15 March 2013

Published March 13, 2013 by rochellewisoff

LOOKING FOR FRIDAY FICTIONEERS? YOU FOUND US!

I dare you to write more than you see with your eyes. I double dog dare you!

******

March Birthdays Among Us (That I know about)

Bill “Zed Man” Webb – March 1

Janet “Sustainabilitea” Webb – March 15

If there are more out there let me know.

******

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs. (Example below)
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.

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

🙂 My story will follow the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I enjoy your comments.

Like us on Facebook

Copyright – Lora Mitchell

get the InLinkz code

Genre:-Autobiography

Word Count – 100

END OF AN ERA, SEPTEMBER 24, 1960

Just the right balance of tin foil on rabbit ears chased away the ghosts and the black and white Zenith’s fifteen- inch picture wouldn’t flip during my favorite show.

“Hey, kids. What time is it?”

“It’s Howdy Doody time!”

Mute clown Clarabell chased Buffalo Bob with a seltzer bottle. Antics of the puppet population of Doodyville delighted me.

One horrible Saturday Howdy said, “There’s no more show. It’s time to go.”

Then Clarabell spoke for the first time.

“Goodbye, kids.”

I sobbed, inconsolable, crushed by my first real loss in seven years. Even now the memory brings me to tears.

“Epilogue”

8 March 2013

Published March 6, 2013 by rochellewisoff

TIME FOR THE FANTASTIC FRIDAY FICTIONEERS!

Calling all muses. Fire into action! Ready! Set! Write!

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
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.

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

My story will follow the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I enjoy your comments.

Like us on Facebook

copyright – Jennifer Pendergast

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Literary Fiction

Word Count: 100

THE THOUSANDTH MILE

“A journey begins with a single step,” said Jared as he sprinted down the trail.

“Surprise me. Say something original”

“Last one to the oak tree’s a rotten egg.”

I chased him but never caught up. Who could? Jared set track records in high school and college.

When I reached the tree he took my face in his hands. “I leave for Afghanistan day after tomorrow.”

Originality I didn’t want to hear.

Two years later Jared still spouts clichés and platitudes. I don’t mind.

On prosthetics he wins his first 10K and grins. “A journey begins with a single step.”

1 March 2013

Published February 27, 2013 by rochellewisoff

Will March come in like a lion or a lamb? No matter. It’s a new month to gather and write. So bring out the pencils, the pens, desktops, laptops and any other implements of construction. Let your imagination soar as you wrestle one hundred words into submission because it’s time for

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS!

**We set a new record last week with 105 postings!**

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
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.

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

My story will follow the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I enjoy your comments.

Like us on Facebook

This week’s prompt comes from Beth Carter who took a first prize with it at the Ozarks Writers League photo contest in February. Congratulations, Beth!

Copyright – Beth Carter

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Literary Fiction

Word count: 100

PACK RAT

Boxes overflowing with rusted ten-penny nails, camping equipment and car parts cluttered the garage. Judith hated the chaos, but other things got in the way of Greg’s promise to organize until the day he deserted her.

It took months to sort through the cardboard jungle.

Then she came across a crate with “Judith” painted on the lid. In it she found her class ring, his first speeding ticket and a bottle of cognac—same vintage they’d shared on their honeymoon.

A note in his uneven scrawl read,

“Damned cancer. Wish I were there to toast forty of my happiest years.”

22 February 2013

Published February 20, 2013 by rochellewisoff

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN…THE HIGH POINT IN YOUR WEEK

“The weekly gathering of the Fictioneers has commenced. Bring out the halt, the lame, the blind, the murderers and aliens, vampires and vamps. Look carefully and you might see a human or two. Take them all, stir thoroughly, add a dollop of disbelief, a soupçon of silliness. Dip a spoon into the resulting slumgullion: each recipe meticulously prepared, marvelously rendered, tasty to the tongue. Your personal recipe is solicited or feel free to simply feast and go away replete; perhaps not always uplifted, but with your brain stimulated.” —Janet Webb

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
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.

