Hot & Cozy – Carrot Ranch Weekly 12-29-16

 

Sophie tossed everything in her arms on a nearby chair as she drug herself in the door. Closing another case was exciting, but also so draining. All she wanted was to fill up her claw foot tub with hot water and soak until all her cares were wiped from her mind. She knew the soak would not erase every bit of stress but it would help quite a lot.

She lit six candles in the room after starting the water, then slowly disrobed and eased into the steaming water. She could feel the tension ebb away as she settled.

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This is my 99 word response to the photo prompt offered by Charli Mills for the weekly Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Challenge

 

White Spaces – Friday Fictioneer – 12-30-16

Photo Prompt – Shaktiki Sharma

Rex Graham stood arms tight across his chest, barely holding his temper. He looked at the marquis he’d invested so much money in to advertise his new show.

“You had one job! Five million people in the city to watch a stupid ball drop could have seen this and it is just a white space!” Graham said.

“I told you it was a risky proposition, this new technology.”

“Two million dollars was supposed to eliminate the risk!” Graham barked.

“I can still make it work!” Hardy offered.

“Otherwise I’ll make a white space just like it in your bank account.”

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For Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.

 

Christmas with Charlie – SPF – 12-25-16

Charlie would stand as long as his mother would allow looking at the collection of Christmas village houses in the window of Kramer’s department store. Not much calmed his overwhelming autism induced spells, but this certainly did without fail. Camille Hardy wished she could buy what her son saw so she could take it to their home, but a single mother working two jobs just barely was able to scrape by these days. Instead she pulled him away from his fascination and into a nearby thrift store.

Christmas for Charlie was always hard. She never was able to ask him what he wanted because he could not tell her. She knew the untouchable collection of his desire would be his dream, but the four pieces they brought home would have to suffice.

Camille pulled her robe tighter as she made her way from the kitchen the next morning to start Charlie’s seventh Christmas. She saw him playing happily on a nearby table. Tears began to run down her cheek when she heard him singing his favorite Christmas tune. On the table his four new pieces plus an angel tree topper were arranged just right.

Charlie turned and smiled as Camille approached. Christmas was here!

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For Sunday photo Fiction from Al

 

The Target in the Haystack – FF – 12/16/16

“Is he still holding the rifle?” Jared asked.

“Yep!” Kelly said into her phone. She looked around the corner of the barn to see Farmer Dave pacing the porch.

It was a harmless prank, one Jared needed to complete to join the fraternity. But now he was stuck in the feed ring where hungry horses were quickly destroying his cover. If he was exposed to Farmer Dave he would be arrested if not shot for trespassing.

“How long ago did he feed them?” Kelly asked. ‘They are eating like they are starved!”

“I sure picked the wrong place to hide!”

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For Friday Fictioneers

Torch the Love – SPF -12/11/16

“Merita I am not going to just let you torch everything we have together!” Hernando said.

“There is nothing left to torch,” Merita replied. She crossed her arms while making sure the expression on her face matched her words as well as her mood.

“I don’t believe that,” Hernando said. “I can’t accept that you do not still feel something for me! We have something special Merita why are you doing this?”

“For me it is not special any more. It has not been for some time. You are always working, always trying to get ahead,” Merita said.

“For us! For you!” Hernando said incredulously. I do it all for you!”

“NO! Not just for me! I don’t hear the cheers and applause like you do.”

Hernando fell silent as his eyes examined the love of his life who was now someone so different.

“I’ll tell you what. Let’s go to where this man waits for you. I will stand beside him and you can make your decision with both of us there. If you can still walk away with me there I will know it is true.”

Merita blinked as she thought about Hernando’s offer.

“That is acceptable!” she said.

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This is the third installment of my continuing story of Merita and Hernando. If you would like to read the previous installments they are  Forever Starts Now and Frosty Feelings.

 

Gander at the Mannequins – Carrot Ranch – 12-8-16

“I told you Mandy had a mannequin figure!” Joel said to Mike.

“Wow you are right!” Mike said. He took his third gander at the Christmas display in the department store window. Joel’s girlfriend along with a half dozen other friends were doing a real life mannequin challenge. If they could keep their poses for another thirty minutes they would collect $400.

“What kind of yarn did you sell that poor girl?” Mike asked.

“No selling required. She could see the real me.”

“Did her eyes glass over like they are now?” Mike said nodding toward the window.

“Not ever!”

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This is for the Carrot Ranch Weekly Flash Fiction for 12-8-16.

How Can You Forget Reality? -FF 12-09-16

Photo Prompt Copyright Lucy Fridkin

 

“Even with this virtual reality thingy it’s impossible to imagine,” Haley said. She slowly turned as she watched the scenery.

“You have to consider the fact no one thought it would come to them either,” John replied. “Hawaii was just a non-descript chain of islands, not even thought of as a state on that morning.”

“Imagine waking up to see the sky full of death!” Haley replied.

“Yes, many people had their lives taken on that day. Seventy five years makes a lot of people forget the horror.”

“How could you forget?”

“Sometimes you have to so you can live!”

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Today is the 75th anniversary of the most devastating attack in U.S. military history. Also the impetus of the United States entering the Second World War. Pearl Harbor is something we still remember, even those who were not alive at that time. We cannot let this and other lessons fade as we move on with our freedoms. It is because of those who fought and died in these times we can do what we choose today.

Why – Carrot Ranch -12/1/16

“Mommy why is there a line through me?” little Sammy asked. He was only three years old and did not recognize every sign at the new preschool.

His mother smiled at his description of what he saw.

“It is not really through you honey. It means no boys can go in this room.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Why?”

“You’re a boy.”

“Why?”

“God made you that way?”

“Why?”

“Because Sammy is a boy’s name.”

“No mommy I have a friend named Sammy who is a girl.”

“Anyway, you cannot go in this room.”

“Why?”

You are not a girl!”

“Okay mommy!”

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Frosty Feelings – SPF 12-4-16

Merita felt the chill in the room. It matched frostiness of their relationship over the last two years. What was once what she had reamed of all the years of her life as she grew up was now nothing more than just a living arrangement. Hernando was a good guy, just as he had been from the time she met him five years ago, but now he was just a good guy. Tom promised so much more than Hernando could.

They had lay on the beaches of Bermuda dreaming of how their life would be when she shed the bonds of matrimony.

“When we stood in the Cathedral four years ago you said you wanted me over anyone else. What has changed,” Hernando asked.

“So much,”Merita said the suitcase twisting in her hand.

“You want me to just step aside so you can run off and promise yourself to another. What happens when he cannot satisfy your heart? Will you take off once more”

Merita blinked as tears welled in her eyes. Her lip quivered when she tried to speak. Hernando could see the pure heart he fell for struggling within this bold but troubled soul.

“I just don’t know.”

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This is a continuation of the story I began last week. If you have not read that you can here: Forever Begins Now