Friday Fictioneers – Resolution

Every week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (thank you, Rochelle!) hosts a flash fiction challenge, to write a complete story 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!

FF - Resolution 191004

© Dale Rogerson

Resolution

Lean as a hungry wolf, he loped through frosty streets towards the dojo, trainers scuffing against the pavement. He remembered his mother as she was before she killed herself. His steaming breath hissed through clenched teeth.

As he ran beneath the floodlights of the basketball pitch, a friend hailed him, “Hey, Connor, fancy a beer?”

Without breaking stride he shook his head, swerved off the road into the shadows between the trees and accelerated.

Every step stoked his determination, built his strength. He was nearly ready. Soon he would make his mother’s abuser pay. He would kill his father.

 

 

30 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Resolution”

  2. Dear Neil
    Thank you for reading and for such a kind comment. I’m pleased that both pain and determination came across clearly. I was conscious of one of your earlier comments as I edited the story, and it shaped the final structure – so thank you for that, too!
    With very best wishes
    Penny

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  4. Dear Penny,

    Connor’s anger and determination are palpable. He’s obviously had a lot of time to plot and plan his father’s demise. Part of me wants him to follow through and part of me hopes he’ll stop before becoming a murderer. Quite an evocative piece. Well written.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    • Dear Rochelle
      Thank you for reading and for such thoughtful comments. Revenge can sometimes feel like justice, but is likely to have terrible consequences, isn’t it?
      With very best wishes
      Penny

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  6. Dear Trent
    Thank you for reading and commenting. No, revenge isn’t the answer. I fear in this case, though, Connor is bitterly determined; he’s not entirely sane.
    With very best wishes
    Penny

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    • Dear Keith
      Thank you for reading and for your lovely comment. The prompt conveyed an impression of great loneliness to me, and a sense of dislocation. The story followed rather naturally from that.
      With very best wishes
      Penny

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Comparing him to a wolf, the description of his leanness, his avoidance of getting sidetracked, all paved the way for that last sentence. If he succeeds in killing his abusive father, I hope he manages it in a way that will keep him from prison. And I’m a bit startled that I just said that!

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    • Dear Linda
      Thank you for reading and for your thoughtful comments. I’m delighted that you felt such strong sympathy for Connor! I felt the same as you when writing the story, and was likewise shocked at my own response. I wonder how it is we balance such evils as murder against abuse that leads to desperate emotional damage and suicide?
      With very best wishes
      Penny

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      • That’s a question for philosophers, I guess. But maybe it’s a reflection on a society so debased that we no longer require criminals to pay dearly for such things as abuse. It certainly happens. I’m reminded of a young college athlete who raped a drunken girl and left her behind a dumpster. There was no doubt of his guilt, but he was saved from prison by a judge who felt that since it was “only his first offense,” he shouldn’t have to lose his scholarship and athletic prowess to years spent in prison. I was horrified and angry. Still am, when I think of it.

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