27 May 2016

Published May 25, 2016 by rochellewisoff

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The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette. This week the photo is one of mine.

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Genre: Historical Fiction/Teaser

Not exactly an excerpt from FROM SILT AND ASHES

Word Count: 99

BOTHER IN LAW

Quinnon’s drunken accusations reprised like a canon in Ulrich’s head. How could Quinnon accuse his own sister of murder? No one could deny she had a fiery temper—but murder? Surely not!

Ulrich stood on the ship’s deck beside her. The moon’s reflections flickered on the waves like radiant sea creatures. A salt laden breeze ruffled his hair and chilled him through his thin shirt. Despite his raging mind, he relished the cool ocean spray on his face.

Catherine leaned her head on his shoulder. “What’s the matter, Ulrich?”

“I have to know. Did you kill your son?”

“Yes.”

ULRICH DIETRICH
Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

CATHERINE DIETRICH
Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

QUINNON FLANNERY
Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

COMING SOON!

20 May 2016

Published May 18, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

A few times this week I found myself scrolling through blog posts to get to the story. Please make sure it’s your STORY PAGE URL than you link. Thank you.

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

TOAST OF THE TOWN

Slouching on the bench, sixteen-year-old Ed clutched a train ticket, his dreams of being a Great War hero dashed. He hadn’t realized the draft board doctor would require a birth certificate.

“Where ya headed, kid?” asked the stubble-cheeked man next to him.

“Port Chester, New York.”

“Never heard of it. What’s there?”

“Home.” Ed traced a floor tile with his toe. “Dad’s gonna beat the hell out of me for running off. He says I’ll never amount to anything.”

***

Hours later, tears lined Peter Sullivan’s face as he joyfully welcomed his son, the future television show host, with open arms.

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13 May 2016

Published May 11, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

PHOTO PROMPT © CEAYR

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

SWINGJUGEND

In 1969 my mother packed me off to my aunt and uncle’s dairy farm in Wisconsin.

“But Mom, Uncle Otto’s weird. That eyepatch and those scars—ick.”

***

One night he took my Jefferson Airplane record from the stereo and replaced it with his own 45.

“You tink das ist protest music?”

“‘It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing,’” He sang. “The SS ransacked our nightclub, but I danced all the way to Buchenwald.”

Uncle Otto taught me more than the jitterbug that summer.

***

At his funeral last year I saluted my favorite uncle with, “Swing Heil!”

.

6 May 2016

Published May 4, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette. This week’s photo is from Roger Bultot for whom there is no link. Thanks for letting us use your photos Roger.

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

LOST BATTALION

Molly made a face at her brother. “You birdbrain.”

“Am not!” Jimmy scowled.

“That’s a compliment you know,” said Grandpop.

“Why?” asked Molly.

“You never heard of Cher Ami?”

“What’s that?”

“Not what—who. He was a hero of the Great War.” Tears stung Grandpop’s eyes. “The Krauts shot a hole in his chest, took out his eye and blew off his leg. Nothing could deter him from his mission.”

“Wowsers!” Jimmy’s jaw dropped. “He was tough.”

Molly sighed. “Was he good looking, too, Grandpop?”

“I’ll say. Two hundred of us dough boys owe that handsome carrier pigeon our lives.”

CLICK

29 April 2016

Published April 27, 2016 by rochellewisoff

KUDOS TO OUR RESIDENT AWARD WINNER SANDRA CROOK

Click Here to read more!

Best wishes go out to our friend CEAYR and hopes that he’ll be pain free soon.

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

PHOTO PROMPT © Mary Shipman

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

IKH HOB DIKH TSUFIL LIB*

Beryl’s wealthy uncle paid his way to America to study medicine in exchange for help in his store. The long narrow shop smelled of leather, licorice, and chocolate, but mostly, it reeked of Uncle Sol’s cigars.

“Did you leave a sweetheart in Moldavia, Beryl?”

“Yes sir.”

“Say the word and I’ll bring her over.”

***

“Beryl, don’t go. I’ll die of a broken heart.”

“I’ll come back for you, Havah.”

***

“She perished in a pogrom four years ago.”

Sol stopped to wait on a young mother with her child.

“Beryl, meet Mrs. Gitterman from Moldavia.”

Beryl’s heart thundered her name. “Havah!”

*I Love You Too Much

Just for fun an updated traditional Yiddish melody if you’re in the mood. 😉

22 April 2016

Published April 20, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

Best wishes go out to our friend CEAYR and hopes that he’ll be without pain very soon.

PHOTO PROMPT © Madison Woods

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This month marks my fourth Friday Fictioneers Anniversary! To commemorate it I’m posting a rerun. At least the photo’s a rerun. If you already wrote a story to go with this prompt all those years ago, feel free to take a breather and re-post it.

