FF – Everything Changes
Here is my post for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This one is a rerun from March 2014 with a photo supplied by Adam Ickes, requested by Sandra Crook. I was going to write a new story but I quite like the story I wrote last time so I’ll repost it (with a few changes).
To read this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.

Copyright Adam Ickes
Taking a deep breath, Shelley gathered her courage and approached the little wooden bridge. The new varnish gleamed – she couldn’t even tell that it had been damaged.
Edging forward she looked into the gulley, a run-off for melting winter snow. A tear stung her eye as she cast her mind back to the week before when everything was all right, everything was normal – the buzzing of the little dirt bike, the laughter of her brother, his excitement as he tore onto the bridge.
A tiny miscalculation, and everything changed.
Forever.
She placed her flowers next to the bridge and walked away.
This packs a strong emotional punch. Well done!
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Thanks, I was going straight for the heart here.
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Miscalculation, dreadful, but well told
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Thanks! A tragic event.
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Dear Ali
I can’t say that I remember this one. At any rate I’m glad you shared it again. Tragic and goes straight for the heart. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
When I tracked it down and read it again, I thought it was worth a re-post, though I changed it a bit to (hopefully) improve the flow.
I’m glad you liked it.
Ali
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That’s brilliant! So sad.
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Thanks! Yes, very sad.
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A tiny miscalculation and a life changes. Ain’t that the truth.
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It doesn’t take much.
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It only takes a moment for life to change irrevocably. So sad but, unfortunately, so true. A very moving story.
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Yes, everything so tragically different in an instant. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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This tiny story packed a punch. Sad !
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I’m glad you liked it, sad though it is 🙂
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Sad, Ali. It seems every day there’s a road accident in the paper. Good writing. —- Suzanne
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Yes, more than one a day pretty much.
I’m glad you liked it!
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Ah, all because of a tiny miscalculation.. Sigh.
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Yep. Very sad 😦
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Such tiny actions can have such huge effects, indeed. Nicely tragic.
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The smallest thing can change everything. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Honestly, it’s those little misses that seem to have the most damning effect.
Great job.
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!
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Beautifuly written. ❤
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Thanks 🙂
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Such a sad tale, well written.
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Thanks, very sad but I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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So very sad. Nicely done.
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Thanks 🙂
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Heart wrenching.
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Yes 😦
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Oh how sad. Good story, tugs at the heartstrings.
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Thanks, it does.
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Heart touching story!
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I’m glad you liked it 🙂
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You’ve created such emotional depth in this short story. It’s a powerful reminder of the fragility of life!
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it. Yes, it could be gone in an instant.
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“a tiny miscalculation” Isn’t that what accidents are all about? You portrayed that brilliantly.
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Thanks! Yes, a tiny mistake for the briefest of moments…
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To paraphrase a sports cliche…. life is a game of inches.
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There’s rarely much wiggle room.
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Although this is a departure from your typical story, it is magnificent, Ali. FWIW, I’d put it in a collection of your stories (were I the editor or compiler!). I’m glad you decided to re-run it. Coincidentally, I think this was the first or at least one of the first FF I participated in, so it’s a memorable one for me. I didn’t think I’d be able to do anything with the photograph, but the story just blossomed very quickly; reading it, it seems like yours was perhaps effortlessly ‘in the zone’ in that way, too.
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it! I can remember the very first FF story I did too, back in 2013. I guess that first one is memorable as you take your first plunge into a pool of writers.
I don’t remember much about when I first wrote it but I have a feeling it looked like a bike accident location pretty quickly!
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sad. hopefully, she’d learn to move on.
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I hope so too.
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Such a powerful and terse tale of tragedy! I was moved. Well-done, my friend!
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it! A very sad scene.
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You handled the whole scene perfectly.
(And it’s so different from your snarky end-times scenarios in some stories, which I enjoy, as well.)
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Thanks 🙂
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A beautifully and sensitively told tale. I liked it.
Visit Keith’s Ramblings
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it. A bit different from my “usual”.
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Very sad and not at all where I was expecting it to go.
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Very sad indeed. I wonder what sort of mood I was in when I wrote it back in 2014? 🙂
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Sad story, Draliman, but very well written 🙂 Pawkisses for a Happy Sunday 🙂 ❤
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Thanks! Yes, it is a sad story.
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So very sad
So very touching
So very real in some lives!
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Yes, all too often one tiny mistake can lead to tragedy.
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Sad story.
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Yes 😦
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This is very good Ali, and shows the range of your talent.
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Thanks very much!
It’s not all comedy and Armageddon 🙂
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🙂
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A painfully tragic story, Ali. Really well done.
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Thanks 🙂
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