19 June 2015

Published June 17, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Where does it take you? Tell me in a hundred words or less.

It seems a small thing to ask, but when posting your story, even if you’re using more than one prompt, please post the prompt as well for that sense of connection.

PHOTO PROMPT – © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 99

CROSSFADE

Ornate chandeliers bathed Vienna’s Burgtheater stage with light. A young actor took a final bow and his father cheered, “Bravo!”

Afterwards in his dressing room Johann pleaded, “Bitte, Papa, come with me to America.”

“Soon, Johann.” Papa tied a scarf around Johann’s neck. “Soon.”

***

Had Papa perished in Mauthausen-Gusen, Buchenwald or Auschwitz?

Johann fingered the remains of the threadbare scarf in his pocket. What would Papa make of him now; an orphaned Jew in a Wehrmacht uniform standing in front of television cameras repeating the catchphrase he had heard for twenty years of searching, “I see nothing! Nothing!”

.

12 June 2015

Published June 10, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Some of you may remember it from long ago.

PHOTO PROMPT -© Raina Ng

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Summer reruns are upon us. As I will be somewhat out of commission this week to have a physical inconvenience taken care of I’m falling back on one of those prompts from my first year in Friday Fictioneers. I’ve updated it a bit to make it one hundred words exactly. You can find the original post here. I will try to make the rounds but, at this time, make no promises.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

THE GIRL MOST LIKELY

Coffee and baking cookie aromas filled Gail’s kitchen. She wiped dust from a dog-eared yearbook, set it on the table, smiled at her high school chum and said, “I’m so glad we found each other.”

“We were darling, weren’t we?” Brenda flipped through the faded pages. “You’ve done well for yourself, Miss Homecoming Queen. Nice home. Handsome husband. I’m so jealous.”

“Thirty-seven glorious years next month.”

“Amazing.” Brenda pointed to a picture of a moon-faced boy with horn-rimmed glasses and buck teeth. “Hey remember him? What a geek! I wonder what ever happened to the little twerp.”

“I married him.”

5 June 2015

Published June 3, 2015 by rochellewisoff

OH, ELMO, YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN!

DOMINIC RILIAN PENDERGAST

Born Sunday, 31 May 2015 at 6:04 a.m.

Congratulations to parents Jennifer (elmowrites) and Jon and big brother Sebastian!

The following photo is the prompt. Does it tell you a story? Tell me in a hundred words or less.

PHOTO PROMPT – © C. Hase

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

SEA CHANGE

“You’ve changed,” said Dwight.

“You haven’t,” said Elise.

“Where’s the sweet girl I married?”

“Don’t you mean chained, bullied and nearly drowned?” She hefted the last of her suitcases into the car.

“What about the children?”

“They’re adults.”

“What will you do?”

***

Thousands of miles from Iowa, Elise reeled under the impact of the relentless waves that crashed into the rocks along the shore. She peeled off her wet garments and dove into the swell. Water rushed over her naked body, flooding her with a new sense of freedom. She surfaced and inhaled the salt-laden air.

“I will swim!”

29 May 2015

Published May 27, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. What does it say to you? I dare you to look beyond the subject. I double dare you!

PHOTO PROMPT © Douglas M. MacIlroy

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

HAFIZ WAS RIGHT

“Mommy,” cried Elise, “there’s a monster under my bed and a dragon in my closet.”

“You’re letting your imagination run away with you,” she heard her mother’s voice say. “Relax and close your eyes.”

“I’m afraid.” Like a child Elise pulled the covers over her head, but demons fomented rumors in her head. Her mind was awash in confusion and pain until finally she drifted off into a fitful, sweat-soaked, nightmare-riddled sleep.

When morning came, she rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She stared at her tired reflection and muttered, “I’ve got to find a better job.”

***

FIND A BETTER JOB

Now

That

All your worry

Has proved such an

Unlucrative

Business,

Why

Not

Find a better

Job.

~~HAFIZ

22 May 2015

Published May 20, 2015 by rochellewisoff

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of sharing lunch and laughter with fellow fictioneers David Stewart and Marie Gail Stratford. It’s always fun to meet the face behind the keyboard.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. 😉

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Study it. What does it say to you? Remember, it’s about what you see, not what you’re looking at. 😉

PHOTO PROMPT – © Santoshwriter

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

BLUE SHADOWS

Dark clouds loomed overhead as the boy picked a cotton boll and stuffed it into the heavy sack on his shoulder. Rain, mingled with sweat, soaked his thin muslin shirt. He closed his eyes and listened to spirituals on the wind.

Back in the cabin that night, he played his new guitar and sang to his grandmother who shook her head.

“What I gonna do wit you, boy? Fifteen hard-earned dollars for a hunk-a wood and then you uses it for devil music.”

“Dontcha see?” said Riley B. King. “I gotta. The blues is bleedin’ the same blood as me.”

.

R.I.P.

B B King

September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015

15 May 2015

Published May 13, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The next picture is the PHOTO PROMPT. Does it speak to you? Tell us a story in a hundred words or less.

