Friday Fictioneers is hosted by the wonderful Rochelle, the undisputed master of what I call Sound Bite Fiction.
She sets the weekly challenge, and the standard.
We just have to be creative.
The idea is to write a story of around 100 words based on the picture below.
© G.L. MacMillan.
Poison
I am not a cruel person.
I like to think that I give everyone a fair chance.
Even my enemies.
But people who do bad things should be punished, I believe.
I admit I do set myself up as judge and jury.
And I always find them guilty.
But this is where the fair chance applies.
They get to select the bottle.
Some poisons act slowly and painfully.
Others are humanely fast.
And I always offer my condemned prisoners hope of a reprieve.
One bottle, out of the thousands, contains just water.
Very fair, I think.
They get a retrial.
Sound Bite Fiction 
A chance and a fair trial. It would be wonderful!
O șansă și o judecată dreaptă. Ar fi minunat!
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Lovely to see you here, Corina.
Yes, these are the things we should strive for, and rarely get.
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Excellent! Very Fair Indeed!
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Thank you, sir, very glad you enjoyed.
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We none of us get out of this life alive. 😉
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Hmm, not sure if you are cynical, pessimistic or just plain realistic.
But it is a pleasure to see you here, Brenda.
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Just practical. We all go one way or another… Poison isn’t such a bad way, if it’s not one of those ones that kills you over a week. You do seem to be in a serial killer mood lately in many of the prompts. I have to admit to some temptation to write murder mysteries. Killing off characters could be quite fun. 🙂
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Brenda!
Whatever happened to the dear sweet lady who writes so endearingly of fairies and flowers?
A dark side even to you?
Oh dear, there is no hope for humankind!
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LOL Tempted but not likely to follow through.
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Oh please do!
I for one would love to see your mind go to the dark side.
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Um, hmmm. LOL I’ll try to see that as a compliment.
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Very eerie voice – his matter-of-fact tone makes my skin crawl. Well told and very clever.
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Ayr is very eerie!
Thank you for your appreciative words, Margaret, skin-crawling is high on my desired results!
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Very interesting plot. A serial killer in poetry. I liked it. 🙂
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Thank you, Susan, you are very kind.
I am glad you enjoyed it.
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Great concept, as usual, and very subtly written.
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Thanks, Perry, very kind of you to say so.
Much appreciated.
Do you know:
1. Your link here leads to your Twitter and not your Blog
b. Your blog gives me a really hard time when I try to leave a comment.
But I did enjoy your story.
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fun as always. I like that there was a possibility of a reprieve
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Thanks, Samantha, but not really a reprieve, you see …
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Random doesn’t actually make something fair. Random is just an abstract concept; nothing is.
To answer that philosophical question: treating everyone harshly, I’d say yes, it is still cruel. Torture is cruel and unusual punishment… such as giving prisoners a lotto chance of living, otherwise death, slowly and painfully per chance.
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Thank you for your comment, and your opinion.
I find it interesting how 100 words can generate such diverse discussion.
As Shakespeare says, one man’s philosophy is another man’s fish and chips.
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My my, what a cruel man!
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Not everyone has the same view of the world, Dawn.
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Yes, that is a good thing and a bad thing…depending upon your view, I suppose 😉
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A great dark story. Packs a lot into the word count.
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Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated.
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Oooh, dark and scary. I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of that, err, merciful judge.
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Hey, dark and scary was my goal.
Thank you again, GAH.
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I’ve always hear the phrase, “Pick your poison.” But this puts a whole new spin on it.
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It’s good to give a chap a sporting chance, don’t you think?
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I think all killers see themselves as compassionate. They are doing the rest of the world a favor. Masterfully written!
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You are possibly right, Yolanda.
And your praise is much appreciated.
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This is perfectly described delicate evil. Very dark. Loved it!
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Coming from the Daughter of Darkness herself, I take that as a huge compliment.
Thank you, Belinda.
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Ha! Love it! I don’t see too much sunlight peeking through your words kind sir! That would make you …
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Nigel Night?
Boris Black?
Desmond Dark?
I give up.
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How about Nigel Boris Desmond Black. That has a nice ring to it!
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Compassion must be your middle name.
Good piece.
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Compassion does not start with ‘E’.
My first name, however …
Cheers, Mick.
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What a generous person…Nice twist at the end there!
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He is a bit of a sweetheart, isn’t he?
Thank you.
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“So mix the kool-aid with the contents of your bottle, children.” –J. Jones
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I rather feel that these are individual punishments rather than the megalomaniacal slaughtering of the innocents.
Thank you for your visit, and for taking the time to comment.
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Ruthlessly good and brilliantly written 🙂
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Thank you hugely, Cheryl, that is a wonderful comment.
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Chilling generosity.
Tracey
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One tries.
C. E.
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Wonderful story! Very “horrific.” lol I think I would want to select the quick and easy death rather than the retrial. 😀
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Thank you, Joy, but the choice is somewhat random, I believe.
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if you are condemning everyone then how could you be cruel.
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Interesting philosophical question, my friend.
I tried to comment as follows on your blog:
Whoa, scary biscuits!
Good stuff.
but Blogspot is not my friend, evidently.
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Are you available for the trial of Walter Palmer #JusticeForCecil? Enjoyed this one.
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Wherever evil is found, C. E. Ayr will be there.
Glad you liked it.
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Interesting he considers himself not a cruel person, though likely less cruel than those he tries in his executioner’s court.
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One man’s cruel, another man’s benign.
I guess it depends on your view of events, and people.
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A lovely tale. Really enjoyed reading it! Thanks
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Thank you, Graham, that is a compliment to make a story worth writing.
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One in the thousands. This is poetically evil and beautifully written.
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How very sweet of you, Alicia.
Thank you.
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Your humanity overwhelms us. Please keep up your standards – and writing.
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Thank you, Patrick, I will certainly endeavour to do both.
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Dear CE,
I fear that you have a latent dark side. I hope to remain in your good graces. Such a gracious judge in your story. Well constructed and well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I fear that my dark side is not particularly latent.
But you, dear lady, are high in my good graces.
Thank you.
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Oh my, what a lovely way to deal with puny human beings. Nicely written, I feel a bit of chill in my bones.
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Maybe they are not nice people?
Glad you enjoyed it, albeit chillily!
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Excellent slice of fiction. I love it when our 100 word stories have a beginning, middle and end in just 100 words. This does that perfectly. Well done.
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I am flattered and delighted by your praise, sir.
Thank you.
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Oh so generous to offer hope… a less bloody Dexter, he is!
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Gosh, Dexter, is he still out there butchering folk?
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Who knows? I almost went thst route (for my story, that is!)
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Ah, good recovery!
Almost let that ferocious feline out of the bag, didn’t you?
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*This* close!
Then I figured many would go down that path…
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Reblogged this on anelephantcant and commented:
AnElephantCant stop singing that song
About green bottles that hang on a wall
He is not at all nervous
Because with no observers
How do we know if a green bottle does fall
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A retrial hey? The man’s generosity knows no bounds. Terrific!
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Thanks, Sandra, no prisoners for this guy.
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Gotta love an open-minded judge and jury!
Very rich starting point for discussion.
A metaphor.
Could be Life talking…
My mind churns.
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You have a delightfully strange view of life, Em.
And as for your mind …
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Yes, I know! Awesome, right? 😉
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So nicely expressed, and meaningful… You did a wondeerful connection with poison and human, Thank you dear Ceayr, have a nice day, love, nia
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Thank you, Nia, always a joy when you visit.
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