FF – Out of Options
Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. She also supplied the photo this week!
Click on the blue froggy for this week’s other stories.
Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Frederick looked across the darkened room to the windows and sighed. He dimly remembered when those windows looked out over just the vista portrayed in the pictures which now covered them. He peeled away the corner of one and peered out.
Nothing had changed. A barren wasteland, devoid of all life bar a scraggly plant here, a grotesquely mutated animal there.
He’d stockpiled massively before the war, but the years had dwindled his supply to almost nothing. No-one was coming, no rescue. Facing painful starvation, his decision made, he knocked over both lamps and waited for the fire to take him.
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draliman on life 
I think I would have found a less awful way to die. That’s a whole novel in 100 words or so.
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Yeah, not the least painful I can think of…
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Sad… You do justice to both tragedy and comedy! Bravo!
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Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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What a horrible way to go!
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For sure. Nasty 😦
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I love dark, depressing stories (not being facetious). Well done!
What a horrible way Frederick has chosen to die. Doesn’t he have any sharp knives?
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Maybe he’s stuck them all in mutated animals…
Let’s hope the fire doesn’t go out before he’s completely dead, leaving him lying there all blackened and crispy.
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Yep, let’s hope so for his sake. I also hope he loses consciousness from smoke inhalation before getting burnt!
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Fingers crossed! I hear that’s what often happens.
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I certainly wouldn’t want to test that out myself. 😜
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Oh god, this was a dark take on the prompt but you squeezed so much story in so few words!
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I seem to be going through a “dark” phase. Hopefully comedy will return soon!
I’m glad you liked it 🙂
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How sad, what a cruel way to go. A gruesome take on the prompt, but I like it.
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Not exactly a pain-free death. I’m glad you liked it!
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I hope this is not our future! Good story, though! 🙂
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I hope not too! Not a pretty end.
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Not the way I would choose to go, but then it does seem a desperate situation. Good writing.
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Thanks – things are really bad when such a death is preferable to life.
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I agree with those above who thought this a gruesome way to go. You, too, wrote a grim story about this prompt. Perhaps it’s the gloomy light. Well done.
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It’s definitely quite a gloomy scene, and a nasty end. I’m glad you liked it!
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Oh noo!
This is a sad way to go. After surviving the war why not give life one more push.
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I guess he’s been giving life one last push for months and can’t take any more 😦
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Sad!
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Dear Ali,
Wow, that was depressing. You set the scene well and had me right there. Good job.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Thanks! I fiddled around quite a bit to get it to sound right. And yes, pretty depressing 😦
Ali
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While I cringe at this horrible way to end his life, I also like the cleansing aspect of the fire. He leaves nothing behind but ashes, and that goes well with the whole theme of war and desolation. Great story.
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Yes, ultimately it’s a very clean way to end. Ashes inside his shelter and out. I’m glad you liked it!
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Great story! Written from the point he gives up after trying to stay alive for so long!
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It’s finally become too much. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Hmmmm, I wonder what grotesquely mutated animal tastes like…..
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Grotesque…
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A little more salt then….
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it was brave of him to go out in a blaze of glory.
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Yes, I couldn’t do it.
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Sometimes it’s better to day at once instead of facing dwindling supplies
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A quick(ish) death anyway rather than a long lingering one.
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I loved the coping mechanism of the pictures on the windows. So sad that a the end was inevitable.
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I guess the pictures helped for a while…
It is sad. I wonder if he’s the last to go?
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I hope he’s not last. But maybe loneliness is what finally put him over the edge.
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No marshmallows in the end?
I hate dark ending….
Randy
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Sadly the last of his supplies didn’t include any treats…
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Poor Frederick. I wish he had tried to adopt one of those mutated animals…
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Yes. That would have been a pal to keep him company.
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They might figure something out together.
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Oh wow…not sure that is a better choice (fire has always been a fear of mine). It’s certainly a quicker one.
This story snuck up on me. I like that I never know where you are going to go.
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Not the best way to go.
Last week I didn’t know where I was going either 🙂 but sometimes I try hard to keep the ending a secret.
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What a horrible way to go…but great dark story to tell 😀 Pawkisses 🙂 ❤
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One of the worst ways to go, I reckon. I’m glad you liked the story!
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I like the idea of covering up the ugly reality with pretty pictures. As others have said, you’ve covered a lot of territory in your story. Well told.
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It helped him cope early on. I’m glad you liked it!
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Yikes, we caught him at his lowest moment! I’m curious what the mutated animal looks like. Really interesting story and world-building!
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I expect their features are horribly twisted and their fur grows in dense patches. And they probably glow in the dark too!
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Ooh, that’s really dark, Ali. Fire is a terrible was to go. Good writing, though. —- Suzanne
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Thanks! It is a pretty terrible way to go. I guess it’s that, starve or get eaten, though 😦
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Oh my, I can feel his desperation. You captured the mood perfectly!
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Thanks! He was at the end of his tether, nowhere else to turn.
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Oh my goodness. I want him to be saved!
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Stranger things have happened!
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