PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
“I want this all cleaned up,” said the Manager to his labor group. “You’ve been issued work gloves, shears, rakes, and trash bins. I gave you instructions about trimming these plants at orientation. Any questions?”
“Excuse me, Mr. Manager,” said Evie, a portly black mother of three in the front. “What about that painting and easel?”
“It’s junk,” he said, “Just throw it in a bin.”
“My oldest likes to paint,” she said. “I was wondering…”
“Your kids need to eat and so do you, all of you,” said Manager. “You want your SNAP benefits loaded to EBT or not?”
It’s Wednesday and time once again to participate in Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ 31 October 2025 edition of Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image at the top as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
I looked at the image and my brain jammed. Not enough coffee probably, but nothing came to mind. Then I thought about how I did some raking at my son’s house this weekend and how Autumn usually means a bunch of yardwork to put everything to bed for winter.
After that, I recalled the stories I’d read about how President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” among other things, was cutting off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for a whole bunch of people, so those funds wouldn’t be loaded on the current recipients’ Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards come November 1st. Here’s one of the stories for reference.
Among the new conditions for receiving SNAP is a work requirement. Putting all of the above together, I wrote my story juxtaposing the basic need to eat with the desire of a mother to nurture her child in other ways as well.
To read other stories based on the prompt, visit inlinkz.
Great news.
First, you can now purchase the two latest anthologies featuring my short stories.
“iSoldiers Anthology of Military Science Fiction” is available for purchase and contains four of my military SciFi drabbles. The skill to create those “100 word” stories was honed right here on “Friday Fictioneers.” You can order it at Amazon.
Fantastic Schools Familiars has just come out at Amazon and can be downloaded to your Kindle device. It contains my short story “Dead Cat Fever.” The paperback version should be ready in another week or so.
The most exciting news though is that I’ve just signed the contract to have my latest science fiction novel published. You can read all about “A Wobblegong And His Boy” (well maybe not ALL about it) in my recent blog post.
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James, I appreciate your unbiased, realistic scenario. I’m hoping the mom can just set it aside and pick it up when her shift is over.
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Depends on how hard nosed “Manager” is going to be about it. Thanks.
I feel like in the past several weeks, I’ve been writing particularly unpopular stories in response to the prompt. I think the political and social issues I have on my mind makes everyone else feel uncomfortable, or they’re just too polite to tell me what they really think.
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Sounds about right. Everyone’s walking on egg shells for one reason or another.
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A hard taskmaster indeed. Obviously he has some underlying issues about support and welfare issues. I understand the SNAP – EBT system is under pressure in the USA. Welfare is a ongoing issue that raises questions on entitlement.
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True enough. Thanks, James.
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interesting story…she can surely pick those stuff up later after cleaning…
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Unless “Manager” insists she trash it. Thanks.
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I’m with the others. Hopefully, she can find a way to hide it, come back for it, all the while doing her job for Mr. A-Hole!
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It may not be his fault, though. “Manager” has bosses and is probably under pressure to make sure his workers fulfill the requirements so they can eat. It’s a harsh world.
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This is true. It is a hard world we live in.
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i bet she can figure a way to save and hide them. 🙂
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Hopefully.
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A great take on the prompt to bring attention to the state of our nation. THANKS!
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Thanks, Alicia.
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Nobody likes a hard ass, Mr Manager! Good take, James.
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Thanks, Nancy.
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An interesting story. Hope they can take that easel!
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You’re not alone in that sentiment. Thanks.
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The wasteful attitude is a sign of our times, but sometimes these rules make sense though probably not in this case. Congrats on your contract!
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That’s true and thanks.
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Oh, horrid. And I’m sure that’s exactly what is happening. Or will happen… Such an uncaring world we’ve become. Horrendous
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The government has spent decades trying to figure out why generations of families remain on public assistance. Usually one of the main responses is requiring those families to work in order to earn them. I’ve done a fair amount of reading on the topic and it’s quite a bit more complex. Not sure what the answer is.
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