PROMPT -© Marie Gail Stratford

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

EISENHOWER’S LAMENT

I was born seven years after the Nuremberg trials ended and in our household the subject of the Third Reich remained an open wound.

“Never forget what ‘they’ did to ‘us,’” intoned my mother.

Even now, whenever I see barbed wire, I’m haunted by visions of hollow stares and sunken faces.

Yet, there are those who try to reinvent history and their students swallow the lies like oysters on the half shell.

“Did the Holocaust really happen?” asks my young coworker.

“Tell me, Tanisha.” I gaze into her eyes and tap her bronze hands. “Did slavery in America really happen?”

Epilogue – Click Here

8 May 2015

Published May 6, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. It’s an oldie but a goodie. To a handful of you it will be familiar.

PHOTO PROMPT – © Madison Woods

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote an unstory that I titled THE ULTIMATE COP OUT, this week I’m simply copping out by posting a rerun. With proofing, illustrating and a second novel coming out on the heels of the first, life is a busy proposition. (And there’s the full time job thing.) For most of you this is a new prompt. For those who have written a story for it, feel free to share it or write another, or take a week’s vacation. 😉

The following story is one of my husband Jan’s favorite of my flash fictions. I originally posted this on July 25,2012 when Madison Woods was still leading the pack. Since then our numbers have nearly tripled.

.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 97

SNARL

“Nice doggie,” whispered Jolie.

Huddled against the fence she faced a mouthful of Pit Bull teeth. Which would be worse—the whipping she’d get for losing Grandma’s ring or to be eaten alive by a junkyard dog?

A few inches from the behemoth’s haunch, moonlight glinted off the sapphire. With her eyes fixed on his, she slid her hand toward the ring, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

But he snapped to his feet with a roaring bark and lunged.

Her heart thrashed against her ribs.

In one ferocious bite the Copperhead skulking toward her met a grisly fate.

ORIGINAL POST

.

.Available from W&B Publishers

1 May 2015

Published April 29, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Does it tell you a story? Write it in a hundred words or less.

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

FINAL SOLUTION

“These madmen take everything,” cried Leah. “They brand us like cattle because we are Jews and you do nothing?”

“How does one fight a pack of rabid dogs?” Abraham rubbed a painful lump on the back of his head. “Finish packing. We set sail in the morning while we still can.”

“They cannot have my grandmother’s bracelet.”

“Leave it! What’s a bauble when our people are being exterminated like cockroaches?”

Letting the bracelet fall from her fingers, she collapsed into his arms. “España is our home.”

“Querida, you are my home. 1493 in Portugal—it will be a better year.”

.

Jews were forced to wear golden-yellow badges for identification. There’s nothing new under the sun.

History Lovers Click Here

.

***

My novel, Please Say Kaddish for Me, is still available for preorder at a reduced price here.The Kindle version is available for preorder at Amazon.com.

Published by W&B Publishers

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency

24 April 2015

Published April 22, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. What do you see? Don’t be afraid to step outside the confines of the box. Use your imagination.

My unstory will follow the prompt and the blue frog link. 😉

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Genre: Non-fiction/Non-story

Word Count: 99

The story you are about to read is true. No names have been changed to protect the innocent.

THE ULTIMATE COP OUT

“It’s a fantastic prompt,” I tell Doug.

“I’ll take history for $30,” I mumble as I read an article about Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole.

After days of edits, illustrations, full time job issues and insomnia, my busy brain, swirling with a thousand-thoughts-a-minute, is at a loss for a flash fiction.

Word came this week that my novel is going to be released in two weeks. So soon? I just sent the manuscript back to the publisher and I’m still writing acknowledgements.

“Another time, Roald.” I click out of Wikipedia. “No story this week.”

***

It’s true. For the first time in three years, I didn’t have the head space to write a story. I hope you’ll find it in your hearts to forgive me. Last week I received an email from my publisher with the following notice:

Beginning on April 20 Please Say Kaddish For Me will be available to preorder from Kindle in ebook form and to preorder from http://www.a-argusbooks.com/GalleryComing.htm in print form. Release date scheduled for May 8.

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency

Many thanks to Cuzzin Kent Bonham for using his expertise to make the following book trailer. Click here for LINK. Of course the date’s a bit sooner than I was expecting. 😉

17 April 2015

Published April 15, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. There’s a lot to see. Does it ignite a story for you. Tell us in a hundred words or less.

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

MOTHER GOOSE

My doctor called it postpartum depression and assured me it was normal, but I knew better. I resented my son Daniel for what he was not. I wanted sugar and spice. Instead I got snips and snails.

One night, after putting the baby to bed, I turned on the television and came across a promotion for flame retardant pajamas. Graphic images of once handsome children, burned and scarred beyond recognition, seared through me.

“What’s wrong with me?” I bolted from the sofa to the nursery, gathered Daniel into my arms, inhaled his sweetness and whispered, “I love puppy dog tails.”