Categotry Archives: Friday Fictioneers
Suzie’s House 450 : Ben’s Poetry and an Invite
Emma hated the halting side of herself. When she and Lisa reached Ben’s bedroom, Lisa walked right in like it was her own home. Emma hovered in the doorway, wondering if it was really ok to go into Ben’s bedroom when he was downstairs, even if he did say for them to go first. Lisa walked right up to his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a notebook. “Well?” She looked over her shoulder. “Don’t you want to see […]
Low Art
Ted caught Ruth as she was leaving her house. “I heard you’re an art collector. I’m an artist. I brought over one of my faller installations. Would you like to see it? It’s in the back of my pickup.” Ruth considered making a break for it, but her car was right next to his pickup and at ninety years old, she wasn’t exactly moving fast these days. “Alright, young man. Lead the way.” The only think in the back of […]
My Precious
Over the course of ninety years, a woman can collect a lot of things. Ruth had more than her fair share, much to her pride. She had the ormolu clock given to her at a prestigious university after a poetry reading of her finest work. It sat in the window next to her yacht racing trophy. Even the house itself was a masterpiece – a mansion built on the best piece of land in town and handed down by her […]
Dead Batteries
“Hey, Martin. You got a minute?” Ted carried a rusted steering wheel as he walked up to Martin’s car. “Whoah, Dude! Nice battery collection. Can I have it?” “No way. You’ll turn it into some weird art project that will only get thrown away just like your car. I’ve been collecting these for years. I’m on my way to the recycling center now. Want to come?” ”Sure!” The clerk at the hazardous materials center tossed the jar over his shoulder […]
The Junk Yard
“It’s junk,” Matt said to Martin. He had one foot on the wheel of his flatbed trailer. He patted the ‘junk’ strapped to it affectionately. “It hasn’t run in nearly a hundred years. My grandfather should have gotten rid of it ages ago. Instead, I inherited it.” “To think this is one of the earliest cars. It’s a symbol of all that was wrong with the industrial revolution and our society’s descent into pollution and over population.” Martin glared at […]
Turning Time
“I’m telling you, it’s the real thing.” She skipped down the path into the garden. “Can’t be. Time turners are a made up thing. It’s from a book.” He followed grudgingly. “See?” She proudly pointed to the hour glass built into a sundial. “Yeah, but it’s just a model. It’s not like it’s a real time turner.” “Yes it is. Let me show you.” She ran up to the hourglass and gave it a spin. “See?” “But nothing happened.” “Sure […]
A Flower for Kimberly
Matt took a shovel with him into the yard. Somewhere out here under the snow was a flower that Kimberly liked. Some kind of yellow, trumpet looking thing. She always made a big deal of it. He dug in one drift, and then another. That flower always popped up through the snow. It had to be out here somewhere. Probably in a month it would be easy to find, but he didn’t have a month. He didn’t want to cave […]
Rice Among the Lotus
Miyamoto Musashi cut down a hundred swordsmen in a single night. A ronan, he destroyed many dojos as proof of his power. He fought and defeated some of the most famous samurai of his day. Yet, broken and alone, he arrived in a destitute village as a beggar. Given the chance to farm, the rice paddies defeated him. In his defeat he discovered enlightenment. When at last the emperor’s men came to ask his allegiance, he no longer had the […]
On the Job
Drew stood outside the building. He had a wire, but it only went to a recorder hidden under his bomber jacket. His partners didn’t know he was here. They thought the drug king pin worked out of a warehouse somewhere on the edges of Albuquerque. Drew’s informant said the man could be found here and he could get in by saying, “Tell El Jefe that Dave sent me.” The dogs were chained. They buzzed him through the gate when he […]
Stairway to Heaven
“What are you going to show me? Where is it?” Alicia followed a step or two behind Sally as they walked through the woods. “This way.” Sally strode along with confidence. They reached a stairway leading up the side of a hill. Sally didn’t even slow down. Despite how cracked and old the steps or rusty the railing, she went right up. Alicia followed a bit slower. At the top she tried to take in the view, but panted too […]
First Flight
“What was that?” The young man seated next to Marge on the plane that was supposed to take them from Rinca Island to Bali gripped the armrests with white knuckles. It was the third time he had flinched since he sat down. “Whatever it was, I’m sure it wasn’t important.” Marge flipped through the in-flight magazine. She thought she might need to order a bourbon despite the short flight because of his nerves. “How do you know?” He looked at […]
At Least It’s Not A Bridge in Brooklyn
Jane and Marge met up in a coffee house in Clinton Hill, Vermont. They hadn’t seen one another in several months. “So?” Marge arched an eyebrow over her cup of decaf. “Why did you want to see me?” “It seems like we are both so busy traveling around the world that we never see one another any more. Don’t you miss the old times?” Jane smiled ingratiatingly. “No,” Marge said bluntly. “I’ve got the perfect solution.” As usual, Jane ignored […]
Dreadful Sink
That dreadful sink. Audrey pulled out the plunger and gave the drain a perfunctory clearing. Over the thirty plus years of her marriage the drain had clogged thousands of times. She didn’t dare complain because she was the reason it clogged so easily. When they built the house the plumber had said the sink must go in a place that the carpenter said could not be opened up for a window. Visualizing year after year of staring at a wall, […]
Big Bird Bites the Big One
“Oh noooooo! Big Bird is dead!” Ernie rolled his eyes to the heavens and swooned. “No he’s not.” Bert didn’t even put his newspaper down. “But he’s laying on the floor with his eyes closed.” “So? He’s napping. Naaaaaapping.” “But he’s not breathing.” “I got news for you, Ernie. None of us are breathing. Not Big Bird, not Oscar, not you, and not me. All of us are just dolls waiting to get the stuffing knocked out of us.” “Yeah, […]
A Tale of Property Tax and Encroachment.
The last time Old Man Matheson stepped out of his outhouse, the sun was setting. Office lights turned on and the highway filled with rush hour traffic. He was a young man in his twenties when he bought the land. A lot had changed. First houses went up, then sky scrapers. Now his little outhouse was all that remained of his original home. He could hardly complain. He’d sold the land to them in the first place. Now it was […]
