Posted in #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Two Faces – #unicornchallenge – May 24, 2024

She sat on a bench across the street from the museum, studying the sculpture in front.  It was a man, seemingly sculpted from wood, reading. He reminded her of a book she once read, “A Man of Two Faces.”

If you looked closely at the man, you could see his skeletal-like face. Above it, between his forehead and the crown of his head, another face appeared to her. You could distinguish two eyes and a nose that would be looking skyward if the sculpture could have looked up. He captured her imagination particularly given the times she was living in.

The outward looking face of the man was bowed, reading a book. The book he was reading, she imagined, was a book on American culture in these unsettled current times. There were bitter political rivalries, hundreds of conspiracy theories, religious involvement, misinformation and disinformation. Neighbors turned against neighbors and family against family. Long-time friendships were forever destroyed. The American dream to her seemed to be gone and she had no understanding of half the American population and its thinking.

She looked at the other face of the sculpture. That face wasn’t as clear, the expression was more off-kilter, perhaps confused, and a little dreamy. Maybe that face was dreaming of what could be, but wasn’t, in America. The American Dream, but this time an inclusive American Dream that was available to everyone. Was it now lost forever? Destroyed by greed and the lust for power? The sculpture had no answers.

Thanks to Ayr/Gray for hosting the #unicornchallengeT.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Pie and the Festival – #FridayFictioneers – May 24, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Mollie scurried around her kitchen, cooking for the festival in her town. Food from the southern US is often prepared differently than food from anywhere else.

Mollie couldn’t decide between entering her stack cake or a cushaw pie in the competition. Her neighbor was going to enter cushaw pie, but Mollie’s pie was her specialty dish.

The day of the competition came and Mollie’s pie won the blue ribbon. Her neighbor was angry and threw Mollie’s pie to the ground screaming.

Mollie learned that real friendship is hard to find and should be cherished and nurtured.

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Note: Cushaw pie is not common outside the southern U.S. A cushaw is a gourd and the filling is used to make pie. Many think it is tastier than pumpkin pie.

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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting the #FridayFictioneers challenge.

Posted in #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Bad Dog Bark

Photo Prompt Ayr/Gray

I awakened with a start. What had I heard? Oh, it was only Sophie, my German Shepherd dog who sleeps beside my bed. Wait! Sophie! Why was she whining? I leaped out of bed realizing my clock said 6:45 a.m. I usually took her for a walk on the beach by 5 a.m.

We walked outside. She pushed open the garden gate and started for the beach. I followed trying to stop her. Since one of her strides is equal to three of mine, there was no hope of catching her.

I jumped in my car. What else could I do? My dog was taking herself for a walk to the beach.

I pulled up in a parking space watching Sophie run gleefully around on the beach. As soon as I stepped on the beach calling her, a police car pulled up beside me. Sophie immediately ran to me, fearing I was in danger.

Ma’am, get your dog off the beach.”

Sophie barked at the officer. Her bad dog bark.

“Get off the beach with that dog,” he said in a loud, aggressive voice.

“Officer, if you would just give me a………”

What happened next wasn’t very pleasant. Sophie and I ended up looking through the bars of the backseat of a police car.

I was unhappy. The officer was unhappy. But Sophie? She had gotten to defend me from the bad police officer. Now if she can only figure out how to charm us out of jail.

 

Sophie and her squeaky toy
Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Violinist – #FridayFictioneers – May 17, 2024

The old lady trudged up the street to the church she had attended for more than 60 years. The light from the steeple caused the white church to glow. She climbed the stairs up to the steeple.

The violin was lying on the table. She opened a window for some cool air. 

The old woman started to play. She played Horner’s “My Heart Will Go On.” A crowd gathered on the street. They waited for her to come out to praise and thank her.

The steeple went dark. She didn’t appear. They looked for her, but she had vanished.

Thank you to Rochelle for hosting #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in #unicornchallenge, #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Locksmith – #UnicornChallenge – May 9, 2024

Photo Promp @ Ayr/Gray

It was an old locksmith shop located in an ancient building in a small town. The windows were broken. The inside was filthy and filled with rats. Henri was determined to revitalize it. He was a locksmith by trade and felt like he could make a good living here.

Henri had seen all the special, butnecessary, services drain away from the town. Occupations like clockmakers,shoe repair, and locksmiths were gone as young people wanted to work in themore exciting field of technology. He dreamed of a large town square wherethere was an abundance of such services. Henri had hope since, just down the street, another space would house a clockmaker. 

As the crews went to work on the locksmith shop, they found so much that had to be completely redone. Henri also found treasures. Equipment from over 75 years ago. He found antiques that, although he couldn’t use them, he could display them.

Henri’s friend, the clockmaker, also found treasures in his shop. As they talked, the thought of a small museum featuring the old treasures popped up.

