Sort Out Your Life

/ Dee / 9 Comments

©️Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

The wardrobe door swung open to display a rack of tightly packed clothes. Bags, haphazardly stowed on the top shelf, shoes jammed on the shelf below the clothes. I am untidy, I admit it.

My husband always said I needed too much of everything.

Listening to the tv programme, ‘Sort Our Your Life’, I stuffed things into a large bin bag. Then found my wedding dress, off its’ hanger, crumpled in a heap at the back. As I held it I remembered that day, all my hopes and dreams. Long before the lies, hurt and final betrayal.

I stuffed it into the bag.

Many thanks to Rochelle for her continued leadership of this great group of Friday

Unscramble, please!

/ Dee / 18 Comments

©️Roger Bultot

I can hear him breathing, very quietly, next to me. I wonder what it will be like when he is no longer beside me.

He no longer remembers what day it is.

He tells me his brain is scrambled and full of fog. Sometimes his nightly tablet makes things much clearer for a time and he wakes feeling refreshed.

I lie there as thoughts come and go. ‘What about me?’

‘How am I supposed to deal with this?’

‘How long have we got before he forgets me?’

Tomorrow we will walk in the park. He has always liked it there.

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Thank you to Rochelle for always being there and to the many Fictioneers who, unlike me, manage to post every week. Life has thrown a curveball and doesn’t leave me much ‘me’ time to write as I would like.

Yes and no

/ Dee / Leave a comment

Are you superstitious?

I was brought up to avoid walking under ladders and to be careful cleaning mirrors, in case they smashed and brought bad luck for seven years. To this day I have avoided walking under a ladder, and to my knowledge have never broken a mirror.

I feel quite pleased if a black cat crosses my path but have never bothered avoiding cracks in the pavement as some people do.

My mother always picked up spilled salt and threw it over her left shoulder and I do too, if I remember.

I leave an opened umbrella in the porch if it’s wet with rain but never remember knocking on wood.

So, to answer the question ‘Are you superstitious?’ I will have to answer yes and no.

Wild Card

/ Dee / 11 Comments

Photo © Lisa Fox

Leo was so handsome. All the girls were falling over themselves to go out with him. I had spots and frizzy red hair so knew I’d have no chance.

At the dance the boys lined the room, the girls danced in groups, giggling every time a boy approached. Suddenly Leo was standing there, alone, watching. From my seat in the shadows, I could see the effect he was having. I finished my soda, ready to go. Leo walked over.

‘Leaving? ‘

‘Yes’

‘Can I walk with you a while? Can’t stand all this.’

We walked.

We talked.

We still do.

Thanks as always to Rochelle for organising Friday Fictioneers

  • A Wild Card – a person or thing whose influence is unpredictable or whose qualities are uncertain

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The Supper Club

/ Dee / 12 Comments

(Photo © Jennifer Pendergast)

Maria bought the food and wine and selected her best linen for the table.

Hugh said fish pie wasn’t a good idea, it was child’s food and messy, he preferred
steak. He changed the wine glasses, removed the flowers questioning why she
thought this club was a good idea.

The Supper Club attendees loved the meal and thanked them for an enjoyable evening
Hugh said they were patronising and steak would have been better.

Maria cleared away, smiling to herself. Hugh would have steak tomorrow
night, with the mushrooms she had found growing at the back of the garden.

 

The Bootmaker

/ Dee / 14 Comments

Copyright @RogerBultot

The Bootmaker

After a five-year apprenticeship as a bootmaker and despite a lifelong limp, John Lobb walked 250 miles to London seeking to promote his skills to London society. He was turned down repeatedly, so journeyed to Australia during the gold rush, there creating hollow heeled boots for miners to hide contraband nuggets.

 Still longing to establish himself  in London, he made a speculative pair of riding boots for the Prince of Wales, returning from Australia in 1863 to great acclaim. He opened shops in London and Paris. He died in 1895 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

(Hermes acquired the brand in 1976 read more here www.johnlobb.com)

As usual, many thanks to Fairy Blogmother, Rochelle, for her dedication each week

Falling

/ Dee / 11 Comments

Copyright @ Anne Higa

Genre: Fiction

Word Count: 100

FALLING

Daylight showed through the ill-fitting curtains. Annie saw it was snowing and the rubbish bin was still there.

On her way downstairs, she shouted to her husband, “Sam, are you awake? You forgot the bin. Again!

The headache she’d had all week was getting worse, there was pain behind her left eye too. She was annoyed about something, but couldn’t hold a thought in her head. A hand she didn’t recognise was shaking as it fumbled with the door.

Sam ran into the yard, “Annie, stop, I’ll do it now.”

Annie stopped, then fell to the ground, quietly, like the snow.

Between the Covers

/ Dee / 26 Comments

The book shelf is very much like my own at home. Spotting the book on Florence & Tuscany reminded me of a conference in Nice…

Thanks to Dale Rogerson for the photo.

Genre: Memoir

Word Count 100

Between the Covers

I was in Nice for a conference. Giovanni had invited me to a small Italian restaurant and hearing him talk about Florence was wonderful. I felt I had already climbed the Campanile, crossed the Arno to the Priti Palace, strolled through the amazing Boboli Gardens. I knew I had to visit

Later, he invited me to his room for a nightcap, I have to admit I was tempted, but one thing would surely lead to another and I was due to fly home tomorrow.

Flying home, I read the Eyewitness Guide bought at the airport. It was safer between these covers…

I have been lucky enough to visit Florence two or three times, I fell in love with it the first time. This book has been invaluable.