Categotry Archives: Friday Fictioneers
Hike
“I’m telling you, you’d have never made it.” Jim glowered at Daria from across the crisp white sheets of his bed. “I would too.” Daria glowered back. She sat in the chair next to him. After moving her head a time or two, she gave up and moved the bouquet of flowers. “It’s even steeper than it looks, and if you fall, it’s straight down.” “That just means you have to take your time.” She tossed her hair and looked […]
Betsy’s Grate Day
It started off with a 5 am phone call from her boss that included screaming, panic, and acrimony. From there it went to burnt toast eaten while literally hopping out the door, coffee spilled on a cashmere skirt, a dead car battery, a taxi driver who took the long way and demanded twice the normal fare, and smeared lipstick applied while moving. The waterlogged inventory didn’t help. Nor did the attitude of the fire department. Panicked customers threatened to switch […]
Wired
When Ted was little, he buried treasure in the back yard. He knew he wouldn’t remember where he buried it, so he attached a wire to the box and left the wire poking out of the dirt. After his parents died, he inherited the house. For a few years he let renters stay there. He never did any maintenance and didn’t keep up with the property tax. Eventually, he had to sell it. For old times sake, he went to […]
Pipe!
“I hate irrigating,” Liam grumbled as he trudged into the field. “What is irrigating?” Alicia skipped along beside him. “We just have to turn the wheels on the gates so the water will go down a different set of ditches. Here’s the first one.” He walked up to the chest-high, metal gate and started turning the soccer ball sized wheel on the top to let the water flow into a new channel. “You turn that one while I do this.” […]
Ella
“Wow! Look at that ride! I want to go on it. Can I, Daddy? Can I? And the carousel, and the fun house, and roller coaster…” Ella dragged on her father’s hand in an effort to go everywhere at once. “Slow down, Ella.” “But tomorrow the fair goes away! What do we do then?” Ella threw her hands out in an exaggerated version of a gesture her mother often used. “Well… I’ve been thinking. How would you like a carousel […]
A Clean Sweep
The Christmas gift turned out to be a roomba. What a time saver! She couldn’t wait to send it off around her house, cleaning all the carpets she’d so long neglected. Operation seemed simple enough. Just press the button, right? What did she need the instruction sheet for? Ten minutes later the roomba took a nose dive down the stairs. Some people called it suicide. The Hub: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Photo credit: Marie Gail Stratford Yeah, maybe it’s a little short […]
FF- Slow Reactions
Murphy O’Brian was the first to die. At five in the morning he staggered home from the bar. On a flight of fancy, he jumped to the railing along the Eastside Bridge. Headlights flashing into his eyes on the left, murky, slow moving water to the right, he was rather proud of his ability to balance. When the giant tentacle wrapped around his waist he assumed it was just his drunken imagination. The second to die was a salesman trying […]
Time Waits
He told his wife he was going out to buy a pack of cigarettes. That was twenty three years ago. Since then he’d traveled the world a dozen times over performing covert ops for a branch of the government that she wouldn’t know existed. She was never given any explanation for his absence. No calls, no letters, no body. He kept tabs on her. When she remained alone all those years he thought she must truly love him. He passed […]
FF – Canoes
Marge eyed the canoe with misgivings. In Bogotá the rental canoe sank as soon as the man renting it disappeared around a bend. In Alaska it took fifteen tourists paddling hard for two hours to get the heavy canoe across a little nothing of a lake. In Patagonia a whole fleet of fluorescent pink fiberglass canoes that looked stupid in front of such grandeur ruined a lot of her pictures. “What’s the matter, Marge? Never been in a canoe before?” […]
Unique
Alicia followed her Aunt Jane into the apartment. She didn’t like the city as much as she thought she would. Aunt Jane made it sound exciting and wonderful. She kept talking about opportunity and the richness of culture. All Alicia saw was noisy people. “Isn’t this a grand apartment? I love it! It’s the only place of it’s kind.” Aunt Jane gestured grandly. “Really?” Alicia looked out the window into an apartment across the street. She couldn’t tell the difference […]
Crank Call
The cards came out all wrong. No matter which way Glen loaded them into the ENIAC, they came out jumbled. No wonder the program wouldn’t run. But how to fix it? Glen called Betty and explained. “That’s easy. First, go to room three. Walk behind the panel on the right all the way to the back. Open the lower cupboard. Then turn the crank a quarter turn to the left.” It worked like a charm. Next time he saw her, […]
Windy
“What a great building. Is there a spiritual reason for the six sides?” Jane stumped through the meeting hall with her foldable cane clacking along at high speeds for a retiree. “No. There are six sides because…” The tour guide half-ran, half-walked, trying to head her off so the rest of the group could catch up. “I’ll bet it was a political thing. Right? Someone rich and powerful chose the design?” Jane spun around, looking straight up at the ceiling […]
Spy Eye
Kevin dropped a bug on the street as he walked past the target’s flat. The little micro recorder actually looked and acted like a biological bug. As soon as it’s titanium feet hit the ground, it began to scuttle into the building. With Ted’s skillful remote navigation, the bug reached the target’s personal space, and settled in to record and broadcast. Almost imediatley it was detected. “Eeeeew! A cockroach!” Crunch. Ted turned toward Kevin with a laconic air. “I told […]
What To Do When You Are Diagnosed With Bone-On-Bone Arthritis
A year and a half ago I could barely walk. Getting up became so painful I did everything I could to avoid it. I tried to go for a bike ride, and didn’t even make it around the block. Yesterday I rode my bike all the way to the end of the trail and still had not had my fill. The trail includes an underpass just for us none-motorized folk that goes under one of the busiest streets in town. […]
Eye of the Beholder
“Hey. What-cha call that?” Mural pointed at the art display with one thumb. The other hooked through a belt loop on his generous wasteland. “I call it an art installation.” Ted knocked back his floppy hat for a better look. He examined the upended cars and found them good. “Yeah, I know that much. What’s the art institutional thing called? What’s the name?” “Accidental Tye-Dye.” Ted popped out the first thing that came to mind, since he hadn’t named it […]
