Category: #FridayFictioneers

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Fiction

An Eerie Smile – #FridayFictioneers – May 3, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Photo Prompt @ Ted Strutz

All that’s left is that sock puppet,” Maisie said to her husband.

Bill replied, “I thought I threw it away. Was it your favorite?”

“Not really,” Maisie said. “ I don’t know why Mom boxed it up with my doll furniture. I thought I threw it out. Please put it in the garbage.”

Maisie and Bill were spring cleaning their house. Later, Maisie found the sock puppet on a chair in their living room. 

”Here it is again, Bill,” Maisie shouted out. Bill walked into the room, and they looked at the sock puppet.

It was smiling at them.

Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff for hosting #Friday Fictioneers.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Changes – #FridayFictioneers – April 19, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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

Destruction – #FridayFictioneers April 5, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Photo Prompt @ Sandra Crook

She never tired of this view. Every night, she came to the lovely, long pier on the bay to watch the sunset. The sky turned to watercolors. 

The sun was down now, but she stayed on the pier for the companionship of the locals and to watch the nighttime water birds. 

It was her last night on the island. She thought she would be back next winter. In the coming summer, the hurricane made a direct hit on the island. It caused destruction to both the island and to her. She knew she would never see the magical island again.

*I cheated a little this week. This is a true story slightly fictionalized.

Thank you to Rochelle Wisoff for hosting #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

Trapped – #FridayFictioneers March 29, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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 #FridayFictioneers, Challenges, Flash Fiction

The Old Man – #FridayFictioneers – March 22, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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!

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Flash Fiction

The Mirage – #FridayFictioneers March 15, 2024

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

She ran along the water’s edge on the private island, her tanned legs pumping hard. Suddenly tired, she sat on the beach near the water to rest.

When she looked up, she saw him wading in the shallow water. She looked twice because he was a dim, gray image of himself. “Everything will be all right,” he said as he smiled at her.

He started walking away through the shallow water. As he got farther away, he became increasing dim and gradually disappeared. She didn’t understand. Her father had been dead for 20 years. Then, she realized she was smiling.

Thanks to Rochelle and Friday Fictioneers for the challenge and the photo prompt.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Flash Fiction

Morsels for Max

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Friday Fictioneers – March 8, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Rowena Curtin

”Gran, we should plant the flowers sitting on the deck. It’s such a beautiful spring day.”

”We will, Thelma,” replied Gran. “That will give us time to spend with Max.” Max was their dog who lived in a kennel behind the house.

Thelma looked out back at Max’s kennel.

”Oh no, Gran,” Thelma exclaimed. “Max is gone! He isn’t in his kennel.”

When they walked onto the deck, there was Max. He had turned over his bowl and the watering can. The flowers were out of their containers and chewed into pieces. Max looked at them with a satisfied grin.

100 words

Thanks to Rochelle for the Friday Fictioneers challenge! See other Friday Fictioneer’s posts at inlinkz.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Flash Fiction

Revenge

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Friday Fictioneers

Claire saw the old vehicle being lifted from the bottom of the lake. Her mother had drowned in that car and it was her fault. Her mom was teaching her to drive. She lost control of the car and they landed in the roadside lake.

The accident was months ago and she could see the damage to the car. Rust and a crooked door where her mom fought so hard to get out. Claire smiled, then looked around to see if anyone saw her. She had finally paid her mother back for all those injustices she’d suffered in her childhood.

100 words

Thanks to Rochelle and Friday Fictioneers and to Fleur Lind for the photo.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers

The Ruins of Our Lives

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

By R.M. Carlson

Photo Credit @ Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

She lifted the baby out of his crib. As she raised up, she smelled something burning. She took a quick look around her apartment. She heard the commotion in the street and walked to the doorway. There, in the middle of the usually quiet suburban street, was a bonfire. The fuel was books and the soldiers were gleeful.

Laying her son back in his crib, she started gathering their things. She didn’t know where they would go but away from here. Her son would have a chance at a good life and freedom.

Thanks to Rochelle for Friday Fictioneers.

Posted in #FridayFictioneers, Flash Fiction

On the Run

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

”Where can we go to hide?” Amy Wu asked her fellow escapee, Chien-Chi.

”I know just the place where we can get lost,” Chien-Chi replied. “Follow me.”

Amy had escaped the mob who wanted to use her tiny Chinatown store to store weapons. She had refused. Her friend, Chien-Chi was trying to help.

Amy followed Chien-Chi as he sprinted through Chinatown, He skidded into a Chinese restaurant and she followed. It was busy and a maze. Easy to get lost.

Amy followed the owner to the back of the restaurant. There was the freezer. Her purserers stood right beside it.

For Friday Fictioneers. Thanks, Rochelle!