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!
Compulsion
Go on.
Have a fried egg. Just one won’t kill you.
I glare at the laptop. I must write.
One fried egg and a rasher of bacon.
No!
I write two pages and make coffee.
Two eggs, bacon and a tomato. Tomato’s healthy.
I fight the cravings all day, then go to bed.
Thirty minutes later, I get up.
Bacon. Six rashers under the grill.
Two eggs…I look at the box. There are five eggs. What the heck…I take them all.
My plate is piled high and Cameron, my husband, walks in.
‘Oh, Penny…’
‘I’m sorry, so sorry,’ I weep.
Autumn Leaves 
It is tough, food is definitely an addiction that’s hard to break.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Iain. Yes, abuse of food is a tough addiction, especially when it’s mixed with other problems that reinforce the compulsive behaviour.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Intereting that it’s at night in bed the cravings are hardest to resist. That may be so for all the things that sap our will and our purpose
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind comment, Neil. You may well have a point when you say it’s at night in bed that the cravings are hardest to resist. In addition, many compulsions feel shameful, and concealment is easier at night.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If that’s a real struggle for you, Penny brave to share. That’s a lot of bacon!! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your sympathetic comment, Trish. I’m not bulimic, but I have experienced first-hand the grip of compulsive behaviours. I thank God that he has taken that burden from me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cravings are hard to ignore, especially when one needs to focus. Moderation is a balance. Suppress and risk a binge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Tannille. As you say, moderation is a balance. The story is really about any form of compulsive behaviour, and how very difficult it is to change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can so identify with this as I try to muster the will power to start my diet. I blame it on the breadmaker I got for Christma…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind comment, Sandra. Fresh, home-baked bread is delicious, I agree. I hope you manage to start your diet!
LikeLike
Dear Penny,
You said so much in a few words. I know how insidious an eating disorder can be. It’s really a control issue. You think you have it under control until you realize the beast is actually controlling you. Well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Rochelle
Thank you for such a generous comment.
It was the fried eggs that prompted the story. I was looking at them thinking, ‘I could eat all four of those, right now…’
I know what you mean about the beast controlling you; do you think that perhaps all compulsions have that in common?
Shalom
Penny
xx
LikeLike
I know exactly how that feels, fortunately, I got over it. Now, where’s the biscuit tin?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind comment, Keith. I’m glad you got over the problem. Chocolate biscuits? I’m on my way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And that is exactly why so many diets do more harm than good. The one egg and rasher would have stopped the craving and not been as harmful. But too many of us (me included) feel that compulsion to resist and then give up, full of shame. Excellent take, Penny.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your empathic comment, Gabi. I think there’s a lot of truth in what you say about dieting.
LikeLike
one that could help is not to combine eating with other activities like sitting in front of the compuiter or watching tv. it tends to ruin your diet. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Plaridel. I believe you’re quite right that it’s healthier not to combine eating with other activities.
LikeLiked by 1 person
An eating disorder must be so hard to beat. After all, everyone around you is eating what they like…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind comment, Ali. I’m sure you’re right that an eating disorder is hard to beat; indeed, sadly some people don’t beat the disorder. It’s one of the most dangerous mental health conditions, and some sufferers die as a result.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A tough topic, Penny. Too real. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Bill. You’re right, it’s a tough topic. I thought hard before posting the story, questioning whether there was anything I could add to people’s awareness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes it’s okay to give the aware a reminder, right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Food for thought I say, when the brain is ticking feed the beast…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for commenting, James. Indeed, work can drive out cravings at least some of the time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Penny, food addiction is no joke. You’ve described the dynamic well in your story.
LikeLike
I can feel her struggle. You’ve portrayed it very convincingly. Compulsive disorders and addiction are huge problems and can be life-destroying for the sufferer and their loved ones.
LikeLike
Eating carefully just is beyond me
LikeLike