Breaking Baad

I've been negligent of this blog recently.  A combination of work, travel and probably a lack of motivation and as a result the writing has fallen by the wayside.  I've been doubting my writing skills and the ability to tell a story, even the one in a hundred words.  I guess the only way to get over it is to start writing again.  But before that happens, it's time for my first rerun of a Friday Fictioneer prompt.  All the way back from May 2014! Whoa looks like I am a veteran too,

The Return of the Black Sheep

The Long Flight Home

copyright-Rich Voza

I have had these calls before.  We discuss myriad topics under the sun, the weather, the movies, sporting events and how the children are growing up.  And so it goes until next time when we repeat the same.  How many times did they end with an “I love you”?

I have had these calls before.  Calls after I talked to my father, listened in to my wife’s brother on Skype and hours after the last chat with my mother.  All unexpected but this time I was waiting for the call.  My brother-in-laws’s suffering was over.

And the long flight home.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

It has been over a month since my brother-in-law passed away.  I didn't know how to express my emotions in this blog and have been silent for a while.  The courage and dignity with which he bore his suffering remains an example to our family.  He will be missed.

To fly with the other writers this week click here.

Sing a song of sixpence

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Sing a song of sixpence

A pocket full of rye

“Putain!” Monsieur Auguste gave a one fingered salute to the birds.

“Imbecile flying turd buckets,” he muttered angrily.

It hadn’t always been like this.  The leisurely walk to work from his quarters to main kitchen had been a source of pleasure.  The immaculate gardens with its beautiful flowers always gave a reason to smile.  That happiness was then reflected in the food he created.

But for the past year the avian menace was getting to him.

“What’s for dinner?” inquired the King.

“Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie”

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

Sometimes one must look at the funny side of life no matter what it throws at you.

To fly with the birds this week click here.

Purple Rain

PHOTO PROMPT © Mary Shipman

I never meant to cause you any sorrow

I never meant to cause you any pain

In the days after you wander around the house forlorn.

You open her wardrobe and caress the dresses hanging there.  You draw them close and inhale the fragrances left behind.  The citrus and herbal smells from a happier place in another time.

There is a stench here too, of arguments and decay, of raised voices floating in ether as your fingers trace a line over the newly plastered wall.

I only want to see you, only want to see you

In the purple rain

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

I wanted to include this song for my last post but late submissions rarely get read so I decided to leave it for this week.  And fortunately there is an entry in time after last week's technical glitches.

So here's to a singer, songwriter, a producer and a one man band - Prince

Freedom

PHOTO PROMPT © Madison Woods

Hassan looks across the barbed wired fence and its sharp jagged barbs.  Beyond it lie the promises of freedom from horrors of the past.

He was out of the house when the liberators came looking for the “collaborator” and punished his parents as a warning to those who would disobey. 

He ran that night, hidden under the tarpaulin in a dilapidated van with the saving of a lifetime strapped close to his body.  He was soon parted with that when they put him on a boat with assurances of deliverance.      

He waits now for freedom from bias and barbed wires.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

Phew! I didn't think I'd be able to have an entry this week. My laptop crashed and I had to spend the weekend frantically figuring out how to fix it.  Then when the access came back, Chrome decided I could not access my blog. Fortunately working in IT lets you find workarounds :-)
To read the stories for this week click here.

The Last Will

PHOTO PROMPT © Kent Bonham

We file into the room together following the man in the suit.  Inside there is an assortment of grimaces, forced smiles, hostile looks and attempts at cheery indifference.

She grips my hand tightly and hisses, “Why is she here? The little gold digger!”

I flash a warning glare as the Suit clears his throat and the whispers subside.

“I’d like to remind everyone that our team has advised that the document is legally valid.  The instructions clearly state that the estate goes to the person who can decipher his last statement”.

He holds up the document to cries of dismay.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

To read the stories for this week click here.

Teddy Bears' Picnic

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

If you go down to the woods today,

You're sure of a big surprise.

Personally he didn’t want to go but after years of waiting the authorities had decreed that one member of each family must go back.

The path to the house was difficult to drive, so they let him out and watched as he negotiated the terrain. 

He had been playing outside that day and had cried on leaving Ted behind.

Now the backyard was a jungle.

The last thing he noticed were the glowing eyes of the teddies as they surrounded him.

Picnic time for teddy bears

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

The second entry for the week based on a song very popular with my kids when they were small, the first one was about Beauty Sleep.

To read the stories coming out of the woods click here.

