Friday Fictioneers – Here and Now

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 on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!

PHOTO PROMPT © NA’AMA YEHUDA

Here and now

I can only see the very top of the building from where I lie, the top of the tenement block and the clouds above.

The clouds are very beautiful against the azure sky. No matter how much detail I can make out, the pattern is the same. They are fractal.

I wallow in the garbage odour of a dumpster. My head hurts. So does my right arm. I wonder if I’ve broken it? Voices of early workers cackle.

And yet the sky is beautiful. I shall change. Here is where the drinking stops. Here and now.

Inlinkz – click here to join in the fun!

38 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Here and Now”

  11. Dear Penny,

    It begins with a decision, doesn’t it? Then one day at a time…one hour at a time, one minute at a time. Well written as always. Here’s to a brighter and peaceful new year. Thank you for being part of Friday Fictioneers. 😀

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle
      Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I believe you are right about recovering from alcoholism. Thank you for being such a diligent hostess, and setting such imaginative prompts.
      Happy New Year!
      Shalom
      Penny xx

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you for your kind comment, Tannille. I’d been hoping for a prompt that would allow me to write about a fresh start of some sort – well, let’s face it, after 2020, a fresh start is pretty welcome! So this prompt, with its strange truncated bit of building, felt ideal for writing a resolution from the pov of an alcoholic. I was also thinking about specificity in my writing, so I wanted to make it very pointed – THIS building, THIS dumpster, THIS drunk – Here and Now, in short.
      Happy New Year – may your muse co-operate throughout 2021!
      Best wishes
      Penny

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Beautifully done, Penny. It is so very difficult to break an addiction. It takes more than one try and a whole lot of self-discipline and outside help. Hopefully this chap has what it takes.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Dale
      Thank you for such thoughtful comments. You are right, I’m sure, about what’s needed to break an addiction. To that, you could add the whole-hearted support of family and friends. I’ve seen that make an enormous difference. Like you, I hope this chap has what it takes.
      Happy New Year!
      Penny xx

      Liked by 1 person

      • Being an ex-smoker who quit more than once, I feel it must be similar, though I feel drink and drugs are must stronger foes to combat. Family and friends are a necessary support system even as we know the decision is in the addict’s hands.
        Let’s say he does!
        And to you!
        xoxo

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  15. I love the way the narrative thread runs, from the open sky, to the dumpster, to the drink dependency. I find that holds all the elements of the story together so well. Left me thinking about our choices and where the person fits into the world.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Dear Francine
    Thank you for such a generous and analytical comment. It’s lovely to receive feedback on the construction of the story. I think the narrative thread works well because I had a very clear picture of the scene.
    Happy New Year!
    Penny

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  17. I wonder how many times a drunk tells themself that before they make an attempt to stop? My guess is many. You create such vivid imagery for this poor person. I hope they survive.

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