Tag Archives: Relationships

No Man is an Island

Posted on 04 June 2026 | 20 comments

Great photo-prompt this week, I could sit there all day reading and having a coffee.

Thank you Rochelle. Visit her site and take part in the 100 word challenge.

More stories HERE,

PHOTO PROMPT © Lily

No Man is an Island

I need time to think, he said and swam off to the Island.
It has been three days now and at night I see a flicker of a campfire.

Once a boy scout and a sergeant in Vietnam, he pines for the wild outdoors.
John, I told him, at ninety-two it’s time to relax and enjoy the sunset.

He didn’t retire they threw him out of Walmart.
Such anger.

In his mind he has become a wild adventurer.
Early signs of dementia the doctor pronounced.

He fretted about his Will, and laughed, you’ll be okay.

A dependants’ Delta Force pension.

20 Comments

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The Wrong Key

Posted on 22 April 2026 | 39 comments

Thank you Rochelle for this week’s writing challenge.

PHOTO PROMPT © Lily

The Wrong Key

The bridal bouquet flew above the bridesmaids’ heads. Jocelyn’s heart raced as she jostled forward; this was her chance.
Malcolm is watching, will he understand?

Decades later, like her hopes the flowers have faded and her suitors’ courting failed to unlock her dreams. 

In the cellar there is a chest with mementos from each of her lovers.
Records of their adventures together, holiday snaps and plans for future homes.
But marriage was a like a magic wand, and they disappeared in a flash.

At night, she unlocks each casket and screams at the shrivelled hearts, of those who betrayed her.

39 Comments

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Spinster Sisters

Posted on 04 February 2026 | 41 comments

Like clockwork the Friday-Fictioneer challenge becomes a regular beat in my life. Thank you Rochelle for hosting the challenge.

Also, thank you to Jennifer Pendergast for the photo-prompt. Who is responsible for clearing the steps, the stairwell looks slippery and dangerous. Best to stay indoors for now.

PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

Spinster Sisters

The Scotty whined and pawed at the door. 

Normally, Albert would come across from 54 to take the dog for a walk.

Afterwards, he would stay for tea and play cards.
He won’t be coming. Damn. Sandra slapped down the Jack of hearts. 
She put on her coat. ‘Come on then, five minutes. It’s bitter outside.’

Dorothy told everyone; Albert had left to live with his daughter in Arkansas.
Sandra did not trust Dorothy’s lies and her ‘secrets’ about Albert.

Back from her walk, she lifted fish from the freezer and screamed.

Staring at her was Albert’s frozen smile.

Dorothy!

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Hippy Days

Posted on 29 January 2026 | 30 comments

This week’s picture for Friday-Fictioneers reminds me of the Hippy Days of the sixties. At the time I was a small child at school. However, we saw the hysteria of the Beatles, and ant-war parades and lots of music festivals.

Thank you Rochelle, click on her name to join the 100 word challenge.
More stories to read at Friday Fictioneers

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Hippy Days

Happy birthday Gran.
Just a reminder of your happy days in the sixties.
You told us so much about the CND parades and the antiwar marches.

Also, all the fun you had travelling, visiting the music festivals.
Gran you had such a wonderful time.

You are all so kind, you are the lucky ones, my little darlings.
But I failed?

No, no Gran, we all love you. You are our Hippie Gran.

Yes, I was wild. Anti-establishment and perhaps daft stunts.

Gran, you were young with something to say.

Who listened? Nothing has changed.

Not true Gran, you did well.

30 Comments

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Taming Men

Posted on 22 January 2026 | 29 comments

Everyone enjoys a day at the fun fair, (take a full wallet), with the chance to win an oversized soft toy or a poor goldfish in a polythene bag full of water. I refuse to play for gold fish. The bumper cars are my favourite.

Thank you Rochelle for the challenge, a hundred words is no easy feat to cover all the fun of the big wheel.

More rollercoaster stories can be read by clicking on Friday-Fictioneers.

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Taming Men

Cobra tightened the bull whip wrapped around her waist and stepped out of the caravan. She strode across the fairground; the iron heels of her cowhide boots clacking on the ground. She’ll sweet talk the stall holders to pay the increase she demands.

Her father once owned a circus with lions and elephants; those days have gone.

The fun park gives her the same thrill as taming lions; now she whips the idle into work with gentle persuasion.  No one talks back.

Loneliness pains her. She needs an obedient strong man.
Unlocking the handcuffs, she chased her latest wimp free. 

As an aside, my set of short stories in Who Killed Lilly-Anne is free on Amazon Kindle for the next few days.

Please note all the stories are truly fictional without reference to any real life events.

