18 April 2025

Published April 16, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

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Genre: Fiction
Word Count:100

TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND A BETTER TOMORROW

Mia and Tommy entered the comic book shop. He went right to the Superman section. “Ooh, this one’s vintage. From 1942. Wow! He’s changing from Clark Kent to Superman in a phone booth. What’s a phone booth?”

“It was an eight-foot box where people could pay to make telephone calls when they were out and about.”

“Why didn’t they use their cell phones?”

“Cell phones weren’t invented yet, Goofy.”

As they exited the shop, Tommy pointed. “Look, Sis! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!”

Mia rolled her eyes. “You dork. It is a bird.”

Below is the intro to one of my favorite TV shows as a small child. Incidentally in 104 episodes of this program, Clark Kent never once changed clothes in a phone booth. Great Caesar’s Ghost!

11 April 2025

Published April 9, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Nancy Richy

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PLANT-BASED REALITY?

I was nine years old when I saw Day of the Triffids, a movie about man-eating plants. They crashed through windows and chomped off heads of unsuspecting humans, engulfing the world in an avalanche of terror.

Eighteen years ago, after surgery, my husband was gifted with a houseplant. Pothos—known for its tenacity. It grew from one end of our living room to the other, until an accident broke off its long tendrils.

Still, it thrives.

Maybe it’s my wild imagination, but should I be concerned about those chomping noises I sometimes hear in the middle of the night?

Does anyone remember this?

4 April 2025

Published April 2, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

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I’m indulging in a bit more of an intro than usual. I want to share how I got from Jen’s photo to the story I ended up with. At first, I zeroed in on the game Sorry which I played a lot when I was a child. Later, I would play it with my kids. So naturally I Googled the history of the game and came up with George Swinnerton Parker, founder of Parker Brothers and inventor of such games as Sorry, Tiddly Winks and Monopoly. Then as I was playing Scrabble on my iPad, which I do several times a day, it occurred to me I was following the wrong thread. This story is based on my own family history. 😉

Genre: Anecdote
Word Count:100

GAME ON

In 1948 James Brunot redesigned the game Criss Cross and renamed it Scrabble. It was first marketed in Great Britain in 1954.

My parents played on otherwise quiet evenings.

Mom was an avid crossword puzzle worker. Dad’s vocabulary didn’t compare to hers.

She spelled out, “QUA”

“What the hell is that? I challenge!” Flipping through dictionary, he muttered, “Oh, here it is, ‘being; in the character of’” Then he played his tiles. “SCREAM. Double word. Beat that, Mrs. Know-it-all.”

Mom added five letters to QUA to form SQUABBLE. “Triple word and my name for this game. I win. I quit.”

21 March 2025

Published March 19, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

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Genre: Fiction
Word Count: 100

SHINE ON

Granddaddy leaned back in his threadbare recliner. The faraway gleam in his faded blue eyes told me a story was coming.

“Ginger stew. Mommy mixed in brown sugar and ginger. According to her it’d cure jest about anything.

“Rainwater made the best moonshine. And ya needed good tree cover in the woods. A-course it weren’t legal. We was always lookin’ over our shoulders for the law.”

“Why’d ya do it?” I gasped. “Wasn’t ya scared?”

“It was our cash crop. Scared? Nah. It’s like dating a woman that’s married,” he chuckled. “If it ain’t got risk, it ain’t no fun.”

14 March 2025

Published March 12, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THIS?

Thirteen-year-old Pieter woke up to silence. Had everyone died? Clawing at fleabites, he waited for the camp guards to come with their clubs. Hunger gnawed at his empty stomach.

Beside him, Heinrich sat up. “What’s happening?”

Pieter rushed to the front gate, followed by his friends Heinrich and Vlad.

A Russian soldier on the other side of the gate, shot off the padlock. “Doctors, food and medication will be coming soon.”

That night, for the first time in a year, Pieter, freshly showered and fed, embraced the joy of freedom while fighting off grief and nightmares in a soft bed.

*******************

The following song would later unofficially become Israel’s National anthem in 1948 and officially in 2004. Hatikvah means “The Hope.”