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

My story will follow the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I enjoy your comments.

Like us on Facebook

Copyright-Janet Webb

get the InLinkz code

Genre-Historical Fiction

Word Count-100

MEMORY’S HARVEST

In 1947 six-year-old Lyudmila moved from Poland with Father to her uncle’s dairy farm in upstate New York. She milked cows and gathered eggs. Every morning the Catskills kissed the sky. A bright, happy place for a child.

“So young she won’t remember,” whispered Aunt Dora one night over dinner.

Weeks later Lyudmila twisted her ankle on a tree root.

“Just a sprain,” said Dr. Meinenger. “You will be sehr gut as new, Liebling.”

His gentle touch and familiar accent stirred sleeping memories.

Dr. Mengele’s gloved fingers.

Her twin sister’s severed limbs on the operating table.

Lyudmila would never forget.

To further your education click here. WARNING! Contains graphic material.

15 February 2013

Published February 13, 2013 by rochellewisoff

WELCOME TO FRIDAY FICTIONEERS!

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
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.

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

🙂 My story will follow the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I enjoy your comments. 🙂

Like us on Facebook

copyright-David Stewart

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Literary Fiction

Word Count: 100

A little background music 😉 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9bYnzs7Zaw

DMZ

Two months after my father’s death he received an invitation from my Uncle Yee in Uigeongbu. Was this the same Uncle Yee who threatened to drown me?

My parents met in a MASH unit in 1953. She was a surgical nurse. He was a wounded soldier in Syngman Rhee’s army.

Never accepted anywhere. I still hear the taunts.

“Black and yellow Jell-O. Slanty eyes. Nappy head.”

I traveled in Appa’s place to tell his evil twin how much I hated him.

Instead, upon my arrival in Panmunjom, a shriveled old man bowed and wept. “Forgive me, Tamika Ahn. Welcome home.”

8 February 2013

Published February 6, 2013 by rochellewisoff

HEY KIDS, WHAT TIME IS IT? IT’S FRIDAY FICTIONEERS TIME!

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
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.

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

🙂 My story will follow the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I enjoy your comments. 🙂

Like us on Facebook

copyright-Rich Voza

get the InLinkz code

**Genre: Speculative Fiction**

Word Count: 135

A friend who couldn’t find a use for his 35 extra words generously loaned them to me. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t allow myself to be coerced into breaking my own rules. No apologies.

FLIGHT STATUS

“Flight delayed.” Amelia snarled and closed the US Airways website. “Damn business trips!”

Memories of their argument right before Chase left gnawed at her. She regretted her spiteful words.

“I hate your job!”

“You like the money.”

“You’re never home. Your daughters don’t even know their father.”

“Next time, babe, you and the girls are coming with me.”

“What if—?”

“‘What if’ never happens.” He gathered her into his arms. “Flying’s safer than driving on the freeway.”

Five hours ago he’d texted from Phoenix. “Just a little turbulence. Nothing to worry about.”

“Mommy?” Four-year-old Katy tiptoed into the room. “Daddy sat on my bed.”

“It was only a dream, Kitten.”

“No it wasn’t. He talked to me!”

“What’d he say?”

“He’s sorry he can’t come home.”

Her phone chimed. Message from Chase.

“Dearest Amelia…”

.

BASH

TFOA

1 February 2013

Published January 30, 2013 by rochellewisoff

WELCOME TO FRIDAY FICTIONEERS!

We are a growing community of blogging writers who come together each week from all parts of the globe to share individual flash fictions from a single photo prompt. The prompt goes up early Wednesday morning CST to give each writer time to compose a story by Friday. Some use the photo as a mere inspiration while others use it as an illustration. Use your imagination and think outside the box.

WARNING! This is an addiction for which there is no 12 step recovery program.

Like us on Facebook

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
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.

