LATE

FFfAW Challenge – Week of August 9, 2016

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Priceless Joy

WELCOME !

77th Challenge

Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

Week of 08-09 through 08-15-2016

Guide for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

1. A prompt photo will be provided each Tuesday to be used as a base to your story. Please include photo prompt with your story.

2. Linking for this challenge begins on Tuesday and runs to the following Monday evening.

3. Please credit photo to photographer.

4. The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit.

5. Pingback to the challenge post in your story's post.

6. This is a flash fiction challenge (stories in 100-175 words or less) and each story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Therefore, no serial (continuation) stories. They become too complicated for our readers.

7. Add your story to the InLinkz Link-up (Blue Froggy button). If you need link-up instructions, please email me at mepricelessjoy@gmail.com.

8. Please keep stories below R rating.

9. Please respect the diversity of our readers and writers in regard to race, religion, and life style choice when writing your stories.

10. Remember, half the fun is reading and commenting on each other's stories.

This week's photo prompt is provided by Yinglan. Thank you Yinglan for our photo prompt!

LATE

He was late. 

Again.

Her watch showed six-ten.

Ten minutes late, OK not so bad but time ticked on.

She glanced towards the gate hoping to see a pinstripe suit striding up the path. 

He would give traffic as his excuse.

She would accept the explanation because her boy would smile as soon as he saw his father. 

Five minutes before the end whistle he would show up.

He always rushed in as though he was doing her and their son the biggest favour in the world by being there. 

Deep in her heart she knew it wasn’t the pressure of the job, the long drive against traffic, the last minute call he had to take.

Deep in her heart she knew she had competition from the young, blonde assistant.

Deep in her heart she would accept it. 

For the sake of her son. 

Until he was grown she would accept it.

 Word count: 152

ANOTHER ONE

The idea of Sunday Photo Fiction is to create a story / poem or something using around about 200 words with the photo as a guide. It doesn’t have to be centre stage in the story, I have seen some where the placement is so subtle, the writer states where it is.

Once you have written and posted your story, please add the link to the inlinkz froggy icon below and add it to the collection so we can all have a read.

The main object is to have fun.

http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=653767

ANOTHER ONE

So here we were again.  Another museum in another town in another summer.  How many more summer holidays would we suffer traipsing from one old house or historical building or educational establishment that would ‘help us’ when we were older?

Dad knew it all.  Mum suffered it all.  My brother didn’t care.  He only wanted the food in the café, restaurant or pub, if we were lucky and if we could get in as a family.

I cared but my opinion wasn’t listened to.  I loved museums.  I loved historical buildings.  I could get lost in the history.  I imagined all the stories that went with the people who lived in these places or used the artefacts, again, my opinion didn’t count.

At least this summer we had a bit more money.  This year we upgraded the camping site to one with electricity and a shower block - perhaps one day we would upgrade to a hotel. That would be the day.

When I am working and have my own money I will work in such places.  I will have all the time in the world to look at everything.

When I am a grown-up.   

Word count: 196

THE WALK

WEDNESDAY WRITERS this week is a photo prompt with five mandatory words to use in your story.

Hosted by the lovely Deb Stanton at Inner Sunshine you can find out more by going to this link:

http://www.innersunshine.net/2016/08/04/writing-prompt-for-wednesday-august-10-2016/

Mandatory words to use:

mulberry* coach* barber* chips* lift

THE WALK

Sarah reached the stones and leaned against them.  Her panting matched her dog’s although her tongue didn’t loll out of her mouth as his did.  She unzipped the backpack and retrieved the water and bowl for Loki to have a much needed drink and drank from another water bottle herself.

She perched on one of the standing stones, re-arranged the pink mulberry scarf around her neck as the cool wind sent a draught through her hair and grazed her throat. 

It had taken them slightly longer than usual to reach the summit of the hill, stopping to talk to people who admired her Husky/Akita/Snow Wolf also gave her a sense of pride.  Even the coach driver parked in the car park waiting for his group to return had engaged her in conversation about Loki.

She raised her head to the sun as its rays bounced down to the stones through the clouds.  A sense of peace enveloped her and she felt her spirits lift as the warmth began to alleviate the slight chill of the wind coming across the hill.

Sarah absent-mindedly stroked Loki as he was always looking for attention.  He was part of their family now along with her fiancé and her two boys and her soon to be young five-year old stepson. 

How her life had changed over the past few years. It had been tough for a while there, bringing up two young boys on her own but even though she said it herself, they were great lads and she was very proud of them both.

Her mobile dinged surprising her that she could get a signal up here.  The text message was from Dave, her fiancé.

Hey babe, I’m on my way home.  I got some frozen chips for tea tonight. Love you.

She adored this man she met at a gig quite by chance.  He was her world.  She texted back telling him she was by the stones and would walk back shortly. 

