Friday is here again. In Australia, at least. It might still be Thursday where you are. The idea is to write a story in 100 words, using a picture prompt. Then, a link to your story is posted in the Comments section of the following page on Madison’s blog:
http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/flash-fiction/pathways
Here is my 100 word story:
“You can’t go up there!” Gavin sounded anxious.
“Why?” Sandra turned to look at him.
“Because …” What could he say to stop her? “… an old witch lives up there!” Why had they come this way?
“A witch?” Sandra laughed as she continued up the path. “Witches don’t exist!”
“This one does!” he muttered, as he started after her. “Stop! Let me explain!”
Too late! A woman in a long gown was silhouetted against the sky, white hair flowing around her and arms full of wildflowers.
Gavin sighed. So much for first impressions!
“It’s my great-aunt. She writes poetry and paints!”
Splatter 
Love it! Still chuckling :-). Sounds like a teen–they’re always embarrassed by parents/family. Good job.
Mine: http://www.vlgregory-circa1800.vpweb.com/blog.html
Yes. I could hear the disgust in his voice
I really like this! Thanks for the critique on mine. I am very new to this and really appreciate it!
I’m glad that you liked this. I don’t usually critique other people’s work but your poem was so lovely that I thought it a shame not to fix the two little singular, plural verb problems.
hahaha…this made me laugh 🙂
http://writersclubkl.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/friday-fictioneers-do-not-follow-me-home/
I’m glad. The shame of having a non-conforming artist in the family!
Hi,
A great little story, with a bit of humour thrown in, I loved it, well done. 😀
Thank you, Mags! I decided not to kill anyone this week!
Aw poor guy. Just wants to impress the girl. And as he gets older he will realize how totally cool his poetry writing, painting aunt is 🙂
Hopefully. And who knows? The girl might think that, already. Can you imagine his surprise, if she does?
Love it! Great approach.. Thanks for your comment on mine! http://wp.me/p1Wqon-aA
Thank you. I’m glad that you liked it.
Humorous. I like… A witch who writes poetry and paints… hehe.
I think that the witch bit was just to discourage the young lady from going any farther. He was trying to make a good impression on her and the artistic member of the family didn’t fit that scenario.
Yes, I get it. Still makes an impression on the reader too I suppose. I don’t think she’s an actual witch of course 🙂
Probably not. Rather a pity really.
excellent! i was ready for a witch or ‘the other woman’ i love a crazy aunt 🙂
She was originally just going to be “a bit strange” but that seemed rather tame so I thought I’d make her the artistic type, “there’s one in every family” style. The weird one that’s only introduced when you can’t avoid it any longer. In our family, I am she. Except that I’m no-one’s great-aunt. Which is a pity. I’d love to be.
i am a great aunt and will definitely be the crazy one..
You sound like my kind of person!
Bahaha, I love it. Fabulous job. http://kaitlinandmichaelbranch.com/2012/06/15/friday-fictioneers-7/
Thank you! I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
Lovely the way you show us his embarrassment without ever saying that’s what’s wrong with him. I can feel the shame, but how sad that this lovely woman with armloads of flowers inspires that feeling in him. Rings true, though. Nice!
cheers,
Laura
PS Thanks for your comment on mine. For others, it’s at http://westcoastwriters.blogspot.com/2012/06/friday-fictioneers-woods-of-danger.html
She’s one of the artistic types who don’t seem to fit into “ordinary” families. Things would probably be different if she suddenly became famous. Then, they would be proud of her.
Poor great aunt having a nephew who finds her so embarrassing! great story 🙂
It happens a lot, it seems. Particularly when the nephews are teenagers. Things sometimes evolve later on. I’m glad that you liked the story.
Lovely, I thought it was going to be a take on the Hansel and Gretal story right up until the end. Very nicely twisted at the end. I can just imagine how embarrassed a young man might be when a girlfriend meets the mad relative for the first time too.
Here’s mine: http://womanontheedgeofreality.com/2012/06/15/friday-fictioneers-visiting-grannys/
I’m on your site, just about to read yours. Synchronicity! Glad you liked mine!
Synchronicity get’s me every time – makes me feel I’m on the right track in life 🙂
This made me chuckle. I would have loved to have seen the girl’s face when the aunt appeared. I probably would have taken off for the hills. lol.
