Tag: #FridayFictioneers

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

Destiny

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#FridayFictioneers – October 17, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Lori Wilson

It had been a wonderful trip. She had finally arrived in her favorite city. The last stop. She was looking forward to seeing a special person. They were to meet in a bar there.

She left dinner early and started to walk toward the bar where they had always met. That was so long ago.

She stepped to the door. When she saw him, her nervousness drained away and she started to smile. It had been 20 years. So much had happened. He turned and saw her while raising his martini glass to his lips. He stopped halfway.

Thanks to Rochelle for continuing to host #FridayFictioneers.

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

Danger!

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers – September 20, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Lisa Fox

She and her mother found it when they were cleaning out the attic. Several boxes of what some call uranium glass. Antique glass with a glow in the dark glaze on it from decades ago.

She looked in her books about antique glassware and discovered that it is a much sought-after collectible.

As they got it ready for sale, they noticed the glow in the dark coating was flaking off. Antique collectors bought it anyway.

Later, she found out that the flaking was radioactive. What about the people who bought their glass?

Thanks to Rochelle for continuing to host #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

Take Me Home Tonight

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers – September 6, 2024

Photo Prompt @Dale Rogerson

The old tavern didn’t look like much. It was a popular gathering place for music and meeting people back in 1986.

The young man, barely of age, stumbled in the door. He was blind with despair.

He spotted a girl dancing alone on the dance floor. He watched her as he drank a beer. This place and that girl made him feel less lonely.

He joined her on the dance floor.

He whispered, “Take me home tonight. I don’t want to let you go until we see the light.”

She just smiled.

Thanks to Rochelle for continuing to host #fridayfictioneers!

*Based on the song, “Take Me Home Tonight,” by Eddie Money, 1986.

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

Bullied

Posted on by R.M. Carlson
Photo Prompt @ Mr. Binks

The girl was 11 years old. She was becoming an accomplished piano player.

She was terrified of playing in an upcoming recital. The girl was bullied at school. They called her “chicken” and teased her.

It was the day of the recital. She wanted to pull out of it, but she remembered all the cries of “chicken.” When her turn came, she gathered all her courage and played a Bach piece, the Prelude in C Minor.

When she finished, there was silence in the audience. Then wild cheering. She never heard the cries of “chicken” again.

Thank you to Rochelle for continuing to host #fridayfictioneers!

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

False Alarm

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers – August 2, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

When they decided to go their separate ways, she was devastated. She took a solo trip to the beach to try to reconcile herself to her new life without him.

Why were her friends and family freaking out about her trip before she went? She was trying to start healing.

She went for a swim. When her aunt came down to the beach, she was swimming underwater along the shore line.

Suddenly, there were police and an ambulance. They pulled her from the water.

Really? Over a failed relationship? They must not know her at all.

Thanks to Rochelle for continuing to host #FridayFictioneers!

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

The Fevered Dream

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers – July 26, 2024

@ Roger Bultot

He loved this dark, small room. It helped him write his stories. He was anonymous and the room kept his stories safe from prying eyes.

When he went out, he knew his stories would be protected. The room pulled them away.

He heard a loud clang and woke up. A nurse had dropped a tray. He expected to find his darkened room. He found a hospital ward with bars on the windows.

He realized the room was a dream. He wasn’t there at all. He was in the psychiatric facility. He started to cry.

Thank you to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers!

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

The Shape Shifters

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers challenge – July 19, 2024

Photo prompt @ Lisa Fox

She went to the park with the rock garden just to escape for a few hours. She sat to eat her lunch, finding peace in looking at the rocks around her.

As she looked at the beautiful rocks, they seemed to move. She thought it was the tears in her eyes. One seemed to have turned into a statue of her mother. Another a statue of her dad. They had passed long ago.

Seeing them again in the rocks gave her some peace. Maybe she wasn’t so alone to deal with her life challenges after all.

Thank you to Rochelle for hosting the #fridayfictioneers challenge.

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

Three Shoes

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers – July 12, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Rondo Del Boccio

Alice stepped off the pavement onto the sand, looking around for children at play on the beach. Nothing.. She held a lone children’s sneaker in her hand that she’d just found in the parking lot.

Alice strolled down the beach hoping to find the shoe’s owner.

She turned to walk back to the parking lot. Suddenly, someone ran up behind her and grabbed the shoe from her hand.

A small girl stood there scowling.

“You stole my shoe. I was coming back to get it.”

She already had on two shoes.

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting #fridayfictioneers!

Posted in Challenges, Fiction, Flash Fiction

Back to the Future

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers – July 5, 2024

Photo Prompt @ Nancy Richy

She had not expected age to creep up on her so unexpectedly. Now that it had, she found herself at loose ends. Many things she had enjoyed were beyond her now.

Books, learning, teaching. Those things had always saved her. She saw the summer learning signs and the adults gathering.

She needed something to engage her. She wasn’t aging gracefully, but she had to try.

She’d always wanted to study anthropology. Maybe she could find a class and meet some people along the way.

A wave of hope washed over her as she walked toward them.

Thank you to Rochelle for hosting #fridayfictioneers!

Posted in Challenges, Flash Fiction

Banned

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

#fridayfictioneers June 28, 2024

Photo @ Dale Rogerson

I think they were called mobile libraries.

That was decades ago. I can’t imagine why one has popped up in our neighborhood. Who reads anymore?

People say they are visual learners now. Pictures, videos, multimedia. I wonder if many books are even published anymore. I haven’t seen one until that mobile library in many years.

I know many books, back in the day, were banned and burned. They say it was for our own protection. I do remember they were protecting us from the Others who don’t think like we do.

Wait. Is that what we want?

Thanks to Rochelle who hosts #fridayfictioneers.