Free on Amazon: Amazon UK or Amazon.com or

29 Comments

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Granddad’s Regret

Posted on 07 January 2026 | 37 comments

Sandra’s picture reminds of the mud pool I discovered in the garden of a house I rented. When I cleaned it out I found two small fish so afterwards kept the pool clean and fed them. The small pond also attracted frogs and hedgehogs who came to drink. I had turned the garden into a small refuge for visiting wild life. I was concerned for the fish when I left the house and wonder if they survived.

Thank you Rochelle for the writing challenge and thank you Sandra for the photo-prompt.

Read more stories from the prompt, HERE.

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

Granddad’s Regret

I had watched my grandfather fit the netting over the pond.
This was to stop the cranes and other birds from eating his prized koi.
My gran said it was to stop three-year-olds from falling in.

Years later, it was Gran who slipped on the path and crashed onto the netting fracturing her arm.

Her wedding ring had slipped from her finger while spreading aqua pellets over the water. Granddad would not stop laughing.

When she came home from hospital, she had a strong steel grill fitted over the pond.
To hide granddad’s bones and stop his soul from escaping.

37 Comments

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Wild Swimming

Posted on 01 January 2026 | 13 comments

Happy New Year to everyone.

Thank you Rochelle for the first Friday-Fictioneer challenge for 2026. Also to Lisa for her Photo-prompt.

More flash stories and contributions can be read HERE.

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

Wild Swimming

The frost melts by mid-day and after my trek a dip in the lake, breathing the pure country air, is just perfect.

In the water I enjoy how the cold stimulates an invigorating sensation on my skin as my heart beats harder to drive blood to my extremities. A feeling that stays with me for the rest of the day.

Old Bill, the Park Warden introduced me to wild swimming. At seventy; an ex-marine with a zest for life, and an attraction for lustful women.

Unexpectedly he disappeared.

Did he really drown?

On the Ponta-Rosa Ranch, Caroline is now smiling.

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Seagulls Drift on By

Posted on 19 December 2025 | 11 comments

Friday-Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle. Photo-prompt quote;

“This week’s photo is of silouhetted figures on the beach and in the water. The sun is reflecting off the water. There are wispy clouds overhead.” Quote

More stories HERE.

PHOTO PROMPT © Peter Abbey

Seagulls Drift on By

Glowing in our happiness, exquisite gladness
And summer wisps are smiling in the skies.
Holding hands, bumping shoulders, softness
Of gentle touches, minds meeting through eyes.

White and worn by nature’s seamless caress,
Warm sand shifting softly beneath out feet.
To where long grass in hidden dunes form a nest.
We strolled entwined, engrossed in our secret.

In a sun-trapped hollow our hotbed of desire.
Burning bodies flare as passions catch fire,
Embraced in exhausted arms, we linger and lie.
A cheering audience of seagulls drift on by.

The laughing moon wakes us from our slumber.
Shall we call. Or will we write or even remember?

This moment of secret passion over.
Nothing said.

11 Comments

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Bric-a-Brac Romance

Posted on 11 December 2025 | 23 comments

Once more I pick up my pen to scribe an unlikely tale in response to Rochelle’s Friday-Fictioneer’s challenge. A novel in one hundred words. A thank you to Dale for another interesting photo-prompt, wherever it may be.

More stories from the Friday group can be read HERE.

Bric-a-Brac Romance

On Sundays I offer bric-a-brac to curious explorers along the narrow alleyway.

Absently, she fondled the queen from the chess set.
Do you play? I offered her the king.
She smiled and showed me her wedding ring.

Next time she gently traced the cracks on a porcelain vase.
Does he buy you flowers?
She coughed.
I saw bruises edge out beneath her dark glasses.

Weeks later she came by. 
Her hair was loose and unkempt; she wore a ragged coat and scuffed up shoes.
She caressed and softly kissed the white knight.
No ring, just a smile.

Coffee? 
Maybe.

23 Comments

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Coffee at Sultan’s

Posted on 04 December 2025 | 30 comments

Thank you Rochelle for another Friday Fictioneer’s writing challenge. You have also describe your background to the Mediterranean Market in the photo-prompt which is an interesting read.

Other contributions to the prompt can be discovered here.

My novel MISSING is available for free this week on Amazon. If you read the book do critique the work, I am interest on how others think.

MISSING UK – Amazon UK

MISSING US – Amazon US

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Coffee at Sultan’s

Susan messaged to meet her in Sultan’s for a coffee and discuss our holiday plans. 

I had to wait to cross as the ambulance, sirens blaring, passed by.

I’m not keen on the cruise ship idea. It’s the thought of the intensity of crowds floating on the open sea. A vision of the Titanic haunts me, I shouldn’t have watched the film.

She’s late and I am on my second coffee.

I’m keen on Sandals in Barbados as the beach looks romantic, just right for my proposal.
Will she say yes?

She’s very late.

I watched the ambulance screaming past. 

30 Comments

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