Friday Fictioneers

Preserving A Legacy – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 31 Comments

Title: Preserving A Legacy
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT© Sandra Crook

Marta waited. She adjusted her hat, petted the hairnet covering her braided hair, while white nursing shoes and long white lab coat completed her ensemble. It made her feel sterile, one person in a large room of whirling machines.

The textile factory, built two hundred years ago, had employed generations of her family. Marta treasured the photos of her ancestors working here. New computerized looms automated many functions, but they still required human hands. Her hands were integral to the entire operation.

An alarm sounded, and Marta remedied the issue aware that her knowledge and skill preserved a great legacy.

________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Breathless Echo – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 27 Comments

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

ferris wheel

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

The amusement park was dead.  Gemma didn’t understand why they left the lights blazing in the middle of winter. Bathed in the festival light’s eerie glow, ghostly aberrations walked the streets below her.

Gemma shivered, unsure if it was the cold or the passing ghosts. Winter’s grip froze the lake where they rented paddleboats each summer. Distorted reflections mirrored the night, enhancing the funhouse feeling Gemma loathed.

Voices shrieked, surreal terror clutched at Gemma’s throat, as the Ferris wheel spun. Torn from its supports, the wheel rolled merrily into the lake and the voices died, forever frozen in the night.

________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Holding On – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 32 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Anshu Bhojnagarwala

Sal collected things people threw away, a trait his daughter, Cecilia, hated. Sal’s workshop was overflowing with his treasures.

One day, a piano appeared in the shop.

“What are you going to do with this?” Cecilia asked.

“It holds life.”

Cecilia looked at him and shook her head.

“Wait, you’ll see,” Sal promised.

Sal pulled the piano apart, selling the ivory and ebony keys, veneer, strings, anything of value until only the carcass remained.

“Papa, this is garbage,” Cecilia said.

“It holds life.”

The next morning the piano carcass sat outside the shop, planted with her favorite flowers. Cecilia smiled.

________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Go Bag, Go – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 29 Comments

Title: Go Bag, Go
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © CEAyr

Maria swung her grocery bag, humming a tune as she hurried home. Turning the last corner, she halted, the grocery bag bumping her leg.

Parked in the space by her door, was Carlo’s scooter. Like old times, her heart raced, and bile chocked her throat.  Panicking, she scanned the courtyard and glanced at her upstairs window. Senses alert, she turned and ran.

“Oh god. Did he see me?” she wondered as she ran.

People stared, and she slowed her pace.

“Think, Maria. You have a plan.”

She retrieved the key from her purse.

“Train station. Left luggage locker. Destination unknown.”

________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Marking Time – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 27 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

Sani kicked the broken asphalt chunk, sending it skidding across the deserted, crumbling parking lot. He dreaded going into Grandfather’s market, where Sani waited after school.

Grandfather would repeat his stories of the olden days. Sani knew the stories by heart and was tired of them.

Route 66 used to run past the market, bringing travelers into town. Grandfather made sandwiches he sold to them with soda and chips. Grandmother sold the Navajo jewelry she made. It was a good life. Then the interstate bypassed town taking the tourists past the market.

Sani could only wait to join the travelers.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Tradition Inherited – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 40 Comments

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

six-gold-tipped-roses-in-a-vase-on-a-table

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Anna didn’t remember ever hearing the story of how it started. As a child, she thought it a silly tradition. They insisted they attend every family gathering. But the years passed, and she now found herself installed as the de facto caretaker.

She sat and stared at the six gold-rimmed glass roses. One for each child. The white rose, the diamond, represented the oldest child, her mother.

After grandma passed the bouquet became mother’s inheritance, her duty to keep them together.

Anna’s finger traced the gold outline of a white petal and feared she would never fill her mother’s shoes.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Disillusioned – Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 33 Comments

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

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

At first, Jordan loved her. The brownstone’s façade was gorgeous, and her history touched Jordan’s heart. The building was solid, the foundations strong, an easy flip they said.

Now Jordan hated her. She resented her deceit, her secrets, and the countless imperfections. Cracks in the foundation and water seeping into the basement cost money to fix. They had butchered the support beams to retro-fitted electrical and plumbing installations, rendering the beams useless.  The engineer marveled that she still stood.

Today the contractor discovered a hornet’s nest and Jordan watched her money slip away along with any hope of breaking even.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The Darkness Before Dawn — Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 40 Comments

Title: The Darkness Before Dawn
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Anshu Bhojnagarwala

Jimmy stared into the fire pulling the old wool army blanket tighter.  The cold night promised to get colder.

He needed to decide, but he hated his choices. The most logical choice, he hated the most. It meant saying he was wrong when he wasn’t. He could make it to morning.

The embers faded, and freezing drizzle pelted him, soaking his blanket.

Digging the phone from his pocket, he let the screen fill with crystalline drops before he finally hit send.

A sleepy voice answered. He paused, still uncertain when he heard his own voice crackle.

“Mom? It’s me, Jimmy.”

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Relying on Promises — Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 40 Comments

Title: Relying on Promises
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

PHOTO PROMPT © Renee Heath

“This is better,” Wyome proclaimed, watching the sunset.

“The ancestors’ prayers, answered,” Noshi said raising the firewater bottle to his lips. He drank and passed it to Tatonga, who lifted the bottle, saluting the sun and the ancestors in a single gesture.

“Here’s to Wakan Tanka and no White Man interference,” Tatonga toasted, before drinking from the bottle.

“To Gitche Manitou,” Wyome and Noshi said in unison.

“You think they’ll stay locked inside?” Wyome asked.

“Has the White Man ever keep his word?” Tatnonga countered.

“We’ll enjoy it while it lasts,” Wyome said taking the bottle as the others nodded.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Earning Trust — Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter / 35 Comments

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

ff-teds-car-in-the-woods

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz

Avielle walked a path they didn’t see. She didn’t understand their blindness, but she was thankful for their ignorance and their dependence on her. She couldn’t harm them when they needed her protection from the odd things happening in her woods.

No birds sang, and the woods held its breath as it waited. Nothing seemed right. Avielle stopped at the edge of the clearing.

Deep in the hollow engine compartment of the long abandon car, green eyes glowed. The eyes bore into her heart, searching, begging for mercy and protection.

Hand outstretched, she moved forward, hoping it wasn’t a trap.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer