draliman on life

FF – How to Fix Your House

August 30, 2017 draliman 90 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s picture was sent in by Roger Bulltot.

I hope my story works okay, I had to cut a lot out 😦

To read this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.

“What is this, oh Ghost of Future?”

“This is your manor two hundred years from now. Broken, dilapidated, your family living in poverty.”

“What must I do, oh Ghost?”

“Stop being a doormat! Take control!”

“I will, I will! I shall start whipping the servants immediately!”

“Good.”

With that, the “ghost” vanished, appearing two hundred years later inside a very well appointed mansion. He stepped out of the time bubble and looked around.

“Well, that worked.”

A drop of water dribbled through the ceiling. He checked his bank balance and frowned.

“Hmm, now to do something about great-grandfather’s investment portfolio…”

Here is my story for What Pegman Saw. It’s tricky this week, as we’re off to North Korea, and there’s quite a lack of pictures. Practically no photos and, of course, no Street View. All we ever seem to get from there are official photos of Kim Jong-un grinning as his tanks rumble past, or another missile test takes place (which may or may not suddenly drop out of the sky).

Unbelievable. Branded a spy! He’d barely escaped, racing across the (thankfully) almost-empty square and into a storm drain. So he’d accidentally caught some missiles and blueprints in the background of a couple of (hundred) snaps. They shouldn’t leave their rockets just lying around in their top secret high security labs where just anyone might stumble over them.

Okay, maybe they had a point.

He’d tried to use Street View to navigate his way out but apparently Google’s Street Cars were as persona non grata as he was.

So here he was, hiding with a parachute in the nose-cone of a missile. It had launched for testing a couple of minutes ago. He just had to time his bail-out correctly to make the submarine rendezvous. As long as the Korean scientists had got it right this time and the missile didn’t explode in mid-…

BANG!

Bugger. It was gonna be a long swim.

Categories: Fiction Tags: flash fiction, What Pegman Saw

FF – Unhappy Camping

August 23, 2017 draliman 83 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. The photo was contributed by Jan Wayne Fields.

I had real trouble with this one 😦 . Here is what I ended up with.

For this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.

Jeremy scowled into his beer. Three days they’d been here and he hadn’t shot anything. Fairground fun for the kids, hunting for Dad. Huh.

Hearing a crashing in the bushes he grabbed his hunting rifle. The foliage parted to reveal a bear! Taking aim, he fired. The bullet ripped through the bear’s head.

Stuffing flew everywhere.

“Muuuummmy! Daddy shot Teddddyyyyy!”

“For God’s sake, Jeremy, how could you be so stupid? And reckless? She only just won that!”

“Thought it was coming at me,” mumbled Jeremy.

“It’s wearing a bow tie!”

“I’m still gonna strap it to the front of the car.”

“Whaaaaaaa!”

Categories: Fiction Tags: flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers

Pegman – Taking the Plunge

August 19, 2017 draliman 40 comments

Here is my story for What Pegman Saw. I hope nobody minds, but while on my virtual tour of Wroclaw, Poland I found two pictures which fitted my story perfectly (and it took both to inspire my story). I won’t make a habit of it, I promise. There’s actually nothing in the rules which says it can only be one picture… ahem 🙂

To read this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.

Patryk stood on the ledge and stared down on the city he knew so well. Used to know so well.

The old shops, the tower blocks… never perfect, but familiar. Now it was all glass and steel, stark functionality making way to aesthetics.

Not that he missed the Soviet era – it had its faults to be sure – but you knew where you were. Keep your head down, don’t make a fuss. Now it was all very cut-throat. Too complicated for an old man like him.

So here he stood. On a ledge, lamenting the past. A past gone forever. He shuffled forward, a bead of sweat trickling down his cheek. Heart thumping, he stepped forward, plummeting towards the ground. As the pavement grew closer, he took a deep breath…

… and pulled the ripcord. “Woohoooooo!”

So his beloved Wroclaw had changed. Change with it! Have fun. You’re never too old!

Categories: Fiction Tags: flash fiction, What Pegman Saw

FF – The End of the World

August 16, 2017 draliman 101 comments

Here is my story for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle, who also provided this week’s photo.

For this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.

The world had ended.

Plants and flowers withered and died, their once-delicate scent now pungent, cloying. The wind, foul, biting, left an almost chemical aftertaste. The few people still out hurried past, eyes downcast, lifeless. Animals slunk into darkened corners, seeking refuge.

The world had ended. For Shelley Smith.

“He’s dumped me, Mum! He was the one, I swear! I’ll never love anyone else! Not ever!”

She ran into her little en-suite and slammed the door, all tears and sobbing.

“What’s that, the third one this month?” Mum shook her head.

“And there’s still more month left,” replied Dad. “Teenagers!”

Categories: Fiction Tags: flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers

What Pegman Saw – Prophecy

August 14, 2017 draliman 28 comments

Here is my story for the 150 word fiction challenge, What Pegman Saw. This week we’re at the Palace of Pena in Portugal. I plopped little Pegman down on Google Maps and found a picture for my story.

To read this week’s other stories, click on the blue froggy.

The Oracle gazed out over the grand vista afforded by the uppermost battlements of the Palace of Pena, her face filled with sadness.

“Once this place was filled with beauty. Trees, grasslands. One could hear the birds singing and watch as deer and rabbits played in the forests, celebrating the return of spring with all its endless possibilities.”

“But, my Lady Oracle,” protested Novice Miguel, “I see those things in abundance!”

“As you are aware, dear Miguel, I see not today, but that which is yet to come,” replied the Oracle, touching his arm in comfort.

Miguel felt a chill flood his body. The Oracle had never been known to be wrong. He followed her as she shook her head sadly, returning to the palace. Behind them, the sky to the east brightened suddenly and then darkened as the first mushroom cloud stained the horizon.

Categories: Fiction Tags: What Pegman Saw