You never know, she might have been more accepting than the nephew. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
Ooops…forgot…here’s mine (even though I’m on the list)…www.triplemoonstar.blogspot.com
Aw bless! One day he’ll understand how much richer life is for his eccentric relation. Good take, I enjoyed it.
Ours is here: http://www.lazuli-portals.com/flash-fiction/expect-the-unexpected
PS I love synchronicities, too 😉
Let us hope so. Although some people never do. I’m glad that you liked it.
I love this, you could have been describing me. White hair, long dress, but you missed my hat… LOL! THanks for stopping over to read mine. I leave the hideously misspelled link:
Sorry about the hat! Next time, I’ll know! She sounds a bit like me, too. Except that my hair isn’t all white yet. It has some pretty white streaks in it, which are becoming more marked, and is now quite long. Blondes seem to go white much later than the darker colours.
🙂
An old witch… haha. Funny stuff!
http://authorbrandonscott.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/turn-back/
I’m glad that it made you laugh!
I was expecting a real witch , you know. Then I had to laugh. A fine twist to a fine story. Mine is here: http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/fridayfictioneers-sacrilege/
You never know, she might have been a real witch, too. I’m glad that you had a laugh.
A really enjoyable story.
Why is it teenage lads always have a great aunt they’re ashamed of?
It’s something to do with conformism. Teenage boys are trying to find how they fit into society and eccentric female relatives mess up the scenario. I think that it’s more about how other people are going to react, than how they, themselves, see her. I would like to think so, anyway. I’m glad that you enjoyed the story.
I, too, expected a real witch … but the twist was much more reality-based and morphed from a Hansel-Gretal story into a touching and observant vignette. Still … a little wicca might be a good thing. Thanks for reading and commenting on mine, which others can find at http://scottcheck.blogspot.com/2012/06/no-escape.html
You never know, she could also have been a real witch. Thank you for your kind comments.
Ha ha, nice. I was expecting a spell to be cast but I like the way you took me even better.
Here’s mine: http://thebradleychronicles.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/flash-fiction-friday-letting-go/
Thank you. I’m glad that you enjoyed it. And perhaps she did cast a spell, after all. You never know!
Cute! I like this! I’m still smiling! Here’s mine: http://theforgottenwife.com/2012/06/15/friday-fictioneers-6152012-the-watcher/
Thank you. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
Funny. Things didn’t quite turn out as planned.
Here’s mine: http://logo-ligi.com/2012/06/15/six-oclock/
They rarely do. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
Got a full on laugh from me! What’s worse, the witch or the embarrassing relative? Niiice,
Kathy
http://notforallmarkets.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/breadcrumbs/
You never know, she could have been both! I’m glad that it made you laugh.
Nothing is scarier than a ‘witch’ that writes poetry; and this one even paints!
Terrifying, isn’t it? I created a monster!
Haha “she writes poetry and paints” — great stuff! I absolutely bought into the creepy feeling too, since so many other stories took that direction this week. I like it, I like it.
Brian (http://pinionpost.com/2012/06/15/arrival-in-sharesh-an-ill-omen/)
I’m glad that you liked it. There’s nothing creepier than a great-aunt who writes poetry and paints!
Haha, she sounds like the kind of woman I’d love 🙂 Maybe she sounds a bit like me in my imagined free-flowing life!
I quite like her, but she appears to be an embarrassment to her great-nephew. Poetry and painting do not seem to be his sort of thing at all.
This is very good!
Cute and funny! loved it! 🙂
Parul
Thank you. I’m very glad that you liked it.
seems like “witch” is in the eye of the beholder. or nephew. nice job.
Thank you, Rich. I’ve just finished the Comments, and am back to the “list”, so I’ll be over to yours soon.
no rush
Very nice :). Here is mine, you read the poem i posted today lol…
Well, it was a very good poem! How did I make that mistake? I’ll be over again in a minute.
Thank you :).
Love it! really…haha, it made me laugh.
I think the girl (Sandra) would think that his aunt is a witch–her first impression in physical attributions! yeah right!
mine can be found here: http://writeforacause.org/2012/06/15/friday-fictioneers-one-road-two-souls/
I had to fish you out of the Spam! What were you doing there? Slumming it? Thank you very much for your comment. I’m glad that it made you laugh.
A nice take on the prompt, and on the word ‘witch’. Nicely done.
