Tag Archives: drabble

Macau

rickshaw

PHOTO PROMPT © Amanda Forestwood

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Demetrius saw that Charles and Diane had chosen two human-pulled rickshaws rather than self-driving e-shaws. They were meeting with Mr. Phoebe at his estate near Zhuxian Park. This should have been an easy kill, but where were the drivers?

The bounty hunter walked down the street pretending to be a western tourist. There they were. Not just drivers but bodyguards. They were vaping near the service entrance.

He released the brake on the first rickshaw and watched it roll downhill. One driver would be gone for awhile as Dem killed the other and then slipped inside for his real prey.

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This Tape Will Self Destruct in Five Seconds

missouri

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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The tall man in the sports jacket looked awkward in the fabric shop as he approached the brunette clerk wearing glasses.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for a fabric for my wife. It’s going to be our fifth wedding anniversary and she wants something in amethyst.”

“You mean sapphire.” She paused for a moment. “I have just the thing in back. Come with me.”

She escorted him to a storage area and excused herself. Alone, he then pulled an envelope and a small tape recorder from inside a drawer and turned it on.

The control voice began, “Good morning, Mr. Phelps.”

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Guardian

camping

PHOTO PROMPT © AJ Wilson

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Some idiot family from the suburbs thinks owning an SUV gives them license to off-road to a wilderness area and then trash it. I bet they think taking the little kiddies down to the lake is some sort of adventure. Those trails haven’t been used in years and with good reason.

I walk over to the blue foldout chair, have a seat, and wait. Fortunately, he doesn’t come out until dark. With any luck I can get these people out of here before he wakes up. As the guardian, I’m the only thing between this family and an immortal killer.

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The Last Goodnight

dale

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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The rental was one of several identical row houses, one bedroom plus a loft, one-and-a-half baths, small kitchen and dining area. The neighborhood was quiet. It was a perfect place to finish his last novel. It would also be his first novel, but the publisher said it was a sure bestseller.

At seventy-one, his first and only bestseller after laboring for over forty years. It cost him his marriage, any connection to his family, and certainly his sobriety.

He could have it done and submitted in a few months. Once published, then the long, drunken descent into his last goodnight.

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Taking the Wife Along

roger

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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It was just before 5 a.m. The apartment Demetrius borrowed from its owners had a view of the Brooklyn Bridge if you didn’t mind the house plants and tattered shades. Real estate was so expensive here.

“Will you kill him?” The hologram of his wife projected from a chip in his brain haunted him like Jiminy Cricket.

“If you must know, the reward is dead or alive with a bonus if he’s still breathing.”

“What about the family who lives here?”

“Once he gets home, they’ll be set free, okay?” She was just as annoying dead as she was alive.

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Visiting Heaven

amanda stairs

PHOTO PROMPT © Amanda Forestwood

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The gate at the top of the stairs was open. God again allowed mortals to have visiting hours in Heaven. She could see Mom once more. How long since the last visitation? God saw when He first allowed this, it turned into a disaster. No one visiting wanted to leave the bliss of the world to come.

Of course, they were still alive so they had to go. But then came mass waves of depression and suicide. God cut off visitations but that was worse. Now an entire world had come to faith, but only if they could see Heaven.

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Comfort Food

Liz Young

PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young

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“What’s this?” Aaron viewed the cutting board with dismay.

“You wanted to know how to cook. This is your first lesson.”

It was his third date with Melissa. He’d been divorced for two years. He didn’t want to at the age of 63, but his friends pushed him into that dating service.

“What are we making?”

“Something healthier than what you usually eat.” She pressed in behind him. He felt the not-so-subtle push of her breasts as a motivator. It wasn’t enough.

“Where are you going?”

He grabbed his phone and headed for the door. “Out for a burger. Bye.”

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The Galaxy Coloring Book

coloring

PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

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I stoked the fireplace while contemplating the unusual coloring book I bought at the Flea Market last Sunday. I was referred to the vendor rather mysteriously. She suggested that I would find this particular book especially interesting.

I thought I’d reserved my “coloring between the lines” behavior for playing with my grandchildren, but this wasn’t a child’s plaything.

I had retired from my career in astronomy years back, but my childhood fascination with the universe never left me. If I colored the lines according to instructions, Earth’s gateway to a people and their far distant star would finally become known.

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The Fallen

beit shan

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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Mastema watched Tancred’s ascension as Prince of Galilee over Beit She’an with hidden glee. This ancient city of the Hebrews had passed through many hands before falling into those of the Crusaders in the year of their Lord 1099 C.E.

It was well that Tancred did not know the true name or origins of his faithful adviser, because Mastema had his own reasons for coveting the city in the Jezreel Valley. He divined that men in ages to come would find sacred and mystic Egyptian artifacts. There was one he must take that would render him master of the dead.

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Running on Tuesday

train

PHOTO PROMPT – © Jennifer Pendergast

Fourteen-year-old Jerry Craft had shoved his mask deep into the back pocket of his dusty stained jeans five-hundred miles ago. He’d scurried into a boxcar at Denver and the inspectors hadn’t found him when they stopped in Salt Lake. Now somewhere in Nevada, August heat scorching him clean, he felt free. “No COVID’s gonna get me.” He suddenly coughed, doubling over and nearly falling from his perch just above the car coupling. Sitting down, his inner demon quieted and let him speak once more. “With Ma and Pa already dead, ain’t gonna let COVID get me before the cancer does.”

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