Tag: #FridayFictioneers

#FridayFictioneers – Virus

~ Russell ~ 27 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Ceayr

Margie sat stiffly on the bench, her satchel placed beneath it, under a cloudless summer sky. Sparrows splashed in the fountain directly in front of her, but her glazed eyes never saw them.

A gloved man in a fine black suit came around the fountain to join her. He took note of her eyes and bare hands. It took all of his considerable will not to pull away.

“Do you have it?”

“Yes,” Margie replied standing and swaying as she found her feet.

She had disappeared before he carefully took the satchel in his gloved hand and left the park.

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – Fruitarian?

~ Russell ~ 27 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Liam crunched into the apple. Juice ran from the corners of his mouth and stuck in the bit of stubble he called a goatee. “That is so good.” He sat hard on the curb outside the store, held the apple high, and marveled. “I think I’ve found it.”

Emma shouldered her pack. “Congratulations. It’s an apple. You ready? We’ve got miles to go yet.”

“No listen. I read about this fruitarian diet and…” Crunch. “It could be for me.”

“That’s fine. Will’s grilling burgers tonight though.” Emma began walking.

“Hey wait! That’s tonight.”

Emma laughed. “More for us, I guess.”

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#FridayFictioneers – Behind the Curtain

~ Russell ~ 30 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

The papers would all say that it was their greatest performance. One for the ages.

The cast would never forget it.

Devon locked arms with his fellow performers and bowed low. The applause was deafening. Their smiles wide. The curtain fell as they waved enthusiastically to the adoring crowd.

He was found slumped against a wall in his dressing room the next morning. A spent pill bottle on the floor. Vodka bottle clutched in a fist.

A crumpled paper lay beside the stage make-up. He had scrawled one word.

“Sorry.”

The papers reported that he showed no signs of depression.

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – How Much?

~ Russell ~ 40 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Dawn Miller

“Just pick one already?” Josh said. “The game’s on soon.” They walked back through the gallery yet again.

Cindy shrugged. “I like them both. What do you think?”

“I’ll go with whichever’s cheaper.”

Cindy rolled her eyes before cutting him a look. “Men,” she mumbled as they neared the painting she was leaning toward. A red barn set beneath a blue sky on a field of green. It conjured memories she thought lost to her, causing tears to well in her eyes. “This one.”

Josh flipped the paper slip up to check the price. He thought he may cry also.

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – Left and Right

~ Russell ~ 32 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Ulrika Undén

The down side didn’t work. I wondered why but kept silent.

There were men with guns. Hard looking men. They didn’t seem the talking type.

Surely there would be someone on the upper level to explain. We were citizens and as such, deserved an explanation.

The escalator carried us up to where we slotted into lines. More hard-eyed, gun carrying men lined the walls.

Haz-mat suited figures scanned those at the head of the lines. They parted the subjects left and right.

A man screamed and ran. A dozen rifles appeared before him. He wept and parted to the left.

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – Red on White

~ Russell ~ 23 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

The snow had quit. The wind had not. It howled, driving temperatures below zero. Martin followed the tracks, wondering if his thick gloved finger would fit inside the trigger guard of his Glock.

The body lay just outside the halo of light from the park lamp. What was left was half buried in snow dyed red with its own blood.

“Oh dear God,” Martin gasped.

Flashlight beams trembled over the red covered white, tracing the line of tracks to the edge of the forest.

A howl rose on the wind.

Martin shivered. It had nothing to do with the cold.

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – All of the Taste

~ Russell ~ 16 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © Na’ama Yehuda

Sammy knew what he had to do. It wouldn’t be easy, but if he could mange, it would be worth it. He hoped it would anyway.

He pulled in a deep, steadying breath and went for it, peeling the plastic from the tray and attacking the contents. All the nutrition he needed and no taste. It all went down with hardly a chew. Hardly a taste.

“Very good,” his mom said smiling. “Slow down for dessert. You don’t want brain-freeze.”

She needn’t have worried. He would savor this. His favorite with none of the nutrients and all of the taste.

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#FridayFictioneers – New Growth

~ Russell ~ 26 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

The airlock clanged jarring Sarey from her thoughts. It was a months long trip of stars and blackness, and she was both happy that it was over and apprehensive at what awaited her. She already missed the color of Earth.

Heavy doors hissed open. The Captain greeted her in the gray tube that ran from docking to Control. They walked gray corridors, wore gray uniforms, and lived on a gray, lifeless world.

She would change that.

Her workstation was gray and barren. She stuck a photo to her monitor.

“Okay Mars, let’s get you growing.”

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – Vacation

~ Russell ~ 24 Comments
PHOTO PROMPT © C.E. Ayr

The moment the wheels stopped rolling, the RV door flew open and kids poured out like sands through an hourglass. They screamed and jumped, reveling in the freedom of open spaces and sunny skies.

Exhausted, Jan propped herself in the doorway. “You kids go play.”

They yipped and ran, playground bound, kicking up deep sandy footprints.

“Be back for dinner,” she called at their backs. “Don’t make me send your dad after you.”

Jan closed the door and collapsed on the couch. Dan turned from the instrument panel to look at her. “Dinner?”

“Yeah,” said Jan, “we’re ordering pizza tonight.”

WC: 100

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#FridayFictioneers – The Plunge

~ Russell ~ 17 Comments
A gazebo sits on the snow covered banks of a large body of water.
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

“No. Please,” Fin begged. Shivering in nothing but his tighty-whities, he wished for his gazebo bound clothes.

Bob laughed. “Please? That all you got?”

Large hands grasped Fin by the shoulders, held tight against his struggles, and pressed him onto the dock stretching over the icy water.

Pressed to the edge, Fin saw everything with perfect clarity. Snow covered beaches, epic mountains filling the horizon, and all that ice cold water.

Then he was flying, swimming, gasping, and being pulled out of the icy depths.

“We do this every year! Welcome to the family!”

Fin wondered what he married into.

WC: 100

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