One day, a young woman, happened along and spent some time talking with Henri. She was a painter and a former museum curator who was looking for a store front. She had the idea to share her space with the old treasures.

As time went on, Henri’s vision of a town square started to take shape. He and Anais, the painter, grew close and worked together on their projects, both for their work and their lives. Finding that old store front turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to Henri, Anais, the small town and even the clockmaker.

They found that dreams can come true with a lot of vision and a little luck.

Thanks to C.E. Ayr and Jennie Gray for hosting the Unicorn Challenge.

Posted in #unicornchallenge, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Unexpected Singer – #UnicornChallenge April 19, 2024

She was 20 years old the first time she heard him sing.

It was a normal weekend day. She was in her senior year in college and was studying for exams, sitting on the sofa in the living room. He walked into the living room with a Budweiser beer in his hand and carefully sat it down on the coffee table. He was in his work clothes, dirty from working overtime as the town electrician with a five o’clock shadow on his face and tired eyes.

She was hard at work at her books and had just looked up to say hello. There was no music playing, no television interrupting the quiet. She looked back down and continued to read.

Her head shot up when he started to sing. She listened for a moment. He wasn’t singing just anything. Without preparation, he was singing…..opera? How could that be?

Through her shock, she tried to place the opera and it was easy. He was singing a part of Don Giovanni in a beautiful baritone voice.

She had never heard him sing anything as simple as a lullaby. She couldn’t believe her ears.

Somehow, she knew not to go to him. She just listened. He sang the most beautiful music for what seemed forever but must have been just a few minutes.

”I don’t know what got into me,” he chuckled, as he started to walk off.

“Daddy, that was beautiful. Sing for me again,” she said as tears rolled down his face.

Thanks to C.E. Ayr and Jenne Gray for hosting the #UnicornChallenge!

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Changes – #FridayFictioneers – April 19, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Rochelle Wisoff

She stopped at a gift shop in the airport. She was looking for a gift for Amy, who she was going to visit.

Amy, her friend, wasn’t as welcoming as

usual. Amy didn’t seem herself and it was an uncomfortable visit. Amy was

critical and cold. She left two days early. After she got home, they didn’t

talk again. 

Several years passed. She ran into Clifton,

another friend from graduate school. She found out Amy had been diagnosed with

obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now she understood her criticism. 

Twenty years later, she still thought of Amy. The two friends never spoke again.

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Trapped – #FridayFictioneers March 29, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Dale Rogerson

She felt like she was strangling, suffocating in the drab, gray house. She imagined how it must feel in a mausoleum. It was emotional death to be trapped in this house. Someone from the outside would eventually find her, wouldn’t they?

He had made it palatable from the outside with the beautiful mural and bright floral colors at the entrance. Couldn’t they see the rudimentary wire gate?

She was locked in a small, sound-proof room, but she had almost pried open the lock. The lock clicked and she was free. When she reached the wire gate, he stood there laughing.

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting #FridayFictioneers and to Dale for the photo.

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

The Memories – #The Unicorn Challenge March 22, 2024

The island’s biggest harbor was one of her favorite places to go. Every winter, she and her husband visited that magical island in the sun. The harbor to the west that faced the sound was the most fun. She loved to look at all the boats and feed the pelicans who seemed to have an innate sense about when the boats would arrive and fish scraps might be available. They flocked to the pier. 

The island was surrounded by mangroves and there had only been one big harbor built. In the evenings during the warm winters, many of the seasonal visitors gathered at the harbor since it was one of the best places to watch the sunset.

Tonight, she had a special purpose to be at the harbor. She was boarding a dinner boat where she would meet her love. They would cruise around the island and she would get to luxuriate in his company for a few hours. As she boarded the boat, a wave of happiness enveloped her. Dinner was calamari and grouper and they thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful food and conversation.

As the boat pulled into the harbor, she turned to him but found herself alone. It had happened again. They had taken this cruise so often in past winters that she kept imagining he was with her, not only on the cruise but everywhere. She had lost him earlier that year and now she remembered. Being accompanied by memories, she supposed, was better than being alone.

Thanks to Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr for hosting The Unicorn Challenge

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Old Man – #FridayFictioneers – March 22, 2024

Photo Prompt by Roger Bultot

The teenagers in the small town were fascinated by the old, abandoned building.  

They decided to check it out and crawled in through a broken window. It was dark and dank inside. They happened upon a man asleep on a cot in the corridor. He woke up with a start.

He started talking to them. When he was finished, he said, “Don’t be like me. Get an excellent education. Have a beautiful family. Live a good life.”

The next night, the teenagers went back to see the old man. There was no trace of him. Even his cot was gone.

Thanks to Rochelle for #FridayFictioneers!