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

🙂 My story follows the prompt for those who might be distracted by reading a story before writing their own . I relish your comments. 🙂

Copyright-Claire Fuller

The prompt this week comes twice from Claire Fuller; both photo and artwork.

get the InLinkz code

*Genre-Literary Fiction*

PAVOR NOCTURNUS

“It takes time to recover from major surgery,” said Jill’s doctor. “Your body suffered trauma. I suspect the nightmares will stop soon.”

“Thanks…for nothing.” She slammed down the phone. “What’s it to him? He’s not the one afraid to sleep.”

“Honey, you need your rest.” Tom slipped in beside her and shut off the light.

Her attempts to stay awake failed. The bedroom faded. A two-headed monster with razor-sharp fangs in each mouth seized her shoulders. She struggled against its iron-grip.

“Jill! Wake up!”

Drenched and shivering, she opened her eyes and groaned. “Not again.”

“Yep. The twins are hungry.”

And just for fun or if you’re having trouble getting to sleep click here.

.

shhhhhhh!

25 January 2013

Published January 23, 2013 by rochellewisoff

You’re calling from WHERE??? Sorry…wrong number!

.

LOOKING FOR FRIDAY FICTIONEERS? YOU’RE IN THE WRITE PLACE!

We are a growing community of blogging writers who come together each week from all parts of the globe to share individual flash fictions from a single photo prompt. The prompt goes up early Wednesday morning CST to give each writer time to compose a story by Friday. Some use the photo as a mere inspiration while others use it as an illustration. Use your imagination and think outside the box.

WARNING! This is an addiction for which there is no 12 step recovery program.

Like us on Facebook

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).Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.
Make note in your blog if you’d prefer not to have constructive criticism.
***************
THIS PAGE IS “FRIDAY FICTIONEERS CENTRAL” AND IS NOT THE PLACE TO PROMOTE POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS VIEWS.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT YOUR STORY AND POLICING COMMENTS. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO DELETE THE ONES 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 TAKE IT TO EMAIL OR ANOTHER METHOD OF PRIVATE MESSAGING.

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

This week’s PHOTO PROMPT is from Renee Heath. A pleasant picture for those of us in cold winter climates.

Copyright-Renee Homan Heath

get the InLinkz code

*Genre: Historical Fiction*

PENANCE

3 December in the year of our Lord 1765

Dearest Catherine,

It is with deep regret I write that I shan’t return to England. I cannot for I would not have you plight your troth to a murderer.

Now I must remain to make amends.

At the first the savage misliked me and I feared him. But over time we became friends. Together we laughed and fished the Seminole way.

Surely these people threaten us with war. Yet it was neither my musket nor my dagger that felled my warrior brother, but my white man’s curse—smallpox.

Penitently yours,

Jonathan

STORY REVISITED

Published January 20, 2013 by rochellewisoff

One of the things I love about writing is the process of finding my way to the finished product. At times it’s as hard as trying to bend iron with my bare hands. (Nope probably will never master that.) It’s a wrestling match with words.

May 18,2012. when I was one of the new Friday Fictioneers on the block, I wrote my 6th flash fiction, MIRACLE. I was still pretty green when it came to writing a short-short with a beginning, middle and end. Some of you may remember this picture and have your own stories to go with it.

MIRACLE

Merciless rain pelted the Conestoga’s canvas roof. Tildy’s stomach swelled and roiled with each pitch and sway.

Three-year-old Jonas whimpered in her arms. Like periwinkle marbles, his eyes rolled in aimless delirium. She almost welcomed his fevered warmth in the penetrating damp.

The wagon lurched and stopped. Smelling of horses, leather and wet denim Noel slipped through the narrow opening. In silence, his vigilant eyes on his son, he nestled under the blanket beside her.

Tildy woke to hushed sunlight. Her baby was gone.

Outside, naked as dawn, Jonas hopped and pointed at the rainbow. “Ma! Pa! Angels came!”

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

Why rewrite?

