PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
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“What are you doing with that big stick, Mike?” Then Jessie saw what he was doing. “Wait. Those were Mam’s favorites. She paid a lot for them.”
“Mam is dead and she willed this junk to me. Now get out of the way, Sis.”
“She loved all her little pieces of junk. At least you…” She tried to grab the club out of his hands but he wouldn’t let go.
“You got the house and the car.”
“Sure, I’m older and I’ve got two kids.”
“She made me throw out my vintage silver age comic books when I was fifteen.”
It’s Wednesday and once again time to participate in Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ 7 June 2024 edition of Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
On a few occasions I don’t know what to do with a prompt. I usually don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it before writing a “response.” In this case, I decided to symbolically reject the prompt by having my protagonist smash it. It’s also something of a commentary on how families deal with the aftermath of death and having to manage all of the “junk” their departed loved one left behind.
To read other responses to the prompt, visit inlinkz.
My science fiction serial Our Legacy, The Stars: A Tom Corbett Adventure is heating up in episode 9: “Abandoned Planet.” Members of the team leave the ship to explore a mysterious city floating in the dense atmosphere of a planet orbiting a distant star. The real problem is, one of the crew is about to commit a murder.
Read all nine currently published episodes in the 16-part series for FREE! Don’t forget to click “like” and “subscribe” and to leave a comment on each of the chapters.
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Dear James,
I actually can see where he’s coming from. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle.
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Touching story.
So true. We don’t know how to deal with death and with all the precious treasures that once belonged to the departed one… They are junk for those who cannot understand the emotions and sentiments- thus cannot value them…
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Exactly so. That’s why independent appraisers are often summoned to identify whether there are valuable items that may be profitably liquidated rather than trashed in the heat of anger driven by grief or disappointment. Extracting a profit might even assuage his childhood anger over the loss of his comic books which also might have had redeemable monetary value as collectibles. Sentimental values are another matter entirely, and the protagonist here is caught between competing ones.
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Or revenge is a dish that is best broken with a stick.
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My Dad grew up during the Depression and he was a hoarder. He kept everything he ever owned it seemed. My brother and I had to throw away stuff like broken VCR players and magazine subscription letters that were fifty years old.
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A dish best served cold
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Or broken.
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Realistic slice of life.
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Sure can be. Thanks.
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You’re welcome, James.
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I can feel his pain. Great take.
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Thank you.
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What goes around comes around, as the saying goes. Lots of bitterness that needs to get out and I don’t blame Mike one bit.
Nice take, James!
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Thank you.
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Unless the sister wants the junk… I mean, stuff, then let him have at it, I say!
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The sister got the more useful junk like the car and the house.
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I’d be pissed were I him, too!
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A sense of pent up emotional turmoil exercising revenge for the past and the useless junk bequeathed to him. Sister did alright though.
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Yes, she did. That just pisses him off more.
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I’d be upset too. I suspect the baseball bat will make him feel better!
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In the short run maybe, but it never resolves the losses of the past.
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That’s true. If only it were as simple as smashing a piece of glass.
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Indeed.
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It belongs to him now, he can do what he wants.
So there! 😉
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Quite true. Thanks, Dawn.
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Ah – that deserves retribution. My father stole one of my wooden blocks to make a handle for something, and I still remember it nearly 80 years later!
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It’s funny the things people say we’ll get over and we never do. Thanks, Elizabeth.
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I think there may have been some family relationship problems there. Well done!
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Thanks, Rosemary.
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