Fake News

PHOTO PROMPT© Lisa Fox

We live in a world of fake news and disinformation is pushed down our throat.  It happens with such regularity that we miss out on the real stories and focus on the fake ones pushed on to us.

Especially those fairy tales where the Prince Charming rescues the damsel in distress.  Just think why would a very capable Cinderella wait to be rescued out of drudgery?  Cinderella did not come in a carriage magically materialised out of pumpkins.  Cinders rode her Harley to the ball.  And she slipped him her number on leaving.

The bike? It’s a museum piece now.

***

Written for the Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

I am probably the last one in this week.  Have missed a few episodes of FF this year, so what do I do but fall back on fracturing a fairy tale yet again.

To read the other writers click here.

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Fairy Tales

Copyright Russell Gayer

If truth be told then the carriage that Cinderella went to the ball in was not a pumpkin.  It was a lemon.

I knew that lemon.  It was in Honest Al’s yard and I bought it for the Fairy Godmother when she was looking for a van.  When you have magic backing you up any lemon will do.  I worked for that witch and the things I could tell you would churn your insides.

The National Enquirer wanted to do a story on that scam but the editor was scared of being turned into a frog and covered it up.

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Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

It's Russell's photo this week, so I hope my take meets his approval.

To read the other writers this week click here

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Going Postal

PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

She was a stickler for ‘the proof’.  Any job carried out must be reported back with evidence that it was done. 

I had to do her bidding each time no matter how I felt about the mess that the task entailed.  Dukes, serfs or Prince of the realm were all the same to her.  

But this little child, she was different.  The rumours were true she was as beautiful as the light of day, more beautiful than the queen herself. Run young Snow I said.  A boar was sacrificed.  The place postal service did the rest.

Signed, sealed and delivered.

***

Written for the Friday Fictioneers.  Word count:100

To read the other writers for this week, click here.

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Drama Queen

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

As a performer she was peerless.  All she needed was a willing audience and she would feed off their emotions.  Draw them in to her world where fiction and truth would tango together. She knew she was meant for a bigger stage and bided her time. 

Then she met him, she knew was destined to be his queen.  As a widowed father all he needed to see was her nurturing nature to be sure.  So she played the part and spun a web so sweet and caring.

And now in the royal chamber she stands.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall.”

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Written for the Friday Fictioneers.  Word count:100

To read the other writers this week, click here.

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Charmed

Copyright Sandra Crook

She was cold, impervious and totally resistant to my charms. The one bridge I could never cross, surprising as the charm had done its trick before.   I mean just look at my track record.  Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, those chicks were putty in my hand. 

But that chick that Rumple spun straw into gold for.  We auditioned together but she told the Grimm brothers that she wanted a King not a Prince.  That nut just wanted her to spin straw into gold! The IRS is on to those schemes now and King owns them big time in back repayments.

***

Written for the Friday Fictioneers.  Word count:100

I am going for a two for one deal this week.  To read the other story click here.

To read the other writers this week click here.

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Yarn Spinner

PHOTO PROMPT© Sandra Crook

I was at the pub when the bartender told the bloke sitting beside me, “No more for you mate, time to go home.”

I turned but he saw me staring and curling his lips, snarled, “What? You want to guess my name too?”

“Not me buddy,” I replied in a conciliatory tone, “It’s been a tough day.”

I called the bartender, “One last one for me and my buddy here”.

He mellowed down and started to chat.

“I spin straw into gold.  You scoff but those skills made a loser peasant girl into a Queen. The name, sir, is Rumpelstiltskin.”

***

Written for the Friday Fictioneers.  Word count:100

All that yarn meant I had to spin up a tale for this week.  When I wrote that title I did but wonder where the Friday Fictioneer's missing contributor Yarn Spinner is these days.

To read the other writers this week click here.

And on the subject of Queens, here is a great song.

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Goatfather

Copyright Randy Maize

They say the death of an opponent is not a time to gloat.  It is one that should be spent in introspection and reflection.  How we treat our rivals in defeat is a measure of our character.

It is easy to be gracious in victory but how we handle ourselves in the sting of defeat can really define us.

Tish! Tosh! And bah humbug while we are at it.

Can I say that a life time of hearing fairy tales about evil trolls I am glad this goat is finally cooked.

Farewell Billy Goat Gruff, this troll does not forget.

***

Word Count : 100.

And before you know it the last Friday Fictioneer prompt for the year is here.   This should have been a serious and reflective piece and that is how I started it.  But then I did have fun with the writing prompts for this year so I flipped it around.  So wishing everyone a very happy new year and to read the other last words for this year, click here. 

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The Bachelor Prince

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Now that they are breaking up, the time has come to confess, it was I who spread the tales of their romance.

You think all stories are just about sweetness and love?   Did you also think that human hair has the right tensile strength to be used as a rope? True her long attractive hair is all over her Instagram feed but none shows the prince climbing up.  And Charming? He can’t commit to just one happy ending.

He is filming the new season of the Bachelor Prince.  I hear the unlucky girl gets an apple from Snow’s step mum.

***

Word Count: 100

It's time to visit the old stone house for another week of the Friday Fictioneers.

I am going for two submissions this week. The first one can be found here -> Walled In

To read other stories by the Fictioneers this week click here

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Been Stalked

PHOTO PROMPT © Yvette Prior

He strode into the room with his usual giant strides. What he really needed was shot of caffeine after his afternoon siesta.

He smiled indulgently as the room was filled with the sounds of the gentle strumming of the harp.

Good coffee and music that was all that he needed. He was glad that that coffee was always brewing, all he had to do was come into this room and it would be set up for him.

He stood and inhaled appreciatively. Something was different today. He stood there tentatively and twitching his nostrils sniffed again. “Fee fi fo fum…”

***

  Word Count : 100.

Time for a coffee break at the Friday Fictioneers.  To read what's brewing with the Fictioneers this week click here

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Fairy Tales

PHOTO PROMPT © Nathan Sowers 

I recognised that mirror the moment I saw it.  My source was correct, there was treasure to be found in that market.

I disguised my eagerness and even appeared to be doing the dealer a favour by taking it off his hands.  Those goblins would sell their mother for the right price.

I couldn’t wait to get it inside the house, so I hastily unwrapped it and propped it up against the wall.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall do you have any gossip for me at all?”

This mirror was going to make my gossip column number one in Fairyland.

***

The mirror tells me it is time for another week of the Friday Fictioneers.  

I am going for two submissions this week.  The second one can be found here -> Reflections 

To read other stories by the Fictioneers this week click here

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