PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

“Which way should we go, Mikey?” Exuberant six-year-old Sarah held the young man’s hand while hopping up and down.

“You don’t even know how to read yet,” said her nine-year-old sister Spring in mock disdain.

“I can read some words,” pouted Sarah.

“We’re here for an adventure, said Mike encouragingly, “not to argue, okay?”

The sisters grudgingly agreed with their favorite uncle.

“Don’t tell her what the red sign says,” insisted Spring.

“I know what T-E-A says.” Sarah stuck her tongue out.

“A tea party sounds like fun,” said Mike. “Let’s see if we can ‘unmurder’ time at this one.”

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s edition of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image up top as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words. My word count is exactly 100.

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

It was hard to settle on a theme because, for me, the signpost held such fascinating promise. I wish I could write a longer story about “Uncle Mikey” and the girls exploring each and every one of those sign arrows. Alas, such is not to be.

I settled on the Mad Hatter’s tea party from Alice in Wonderland. A quick Google search said that the party is perpetual and stuck at 6 p.m. because the Hatter “murdered time.”

But since no uncle, even one who truly loves his nieces, wants to be stuck in a child’s fantasy forever, he makes it their quest to “unmurder time” so they can eventually “Go Back” home.

To read other stories based on the prompt or to contribute one of your own, visit inlinkz.

Cover art for “Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicle”

My YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy is part of a collection of novels written specifically for boys who want to read adventures crafted especially for them. That doesn’t mean my story isn’t a great read for everyone else so give it a whirl. Don’t forget to leave an honest review at Amazon and Goodreads.

The fantasy anthology Fantastic Schools, Volume 13 is now available featuring my supernatural short story “The Battle of New Stains Castle.”

As the Second Dragon War reaches its climax, two sorceresses and a soldier must face a necromancer and his minions in the ruins of a Scottish castle in the midst of a reality gone mad.

Finally, as of yesterday, the science fiction anthology Fangs Out: Aerial Combat Chronicles is available. It features my military SciFi short story “The Jupiter War”. You can read an excerpt of my story in this blog article.

Happy Wednesday.