A Country Escape

PHOTO PROMPT -© Dawn Q. Landau

A country escape was what the real estate agent had promised.  There is a disused train track bordering the estate he said.  The house inspection over she wanted to explore. 

A brisk walk and we were walking along the tracks.  We saw them in the distance, the girl with her backpack and the dog trudging behind her.  We shouted a greeting but they turned into surrounding bushes and went out of sight.

On the way out the agent met us.

“Enjoyed your walk? The locals believe the estate has a ghost child and her dog who wander around”, he chuckled.

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Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

What a change from the late entry last week, an entry on time.  And my second of the week as I was not sure if the first one worked. 

The Runaway

PHOTO PROMPT -© Dawn Q. Landau

They found her body in the creek.  When the call came I knew it was about her as Dad hemmed and hawed motioning to Mum to get me out of the room.

Along the edge of the tracks, fringed by a canopy of green, she had laid bare the tyranny of her life describing the horrors of the nights gone by.  Determined to escape she would follow the tracks to her real father's town. She had trudged off with the faithful Colin trailing behind.

Dad put his sheriff's badge on but I stopped him.

I know why she ran away.

***

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

On time this week.  Submitted on a Friday too.  Though I am not sure about the quality of the post, which is why there are two entries this week.  .The second one a little more upbeat (or so I hope).  It will be nice to get a few more comments than the usual kind hearted folks who drop by here each week (and your comments are much appreciated - thank you)
Update: Have gone through a few edits since my first cut.  One to imply that the narrator's father is the town's sheriff and the girl is intending to run away to her real father.
The other edit is to try and keep the change of tenses so that the switch from current to past and to current works better.  All a part of the challenge of working within 100 words.

Easy Listening

PHOTO PROMPT – © Copyright Marie Gail Stratford

The creature’s black baleful eyes stared at me.  Instinctively I took a step backwards, scared by the sight before me.  

“Call him now”, the words jolted me back to reality.

My colleague sat in the enclosed glass cubical with a goofy grin and the scary contraption on his head.   The crystalline spines on its back vibrated making a loud tinkling noise. 

I knew it was my signal to call when the crystals glowed.

I dialled the number.  The helmet vibrated as I talked and his face contorted like a mime.

His smiling visage signified that the tissue conduction had worked.

***

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

This has been a week of "Why Do Today What You Can Put Off Until Tomorrow" and the submission is along that line too.  Nearly in time for next week.  

A Return To The Plantation

PHOTO PROMPT -Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

The house hadn't changed in the years I’d been away.  The gracious trees planted along the driveway and the steps that led to the timber-framed veranda with its white painted balustrades and the carefully manicured lawn.

 A house built on a foundation of stifled screams.

I heard the creaking tones of the rocking chair and knew that he was around.  Every evening he would take off his boots and sit waiting to be served.  Each drink a toast to the devil inside.

There he sat, with a hole in his forehead, just as I had shot him two centuries ago.

***

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

Conquering the Maze

PHOTO PROMPT – Copyright – Melanie Greenwood

To an outside observer it seemed that he was a lost in a labyrinth with each twist and turn leading to a blocked path.  

Hemmed in by judgemental voices ignorant of his gentle soul, even in times of despair he would still find beauty around him.  In the kindness of strangers, with people who poured their hearts out to him, revealing inner torments, aspirations and hopes.  

In the end the maze would be conquered, the thorns discarded, leaving only flowers exploding in a cornucopia of colours resonating with love.

A year gone by does not lessen the void left behind.

***

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

It is getting to be an year since I wrote In Our Hearts forever.  On a personal level this has been a time of remembrance which is perhaps reflecting on what I write.  Maybe this is too personal to share but the reason I do this is to grow and develop and find the courage to share the thoughts and emotions bottled inside.