draliman on life

It’s Friday Fictioneers time again hosted by Rochelle, this week featuring a photo also by Rochelle! To view the other contributions or to add your own, click on the blue froggy below.

Nothing really occurred to me this week but I’ve thrown some words together which you can find under the prompt photo.

Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Lying on the balcony, Jackson peered through the sights – he had a perfect view of the front of the house. Pulse quickening, he tried to remain calm as the door opened to reveal his target. He was holding a child.

Damn! But his mission parameters were clear – “acceptable collateral damage”.

He slowly, carefully began to squeeze the trigger.

“Jackson! Dinner!” yelled a voice from behind him.

Double damn! Jackson put his high-powered water rifle down and went inside.

“Tomorrow, you will be mine, oh yes,” he snarled as his target disappeared from view, blissfully unaware of the soaking he had so narrowly avoided.

Here is my contribution to Friday Fictioneers. This is a weekly flash fiction challenge hosted by Rochelle in which we write 100-ish words in response to a photo prompt. This week’s photo is of a maze, and was contributed by Melanie Greenwood.

To see the other stories for this week, or to contribute your own, click on the blue froggy.

Copyright Melanie Greenwood

No, no, this looks familiar. I’ve been this way before. I must escape. Getting hungry. Tired. Thirsty. This way. No – dead end. Can’t last much longer. Try down here. No! No way though. Please, somebody, help me. I’m going to die in here. I’ll never see my babies again. Please, somebody…

“This is shit. How long’s it been?”

“Three hours. This is the dumbest mouse ever.”

“Maybe it’s just playing dumb like those mice in that Douglas Adams thing. Maybe it’s a hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional being.”

The scientists peered at it for a moment as it wandered around the maze.

“Nope. It’s a dumbass.”

Click here to read about Douglas Adams’ “mice” (links to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Wiki)

It’s time for some Friday Fictioneers action again, which is hosted by Rochelle. The photo, for which we need to write our 100-ish word story, has been contributed by Ted Strutz.

To read all the other stories or to contribute your own, click on the blue frog.

Copyright Ted Strutz

“Oh, you’ll talk!” grinned Marcos, shoving the extension cord down Jeff’s trousers. He flipped the first switch. Nothing.

“One down, two to go! Where’s the gold?”

Although Jeff’s hands were bound, he managed to flip Marcos the bird. Another switch. Jeff still wasn’t talking.

“Say goodbye to your bits!” laughed Marcos and pushed the final switch. There was a bang, the outlet exploded and Marcos fell twitching to the floor. Jeff set about trying to extricate the cord from his underpants as the thug sparked and smouldered.

“The gold’s in the switch box,” he said. “Don’t try to use it, it’ll probably short out. Heh heh.”

Here is my contribution for this week’s Friday Fictioneers, a weekly flash challenge hosted by Rochelle where we write a 100-ish word story based on a photo. This week’s photo was contributed by Georgia Koch.

For this week’s other contributions, click on the little blue froggy. You can also use this link to add your own story to the mix!

Copyright Georgia Koch

Never one for altruism, Franco’s friends (if it could be said that he had friends) were astonished when he joined “Save Our Barges”. An ex-mobster, charity was never his thing.

He chatted to the great and good, raised funds, worked tirelessly until at last he made it onto the charity’s board… until at last he was granted access to the Betty May.

The charity’s latest restoration project, the Betty May was locked away in dry dock, awaiting much-needed love and a tender touch.

That night the Betty May burnt to charcoal. Some of Franco’s secrets were best left buried.

It’s Friday Fictioneers time hosted by Rochelle, and the photo this week was contributed by Jan Wayne Fields. We need to write a 100-ish word story based on this photo.

I’ve pretty much written nothing but comedies for my challenges recently, but this photo made me feel a bit gloomy for some reason. I nearly renamed this “There in Spirit”. But that sounded a bit corny :-).

Click on the blue guy to read this week’s other stories, or even contribute your own!

Copyright Jan Wayne Fields

Jared stared out of the window. The table behind him was set for four as it always was on this day, a memorial to the four friends who had sat here together every year to celebrate life.

Inseparable since childhood, three years ago death had intervened. A New Year’s party, several drinks too many, a car, a corner, a tree.

Jared’s heart felt heavy as he thought of the three companions he would never again share good times with, help through the bad times.

The door opened and the three friends sombrely entered. Jared took a last look and faded back into their memories.

It’s time for my entry to Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo prompt is by Jean L. Hays.

I was going to do a dialogue based on all the “no parking” signs but ended up doing some even sillier dialogue concentrating on the banner which sort of says “Unthink”. I know it’s slightly bad form to write “500” rather than “five hundred” but I was having word count issues :-).