Beauty Sleep

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping

She lay in front of him the fairest sight one ever beheld.  The legend of a sleeping beauty rumoured to be asleep for a hundred years was true indeed.

I look at the world and I notice it's turning

What a story!  He had succeeded where others had failed. The impenetrable thorn-hedge, a barrier to adventurers, had yielded and let him pass.

 “But a hundred years older that’s seriously uncool”.

Maybe the story of the girl living with seven dwarfs would be worth investigating.

Still my guitar gently weeps

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

To read the stories coming out of the woods click here.

Last week was busy and the weekend was spent in travelling so I missed out last week's episode as country roads took me home.

I can't seem to stop incorporating songs from Beatles into my stories, this week's offering contains words from one of my favourites.  George Harrison's masterpiece While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I also have another entry in for this week.

Potted Plants

PHOTO PROMPT – © Ted Strutz

The first time he got her flowers, it was an assortment of pink, orange and yellow roses with exotic Peruvian lilies.  She was young then and overwhelmed by the gesture of romance. 

Only much later when she stripped back the fragments of their lives that all the pieces of the puzzle fell in to reveal the truth about the bouquets. 

Vibrant Gerberas to replace the colour missing her life, the roses in shades of pink, orange and lavender, flowers for each act of betrayal. 

She would have flushed his ashes but Blood & Bone Mix is an excellent plant starter.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

On Friday we had little detour of 250 kms after we missed a turn driving from Brisbane to Sydney.  First miss on a route we've been driving for 16 years but then it's holiday time with family after being the weekend visitor for the past few months.  

To read more about potted plants from this week click here.

The Writer

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

“And then I drowned him in the river”

We all looked at him horrified, our glasses poised in mid-air, struck by what he had just said. Then the Pretty Little Thing piped up, “How could you?”

He shrugged.

“It was a simple decision.  Picture a small group on a boat on a river, initially enjoying the tranquility and living in harmony with each other.  And then things start changing.  People start to grate on your nerves; rivalries form, lust and jealousy appear. “

“But how could you kill him” said the PYT.

“It’s easy my dear, I wrote the story”.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

To read the stories from this week's cruise click here.

In My Life

PHOTO PROMPT – © Emmy L Gant

There are places I remember

All my life, though some have changed

Sometimes nature reflects your mood.  The brooding clouds come rolling in, bringing with them a sense of gloom.  A malevolent presence entices you to the dark side.

All these places had their moments

Yet in the midst of this oppressive time, there is a light, a flame that flickers in the dark.

There is no one compares with you

It gives you courage and the strength to find a way out of the gloom.  All the light we cannot see.

In my life I love you more

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 99

It didn't feel right to have a Beatles song and a dark story.  So here is a second one for the week, referencing another song and a hidden reference to one of the best books I read in this past year.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6957260/10-beatles-songs-george-martin

To read the stories from this week's cloud click here.

Yesterday

PHOTO PROMPT – © Emmy L Gant

Yesterday all my troubles seem so far away

I sense his malignant presence as my parlous mission brings me to his door. 

My feelings remain as dark as the clouds huddled in the sky.  My stomach churning at the sight of the plastic bag and its contents

“Turn on the video feed,” the command crackles in my headphone.

I signal my partner to remain in the shadows as we edge towards the door.

Yesterday love was such an easy game to play.

We kick the door down and there he is, in our gun-sight, still carving his latest victim.

Endgame.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

In with a dark tale for this week's episode. Who knows there might be another one later as I am in early this time.  And you can read it here

To read the stories from this week's cloud click here.

And in memory of George Martin 
http://www.paulmccartney.com/news-blogs/news/paul-mccartney-on-george-martin

Charged With Love

PHOTO PROMPT © Sean Fallon

“Les yeux sont le miroir de l’ame” 

As he gazed into her eyes, Desmond was overwhelmed with love for Molly.  

It seemed only yesterday that he had read her profile on the website and tentatively initiated contact.  

Now a year had gone by since she had come into his life.  There were sceptics along the way; the doubters whose dark murmurings reached him but were ignored.

She smiled at him “And how was your day, day, day...” the staccato burst interrupting the moment.

He sighed reaching for the jar of batteries.

“I should have chosen the self charging option instead”.

**

Written for Friday Fictioneers Word Count : 100

Travelling teaches you better time management skills (or so we think).  So I will be attempting to post before the weekend commute home.  The other advantage of not being the last to post is that sometimes people even read your submission.

To read the other turbo charged stories from the story jar click here.

Desmond and Molly do have their own song ;-)