teaser, Rochelle.
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Worth the read, Keith 😉
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Thanks for the plug, Dale. 😉 ❤
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💞
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Dear Keith,
You can find LAST DANCE WITH ANNIE on Amazon. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m on my way!
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💜
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Dear Rochelle,
Love your subtle use of the prompt photo. And easy way, schmeasy way – you wrote it 😉
Enjoy your vacation with your brother and wishing you swimmable weather!
Shalom and lotsa love in profusion,
Dale
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Dear Dale,
Subltle use? Whatever do you mean? He he.
So far so good on the vacation. Although the flight here was a bit of a challenge…Most of it went smoothly. Until Charlotte where American Airlines suffered a nationwide shut down. Technology is great until it isn’t. (A story for another FF?)
Shalom and lotsa mushrooming hugs,
Rochelle
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Love it!
And, the way I see it, much better to have a shut down whilst on the ground…
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It was crazy. And fortunately the delay was less than an hour. But when the pilot made the announcement, I envisioned being stuck there for hours or even days.
I do wonder how the shutdown effected planes alread in the air.
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Yes, fortunately!
As an aside… all of a sudden, WP is giving a message to most blogs when I try to open them…. is that happening to you?
the message reads: Never mind… it fixed itself!
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Well, m’lady, that’s intriguing…
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Thank you, C.E. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Powerful excerpt, Rochelle. Thanks for sharing the pics of the recording sessions.
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Dear Lisa,
That’s one of those excerpts that’s more fact than fiction. Thank you for your encouraging comment.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, you are very welcome.
Shalom,
Lisa
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the mind has such illogical control over some people, I never can understand eating disorders, when there is so much lovely food.
Rochelle, enjoy your recording work, best wishes on you project.
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Dear James,
Fortunately “Elise” is something of a stranger to me now. My relationship to food is now an enjoyable one. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What a powerful excerpt, Rochelle. 👍
Wishing you many successes on your recording work. I’m so proud of you! Thanks for sharing the pictures. 🙏
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Dear Aptivi,
Thank you for your encouraging comment and well wishes. 😀 Much appreciated.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You’re most welcome, Rochelle. 😃
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Cool excerpt Rochelle – clever use of ‘mushroom’ link 😃and great photos too 🙌 enjoy your visit 🩷
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Dear Ange,
Glad you caught my little “mushroom connection”. The rest of the piece is a direct excerpt from the novel. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Most intriguing and an excellent excerpt. Good one, Rochelle.
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Thank you so much, Chris.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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it’s an ironic situation when so many in the world are starving, but such is life.
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Dear Plaridel,
It is ironic that so many should be starving to be thin in the midst of plenty. There’s so much more to an eating disorder than just food or even body image.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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So cleverly described as always Rochelle. Softly but scared. So few words yet we see all of the fear in just that snippet of writing.
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Dear Laurie,
Thank you so much for your kind observations.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Interesting excerpt.
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Thank you, Geeta.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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“What a powerful scene! That moment of panic when she realizes she doesn’t even think of Tony as her husband anymore—that single word ‘Husband?’ says so much more than a page of backstory could. The detail of her twisting the gold ring with her pinkie and thumb is so vivid and heartbreaking.
And your prompt choice is wonderful too—those turkey tail mushrooms are like nature’s tiny, colorful fans. Looking forward to the audiobook release! Good luck on your trip to North Carolina.”🍄🎧
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Dear Khang,
What a lovely comment. Thank you for your lovely comments which somehow ended up in my spam folder.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You are welcome!🤗
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I can sense his frustration.
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Dear Chioma,
I’m glad his frustration comes through. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You are welcome.
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It’s the silliest of things that ruin marriages.
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Dear Kwadwo,
In this case, it’s anything but silly. Tony is frustrated because he can’t fix his wife who has a life threatening disorder. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I see. I suppose I misread the situation.
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That must be such a hard thing with which to deal on both sides. I’m looking forward to hearing the full story when your audiobook comes out.
I love your “adult” shirt in the pictures. I can relate.
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Dear Nobbin,
I’m glad you picked up on the T-shirt. 😀
Sometimes it’s difficult to look back on my eating disorder days and see how it hurt the rest of my family. Thank you for your encouraging words.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh, that was smooth, Rochelle! Nicely done! The ideas that come these stories ……
Hope you’re having a wonderful visit with your family.
Shalom
🕊️
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Dear Nancy,
😀 Had to make the punishment fit the crime. 😉 Thank you.
Yes, I’m enjoyng the visit.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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