Thursday, January 18, 2018

Fair Trade

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

You can’t find our village in maps and navigation systems anymore.  No references to it exist online though we were known in the sixties and seventies for our village fair.

I remember the excitement when the fair came around.  The market stalls with delicious food, crafts, spinning demonstration, book fair, ice creams and lots more. 

We walked in a happy stupor for months afterwards, so ecstatic that we never noticed the missing children.   Some parents even argued that they never had a child and would leave the village feeling offended. 

I remained unscathed. 

Why did they never take me?

**
Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100.

To get on the ride with the other writers this week click here                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

38 comments :

  1. Oh I loved this! Why, indeed. So much more to know. Great job.

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    1. Thank you Madison, I am delighted to get a comment from the original founder of Friday Fictioneers.

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  2. Yikes, that was very, very creepy! Well done.

    Susan A Eames at
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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    1. Thanks Susan I am glad you liked it.

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  3. So very creepy. Horror is always more dramatic when it involves what should be a place of fun and laughter.

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    1. Thank you Sandra, you are the Queen of this genre, so thanks for your comments.

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  4. Anonymous10:01 am

    I'm a real sucker for stories about maps and disappearances, so of course I loved this

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    1. Thanks Neil I am glad you liked it.

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  5. Creepy indeed. The makings of a great TV serial this one.

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    1. Thanks Iain. You don't work as a TV producer by any chance, cos if you do... ;-)

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  6. So often fun and jollity have a darker side. Excellent.

    Click to read my FriFic!

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    1. Indeed they do. Thanks for your comments Keith.

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  7. Dear Subroto,

    This left me feeling empty, hollow and wanting to know more. Really well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. That is high praise indeed. Thank you for your comments Rochelle, I am so glad that you liked it.

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  8. This reminded me strongly of John Wyndham's SF stories. Well done, Subroto

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    1. That is a very flattering comparison. Thanks for your comments Penny, I am glad you liked it.

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  9. Your description of the village fair reminded me of ours - until I read what happened at yours. Creepy story, and we clearly had similar ideas this week!

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    1. Thanks Liz. Yes clearly we took a similar approach this week and turned a wholesome ride into something creepy ;-)

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  10. Very well done, Subroto... children disappearing, parents no longer knowing they even had children... this society is being assimilated!

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    1. There is something dark afoot. Thanks for your comments Dale, I am glad you liked it.

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  11. Great story... so many great details and I wonder so about the one being left behind.

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    1. The one left behind is not aware that it is a blessing. Thanks for reading and commenting Björn.

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  12. Anonymous7:29 am

    That's a creepy story of a creepy place that doesn't exist and still could exist.
    Thanks, Norma.

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    1. Maybe it's not yet been reported ;-) Thanks for reading and commenting Norma.

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  13. Wonderful. I love the way the children were taken and the parents were too euphoric to notice or care or even denied they had them. This in itself is a creepy situation but your character showed such humaness that all she was concerned about was what was wrong with her that she was never taken. Loved it.

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    1. Thanks Irene. I remembered the lame boy in Pied Piper of Hamlin who was sad at being left behind and used that idea.

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  14. Anonymous5:02 am

    This is a wonderful take. It reminds me of the common theme 'separated in a mela' of the older hindi movies. On the other hand we have a real problem about the large number of children that go missing.

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    1. That's right tho I had forgotten about the 'separated in a meal 25 years back' theme :-)
      Thanks for your comments YS.

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  15. Anonymous5:41 am

    Okay, here's the answer. They had to leave someone to tell the tale and you were the lucky scribe - Russell

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    1. Good answer. Would have been nicer to have got a cut of the action too. Thanks for reading and commenting Russell.

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  16. Anonymous11:21 am

    This is one situation when I feel it was best to be unwanted. This has a great creepy undercurrent - the fair leading to an amnesiac stupor. Scary.

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    1. Yes but the survivor does not agree, the feeling of regret is too strong. Thanks for your comments Sarah, I am glad you liked it.

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  17. He remembered the other children though. Maybe he had too good a memory to be taken. That's creepy, Subroto. Good writing. ---- Suzanne

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    1. He will be seeking an answer to the why for a long time. Thanks for commenting Suzanne.

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  18. Excellent story--so much mystery!

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    1. Thank you Karen I am glad you liked it.

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