As a lad, my mother shared recipes with the ER nurses at our local rescue sub-station. She probably saw them once a week- thanks to me.
At forty, I like to think I have gotten older and wiser. I realize the thin thread that keeps life in balance. And I have a far firmer grasp on the frailties of life.
I still enjoy a magnificent adrenaline rush…
But I usually experience the rush from a more reclined position.
“Yes, as you can see from the small contingency of police here, we had, what we thought, a break-in… but it’s been decided that apparently it was faulty wiring in the alarm system.”
“I assure you, it’s very safe to tour the downstairs winery in the catacombs.”
“At this very spot Montresor, a favored character of Poe, invited Fortunato for his last sip of ‘the wine of very fine vintage’.”
“This back wall was the tomb of the imprisoned.”
One of the teens in the group interrupted. “Did you know the masonry between these bricks is moist to the touch?”
FYI: There was a legend in the time of Poe (while he was stationed at Fort Independence) of a sword dual between Lieutenant Robert Massie and Lieutenant Gustavus Drane because of a dispute in a card game. Lieutenant Massie killed Lieutenant Drane. Friends of Lieutenant Drane’s chained Massie to a vault in the inner walls of this cellar… imprisoning him by building a secondary wall.
The legend is not true.
The sword fight did happen on Christmas Day 1817. . Massie was court-martialed and acquitted of all charges. Massie death is record it have happened in 1846.
Often the stories I tell about events from my past.
Usually they are stories of something ‘stupid’ I have done. The episode for the story usually never started out as stupid, but the end result would speak for itself.
It is with great hesitation that I like to “toot my own horn”.
But like they say, “There is an exception for evey rule.”
I have worked the month on NANO to set up this wonderful (told you I would be shameless) shared writing community.
On the evening of each Wednesday, I will be blogging out a PHOTO PROMPT for the valiant and courageous flash fiction writers that I know and love to once again allow themselves to release their creative juices. Please FOLLOW FLASH FICTION FOR THE PRACTICAL PRACTITIONER and be sure you will be in-the-know for opening day!
Doctor Jedidiah Hyde grinned. “Now that completely depends.” I actually think that he stifled a snicker. Can you imagine the world’s leading astro-physio-anthropologist giggling?
“It looks like the top of one of the spirit totems illustrations in our First Nations text.”
“Yes, it does,” Doctor Murphy agreed.
“So what is making this luminance projection?”
“Not a projection…” he replied. Again, I was sure I heard a slightly muffled chuckle. “The spirit world is all around us. We just couldn’t see it. Now we can.”
Doctor Hyde burst into a fit of demonic cackling.
Written for Friday Fictioneers: October 29, 2021. (Use the photo prompt provided to create a 100 word flash fiction piece.)
“Take off that stupid mask and tell me what you want.”
Ever so slightly lifting his facial covering… “Are you kidding me. Fresh air is far to dangerous. I have already lost most of my pulp, my fiberous strains and my seeds. My tendroils have withered and I think my ribs are caving in. I think someone has even attempted a craniotomy.”
As caringly as I caould I responded. “I smell rotting flesh.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
Written for Deborah Bluestein’s Sunday’s in My Livingroom.
Breaking News: The United States has just declared a moratorium on nastiness. No longer will advocacy groups be used as pawns to segregate people by race or ethnicity. Politicians have both promised and mandated: “Only truth will be spoken.” Words of malice, vindictiveness and spitefulness will be set aside.
A truth coalition has been established to facilitate this endeavor. It has been given full power to sanction dissenters. Rehabilitative centers are ready to assist all malcontents in coming to terms in the accepting of truth. If you know the names and/or whereabouts of struggling malcontents call for help. 1-800-FREEDOM REIGNS.
Written for Friday Fictioneers. Requirements: Use the PHOTO PROMPT provided. Write a complete story based on it in 100 words or less: Beginning. Middle and End.
It's All in Finding the Right Words 