Read all the other contributions by clicking on the blue froggy.

Copyright Jean L. Hays

“UnThink Memory Wipes” – only 500 bucks, and if ever there was a year Bob wanted to forget, this was it.

“One memory wipe,” said the receptionist. “500 dollars, please.”

Presently Bob emerged looking confused, the last year erased.

“One memory wipe – 500 dollars please, sir.”

Bob paid up (again) and left.

“Heh heh!” smirked the receptionist. “Great scam.” He turned to the technician. “You want your cut?”

“Cut of what?”

“You stood too close to the machine again, huh?” asked the receptionist.

“What machine?” asked the technician.

“Uhhhh… never mind. One memory wipe – that’ll be 500 dollars please, sir. Heh heh.”

It’s time for Friday Fictioneers again, hosted by Rochelle at her blog Addicted to Purple. This week’s photo, which inspires our 100-ish word stories has been contributed by Björn Rudberg.

This is probably the silliest, most pointless story I’ve written for FF but hey – it’s Crizzmuzz! There were so many ways I could have made this a gory tragedy – ah, how I smiled to myself – but no, it’s Crizzmuzz!

Click on the blue froggy for this week’s other stories.

Copyright Björn Rudberg

A swarm of excited kids poured out of the minibus. Christmas Eve trip to the Old Keep. What a treat!

“Careful now,” cautioned their teacher.

The kids didn’t listen. They ran off up the old steps to play “Normans versus Saxons”. The steps were wet and Little Jimmy slipped.

Down he plummeted, screaming. At the last second he fell into the waiting arms of Santa, who had skilfully manoeuvred his sleigh under the falling child before landing safely in the car park.

“It’s a Christmas Miracle!” yelled the kids, clapping.

Meanwhile the sleigh, which had landed in a disabled bay, got clamped.

“Bollocks,” said Santa.

Here we are with another week’s Friday Fictioneers, the weekly photo prompt hosted by Rochelle over at Addicted to Purple. This week’s photo, which inspires our 100-ish word stories, was contributed by fellow fictioneerer Douglas M. MacIlroy.

All our stories are added to the link-up during the week, so click on the little frog badge to read them, and add your own if you wish!

Copyright Douglas M. MacIlroy

Professor Drake smiled as his team celebrated. Inside the tank hundreds of insects buzzed, painstakingly cloned from the DNA of a single specimen entombed in amber for millions of years.

“Science fiction no longer!” he proclaimed to his applauding staff.

Unseen, one of the insects escaped the tank and flew into an air duct.

Drake lay on the floor of his lab, listening to the silence of a world populated by seven billion corpses. How did the dinosaurs really die out? he wondered as his last breath rattled through his lungs. A meteorite, or the bite of a simple insect?

It’s time for Friday Fictioneers again, ably hosted by Rochelle. This week’s photo was contributed by fellow fictioneerer Sandra Crook.

Click on the little blue fella for this week’s other contributions. I finally gave into InLinkz’s demands to “create an account to get the code” and all I got was this little badge with no post counter :-(.

Copyright Sandra Crook

Albert peered out of his tent and gasped in surprise. Before him was the debarkation ramp of a huge – spaceship. A blob oozed from the entry-way, a tentacle pointing a device directly at him. He turned and ran, hearing a “zap!” sound, feeling a ripping pain in his back…

…and he awoke in his sleeping bag, sweating. Wiping his face, he peered out of his tent. Before him was the debarkation ramp of a huge – spaceship. He turned and ran, thinking as he did so that prescient dreams were not the blessing he’d once thought. Hearing a “zap!” sound, he braced himself.

It’s Wednesday, and Rochelle has ushered in another 100ish word flash fiction, with a prompt photo by Janet Webb featuring a big icicle dangling rather precariously off a bush. I sure hope it doesn’t fall on somebody!

I’ve gone for a rather silly one this week. For other contributions, click on the blue froggy!

Copyright Janet Webb

NewsRightNow.com 03/12/2014

Tributes were paid today to Britain’s best-known sunbather, Douglas “Fruitcake” Norris, who died in his back garden in Upper Littlebridge, aged 79.

Norris, famous for sunbathing in all temperatures, was sadly impaled through the brain while catching some rays underneath a large icicle, which became dislodged in rising temperatures.

“He was a lovely person who will be sorely missed,” said his daughter, Natalie Norris (43), while dangling upside-down from her washing line in her underwear. “We won’t see the likes of his nuttiness again.”

Next story – Shock as document reveals homes in Upper Littlebridge built on chemical waste site