Her phone dinged again with a picture.  She laughed out loud.  Dave had been to the barber in town to get his hair cut and this was the result.   He liked to be well groomed, a bit different from the family photos she’d seen when his ginger hair was flowing long and parted in the middle.  Her influence was good for his style she thought to herself.

Gigs didn’t happen very often now as her health was a bit iffy, never knowing whether she would feel well enough to go anywhere.  Luckily today was a good day which is why she and Loki were up on the hillside. 

Popping a mint in her mouth the young woman and her dog started the trek back down the hillside.  

The dog thought of squirrels and rabbits and Sarah’s thoughts ran to what was in the fridge to go with the frozen chips.  Green and red peppers, courgette, lightly sautéed with some mushrooms and a couple of eggs would go nicely with those chips.

Word count: 500

MARISSA

Sunday Photo Fiction – July 31st 2016

The idea of Sunday Photo Fiction is to create a story / poem or something using around about 200 words with the photo as a guide. It doesn’t have to be centre stage in the story, I have seen some where the placement is so subtle, the writer states where it is.

Once you have written and posted your story, please add the link to the inlinkz froggy icon below and add it to the collection so we can all have a read.

https://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2016/07/31/sunday-photo-fiction-july-31st-2016/

MARISSA

The vulnerability showed in her eyes as he observed her from the opposite end of the table.  He wondered what had gone on in her life before to give her so much pain.

 

Her husband patted her arm and then removed his hand which disappeared under the table.  Nigel noticed her wincing slightly.

He wanted to put a cloak of armour around her. He wanted to protect her even though they had only just been introduced.

Nigel couldn’t stand the thought of the scared, thin looking young woman who blinked her blue eyes at him, being stuck in that situation.  He asked her to join him on the dance floor.  Her husband nodded his permission, Marissa stood up gracefully and stepped out from the table and on to the dance floor and in to his arms.  From that moment on he wrapped her in a cloak of protection, transferring his strength to her.

Barry beckoned his wife back to the table, she complied immediately and sat primly beside him. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed tightly.  Nigel saw his nails dig into her flesh and leave red marks.

This will end tonight.

Word count: 198

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: July 2016

http://armchairsquid.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/the-cephalopod-coffeehouse-july-2016.html

The Armchair Squid hosts this monthly book meeting and he says: 

Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.

This has been a very good reading month for me, reading several short stories and some longer novels as well. 

My pick for this month is: 

The Oyster Catcher
by 
Jo Thomas

4*
402 pages.

PRODUCT REVIEW FROM Amazon

Dooleybridge, County Galway: the last place Fiona Clutterbuck expects to end up, alone, on her wedding night.

But after the words 'I do' have barely left her mouth, that's exactly where she is - with only her sequined shoes and a crashed camper van for company.

One thing is certain: Fi can't go back. So when the opportunity arises to work for brooding local oyster farmer, Sean Thornton, she jumps at the chance. Now Fi must navigate suspicious locals, jealous rivals and an unpredictable boss if she's to find a new life, and love, on the Irish coast. And nothing - not even a chronic fear of water - is going to hold her back.

MY REVIEW

4*

This novel is set in Ireland and is a well written contemporary novel.

It starts off with a bang and leads on at a nice pace afterwards.  

As a reader who knows nothing about oyster farming it was fascinating without becoming too technical or boring about the oysters. It had good descriptions of the work that goes in to this sort of farming.

There are lots of colourful characters in this tiny Irish village, giving a good sense of a small Irish coastal town running against big city/businesses.  The community pulls together to try and put the village back on the map.

There is also a love interest that isn’t just the same/same love theme which made the book enjoyable.

I did read other commentators remarking on the poor editing and typo’s – usually one of my biggest complaints – but this must be a re-edited version that I downloaded as I didn’t spot any errors.

A very enjoyable read.           

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

I've joined Wednesday Writers, a weekly creative writing exercise hosted by the lovely Deb at her blog Inner Sunshine

http://www.innersunshine.net/wednesday-stories/

Every week Deb will provide a prompt to get our creative choices flowing.

These are the guidelines Deb wants us to follow:

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Anyone is welcome to submit, whether you have your own blog or not.  Please email your story to stories@innersunshine.net at any time.  Entries received by Monday afternoon at 5:00 will be posted on Wednesday morning.  Entries received after this time will be saved for posting on the next Wednesday.

• I hope to post the theme for the next Wednesday Stories each Thursday.   Prompts to center your story around will either be two unrelated photos OR one photo and five unrelated words that are to be incorporated into your story.

• Rough drafts are welcome, as I will be glad to play editor (and of course, give proper credit for each story I receive).

• In keeping with the theme of this blog, violence/abuse/hatred stories will not be posted.

• Stories can be short, but there will be a limit of 500 words.  At first, I chafed at having to restrict myself to 500 words, but soon I found it to be a good writing discipline.  I learned how to tell a complete story in less words.    Another factor is, stories with more than 500 words tend to tire a reader.

• If you have any questions about Wednesday Stories, please email me at stories@innersunshine.net.

