Friday Fictioneers – Three’s a Crowd

Every week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (thank you, Rochelle!) hosts a flash fiction challenge, to write a complete story, based on a photoprompt, with a beginning, middle and end, in 100 words or less. Post it on your blog, and include the Photoprompt and Inlinkz (the blue frog) on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!

PHOTO PROMPT © Renee Heath

Three’s a crowd

I guess it’s easy when you know how. Jack, Joe and I didn’t. However, eventually the tepee was up, and only a little lopsided.

“Burgers, Abe? Jack?”

Joe was our cook that evening, and burgers was all he knew. Jack and I drank Bud and yarned, while Joe got smoke in his eyes and cussed when he burned his fingers on the barbecue.

Man, those burgers, with ketchup, onions, cheese and tomato, were awesome!

Afterwards, Joe and Jack held hands as the Milky Way brightened overhead. eBook on my lap, I nodded towards the tepee.

“If you guys want privacy…”

What Pegman Saw – Last Night Nerves

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page,  from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. As regards the link with the location, Tallinn has some very nice restaurants – sorry it’s so tenuous!

Talinn, Estonia | Daniel Pettersson, Google Maps

Last night nerves

She looked radiant. He was nervous, constantly rummaging in the pocket of his jacket. I gave them my best smile and a menu each.

He stammered while ordering, and checked repeatedly with the young woman exactly what she wanted.

“Would you like red wine with the duck, Margit? They would go well together. Or – how presumptuous of me to assume you want wine! – perhaps you would prefer something different altogether?”

“Red wine will be lovely, Andrus.”

She seemed to greatly enjoy her meal, but he picked at his, pushing it round his plate with his fork and leaving half of it.

“I’m sorry Andrus left so much,” said Margit as she paid. “He is ill – a brain tumour.”

Andrus pressed a 50 Euro note into my hand. “More use to you than me,” he said, white-faced.

They left.

The door had hardly closed behind them when two shots rang out.

Friday Fictioneers – Promises, Promises

Every week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (thank you, Rochelle!) hosts a flash fiction challenge, to write a complete story, based on a photoprompt, with a beginning, middle and end, in 100 words or less. Post it on your blog, and include the Photoprompt and Inlinkz (the blue frog) on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

Promises, Promises

“Hank, I love you, hold me tight!”

“Sure, honey. Jus’ lemme finish this cigarette.”

Hank took two long drags, then crushed the butt beneath his heel. “Hey, look at the time!”

He climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key. “Darn!”

He scanned the lifeless engine. “We’ll hitch. I’ll pick up the auto later.”

A couple months later when she missed her second period, Lois spoke to Hank.

“The baby must be yours; I h’aint been with nobody else.”

“Don’t worry, kid. I got this great new job in Seattle. I’ll call you when I gotta place for us.”

What Pegman Saw – The Loser

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page,  from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s location is Radium Springs, GA.

The Loser

How long had he been sitting here by the pool?

It must have been hours since he left the casino. The Grand Hall had thronged with visitors, showing off under the glittering chandeliers. In smoky anterooms small groups of obsidian-eyed men had played poker – serious poker for serious money. Palatial bedrooms upstairs catered for those who preferred their risks to have a more tangible and immediate reward.

The casino’s chandeliers were extinguished, and the light that had sneaked through chinks in the shutters had gone. It was pitch black, and the rain hammered down. It drenched Tom’s tuxedo, ran down his trousers, spilled from the turn-ups.

Despite the raindrops crazing its surface, the pool glowed faintly blue from its radium content. What would drowning feel like, he wondered?

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear the woman until she spoke.

“Come home, Tom. You’ll catch your death.”

 

 

What Pegman Saw – Unwelcome Guests

“What Pegman saw” is a weekly challenge based on Google Streetview. You can read the rules here. You can find today’s location on this page,  from where you can also get the Inlinkz code. This week’s location is Mumbai, India.

[1] Mehndi – elaborate designs in henna. It is believed that the more intense the colour, the more your husband will love you.

[2] Sangeet – the day before the wedding ceremony. Guests are received, and there is entertainment, often on a lavish scale.

Unwelcome Guests

The Juhu Club was a wonderful venue for Tarangi and Mithin’s wedding. Its walled gardens accommodated eight hundred guests without any sense of crowding. Two thousand rose bushes perfumed the evening breeze, whose gentle warmth was a caress. Scores of chefs, sommeliers and waiters ensured the guests were never without refreshment.

Tarangi glanced with delight at the mehndi^[1] on her arms. Its darkness meant that Mithin would love her very much indeed. She exulted in the heavy gold jewellery that her father, Pralay Gangulay, had given to her at the start of this, her Sangeet^[2]. It must be worth a fortune, she gloated. The metal glowed in the flickering light of the torches illuminating the scene.

“Thank you so much, Baba,” she said again, beaming at him.

But why were the police here? And who was this small, bespectacled man?

“Gangulay-sahib, I arrest you on charges of tax evasion.”

Note

Indians are no fonder of paying taxes than anybody else. To avoid detection they sometimes keep the money in cash and use it to pay for events such as an extravagant wedding.

Friday Fictioneers – New Year Resolutions

Every week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (thank you, Rochelle!) hosts a flash fiction challenge, to write a complete story, based on a photoprompt, with a beginning, middle and end, in 100 words or less. Post it on your blog, and include the Photoprompt and Inlinkz (the blue frog) on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!

I’m sorry to contribute so little to Friday Fictioneers at present. I’m very busy with my novel “The Dove on the Pergola”. The first draft has now reached 80,000 words, and I suspect I have about 20,000 still to write. And then it will be time to edit, edit, edit!

I owe Rochelle a big thank you, because the germ of the novel came from a Friday Fictioneers prompt!

PHOTO PROMPT © Priya Bajpal

New Year Resolutions

Laboriously, tongue tracing the letters, Danny wrote “Keep bedroom tidy” on his square of red paper. Tracy’s blue square read “Do my homework on time”. Deborah’s elegant script, written with a fountain pen on green paper said, succinctly, “Gym!”, while Michael’s resolution, scrawled on yellow paper and not entirely altruistic, was “Spend more quality time with Debs.”

Each of them placed their resolution in a sweetie jar which Michael ceremoniously sealed.

The magician tapped the jar with his wand, and immediately a fountain of glittering mirror dust erupted from it, sparkling silver, gold, sapphire, emerald and ruby.

Happy New Year!