Tag Archives: drabble

Seven

roger

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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Elisa Sebourne watched a boy she knew sail past her riding a motorized scooter on his way to school. He didn’t notice her for which she was grateful.

So much had changed since she used to think of herself as a student. She used to think of herself as a lot of things, including human.

Something in her program made her reveal herself prematurely. Mother had been captured and taken offline, but father, or rather her designer, found her again. Together, they would find a way to save her and the other robots Landric Arkwright created to save the world.

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Junk and Memories

cabinet

PHOTO PROMPT © Ronda Del Boccio

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Gary said, “Grandpa, why did you have to be such a mess? Why did I have to inherit it?”

The eighteen-year-old looked back at his longing to escape the rigidity of his Dad’s rule over their house. Now it didn’t seem so bad, especially when compared to the chores involved in emancipation.

“You’re not in this alone, Gary.” He and Sandoval had been best friends forever. “We’ll donate the beer and pizza and have a dozen people helping us get rid of all this junk.”

“Only some of the junk,” Gary murmured. “I want to keep all of the memories.”

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I See Dead People, Even On Vacation

gold hill

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

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“Oh, come on, Grandpa. Gold Hill is such a famous street and Shaftesbury is so beautiful,” said twenty-year-old Nell. “Try to enjoy it. How often do you get to go on vacation?”

“I’m retired so every day is a vacation and you know how I hate old places, especially old crowded places.” Chandler’s eyes kept darting around as if following a cloud of wasps.

“Crowds? It’s early in the morning. There’s hardly anyone around.” Her eyes widened with realization. “You mean them? That’s just your imagination.”

“No, Nell, it’s not. I really do see ghosts and this place is loaded.”

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Swimming Pool

pool

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

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“A pool’s just a hole in the ground you pour money into,” groused Darren as he continued to vacuum algae which grew out of his neglect. “But not today.”

He heard the doorbell ring. “Honey, can you get that?” It would be Rob and the rest of the guys. By now, Carol would be rolling her eyes as she reached for the doorknob. She was gracious enough to smile by the time she opened it.

“Hey, bud. Not done?” Rob’s voice came from behind. He turned to see the giant, fully motorized Seaview model they’d brought over.

“Almost,” he grinned.

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At The End of Phaedra’s City

lisa's shoreline

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

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Phaedra the fugitive approached the shore. Not what she expected after the anguish she had suffered.

“Where are you?”

Her bare feet shuffled across the cool sand as she walked toward the odd collection of driftwood. A seagull hung suspended in the morning sky while another one “coo-cooed” on the beach.

Hot tears welled up behind her eyes but she refused to cry.

“You were supposed to tell me the secret.”

The dawn above turned off like a desk lamp. Phaedra saw alien stars across the dome and then something else. Her world was not a world, but a spaceship.

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The Sinking of the PS General Slocum

east river

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

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“I’m to receive a pardon, so I won’t kill myself breaking anymore rocks with this damn sledgehammer.” William Henry Van Schaick, former Captain of the riverboat PS General Slocum took a challenging stance in front of Sing Sing prison’s newest and most brutal guard.

“You’re not out yet, Van Schaick, and if it was up to me, you’d serve every day of your ten-year sentence. My sister, two nephews, and a niece were killed because of your negligence.”

“It’s not up to you. President Taft himself has said he’ll sign my pardon.”

“Not if you’re shot trying to escape first.”

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Noah’s Rainbow Is Illegal

Peter's Rainbow

PHOTO PROMPT © Mr. Binks

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“I thought it was a cross up there for a moment.” Simon had to take a deep breath at the surprise and then sighed with disappointment.

“You shouldn’t say that out loud, you know,” his wife Evelyn chided. “If anyone nearby hears, they’ll report us to the constables.”

“It’s my fault for suggesting we take a different route for our evening walk. Oh, look. Noah’s rainbow.”

“Are you insane?” Evelyn’s voice came out as a hiss. “You know the government designated the rainbow for exclusive use, and not by Christians anymore. It’s illegal.”

“An old man can dream, can’t he?”

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Coming With The Clouds

both sides now

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

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“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. In those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark.”

“Another day, another commute,” Cole thought as he cruised down that mind-numbing stretch of Interstate again. Except the passage from Matthew 24 kept coming up.

“They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.”

Iran had released another deadly barrage of missiles at Israel. The world called Jews the aggressors. May He come with the clouds soon.

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The Punch and Judy Holiday

punch

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

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“Swanage Punch and Judy Show.” Donovan read the words as if they were in an unfamiliar language.

“Punch and Judy. That doesn’t narrow it down much.” The sign could be early 21st century or late 20th. He had a headache and wasn’t sure how long he had been standing on the beach.

“Wait. There’s a URL on the sign. Definitely 21st century then. Oh, God, I hope it’s not during that COVID mess.”

He checked his wallet. Donovan had a proper ID and credit cards. “Driver’s license expires in 2028. Maybe I’ll spend a few years living here after all.”

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Green Glass

green glass

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

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“You’re sure it’s not dangerous.” Linda stood slightly behind her husband Jerry as he looked down at the greenish-glowing pitcher and four glasses.

“They’re a collector’s item, Lin. I got them for a great price. They’re pre-World War Two.” The middle-aged accountant beamed with pride at his own self-perceived cleverness.

“You’re not actually going to use them, are you?” Linda took a step back.

“Most uranium glass only has about two percent of the mineral by weight.”

“You said it registers on a Geiger counter. Why a good price?”

“Oh, because of the death curse, but that’s just old superstition.”

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