29 January 2016

Published January 27, 2016 by rochellewisoff

Please include the PHOTO PROMPT with your story. All photos are copyrighted and may not be used outside of Friday Fictioneers without express permission and possible remuneration to the owner. Please be courteous and give credit where credit is due.

The challenge is 100 WORDS OR LESS. It’s a worthwhile challenge that teaches us as writers how to conserve and use the strongest words to tell our stories. With the number of submissions every week, this is not only a great challenge but also a consideration to other readers.

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Study it. Think about it. What kind of story does it tell you? Think outside the box.

Thank you and Shalom,

Your Fairy Blog Mother, Rochelle

PHOTO PROMPT – © ceayr

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 99

SHOAH

“Where’s Nadine?” I stamped my foot with childish impatience.

“The Juif doesn’t live here anymore.” The man hissed through pinched lips.

“Because of the Bosche?”

“No more questions.” The door slammed and he shouted from the other side. “Go away!”

________

Seventy years later sunlight flickers on ocean waves at Saint-Marc. I walk along the deserted beach where Nadine and I gathered seashells and dreams.

“Martine, swim with me.”

Shielding my eyes, I search the rippling waters. Nadine beckons. I’m warmed by her smile…and the twelve-year-old girl who choked her last in Auschwitz’s Zyklon-B showers lives forever in my heart.

.

**Note: Today as I post my story it is 27 January. The United Nations designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A time to remember and say “Never again!”

.

To learn more about Nadine click here.

Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

15 January 2016

Published January 13, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Does it speak to you? Tell us what it says in a 100 words or less.

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate nor is it necessary to dig something up to criticize for the sake of critique. Please keep it polite and friendly.

PHOTO PROMPT © Amy Reese

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

What began with a chance meeting on the walking trail grew into a fairytale romance. Enan’s soulful brown eyes captivated me. I pledged my eternal love. I felt safe with him.

One day, after our daily hike, Enan led me to a windowless cabin in the woods.

“Behold our romantic hideaway.” His hot breath in my ear rendered me helpless as he tied my hands behind my back. “You’re mine, princess—forever and always.”

A year passed before I saw the sun again.

***

I watch the police take Prince Not-So-Charming away in handcuffs.

God forgive me. I love him still.

8 January 2016

Published January 6, 2016 by rochellewisoff

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate nor is it necessary to dig something up to criticize for the sake of critique. Please keep it polite and friendly.

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Where does it take you? Tell us in one hundred words or less.

PHOTO PROMPT © Melanie Greenwood

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

ALTERNATE FLIGHT

“Sorry, Miss, your flight’s been cancelled,” says the airline rep with a wheeze in her voice.

“My boyfriend’s got reservations for our bistro and I’m sure he’s going to pop the question tonight and I have to—”

“Young love will have to go on standby, dearie.” She squints at me through horn-rimmed glasses.

Teeth grinding, I pace in front of the window as snow covers the tarmac.

I plop down in a chair.

My iPhone chimes.

“It’s over. Marrying Patricia. Safe travels. Eugene.”

It’s snowing harder. I read his text three more times and grin with relief. Lovely weather.

1 January 2016

Published December 30, 2015 by rochellewisoff

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate nor is it necessary to dig something up to criticize for the sake of critique. Please keep it polite and friendly.

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Once more I’m taking the liberty of doing a rerun. Some of you may remember this photo and already have a story to go with it. Feel free to replay your story as well and enjoy the New Year.

Copyright Jean L. Hays

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 98

ILLUMINATION

With her crimson hair and freckles she could’ve been my own reflection. Although we’d never met, I knew she was my birth mother.

“Didn’t you want me?”

“With all my heart.”

Sunlight streaming through the café windows glinted off her tears. “Mother said I couldn’t care for a baby…said I’d hurt you. She never even let me hold you.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Hold me now…Mama.”

Her fingers caressed my forehead, then moved as lightly as moth wings down my nose and over my lips. Her sightless eyes glistened. “It’s good to finally see you.”

To see the original post click here.

