I’m sorry to have posted and read so little recently – I am making a determined effort to finish the first draft of my novel (which was originally inspired by a Friday Fictioneers prompt). You probably won’t see much of me for another month or so, but I couldn’t resist Sandra’s evocative picture today!
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 © Sandra Crook
Lost Love
Here, between the indigo shades of night and the pearl-bright morning, between the sky and the falling tide, here she sat, where once she had sat with him, had kissed him, had fallen in love. She sat and listened to the hiss of the waves as they greedily wrestled shingle from the land, she listened to the whisper of a calving glacier, when a million tons of Greenland ice had shattered the sea, she listened to the echo of Krakatoa, whose eruption had rung the earth like a gong.
Her spaniel nuzzled her fingertips, and she sighed.
War is terrible.
Autumn Leaves 
She has lost her love to the war in a place where the very earth is at war
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Dear Neil
Thank you for reading and commenting. It’s a helpful comment, because it shows that I haven’t been completely clear in communicating my thoughts, although the general thrust of them has obviously been conveyed.
With very best wishes
Penny
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Evocative writing Penny. Glad to hear the novel is coming along – keep us posted!
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Dear Iain
Thank you for reading and for your kind comment. I’m glad you felt the writing is evocative. Thank you, too, for the encouragement of my novel.
With very best wishes
Penny
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The truth and brutality of war so many women have lived.
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Dear Lady Coloresque
Thank you for reading and commenting. Sadly, you are right. So many millions over the years, and so many even today. How can we change things?
With very best wishes
Penny
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Dear Penny,
The image of the sea wrestling the shingle of land is stunning. So much story. So few words. Breathtaking. Having recently finished my novel (for the moment, anyway) I understand. It’s an all-consuming endeavor. All my best to you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
Thank you for reading, and for your very kind comments. Thank you, too, for the encouragement in writing my novel. As you say, it’s an all-consuming endeavour. The end really is in sight now, and then it’s edit, edit, edit!
With very best wishes
Penny
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The shingle-wrestling had me. Beautifully done. Now back to your novel, refreshed hopefully by a short break.
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Dear Sandra
Thank you for reading and commenting so kindly – and thank you for the photoprompt which is so evocative. It’s the Jurassic coast, isn’t it? I could have written a half-dozen different stories with that prompt, and I went with the one provoked by the reflection of the sky in the water-laden sand.
Thank you for the encouragement to complete my novel. Yes, the short break has refreshed me – indeed, this morning I had the inspiration for the structural device to see me safely to a satisfying close to the novel!
With very best wishes
Penny
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Loved the images you created, sadly war is terrible. Keep on with the novel
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Dear Michael
Thank you for reading and commenting. I’m glad you enjoyed my images.
With best wishes
Penny
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As the others have said, this writing is breathtakingly beautiful.
Good luck with your novel!
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Dear Dale
Thank you for reading and for your very kind comments and encouragement. I’m delighted that you think the writing is beautiful. The novel needs a great deal more work in terms of editing, but I think (I hope!) I have the makings of something worthwhile.
With very best wishes
Penny
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You truly do have a wonderful “pen” as they say.
I think you will.
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I love your beautiful descriptions 🙂
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Dear Ali
Thank you for reading and for your kind comment. It was a beautiful photoprompt, and stimulated my wish to write descriptively!
With best wishes
Penny
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So that’s why I haven’t seen or heard much from you! Glad to hear your novel is coming along. Keep us posted. I loved the opening lines, evocative description. Perhaps despite the loss, she was lucky to have experienced love in her life.
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Dear Fatima
Thank you for reading and your kind comments – thank you, too, for noticing I was missing! I agree that she was lucky to have experienced love – it’s such an important part of human happiness.
With very best wishes
Penny
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Your writing is lyrical, it reads like poetry, beautiful. Amazing breadth in so few words. Good luck with your novel Penny.
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Dear Francine
Thank you for reading and for your very kind comments. The prompt inspired me to make this a descriptive piece, so I’m glad that came across.
With very best wishes
Penny
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Memory of days gone by are so hard to forget. They keep lingering, every thought has a story.
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Dear Abhijit
Thank you for reading and commenting. Your understanding of the story is very much in line with my intention in writing it – the persistence of cataclysmic events, whether in the physical world, or in the memory.
With very best wishes
Penny
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Fantastic atmosphere! Now get back to your novel, demanding entities aren’t they? 😀
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Dear Tannille
Thank you for reading and commenting. I found the prompt particularly stimulating, so the atmosphere came naturally. I’m back on the novel – and, yes, they demand a lot!
With best wishes
Penny
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Evocative, indeed. That’s a word I really like, and tend to use more often than I should:) Your piece is full of mood, sadness, and lost hope. And as always, the writing is wonderful. Best wishes as you finish your novel.
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Dear Linda
Thank you for reading and for your very kind comments. I liked the prompt, and the reflections in the wet sand made me think of a half-world, between ours and somewhere else. That turned into some thoughts about the ripples that events leave behind them, in the memory as well as the physical world. Which was a great excuse for some descriptive writing!
Thank you, too, for your best wishes for my novel – much appreciated!
With very best wishes
Penny
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Ooo… a novel!
Wonderful. Good luck to you.
Enjoyed your offering this week. No need to respond…carry on! 😉
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This is so beautifully written and the repetitions are very effective. They wander from one melancholy thought to the next until they arrive, blandly and short, at the terrible conclusion.
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Beautiful and evocative. Though having a cocker spaniel of my own, the only time they lick your fingers is when you are holding food 😉
Good luck with the novel, you must write a post on the writing process to help us stragglers.
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Wonderful descriptions, and you’ve covered so much – from the grand scale of earthly processes down to the affectionate lick of a spaniel. Well told.
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A good story, Penny. She seems to be thinking of the destruction of war and natural causes, one causing her loss. All the best on your work in progress. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Great story Penny. I sympathise with your predicament, I’m trying to complete the sequel to my novel and unfortunately that means I have to forego FF sometimes because I know I won’t be able to devote time to commenting. Good luck, I hope it’s all going well.
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War is such a terrible thing… but a faithful dog can be a comfort.
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Something timeless about this piece, about love and war, warmth and loss. It has a personal and also and epic scale, all of humanity’s endeavours in one small piece. Wonderful stuff, Penny.
I had noticed you weren’t around as much and assumed you were working on your novel – fantastic! How’s it going?
I’ve been doing the same, TBH, trying to get through one last rewrite before passing my MS onto an editor. Great to know you’re progressing. All the best and if you’re ever in Bristol … 🙂
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The protagonist seems to have the weight of the world upon her shoulders. Such powerful, descriptive writing, Penny. I wish you all the best as you finish your novel!
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You paint such evocative pictures with your words. I felt her longing for the one she lost and the remembering, in the sounds of nature’s brokenness, of the pain she suffered. Miss your contributions. Best wishes with your novel.
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