© Dale Rogerson
She hated the arrangement in the vase but loved the smaller flowers in the low pot. It was sweet that anyone sent flowers at all.
Moving day. All the boxes were packed and sitting there waiting to be picked up. Everything was going except her. She’d seen people come and go for decades and she cherished them all. She thought they felt the same way, but the business was growing and they needed new offices.
She’d inhabited these walls since before the Victorian had been re-zoned for commercial use. She was being callously abandoned. Maybe someone kinder would move in.
Written for the Rochelle Wisoff-Fields photo writing challenge. The idea is to use the image above as a prompt to write a piece of flash fiction no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
To read other stories based on the prompt, visit InLinkz.com.
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Great take
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Thanks.
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Dear James,
I felt sad and desolated for her. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you. I was actually stuck for an idea for several minutes. Flowers. Moving boxes. What looked like it could have been a home converted to business. I started writing with a vague idea of someone being left behind but had to take a break because I couldn’t think of an ending. Then it came to me. A ghost or does the building have a personality? If the latter, then the building provides shelter and security in more ways than one.
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I wonder if ‘ she’ is the house.
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Possibly, Moon.
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Nice take, I took it to be a ghost on first reading, I got a sense of them being trapped by the walls around them.
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That’s certainly a possibility, Iain. Thanks.
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That is really harsh, being left behind like that. The anger and disappointment are very clear.
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Very true. Thanks. On the other hand, the next people who move in might be more compassionate.
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I had commented , soon after reading , it didn’t post for some reason .
Beautiful story and can really sense her sad helplessness. She has a lot of adjusting to do too with each new set of occupants.
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For some reason, both of your comments ended up in my spam bucket. Obviously I “unspammed” you and approved the comments, but I don’t know why WordPress did that.
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Thanks for letting me know. I have been unable to comment at all on other blogs since the past 2 hours or so. Strangely, no message shows either, my comments just disappear, just like that.. Now that I know they are ending up in the recipient’s spam folder, I can atleast do something about it. I hope it hasn’t been hacked .
Thanks for your kind message, James.
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No worries, Moon. Usually comments are marked as spam by WordPress when they contain too many links or have word combinations that are indicative of spam messages. Don’t know why yours were flagged but it’s a good thing I regularly check my spam filter.
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I guess it’s a larger problem . I am seeking support from the WordPress team . Hope they are able to diagnose the problem and fix it, soon🙂 Thanks again, James.
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And sometimes WordPress is simply being a bitch… 😉
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Always something left behind when it comes to moving day – this time it’s the spirit of the place. Lovely take, James
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Thank you, Lynn.
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My pleasure 🙂
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What a great take! I hope someone kinder would move in.
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Me too. Thanks.
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A sentimental ghost! Well done, James. I initially thought that it was the house’s thoughts, but the line inhabited these walls led me to think about a ghost.
Please click to read my FriFic entry
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Really, it could go either way. There’s more than one interpretation.
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Loved this, James. I like to wonder if we will leave behind nice feelings for this house…
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It’s hard to say. I think it’s hard to say goodbye to people we love and be left behind. Maybe it’s like our children leaving the nest, so to speak.
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Love the twist and that it is left up to the reader to fill who and why. Nice melancholy feel to this story.
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Thank you. It’s always sad to be left behind.
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There’s a feeling of desolation that you have brought out very well.
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Thank you.
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Superbly written
Click Here to see what Mrs. Dash Says
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Thank you.
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I love this. I love well-maintained old buildings that contain grand woodwork, cornices, and fanciful carving. Poor old girl, I hope someone who appreciates her will see her aged beauty 🙂
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Thanks. I hope so too.
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A house with a soul – the stories it could tell. So poignant.
Click to read my FriFic
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I’m sure that’s true, Keith. Especially since she’s talking about decades worth of experiences.
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Is this a ghost story? I kinda got the impression that it was a ghost talking.
Good work 🙂
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Could be but then again maybe the structure itself has a personality.
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That’s one needy landlady / Tennant / Building!!!
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We all have needs, Martin.
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There are old places I remember like schools, churches, etc. in my hometown that have been changed in some way. This story reminds me of that. Very nice sentiments, James.
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Thank you.
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A very lonely lady is left behind. Great story, James.
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Thanks, Neel.
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We often think of things as having a personality. How many of us say goodbye to an old house or car? I like how you kind of turned that personality by giving her a voice.
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Thank you.
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Yours mirrors mine in a very real way!
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True enough. Thanks.
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Lovely take on the prompt. A bit of melancholy salted with a bit of promise.
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Thanks, Alicia.
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Moving home is so sad. It’s a familiar theme. I suppose if things were right you wouldn’t move home. Nicely portrayed.
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Thanks, Kelvin.
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What a great take! Love it!
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Thank you, Sascha.
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I thought it was a ghost, but then thought it was odd for ghosts to inhabit office buildings. Would take workaholic to new heights! 🙂 Left me feeling sorry for the old building though.
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I implied, or tried to, that the building was an old residence converted to offices, so she could have been the original inhabitant.
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