25 December 2015

Published December 23, 2015 by rochellewisoff

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate nor is it necessary to dig something up to criticize for the sake of critique. Please keep it polite and friendly.

This week’s prompt is a rerun. We will be out of town visiting family this week so please forgive me for very slow or nonexistent response time. I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. If you’ve already written a story for this prompt as a few have, feel free to enjoy the respite. Look for next week’s prompt to be a retread as well. Thanks to each and every one of you who participate. I can’t begin to tell you what this group means to me.

Shalom,

Rochelle

PHOTO PROMPT – © Scott L. Vannatter

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 97

Here’s the original Post

FINAL DECLARATION

Like the anguished images that flashed across our television, Friday, November 22, 1963 will ever be etched into my memory in black and white.

Walter Cronkite wept on camera.

The nation mourned.

Dazed, Mom sorted Christmas ornaments at the kitchen table and mumbled empty phrases. Dad dropped to his knees, laid his head in her lap and sobbed.

“He was my hero!” I screamed.

My eleven-year-old world spun out and I kicked at the two faceless uniforms.

Their vacuous condolences pelted me like the bullets that killed my big brother in Vietnam.

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

I’ll never forgive Mr. Kennedy.

I was in 5th grade the day Kennedy was assassinated. We had just come in from recess when the teacher greeted us with “The president’s been shot.’ and flipped on the TV. What a cold and hollow weekend followed as we all crowded around the television and wondered who would do such a horrible thing. I don’t mean to spark a controversy but the fact is that President Kennedy did send advisers to Vietnam and he did get us into the war.

Click Here for More

11 December 2015

Published December 9, 2015 by rochellewisoff

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate nor is it necessary to dig something up to criticize for the sake of critique. Please keep it polite and friendly.

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. I appreciate the diverse offerings from fictioneers. Please be courteous and give credit to whom credit is due.

PHOTO PROMPT © Luther Siler

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 98

FLIGHT OF FANCY

10 February 1830

Dearest Lucy,

When I think about your advocacy of this wild man who sails from one continent to another in pursuit of his ambition I am filled with love.

The English engravers are tirelessly rendering my dream into reality. I marvel at nature when dawn presents her in richest, purest array and hope my humble paintings shall be my legacy for our two sons.

I could not do better than to travel and finish my collection of the ‘Birds of America.’

Across the ocean, ma chérie Mrs. Audubon, your devotion sustains me.

Affectionately yours,

John

To learn more click here.

.

Lucy Audubon

John James Audubon

4 December 2015

Published December 2, 2015 by rochellewisoff

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate nor is it necessary to dig something up to criticize for the sake of critique. Please keep it polite and friendly.

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Roger has no website or blog but takes beautiful photos and enjoys letting us use them.

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Too Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

I WILL REMIND YOU

When I was a little girl my mother delighted in making birthdays memorable with shiny packages, bright balloons and colorful streamers. The cakes she decorated were works of art.

“I like red.” She looks at the birthday balloon I brought and then at me with a puzzled frown. Her eyes, once full of light, are little more than murky windows to a drifting soul.

“The eggs rolled out of the henhouse and smashed the cupcakes…” her voice trails off and the struggle to shape the words is evident. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”

“It’s okay, Mom. I remember you.”

.

While my story this week is fictionalized it is based on a recent visit to my mother in law. Alzheimer’s is the cruelest of diseases for we mourn the loss of a loved one but her body still lives and breathes.

27 November 2015

Published November 25, 2015 by rochellewisoff

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup. No one is under obligation to participate. Please keep it polite and friendly.

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Please give credit where credit is due.

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

get the InLinkz code

Here in the States Thursday, the 26th, is Thanksgiving, a day set aside to count our blessings and remember the Pilgrims who came here in 1620 supposedly seeking religious freedom. Alas, it’s also one of those times when history has been candy coated to make it easier to swallow. So today I serve a healthy helping of my favorite subject.

