Reclaiming Lives

Copyright – Douglas M. MacIlroy

A single photograph survived from the ones I burned.

Years after it was over she remained reticent about the incidents in the playroom.  Choosing instead to reside in a cloistered cocoon woven into the tapestry of her life.   With the passage of time we peeled back layers upon layers of pain, yet the innocence lost she could never regain.

That I so wary and fearful of strangers missed the signs at home is the regret I live with now. What he did was out of our control.  But, as we reclaim our lives and strength we are in charge again.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

Problem Solved at Pollensa Bay

copyright – DLovering

“Is this this seat vacant,” asked the large, balding man in his sixties.

She gestured him to sit, brows furrowed absently looking at the unfolding scene.   The street was decked with flags and streamers, the band striking up a tune as people partied.

“Cómo estás?  You look a little distracted madam.”  

“Murders” she sighed, “Sometimes they can be tiresome, though poison has a certain appeal.”

“Really?  I am more interested in the affairs of the heart.  I am, if you like to put it that way, a heart specialist”.

She looked interested.

“You are?”

“Mr Parker Pyne at your service”.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

I'll use this week's Friday Fictioneer as my tribute to the Queen of Crime - Agatha Christie, who in 1932 holidayed in Mallorca.   This would inspire her story Problem at Pollensa Bay in which we meet Mr Parker Pyne.

Holy Apparition

copyright-Kent Bonham

It would be a test of the apprentice’s sleuthing skills.  The boy was getting complacent disposing villains with ease.  A crime fighter needs smarts not just fighting skills.   

He left the photos from musicals starring Fred Astaire and Gingers Rogers at the crime scene and DVDs of King Kong and Citizen Kane.  The link?  Both produced by RKO Radio Pictures Inc.  The logo of a triangle enclosing a thunderbolt was an obvious giveaway.  Forgotten by the public the studio was his now.

He was pleased when the boy wonder walked in.

“Welcome,” he said from his perch.

“Holy Apparition Batman.”

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100

No darkness this week, only the Dark Knight, who remains perched at the top ;-)

The Arboretum

Copyright-John Nixon

I hear the susurration of wind in the leaves as they begin to shake and rustle upon my approach.  I watch the trees in the arboretum with branches bent as in graceful mudras of dance.

She demonstrated them to me on a rainy day when we were still together.  The alapadma mudra originating from the story of young Krishna stealing milk and butter with the palms facing upwards, the fingers stretched, separated and extended as if asking “why”. 

The boughs ask those questions of me now.  Why couldn’t my jealous heart share her? Why does my lamentable crime remain underground?

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 100