A MOVING EXPERIENCE

To those who have followed my blog a hearty thank you! It's my hope that you'll follow me to my new address. http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com

I call it Addicted to Purple. For those who know me, the reason is usually obvious. Look to my new site for this coming Friday's 100 word flash fiction.
Shalom,
Rochelle

CASUALTY OF WAR

This week's Friday Fictioneers' photo prompt is from Lura Helms. It's always fun to read the different imaginings that emanate from one photo. Here's my 100 word offering.

In the woods on the outskirts of town is the Tree of Life. Not to be confused with the original this one earned its name from a century of discarded oddities which have grown into its branches.

Jason and I carved our names into the bark the day before he left for Viet Nam. We’d marry when he returned.

When the final letter came my heart cratered to my stomach.

He’d met Trinh-Lee, his true love.

Today you can still read the crude print that says, “Jason loves Karen.”

Just below it, imbedded in the trunk, is my disengagement ring.

SAFE

Without a lot of explanation or intro I give you this week's offering for Friday Fictioneers.

“Your services are no longer needed.”

Twenty-three years of loyalty to the company. Terminated. Snap! Just like that.

Along with other victims, Elise sued for age discrimination and won.

No longer defined by job description, motherhood, widowhood or any other hood, she left the Midwest behind.

Thousands of miles away, the ocean’s slup-slosh sated her thirsty ears. The salt-laden breeze sent shivers of delight through her bare arthritic shoulders.

Then she dove headlong into the wake. The sea welcomed and caressed her like a long-lost lover. Her eyes feasted on purple coral, mollusks and striped clownfish.

Elise was home!

THE SWIMMING LESSON

The following is an excerpt from my short story "The Swimming Lesson". It's one of 14 stories included in my anthology THIS, THAT AND SOMETIMES THE OTHER. Illustrations and Front cover are the author's original work as well.

A lit M-80 slipped from Wayne Lord's fingers. It sizzled its way to the water thirty feet below. Bang! Splash! A startled catfish floated to the surface and turned belly-up.

Two more explosions resulted in two more dead fish. He grinned at his buddy, Frankie Ray, and shrugged. "Ain't done it."

"Darn tootin' you did!" With a shake of his head, the other boy chuckled. "We'll make a hillbilly out of you yet, city boy."

It was the second day of Wayne's escape. Summer vacation. 1961. He didn't miss the eight-by-forty-foot home he shared with his two brothers, a sister and his mother. Their trailer sat next to Frankie Ray's parents', in a tag-rag trailer park behind Beech Aircraft, on the outskirts of Wichita, Kansas. When they invited him to go to Arkansas cor the summer with Frankie Ray, he jumped at the chance to leave behind the dust and never-ending flatlands. His eyes couldn't drink in enough of Arkansas' lush hills and valleys.

"Hey, Lordy Lordy, know how to swim?" asked Boyce, a barrel-chested boy with ash-blond hair and a deep tan.

Wayne breathed in hot air, thick with humidity and his own sweat. Words stuck in his throat like first-grade paste. "No."

"Time you learned, city boy." Thump! Boyce smacked his shoulders.

Scraping his bare heel on a sharp rock. Wayne stumbled backward and tumbled over the cliff's edge. He flailed his arms and feet and fought to climb empty air.

The river approached with alarming speed. What if he missed the swimming hole and landed on the rocks instead? he shut his eyes so he wouldn't see it when his brains splattered into fish bait and floated down the Buffalo.

End of excerpt.

The story in its entirety is included in my collection. Copies are available on Amazon.com. To find out how to receive a personally autographed copy go to my website: www.rochellewordart.com.

WILD LIFE

This week's Friday Fictioneers' photo prompt has been something of a challenge. While it might conjure up visions of creepy aliens. it's a picture of a cut grape vine. I neither wrote about grape vines nor aliens. Just under 100 words this week with 99.

Half naked Himba people in Nambia, a sweaty camera crew and millions of TV viewers witnessed our marriage vows.

I willingly followed Trevor up the Himalayas, drank sun-scorched canteen water instead of Cabernet and swatted mosquitos in the Amazon.

In Nepal he slipped on something and narrowly escaped being trampled by a choleric elephant.

“I’m done,” he whispered later. “Let’s go home.”

“You are my home.”

Back in the states, safe from cheetah attacks and hippo stampedes, Trevor’s mangled body lies on a cold steel table. The driver, texting on her cell phone, never saw him cross the street.