7 March 2025

Published March 5, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Genre: Anecdote
Word Count:100

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH

“Something’s happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.”

My thoughts scatter this morning like bits of flotsam, jetsam and lagan. The news blares in my ears and assaults my mind. Opinions swirl and spin with tornadic force. As the saying goes, everybody has one…nu?

Meanwhile, I’m gagging on social media fast food.

Yes. I have my own views. I don’t care to get into a virtual shouting match. Speak to me in private. I’ll say what I think. Or maybe I won’t. I hope we can still be friends. If not, perhaps we were never friends to begin with.

And while we’re at it:

28 February 2025

Published February 26, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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PHOTO PROMPT © Jen Pendergast

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Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100

THE SEVEN DWARVES OF AUSCHWITZ

“As in the fairytale Snow White, there were seven of us,” says Perla. “My brothers, Micki and Avram, my sisters, Frieda, Rozika, Elizabeth and me. All of us entertainers—singing, dancing and playing musical instruments.”

Tears sting her eyes. “Not only were we deformed, we were also Jews. The Nazis deported us to Auschwitz.

“We fascinated Dr. Mengele. He syphoned our blood, extracted our teeth and did painful experiments.” Perla shudders. “Yet he kept us alive.”

“Are you sorry he wasn’t executed?” she’s asked.

“No. I was saved by the grace of the Devil. Let God give Mengele his due.”

To read a more about them CLICK HERE.

21 February 2025

Published February 19, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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If this photo prompt looks familiar to you, it’s because it’s a rerun from Aptil 2016. I’m sort of rerunning my story from that week although it needed tweaking. 😉

Genre: Fact and Fiction
Word Count: 100

SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

At a critique group I shared an excerpt from my historical novel set in 1904.

“‘…The taller officer, an imposing presence with dark skin, fascinated Havah. Although she had read about them in Professor Dietrich’s books about Africa and American history, she had never met a Negro face to face.’”

“I hate to burst your bubble,” said another writer with self-assured conviction. “I doubt there would’ve been a black officer back then.”

Returning her smug smile, I opened my Kansas City history book to a photo of Lafayette Tillman on horseback. “Second one on the KC force.”

.

.

CLICK TO CHECK OUT MY HISTORICAL SERIES

7 February 2025

Published February 5, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Literary Fiction
Word Count: 100

HANAI

I met Kevin online. Our connection began with shared interests and blossomed into more.

“You should visit in person,” said my sister.

“Fat chance. He’s in Hawaii, I’m in Nebraska.”

Last week I received an airline ticket.

“Next Saturday. Icon Grill. Seattle.

Aloha,

Kevin.”

_______________________

He slides into the booth across from me. “You bring it?”

From my purse I take a faded photograph of twins, a boy and a girl. Korean War orphans. I’ve carried it for forty years.

His almond-shaped eyes crinkle as he fishes an identical photo from his wallet.

“Jah-meh, I always hoped to find you.”

*Jah-meh – Korean for sister

Confession: this is a retread that I’ve posted a couple of times before. So if it looks familiar, you know why. If you wrote a story in 2013 or 2016 for this lovely photo from Ted Strutz, who is sorely missed, feel free to repost. 😉 Shoot me an email if you’d like to reach out to Ted via snail mail. ❤

24 January 2025

Published January 22, 2025 by rochellewisoff

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Genre: Fictionalized Story of a Current Reality
Word Count: 100

22 TISHREI 5784

More than a year had passed since Yani had seen her daughter Ori who would soon be freed from the hell of captivity. Forced to live in a damp, filthy tunnel beneath what was once a village, what stories would she tell? Would she be able to speak at all?

Hamas. Hebrew for violence. They say they have technical issues freeing their captives.

“Technical issues? They endanger their own children,” mused Yani’s grandmother Hannah who had survived Ravensbrück. “These animals should be found dead in every sector of their tunnels.”

“Ema!” Ori’s arms encircled Yani. “I’m home. Ahm Yisrael Chai!” *

*The people of Israel live!