As I reread the story I posted four years ago this week, I decided it needed some updating. It was, after all, the third flash fiction I ever wrote. If you’d like to read the original click HERE

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

IN MEMORY OF 24682

Between barbs and twisted wire the sun had the audacity to shine. Marushka’s stomach howled in outrage as she licked the dregs of a discarded sardine tin. She stretched her skeletal legs and longed for silk stockings to hug her once shapely calves.

She took a cracked mirror from her pocket and winced at her bald reflection. Murderer!

“I couldn’t let them hear you.” Memories of her baby gasping for breath under her palm haunted her. Employing the jagged glass, she slashed from her wrist to her tattoo. Relief flooded her as her life pooled in the grass. “Mama’s coming.”

15 April 2016

Published April 13, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

PHOTO PROMPT © Kent Bonham

***************************************NOTICE****************************************************************************

Dear Friday Fictioneers,

Our fellow fictioneer CEAYR asked that I extend his apologies for his lack of participation of late. While he doesn’t mean to be rude, our friend is dealing with physical issues that prevent him from being more involved.

Thank you for understanding.

Shalom,

Rochelle

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

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Genre: Fact and Fiction

Word Count: 100

SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

“‘…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.’”

“What year does your book take place?”

“1904.”

“I hate to burst your bubble,” says my fellow writer with smug conviction. “I realize it’s historical fiction but I seriously doubt there would’ve been a black officer back then.”

I whip out my Kansas City history book and point to a photo of uniformed Lafayette Tillman on horseback. “Second one on the KC force. Next question.”

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https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/character-study-lafayette-a-tillman/

1 April 2016

Published March 30, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

Please make an effort to stay within the suggested word count. While 50 to 100 words over the limit might not seem like much to the writer, in the context of reading up a hundred stories, it’s a little inconsiderate. Use your imagination and pare it down. It can be done and you might be surprised at how few words you need to create a scene or tell a story.

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Genre: Hysterical Non-Fiction

Word Count: 100

PREMIER SALES DITCH

“Everyone gets a facial.” My friend Jennifer’s voice crackled with enthusiasm through the phone. “It’s great fun and you can make a ton of money.”

That night, at a rah-rah recruiting meeting as her fresh meat du jour special guest, I swallowed the hook.

__________

Pink Cadillacs sped along my mind’s highway as I arrived at my first skincare party.

Setting Styrofoam sample trays before potential customers, I touted my product’s miraculous benefits. “A hide tanner discovered the formula.”

One dainty lady dipped her fingertip into the moisturizer and frowned. “You expect me to put this shit on my face?”

***

I recently did a blog interview with Deborah Kalb. To read it, click HERE

25 March 2016

Published March 23, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

Please be considerate and make an effort to stay within the suggested word count.

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Due to circumstances beyond my control this past week, including an all day car repair, dental issues and a computer crash, I am posting an excerpt from my working manuscript, As One Must, One Can. While it’s just under a hundred words, it’s not a complete story. In this stage of the book, Havah, who teaches an unheard of girl’s Hebrew class, accompanied by her nephew Lev, is going to check on two of her students who live in McClure Flats which was a Kansas City Slum populated mostly by Russian Jewish immigrants.

Genre: Historical Fiction

(the year is 1908)

Word Count: 97

AS ONE MUST, ONE CAN – EXCERPT

Lev and Havah passed a row of brick hovels with lean-tos serving as porches.

Everywhere she turned she saw unkempt children whose noses leaked slimy trails to their lips.

A woman with pockmarked cheeks and sunken eyes sat beside a shanty, her blouse hanging open so her toddler could suckle from her shriveled breast.

A little girl chased a small animal crying, “Kit-kat! Kit-kat!” in Yiddish.

The creature scurried under Havah’s skirts before disappearing between the cracks of a dilapidated wall. The ground swerved beneath her when she realized it was neither cat nor dog, but a large rat.

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Lev Resnick, Havah's nephew-Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Havah Cohen Gitterman -Original Artwork © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

McClure Flats, Kansas City, Missouri-Photo taken around 1910

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11 March 2016

Published March 9, 2016 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PROMPT. Keep in mind that all photos are the property of the contributor, therefore copyrighted and require express permission to use for purposes other than Friday Fictioneers. Giving credit to whom credit is due is proper etiquette.

Please be considerate and make an effort to stay within the suggested word count.

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Polonius said that brevity is the soul of wit. I’m trying something new for me and it’s ever so brief. Life’s been a bit of a whirlwind lately and my brain is on overload. Much of my writing time and head-space have been given over to my next novel, As One Must, One Can. Thank you for understanding.

Shalom, Rochelle

Genre: Haiku

Word Count: 25

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TABULA RASA

sunlight after rain

casts light on sodden pavement

my dry bones languish

***

solomon said there’s

nothing new under the sun

as one must, one can’t

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Unfortunately there are copyright issues concerning a decent recording. Many thanks to my friend Regina O’Hare who videoed this from her phone. Sorry about the quality.