31 July 2015

Published July 29, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Where does it take you? Can you tell us in a hundred words or less with a beginning, middle and end? Ready, set, write!

PHOTO PROMPT © G.L. MacMillan.

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

INSTINCT

My brother was the valedictorian of his graduating class. Awarded a scholarship to Harvard, he owned the future.

When his draft notice came I was inconsolable.

“Duty calls, Sis. I’ll be back.”

Tonight we celebrate his sixty-fifth birthday. His hands tremble as he cuts the cake. The knife falls from his fingers and tears stream down in his cheeks.

“I cut off their ears and hung them from a chain on my belt loop.” He swallows a pill with a swig of beer. “Thirty-six kills. God, I miss it.”

My brother did come back from Vietnam but he never returned.

.

24 July 2015

Published July 22, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT, a cool picture for hot days, depending on your side of the globe. Where does it take you? Tell us in a hundred words or less.

PHOTO PROMPT © Dee Lovering

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Genre: Science Friction

Word Count: 100

YOUNGER DRYAS

“The weatherman says we can expect another six inches of global warming tonight.” Kent knelt and shaped a mound of wet snow into a ball. Then he stood and let it fly. “Look out, Taffy. Here comes some of your greenhouse effect!”

The snowball splattered against the back of Taffy’s head and ice rolled down her neck. She spun around. “How can you ignore what’s happening right under your nose?”

“Climate change? Hooey and hogwash!”

Taffy bent and dug a conch shell from a knee-high drift. “Doesn’t this weather strike you as being a bit odd for Florida in mid-July?”

.

click

17 July 2015

Published July 15, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The next photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. What do you see and where do you see it? Think Thoreau.

PHOTO PROMPT- © Sandra Crook

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

LE RÉSEAU COMÈTE

“Patrick, spit that paper out.”

“But, I want to be a hero like you, Maman.”

“Where do you get such ideas?”

“I heard Papa say you’re a hero because you ate paper. Is that true?”

***

Nine years ago while riding her bicycle on the outskirts of Paris on a Resistance mission, Virginia d’Albert-Lake had been stopped and taken to a nearby police station.

“Where’s the list?” demanded the expressionless uniform.

“What list?”

“You ate it, didn’t you?”

Her scalp tingled and her gorge rose as she fought to keep down a swallowed lump of paper.

***

“Yes, it’s true.”

Women in the French Resistance

There’s more to the story:

An American Heroine

10 July 2015

Published July 8, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Does it tell you a story?

PHOTO PROMPT © Stephen Baum

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

BELOW THE WALL

“Hurry, Annika.” Vati whispered, glanced over his shoulder at the border guards and pulled me by the hand down Bernauer Strasse.

“What about Fritz?”

“Forget him!”

Blinded by tears, I stumbled into a crowded building once used as a toilettenhäuschen where we followed other refugees through a hole in the floor. My father held me as we crawled through the dank tunnel. Within minutes we were lifted out on the other side.

While others shouted for joy I mourned my loss.

“Don’t cry, Liebling.” Vati grinned and took a groggy puppy from his coat pocket. “I couldn’t forget him either.”

.

More for those who can spare 3:30 extra minutes.

3 July 2015

Published July 1, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. What story does it have to tell?

PHOTO PROMPT – © Jean L. Hays

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Genre: Hysterical Fiction

Word Count: 100

GENERATIONS

“Summer of 1954. What a heatwave,” said Great-Gran. “We didn’t have air conditioning. My boyfriend and I went to the drive-in theater on Saturday nights. If we were lucky there’d be a decent breeze and a good flick like Roman Holiday or From Here to Eternity.”

“I saw them on Netflix.” Fourteen-year-old Megan loved old movies, the older the better. “Burt Lancaster was really hot in that sex scene on the beach.”

“I missed that part of the movie but I think the one in Bobby’s Bel-Air topped it.” Great-Gran’s eyes sparkled.

“Does Gramps know he’s a passion pit baby?”

.

26 June 2015

Published June 24, 2015 by rochellewisoff

The following photo is the PHOTO PROMPT. Tell me where it takes you in a hundred words or less.

PHOTO PROMPT – © Kent Bonham

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Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

BACK OUT ON THE STREET

“I wandered aimlessly down the deserted street as I had hundreds of times before. Everything was the same but it would never be the same again.”

After reading the two sentences aloud twice, Rose back-spaced them into oblivion and said, “This isn’t a story, it’s a cliché fest.”

She shut off the computer. The manuscript would have to wait.

Although she tried to sleep, Rose’s cluttered mind spun with deadlines, debts, disillusion and broken promises. She threw off the covers and put on her clothes.

“Damn you, Jeff. Why now?”

She wandered aimlessly down the deserted street…everything was the same…

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.

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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!

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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.”

***