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.
Dale Rogerson’s superb photo takes me home a week before my flight does.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on the picture, below.
© Dale Rogerson
Umbrella
He could not look less like a hitman.
He dresses in a suit and wears a tie, which can be useful occasionally.
He is not particularly big, or well built, more wiry.
But he is quick, his eyes miss nothing.
And then, don’t forget, he has that umbrella.
It is multiple weapons in one.
He can do almost anything with it.
A legend with a brolly.
My job is to terminate him.
So I do.
I call in my report.
Wednesday 28th October 2015. Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.
Why Scotland?
No reason.
I look out at the pouring rain, and smile.
ah, you do crime so well! And here is where I leave my (belated) invite to pick a cliche and base a story off of it, any length and type. Would love to see your take on it
Glad you enjoyed.
I guess I can’t get away with just doing a daft rhyme,
Like my pink partner in crime?
my dear, you may do whatever you want, of course!
Is that a new umbrella? 😉
Um, sorry Dawn, like an umbrella, your comment went over my head
Well see i read this as the guy killing him in (rainy) Scotland so he would have that cool umbrella with him, you know the one with all the bells and whistles. Then he could have the umbrella as his own.
Ah, I see your thinking now!
An interpretation I cannot argue with, though not the one I had in mind.
Cool.
How about that.
A cold tale of hitmen well told. Made me laugh some. 🙂
Cold but funny?
I consider that something of a triumph, thank you!
Great story. Love the Scottish reference (maybe because I lived for a year in Glasgow myself).
Thank you, sir, glad you liked it.
But why was Graham not with you in Glasgow?
Oh jolly, I had to look up “brolly.”
Well, as they say in termination-land: What goes up, must come down.
Randy
Good Golly, Miss Molly.
You need to get out more, Randy!
Hmm. Eliminating hitmen or filing a report, wonder what’s his favorite part of the job? Nicely done.
Thank you.
No point in doing a job if you don’t enjoy it, is there?
smart move. he made his move in the rain while the guy couldn’t his umbrella as a weapon.
Exactly. He was at least delayed.
Why Scotland? It’s atmospheric, represents exploited people, and the guys there just look fetching in kilts. Nice “Spy Who Came In From the Cold” feel to this piece.
More like Ice Station Zebra, I think.
So intriguing, loved the 007 ishness of it all 😉
Thank you, Helen, for the kind comment, and the breath of sanity.
He killed The Penguin? Noooooooo!
Happy to say, Dave, that this went straight over my head!
hahhaahhh! I had not thought of that!
Good idea to attack him in a country where he was almost certain to be using his brolly for the recommended purpose 🙂
That was the plan indeed.
Very matter of fact about it all, prepared for everything and phased by nothing. Would love to read more of his ‘adventures’.
Glad you liked, CaH.
You can find more of his exploits in Medville Matters, top of the right hand column.
Rochelle and Dale both give it glowing reports.
Ok.
Thank heavens for rain. Loved the story.
Not an oft-heard sentiment in Scotland, Irene!
But I know what you mean, and happy you enjoyed.
Very clever – difficult to defend oneself when one’s weapon is keeping one dry! Good work 007 🙂
Great stuff
KT
You got it, WB, thanks for your comment!
I enjoyed all the comments here as much as I enjoyed your piece, CEAyr! That was one COLD piece of writing! Brrrr!
As always, well-done, if very dark.
Reminds me of a Robert Parker novel. Also, Dick Francis.
All part of the service, DoD.
But you can hardly hold me responsible for the weather in Scotland in late October.
I just happened to be born there, I didn’t actually knit it myself.
I am embarrassed to say I don’t think I know Mr Parker’s work.
I will endeavour to rectify that tout de suite.
And thank you for the kind words, embedded deep in your comment!
Sorry — didn’t mean to “embed them deep” in there — I loved your story! 🙂 VERY noir!
Chortle, chortle
Something so nice and whimsical about this story, despite the subject matter.
Well, it is just an everyday story about hired killers, hard to see how it could get dark, don’t you think.
I do hope your comment means that it entertained you in some way.
“A legend with a brolly” I suspect that makes (oops, made) him easier to find. And I agree with Rochelle. He’s so matter of fact about killing – it doesn’t seem to matter. Kudos.
No, Alicia, the brolly makes it easier to stay dry!
But when he is using it in this way, it is less effective in others.
So the narrator takes his opportunity, matter of factly.
a journey into the thoughts of a gun for hire. I liked this one
Glad you enjoyed the trip, SNB, and thanks for your visit.
Hitmen give me the chills, and here are two of them. Clever trickery with the umbrella, too (if I understood that correctly, I don’t know much about Scotland.)
Just a couple of guys trying to earn a crust, GaH.
Scotland can be rainy.
Like the Himalayas can have snow.
I thought Umbrellas were useless in Scotland… To quote a Scotsman I once met on Sicily.. “A Scotsman never go far without his Mac”… 🙂 great fun
It all depends, Bjorn on which side of Scotland you are on.
As Robert Burns says:
‘Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west,
The drift is driving sairly;
Sae loud and shill I hear the blast,
I’m sure it’s winter fairly.’
So your chum is correct, no point in having a brolly in Edinburgh.
But ‘doon the watter’ on the Clyde, it is a different story.
Small country, big weather!
Nice. It’s only a question of time before the hunters become the hunted, don’t you think?
Saying nothing.
Look behind you.
Eeek!
You got me worried for a bit, saying there’s no place like home and telling a story about the hitman. I thought, what kind of place is that? 😀 Thankfully, Glasgow cleared all the fog in my cluttered mind. I like your off-hand tone.
Laughing here, Loré, I think I said I was visiting, nothing more.
And you should know this piece is pure fiction.
Glasgow is in fact a warm, vibrant and friendly city, full of culture and charm.
Glad you liked the story.
I liked this…especially the last line. It tells us who he is. As usual, very well done!
Thank you for the kind words, Corina, glad you liked it.
Will the Scots eventually evolve to include umbrellas in their DNA?
Good piece.
Dinnae be daft, laddie, we are already impervious to wet or cold.
It is only Nature’s finest aberration, sunshine, that sends us scurrying for cover.
And thank you.
LOL
The coldness of your main character almost sears the reader. Still, if you’ve got to go, a wet October day in Sauchiehall Street sounds like as good a time as any. And as depressing a way as any. Good one CE.
And I see where you got the umbrella from. The photo had me thinking for a while.
Thank you, Sandra, glad you enjoyed it.
I saw the prompt as some odd thingy submerged in a flooded field.
For reasons unclear, rain always makes me think of Scotland.
Reblogged this on anelephantcant and commented:
AnElephantCant claim to always be focused
Almost anything serves as a temporary distraction
He wonders why Dale
Is not locked up in a jail
For confusing him with that weird-looking underwater perhaps Canadian contraption
Dear C.E.
Your hitman whose mission is to kill another hitman is so matter of fact. I enjoyed the tone of it. So James Bond. (I miss Sean Connery). Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Dear Mish Wishoff
I am shtill here, do not conshern yourshelf.
And thank you for the kind wordsh.
Oh snap!