Suddenly, it’s Wednesday again and time for Friday Fictioneers (don’t ask, just accept it, we do) ~Writers from all over the globe come together to submit their 100 word stories or poems, inspired by the weekly prompt sent out by our lovely purple leader Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. It is her birthday today so join me in sending her the warmest of birthday wishes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCHELLE. The photo this week comes courtesy of the lady herself, my story follows the photo.
Copyright – Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Genre: Fiction
Word Count: 100
Timeless
“It’s just clutter, nothing of value, why can’t I throw it out?”
“That’s my grandmother’s button tin you’re holding. Remember how we used the big buttons to teach you to count?”
Laura glared at her mother and sighed.
“You don’t need any of it.”
“How do you know what I need?”
“I look after you mother, I think I know.”
Isobel watched as her daughter walked around, calculating how many boxes they’d need.
“Laura, you pop in briefly, collect my prescription, get my groceries, but you can’t give me what I need.”
“And what would that be?”
Isobel smiled
“Time.”
40again's Blog 
and memories can take up the endless hours and days that could otherwise suffocate
beautifully done Dee
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Thank you so much 🙂
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Very nicely done Dee. I enjoyed this!
Tom
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Thank you Tom , glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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I loved that ending, such a powerful word ‘time’ 🙂
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Thank you Helen 🙂
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Ah, but is spending so much time in the past not wasting what time you have left?
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Yes, could be. All Isobel wants is her daughter to stay and spend more time with her, not flit in and out, just ‘doing her duty’
Thanks for reading 🙂
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Beautiful, Dee!
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Thank you Jan, 🙂
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That was so sweet…I love it.
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Thank you for reading 🙂
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this was powerful and very moving..
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Glad you liked it, thanks kz 🙂
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A very real situation, very well executed. Well done Dee, loved it.
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Thank you Sandra, pleased you liked it 🙂
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Dear Dee,
What a delightful, yet sad story that is, unfortunately, true for too many. Your writing is spot on and the story made me ache inside.
Thanks for the birthday wishes. Can I claim 40 again, too? 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
It is sad that there are many old people who are left alone for too long.
Hope you had a lovely birthday – same day as my sister so you are in good company!!
Happy to welcome you to the 40 Again Club!
Take care
Dee
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Dear Dee,
It slips away like smoke through a keyhole. Absolutely true story, well told.
Aloha,
Doug
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Dear Doug
Thank you for stopping by, pleased that the story struck a chord.
Take care
Dee
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AAAAAAND I’m crying. My heart just dropped into my stomach and my eyes are leaking. Thanks, DEE!!!! (No, really, beautiful story, darling)
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Dear Helena
Good to hear from you, though I wondered where your comment was going 🙂
I’m delighted that you liked the story.
Dee
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I absolutely love this. It’s moving. I can certainly relate to why she needs that button. When all the dust has settled on your life, all you have left are the buttons you picked up along the way. The daughter is still so caught up in her dust cloud of living that she’ll never realize it until she gets to be her mom’s age and, her mom is long gone, what her mother was talking about. A paradox of life.
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Thank you Linda, I really appreciate your comments, so pleased you liked the story.
Dee
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Dee that was excellent, just perfect, well done! 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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Great rounded flash tale. Sad, it is so often the case in this busy world. And people’s idea of care if so different. What we think people need and what they actually need. And the way we hang onto different things for different reasons. It is all too easy to bulldoze through without understanding.
Makes me want to go and visit the old girl and hold her hand.
Great characters.
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She would be delighted to see you!
Thank you 🙂
Dee
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Perfect. Absolutely spot on. Beautiful in the telling. Also, I want that button box. Button boxes are known containers of valuable treasure or at least containers of wonderment…
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Thank you so much 🙂
I’m with you on the button box, holds lots of treasured memories
Dee
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Excellent Dee, the great problem of aging, time.
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Thank you 🙂
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I loved this, Dee. Nicely done. Time is timeless when shared with your memory of precious things. It’s all seamless then.
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Thank you, so pleased you liked it 🙂
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Great double meaning!
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Thanks for reading 🙂
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Right between the eyes–TIME. Writing that spurs people to action, I think you’ve done it.
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Excellent story. Don’t we all need more time. A great contrast between the pragmatic daughter and the reflective mother.
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Thank you David 🙂
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A wonderful end.. and so true in many cases..
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Thank you Bjorn.
Unfortunately it is true for too many old people who are on their own.
Thanks for stoppnig by 🙂
Dee
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Beautifully done, Dee!
And really, when is there ever time enough? Time to be gained instead of lost, spent instead of wasted? I suppose only right now, in this very moment, yes?
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Thank you Troy, good to hear from you.
We all complain occasionally that we don’t have enough time, when we all have exactly the same amount. How we spend our time is the issue and prioritising the important things in our lives.
Take care
Dee
🙂
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So sad for the mother, who is obviously housebound, to be completely dependent on the daughter for survival as well as companionship. Hopefully, Laura’s boxes mean her mother is moving to a communal place where she will find other residents with similar interests.
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hopefully Isobel will find someone happy to spend time with her, doesn’t seem much to ask
Thanks for reading and commenting VB
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Some wonderful comments here, many of which sum up my own response as well. Just a lovely, heartfelt truth-filled story. 🙂
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Thank you Joanna, I’m so pleased you liked the story. Great to hear from you.
Dee
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Great take on the prompt, Dee. Well written, modern and topical. You characterised well: the unsympathetic, emotionally-blackmailing daughter; her mother who typifies the situation of so many. In fact, you could say Mother has too much time on her hands and not the ability to fill it productively because of mobility problems and isolation. I’m very lucky, at 62 I’m fit and active and creative and independent. Many of my own age are not. I hope the packing will bring something good for Mother. Ann
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Dear Ann
Thank you for your very well rounded comments. I wanted to show the important link between possessions and memories for the older generation.
I have a neighbour 95, and although she gets very confused with today’s world, and annoyed with the political situation, her face lights up when she tells me of her travels in Europe in the late fifties. With the help of photographs and a few treasured possessions, she relives her journeys and captivates me with her stories.
Good to hear from you
Dee
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You are an angel for listening to your neighbour.
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She is just so interesting, she should have written a book!!
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This pic seemed to bring out sadness and longing. Nice job. Hope she doesn’t through out her stuff, though. Sounds like memories might be all she has.
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Thank you Shirley, good to hear from you. I think she will make sure that she keeps most of her treasures.
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