Most of the comments were favorable and polite. But some of them have niggled at me for months:

“Dear Rochelle,

This was hard to work out and being the first to comment (I think) I don’t have the crutch of other’s opinions to help me out. When Jonas says the angels have come, was it that they’d come for anyone specific? Or just touched the earth and left their heavenly colored trails as a sign. Did Jonas’ fever break? No one died, did they?A lovely story, full of imagination and pathos. I loved the ‘Periwinkle marbles’. Great stuff.

Aloha,Doug”

And this one:

“Am I so wrong in hoping that he was actually still alive and just telling them excitedly of his fever-induced dream? My fingers are crossed.Poignant and sad.”

And another:

“I honestly thought that her baby had died (“gone”) and that he was dancing with the angels.”

By the end of the comment thread I’d recapped and explained at least five times. So to my obsessive perfectionist’s mind this is unacceptable.

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

MIRACLE

Merciless rain pelted the Conestoga’s canvas roof. Tildy’s stomach roiled with each pitch and sway.

Three-year-old Jonas whimpered in her arms. Like periwinkle marbles, his eyes rolled in aimless delirium. She almost welcomed his fevered warmth in the penetrating damp.

The wagon lurched and stopped. Smelling of horses, leather and wet denim Noel slipped through the narrow opening. His vigilant eyes on his son, he nestled under the blanket beside her.

…….

Tildy woke to hushed sunlight and empty arms. She bolted upright and searched.

Outside, naked as dawn, Jonas skipped and pointed at a rainbow. “Ma! Pa! Angels came!”

18 January 2013

Published January 16, 2013 by rochellewisoff

WELCOME TO FRIDAY FICTIONEERS

We are a growing community of blogging writers who come together each week from all parts of the globe to share individual flash fictions from a single photo prompt. The prompt goes up early Wednesday morning CST to give each writer time to compose a story by Friday. Some use the photo as a mere inspiration while others use it as an illustration. Use your imagination and think outside the box.

WARNING! This is an addiction for which there is no 12 step recovery program.

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.
- Make note in your blog if you’d prefer not to have constructive criticism.

EXERCISE DISCRETION AT ALL TIMES WHEN COMMENTING ON A STORY! BE RESPECTFUL. THIS IS NOT THE TIME OR PLACE PLACE TO PROMOTE POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS VIEWS. IF YOU HAVE SEVERE OR HOSTILE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION WITH ANOTHER PERSON PLEASE TAKE IT TO EMAIL OR ANOTHER METHOD OF PRIVATE MESSAGING.

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).

Thanks to Blogspot bloggers for disabling their CAPTCHAs.

The photo this week is mine. It’s a still life of “stuff” that I used as a model for a watercolor which is the book cover of my short story anthology, THIS, THAT AND SOMETIMES THE OTHER that debuted in November 2011. You can find it in the right hand margin of this blog. 😉 In any case I’m interested to see how many stories it will inspire this week.

Copyright-Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

get the InLinkz code

This week my story is not so much fiction as autobiography. My maternal grandfather came to America in 1903, as my mom was fond of saying, with nothing but the clothes on his back. After coming through Ellis Island, he slept under park benches in Central Park and eventually hitchhiked to the Midwest. At least this is the story I’ve gleaned from my mother and cousins. Grandpa wasn’t a warm fuzzy person and it’s only been the past few years through research for my novel that takes place in turn of the 20th century Eastern Europe that I’ve drawn some conclusions. They may or may not be accurate but I’ll never know because I was too afraid of him to ask.

Click here to learn about the world from which my ancestors escaped.

Genre: Memoir

SUNRISE, SUNSET

Every Sunday my mother dragged me to my grandfather’s house. She said I should get to know him, learn from him. After all he’d survived Russia’s pogroms. My family history.

But I asked no questions. He offered no stories.

One week mom took a vinyl copy of Fiddler on the Roof for him to hear. His timeworn torso sank into his recliner as he listened to Tevye the milkman sing.

“If I were a rich man, yaba-deebee-deebee-bum.”

Forty years later I still remember how my austere grandfather’s granite-hard eyes transformed to liquid quartz.

“My father sang…just like that.”

.