This week we have two photos as our prompt.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

 

She never thought her sister would do it.  Leave the city and become a country girl but that is apparently what ‘love’ does for you.   Mary was still amazed that Lynn had met the gentleman farmer, online of all places, for their first date he had travelled in to the city, the second date Lynn had gone back to his village.

It seemed as though Lynn never returned to the city although of course she did.  Mary remembered the conversation with her sister very well.  It was unusual for the two of them to get together mid-week with their really busy schedules, working late in to the evenings most nights but the text message had seemed urgent somehow.

They met at eight o’clock that night, the drinks were ordered and placed before them on the slightly sticky and tacky table in the pub.  Mary had shown her disgust at the state of the place by wrinkling her nose.  When Lynn spoke she was taken aback by her first words.

‘I’ve resigned my job.  I’m getting married next month.’  

The words had come out of her sister’s mouth all in a rush, as she had nervously licked her lips while she looked at Mary for her response.  The laughter wasn’t what she’d expected.

Mary had taken a big gulp of her red wine, shook her head disbelievingly, stared at her sister who just stared back, daring her to contradict her.

‘Of course you are.  What are you going to do when you are married, then?’

Lynn launched into an explanation of how she’d met Alan online, how he farmed in the Yorkshire Dales and how she had found her soul mate. 

Mary had spluttered, ‘but you’ve only known him a few weeks.  How on earth can you be so sure?’

Lynn explained that the weekend she spent in the fresh country air, no car fumes, no noise, well just the sound of birds singing, cocks crowing and being taught how to look after sheep was just the change of direction she needed in her life.  So much so that she was going on a course to find out more about fleecing a sheep and using the fleece afterwards. 

‘What on earth would you do with a smelly sheep’s fleece?’  Mary had ordered a bottle of wine by this time to help her take in her sister’s news.

‘You’ll have to come to my wedding to find out,’ was her sister’s reply.

Three months later, in a field full of grass and daisies, Mary found herself snapping a picture of her sister in her wedding dress.

Mary’s eyes filled with tears of happiness and regrets that she had to return to the big city to continue in the rat race.  Although, Alan had a nice hunky cousin as his best man, so maybe things could be looking up.  After all if her sister could become a farmer’s wife she didn’t see why she couldn’t either. 

word count: 498

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse June 2016

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse: June 2016

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse, is a cosy gathering of book lovers, hosted by 

The Armchair Squid

is a meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the works they enjoyed most over the previous month.  Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.  If you wish to add your own review to the conversation, here is the link: 

http://armchairsquid.blogspot.com/

I would like to recommend two books this month, both are very different, one is under 200 pages so more a novella than a book and the other one is a full, more light-hearted novel. 

Product Description from  Amazon

Sometimes a glimpse into the past can help make sense of the future … 
Everyone thinks Lexi is crazy when she falls in love with Hollingsworth House – a crumbling old Georgian mansion in Yorkshire – and nobody more so than her husband, Dylan. But there’s something very special about the place, and Lexi can sense it. 

Whilst exploring the grounds she stumbles across an old diary and, within its pages, she meets Allie – an Australian nurse working in France during the First World War. 

Lexi finally realises her dream of buying Hollingsworth but her obsession with the house leaves her marriage in tatters. In the lonely nights that follow, Allie’s diary becomes Lexi’s companion, comforting her in moments of darkness and pain. And as Lexi reads, the nurse’s scandalous connection to the house is revealed …

MY REVIEW

4 ½ *

For a shortish novel (under 200 pages) this had me gripped.  We have two stories in one as Lexi buys a house and finds a diary from the previous occupant.

This is well written, the transitions between now and then (WWI) are seamless, the horrors of war time and the different troubles of modern day Britain, the romance of a nurse and a soldier, the bond of love that ties them together with the struggles the modern day marriage is going through.

This is my type of book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. 

My second book is: 

Product Description from Amazon

For twenty-five-year-old Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father's antique shop; nights watching fuzzy telly whilst the elderly residents of Britain's Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night. But everything changes when Willow's epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation is uploaded to YouTube. A canny viewer spots Marilyn's ghostly image hidden in the film and Willow becomes an international sensation. Her dire little town is suddenly overrun with fans proclaiming her to be the 'new Marilyn'. 

Egged on by the villagers - whose shops and businesses are cashing in - Willow eagerly embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and scoffing cakes to achieve Marilyn's legendary curves. But when the only man she has ever truly loved returns, seeking the old Willow, it's decision time. Should she risk stardom and the village's new-found fortune on love? Or is being Marilyn Willow's real ticket to happiness?

MY REVIEW

4*

A lovely read, light hearted but with substance, a well written novel, lovely touches of small town England also encompassing the wider world of show business, shady practices, lost loves and new loves.

It is nicely paced, a novel that could have easily become farcical but the author kept the characters true to life. 

A lovely, well written book.  

N.B. both books are set in England and as such will give global readers a very good taste of the English way of life.