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.
A chance and a fair trial. It would be wonderful!
O șansă și o judecată dreaptă. Ar fi minunat!
Lovely to see you here, Corina.
Yes, these are the things we should strive for, and rarely get.
Excellent! Very Fair Indeed!
Thank you, sir, very glad you enjoyed.
We none of us get out of this life alive. 😉
Hmm, not sure if you are cynical, pessimistic or just plain realistic.
But it is a pleasure to see you here, Brenda.
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. 🙂
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!
LOL Tempted but not likely to follow through.
Oh please do!
I for one would love to see your mind go to the dark side.
Um, hmmm. LOL I’ll try to see that as a compliment.
Very eerie voice – his matter-of-fact tone makes my skin crawl. Well told and very clever.
Ayr is very eerie!
Thank you for your appreciative words, Margaret, skin-crawling is high on my desired results!
Very interesting plot. A serial killer in poetry. I liked it. 🙂
Thank you, Susan, you are very kind.
I am glad you enjoyed it.
Great concept, as usual, and very subtly written.
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.
fun as always. I like that there was a possibility of a reprieve
Thanks, Samantha, but not really a reprieve, you see …
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.
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.
My my, what a cruel man!
Not everyone has the same view of the world, Dawn.
Yes, that is a good thing and a bad thing…depending upon your view, I suppose 😉
A great dark story. Packs a lot into the word count.
Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated.
Oooh, dark and scary. I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of that, err, merciful judge.
Hey, dark and scary was my goal.
Thank you again, GAH.
I’ve always hear the phrase, “Pick your poison.” But this puts a whole new spin on it.
It’s good to give a chap a sporting chance, don’t you think?
I think all killers see themselves as compassionate. They are doing the rest of the world a favor. Masterfully written!
You are possibly right, Yolanda.
And your praise is much appreciated.
This is perfectly described delicate evil. Very dark. Loved it!
Coming from the Daughter of Darkness herself, I take that as a huge compliment.
Thank you, Belinda.
Ha! Love it! I don’t see too much sunlight peeking through your words kind sir! That would make you …
Nigel Night?
Boris Black?
Desmond Dark?
I give up.
How about Nigel Boris Desmond Black. That has a nice ring to it!
Compassion must be your middle name.
Good piece.
Compassion does not start with ‘E’.
My first name, however …
Cheers, Mick.
What a generous person…Nice twist at the end there!
He is a bit of a sweetheart, isn’t he?
Thank you.
“So mix the kool-aid with the contents of your bottle, children.” –J. Jones
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.
Ruthlessly good and brilliantly written 🙂
Thank you hugely, Cheryl, that is a wonderful comment.
Chilling generosity.
Tracey
One tries.
C. E.
Wonderful story! Very “horrific.” lol I think I would want to select the quick and easy death rather than the retrial. 😀
Thank you, Joy, but the choice is somewhat random, I believe.
if you are condemning everyone then how could you be cruel.
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.
Are you available for the trial of Walter Palmer #JusticeForCecil? Enjoyed this one.
Wherever evil is found, C. E. Ayr will be there.
Glad you liked it.
Interesting he considers himself not a cruel person, though likely less cruel than those he tries in his executioner’s court.
One man’s cruel, another man’s benign.
I guess it depends on your view of events, and people.
A lovely tale. Really enjoyed reading it! Thanks
Thank you, Graham, that is a compliment to make a story worth writing.
One in the thousands. This is poetically evil and beautifully written.
How very sweet of you, Alicia.
Thank you.
Your humanity overwhelms us. Please keep up your standards – and writing.
Thank you, Patrick, I will certainly endeavour to do both.
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
I fear that my dark side is not particularly latent.
But you, dear lady, are high in my good graces.
Thank you.
Oh my, what a lovely way to deal with puny human beings. Nicely written, I feel a bit of chill in my bones.
Maybe they are not nice people?
Glad you enjoyed it, albeit chillily!
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.
I am flattered and delighted by your praise, sir.
Thank you.
Oh so generous to offer hope… a less bloody Dexter, he is!
Gosh, Dexter, is he still out there butchering folk?
Who knows? I almost went thst route (for my story, that is!)
Ah, good recovery!
Almost let that ferocious feline out of the bag, didn’t you?
*This* close!
Then I figured many would go down that path…
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
A retrial hey? The man’s generosity knows no bounds. Terrific!
Thanks, Sandra, no prisoners for this guy.
Gotta love an open-minded judge and jury!
Very rich starting point for discussion.
A metaphor.
Could be Life talking…
My mind churns.
You have a delightfully strange view of life, Em.
And as for your mind …
Yes, I know! Awesome, right? 😉
So nicely expressed, and meaningful… You did a wondeerful connection with poison and human, Thank you dear Ceayr, have a nice day, love, nia
Thank you, Nia, always a joy when you visit.