Genre: Somewhat Historical Fiction

Word count: 100

KESHAGESH

“The Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock,” Matthew read aloud. “Friendly Indians helped them plant corn and—”

“They should’ve been called Pillagers.” Rita fumed, snatched his paper and ripped it apart. “We’re indigenous and this is not India.”

“Mom, that’s my homework.”

She handed him another sheet of paper. “Write this, Matthew Thundercloud, not what you think your teacher wants to hear.

“They robbed graves, stole our land, enslaved us, murdered our children, forced their Christian religion upon us and gave us smallpox.”

“What if she gives me an ‘F’?”

Just smile and say, ‘Happy Turkey Day.’”

.

This should explain my title:

20 November 2015

Published November 18, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the prompt. Please remember to give credit where credit is due.

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

If you want to be part of this group click the link above and follow the rules set forth by Jennifer Pendergast, the leader of this subgroup.

*I’ve received both positive and negative feedback. Remember that there’s no obligation to give or receive constructive criticism nor is there an obligation to agree with crit given. I’d also like to add that no one should feel the need to dig up something to criticize simply because someone has a ‘C’ before their name. Let’s keep it polite and friendly.

get the InLinkz code

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

SET ME AS A SEAL UPON YOUR HEART

Steam rose from the dish pan. Sweat beaded Leah’s forehead and soaked her kerchief. Gavrel’s chest ached with yearning and remorse. She deserved better than an old cobbler and the apartment above his shop, which was too small for two people, let alone a family of six.

“Next year in America. 1906 will be better.” He circled his arms around her waist. “Now this is a perfect fit.”

Turning in his embrace, she planted a wet kiss on his cheek. “Spoken like a shoemaker.”

“We may be poor, my young bride, but our children will never go barefoot in winter.”

****

Although not an excerpt, the story above is a scene in my novel From Silt and Ashes the sequel to Please Say Kaddish for Me.

Gavrel Wolinsky- Orignial Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Leah Wolinsky - Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

13 November 2015

Published November 11, 2015 by rochellewisoff

It is common courtesy to give credit where credit is due. The next photo in this sea of memes is the PROMPT.

FRIDAY FICTION CONCRIT SUBGROUP

Let’s give it a go for another week. Click on the line above to learn how to participate. For those who would rather not receive constructive criticism there’s no obligation. It’s also good to remember that concrit is the suggestions of the giver. There’s no pressure to agree. Personally I received some good suggestions last week.

get the InLinkz code

Wednesday, November 11 is Veterans Day here in the States. Thank you, Jan, for your twenty-eight years in the United States Navy. And thank you to all the men and women who have served in the military.

Genre:Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

Since I’ve agreed with another fictioneer’s concrit and changed a line, it’s been requested that I post my original post so everyone can see what I changed. I think it’s a good idea so here it is. No need to read if you don’t want to. It’s basically the same story with some minor tweaking. 😉

Here’s the original version:

WHERE THE GRAPES OF WRATH ARE STORED

“Water…somebody…please.”

Clara knelt next to the Union soldier and held a cup to his lips. The stench of defecation and decaying flesh made her stomach roil. Her back and neck ached from three nights without sleep.

“Don’t you remember me, Miss Clara?”

In her mind’s eye she saw the bright child in her long ago Texas schoolroom.

“Of course I do,” she whispered. “Save your strength, David. We’ll talk later.”

In one heart-stopping moment something ripped through her right sleeve, the cup dropped and David fell back, quivering in the agonies of death.

Clara Barton never mended the bullet hole.

***

Here’s the update:

WHERE THE GRAPES OF WRATH ARE STORED

“Water…somebody…please.”

Clara knelt next to the Union soldier and held a cup to his lips. The stench of feces and decaying flesh made her stomach roil. Her back and neck ached from three nights without sleep.

“Don’t you remember me, Miss Clara?”

At once she recognized the bright child from her long ago Texas schoolroom.

“Of course I do,” she whispered. “Save your strength, David. We’ll talk later.”

In one heart-stopping moment something ripped through her right sleeve, the cup dropped and David fell back, quivering in the agonies of death.

Clara Barton never mended the bullet hole.

.