Thank you. I don’t think that he really meant that she was a real witch. He was just trying to stop the girl from seeing her. But you never know!
heh-heh – fab 🙂
Thanks.
I relate to the ‘witch’. I wonder if my nephews see me that way LOL. Cute story. Thanks for commenting on mine. For your readers who happen by mine is http://www.rochelle-wisoff.blogspot.com/2012/06/mothers-gift.html
A lot of ladies seem to be relating to her – and, more importantly, finding it funny. I was a bit worried that someone might take offence but that doesn’t seem to have happened. Thank you for your kind comment.
LOL. Children are so straight-to-the-point. “She writes poetry and paints.” Because witches can’t do that 😉 I found it interesting that this is not the first witch-piece I ran across, although it was a lot more light-hearted than the other. Great job. 🙂
I’m not quite sure if it’s BECAUSE she writes poetry and paints that she’s a witch, or if he is now trying to explain that she isn’t really one; she’s just eccentric. She could still be a witch. Who knows? I managed to read all of them this week, I think. And there were a few witches in there. Quite a few people seemed to be revisiting the fairytale world, with or without witches. I’m glad that you liked mine. Thank you.
Loved this one. It had a lovely twist to it that I wasn’t expecting.
And for your readers here’s mine
http://tollykitsjourney.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/a-walk-in-the-woods-fridayfictioneers-flashfiction/
Thank you. I’m glad that you liked it. I decided not to kill anyone this week.
“…and you know those writers cast really dangerous spells!”
It’s true, too. Sometimes I’ve been removed from the real world for days at a time, by someone who has been dead for centuries and never came within thousands of miles of where I live. That’s powerful magic!
Thanks for commenting on mine – http://newpillowbook.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/friday-fictioneers-a-walk-in-the-woods/.
It certainly is! When I was a child, I always received books for Christmas (because that’s what I wanted) and I would disappear into my bedroom for days until I’d read them all. Mummy would be screaming at me from two feet away, and I wouldn’t hear her. That’s very powerful magic!
(And that started out meaning to be a comment specifically on your story and wandered away into the woods. Try again – I like your story! It’s cleanly written, with every word pulling its weight, and has a clever twist.)
I thought that your first comment was a very good one. Thank you very much for taking the trouble to come back, and for saying such kind things about my story. I really appreciate it.
Good one, MK. We’ve all got kin folks we’re not too proud of, especially when we’re young and trying to impress someone. I loved the cute twist.
Thanks for the nice comment on mine. Here’s the link for others.
http://russellgayer.blogspot.com/
Thank you, Russell. I’m afraid that, in my family, I’m the one that they’re “not too proud of”. At least in Australia. In France, I appeared in newspapers from time to time as an actress and singer, and won a few poetry prizes too, so the family accepted that, while I might be a bit “strange”, a few other people seemed to appreciate me, so I might be an asset some day. One of my lovely daughters-in-law even seems to be rather impressed by me. But then, she has particularly good taste! I’m glad that you liked my little story. I didn’t kill anyone this week.
delightful! what whack-os we all are
Thank you! Yes. We’re all misunderstood, sensitive artists. Free spirits soaring towards the light – and all completely nuts in other people’s eyes.
Wow, that is one embarrassed dude! Made me laugh!
http://practicallyserious.com/2012/06/15/friday-fiction…ggest-backyard/
I’m glad that you enjoyed it. Ah, the embarrassing relative! I’m afraid that, in our family, I am she. I just don’t fit in at all. It used to bother me a lot. Now, I’m quite proud of being “different”. (That’s a polite way of saying “nuts”. These days, I’m not allowed to say that I’m “stark, raving mad”. I could get sued for it. By me.)
haha, wasn’t expecting the ending, very humorous.
Thank you. I’m pleased that you enjoyed it.
Thanks for following me. ’I’m finally on Facebook, the demon of social media. I’m sitting alone here in my tiny dark corner of Facebook waiting for your visit. Please come and see my new Facebook page and for heaven sakes…Like me!!
http://www.facebook.com/SimplyKarmicDiva
I’m not on Facebook any more. I was, a few years ago because I was a political candidate running for office and the Party wanted me to be on it. I closed the page after withdrawing my candidature. I’m rather elderly now and FB isn’t really my thing. I have enough trouble trying to look after my blogs. The other two WP ones are sadly neglected at the moment, I’m afraid.