Duplicity — FFfPP Week 32

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 2 Comments

Title: Duplicity
Source: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #32
Word count: 184 words

MorgueFile May 2018 1400068700w0086

Lisette tried to look inconspicuous as she walked past the restaurant’s main window. The restaurant was empty, so she adjusted her sandal’s strap and scanned the interior. The main dining room held twelve linen-covered tables. She noticed everything, but she focused on the oil paintings. Eight hung in the room and she dismissed each one. It had to be here. She pretended to shuffle through her purse and saw it hanging behind the hostess stand. Lisette pulled her phone from her purse and walked away.

Jean-Pierre took over the family restaurant from his father, but times changed, the neighborhood changed, and the business suffered. His grown children had no interested in running the family business. It was time he retired, so he closed the doors. They had a party to say goodbye to the neighborhood and his loyal customers. The next morning Jean-Pierre dismantled his life. He removed the oil painting from the wall where it hung all these years. This one painting was his retirement fund.

Jean-Pierre took the painting to a dozen appraisers. They agreed his original Edward Hopper was a fake.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Keeping Promises – 100 Word Wednesday Week 83

August 9, 2018August 9, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 2 Comments

Title: Keeping Promises
Source: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 83
Word count: 100 words

Image by Bikurgurl

Danny and Suzie had spent decades planning this trip. They were young when they married, and money was scarce. Danny promised he would one day take her on a dream honeymoon. Suzie dreamed of Hawaii. Life always interceded, and they postponed their trip. Four babies came with bottles, bicycles, and braces. The years flew and there were college tuitions and wedding celebrations. They never stopped dreaming. They researched and planned but family was more important. Today they would view the lava flow where it entered the ocean. Suzie hugged the urn in her arms. She didn’t want to say goodbye.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Pushing Through — FFfAW Challenge

August 7, 2018August 7, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 11 Comments

Title: Pushing Through
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers
Word count: 150 words

This week’s photo prompt is provided by wildverbs. Thank you wildverbs!

Rachel passed the bench three times today. One more time she told herself.

She wanted to sit and rest. Doctor’s orders said one mile.

“This is crap,” she thought.

“It will get easier,” they said.

“You will grow to love it,” they said.

“Your body will crave the endorphins,” they said.

Who were they kidding? It was a conspiracy, lies they told themselves. It wasn’t working, she didn’t feel an endorphin-releasing rush. She had been exercising a week and none of the garbage they spewed had happened.

Rachel stopped, staring at the bench. Sweat trickled down her back, hair clung to her face and neck. Her clothes stuck to her body in places where they shouldn’t. She fanned herself with both hands, knowing a mirror would reflect a blotchy red face. She needed a shower.

Rachel stood and stared at the bench.

“Ok, bench. See you in a few minutes.”

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Last Dance — 3 Line Tales, Week 131

August 5, 2018August 3, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 6 Comments

From Sonya’s 3LineTales at Only100Words.
You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya.

photo by Prince Akachi via Unsplash

“Come dance with me,” Randa said.

My heart was too heavy, my eyes too red, my emotions too raw.

“It is ok baby, I know how to lead.”

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Precious Things — Friday Fictioneers

August 4, 2018August 4, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 14 Comments

Title: Precious Things
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

Anna and Pops walked the property line surveying the new pressure treated fence. She didn’t care about the fence until the neighbor called complaining about Pops’ cows in his field. Pops refused to do anything more than patch it, but the cows pushed through his feeble fixes. Tired of the drama Anna coughed up the cash to replace it ending the drama. Pops was proud of his new fence and the neighbor’s field was cow free.

“So, Pops, when are you getting rid of this pile?” she asked.

“Why would I get rid of this? I might need it someday.”

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Lesson One — FFfPP Week 31

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 3 Comments

Title: Lesson One
Source: FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2018 WEEK #28
Word count: 170 words

MorgueFile May 2018 1382470355ix82z

Marissa watched the car back down the driveway and listened to the garage door close. Why couldn’t they hurry? In the street, the car stopped, and Marissa wanted to scream. Finally, the car moved forward. When it turned the corner, she slid from the window seat to the floor, tossing cushions as she moved. Hinges creaked as she lifted the seat pushing aside blankets. She tripped the concealed lever that opened the secret compartment.

Marissa grabbed the leather ties and pulled the package from its hiding place. She sat cross-legged and placed the package in her lap. It only took a moment to unwrap the soft kid leather protecting her precious book. Marissa caressed the cover and marveled at the embossed details.

She opened the cover to the marked page. She needed something simple to begin. A storm should work. Marissa turned pages until she found one. She touched the pendant on the necklace she wore and read the words aloud. Outside the window, dark clouds rolled across the sky.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Beach Rental — 100WW Week 82

August 2, 2018August 2, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 2 Comments

Title: Beach Rental
Source: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 82
Word count: 100 words

Image by Bikurgurl

The listing promised the rental was “minutes from the beach”. While the beach looked close, it was an arduous twenty-minute trek down a rickety set of wooden stairs, barely wide enough for one person. They clung to what the natives called a hill. I called it a poison ivy covered cliff. The bottom of the stairs dumped me on a sand path that snaked through tall razor-sharp grasses. Hot, sweaty and tired, my skin slashed from the grass, I arrived at the beach. The beach itself was nicer than I expected. But when the sun set I called an Uber.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Fleeting Moments — FFfAW Challenge

August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 6 Comments

Title: Fleeting Moments
Source: Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers
Word count: 140 words

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Yinglan. Thank you Yinglan!

Seo-Yun was born in a tiny village. The little girl with big dreams soon outgrew her home. They were no match for her rising star, so she left them for the big city that “discovered” her.

Famous, her fans followed her everywhere. Bathed in limelight, she capitalized on every opportunity to increase her popularity and her bank account. She staged and televised her life, from shoe shopping to lunch with friends. Her fans dictated every moment of her life.

Her sister called, telling her of mama’s illness. Seo-Yun raced to be by her side and her entourage raced with her. Umma was a simple woman, a private woman. When Seo-Yun arrived at the hospital, Umma refused to let her daughter’s fans see her. She pleaded, but Umma remained firm. Her daughter didn’t understand her mother’s resistance, and the moment passed.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Art Class — 3 Line Tales

July 29, 2018July 27, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 2 Comments

From Sonya’s 3LineTales at Only100Words.
You can find the original prompt here. Thank you, Sonya.

photo by Ricardo Viana via Unsplash

My students had style my Rembrandt, Picasso, Monet, and Manet and twenty-two others I loved.

Then there was my little Pollock, ah Pollock.

Who knew abstract expression was so difficult to clean?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The April Fools — Friday Fictioneers July 27

July 28, 2018July 27, 2018 / JoHawkTheWriter / 7 Comments

Title: The April Fools
Source: Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

Ice floated in the lake, but the April Fools boats were ready. April Fool’s Day marked a spring ritual, two boat launches followed by a dinner at Dockers. As Bill, John and I walked the pier, I realized I had forgotten my jacket. Sitting on the water chilled me to the bone, and it had worsened these last forty years. John always insisted on sitting outside while Carol and I voted for an inside table. This year I wouldn’t object. Today there were tears in John’s eyes as we talked of other boat launches and how much we missed Carol.

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer