PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

“What a horrible kitchen.” Axel padded past the bookshelves to his left. Then his eyes flickered up and around. “Poor old sod,” he thought. “No storage so he has to stuff pots on top of the cabinets.”

He heard a hiss and then saw the gas stove had been left on. Axel held his noosed pole in one hand so he could turn down the heat.

“No good having this boil over,” he murmured. “Now where could he be hiding?” The trapdoor over the bookshelf rattled. “I’m coming for you, Wilbur,” said the pest control guy to the escaped python.

© James Pyles

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 at the top as a prompt for crafting of a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

The kitchen design is really very poor, especially for someone using a cane. There were plenty of interesting details upon which to craft a tale however. I decided on a little misdirection with Axel’s prey being an escaped python rather than the person living in the home.

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

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.

Bonus! I crafted a wee video promoting my novel you can find at Substack.

Cover art for the anthology Relics, volume one.

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.

A few days ago the anthology Relics, Volume one was published. The collection was curated by Heidi A. Hill, L. Jagi Lamplighter, and Michael Finney in coordination with Based Book Sale. It includes my science fiction short story “Legacy of the High Sojourner.” On a distant planet, a 5,000 year old corpse is revealed to be an ancient astronaut. Clues lead to an interstellar spacecraft at the edge of the solar system but does it hold the secrets of an alien race or lead to a hideous new reality?

Read an excerpt from my tale Here.

Happy Wednesday.