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.
This week’s seemingly innocuous photo by Scott L. Vannatter brought a smile to my face.
I decided to write a Merry Christmas tale.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on the picture, below.
copyright-scott-l-vannatter
Smiles
I am a hotshot accountant.
I run dual sets of books for certain people.
People who prefer that their true income remains undisclosed to the authorities.
Usually because of its dubious origins.
So I launder it.
I feed it through different businesses, local and overseas.
I transfer it offshore.
I am very good at disguising where the wealth comes from, and goes to.
But not as good as I thought.
I stole from the wrong people.
My wife and my little girl died with smiles on their faces.
Strychnine.
But I’ll be okay.
At least I know where the kitchen is.
The cold killer strikes again! You do these so well…
Hey, I’m not cold, it’s the holes in your socks.
And thank you, one does one’s humble best, Madame.
Laughing!
CE, maybe I’ve seen too much Goodfellows, but I could hear the voice here! Cold, methodical, chilling. Great job!
You are always welcome here, Dawn, you say such nice things.
If you ever need help bumping off your hubby, just whistle.
I’ll keep that in mind, CE… you never know. 😉
That smile on his wife and daughters’ faces… rictus grin I’m assuming! Superb last line, I love a change in mood that transpires swiftly at the end. It’s a great temptation to me, too. Feliz Navidad!
Spot on, Sandra, quite common with strychnine poisoning.
Yes, we both enjoy a wee shimmy in the story line!
Bonnes fêtes!
Wow, that was cheerful. Not let’s go wassailing and enjoy some rum laden eggnog. Since you know where the kitchen is, I’ll let you mix the drinks. Easy on the strychnine in mine, please.
Oh fuss fuss fuss, with some people everything has to be just so!
And if you want to go wassailing, how about I meet you down by the 18th century?
Augh! What a cold-blooded, horrible… that strychnine went to the wrong people. The line with the smiles makes me feel very cold. Excellent dark fiction, as usual.
Augh!
I do like that, GaH.
And I cannot disagree with anything you say.
Thank you.
Sooner or later you get caught doing things you are not suppose to! But, in his case, he recovers well and he knows his way to the kitchen, so he’s good to go! 🙂
It is nice to know that someone cares!
How very cheery! Mind you, should I actually expect anything else from you? Very good tale, I loved it 🙂
You should only expect the unexpected, dear Angie.
I love your kind words, thank you.
he’s so cold-blooded :O this is a great read! thank you for sharing(:
A little detached, perhaps.
Thank you for the fulsome praise, happy you enjoyed.
What the … ! Powerful sitting straight in your chair type of story. Excellent Sir!
Thank you, sir.
Did Graham like it too?
Yeah, he’s one of your best fans!
Oh wow, he’s a cold customer – not as much of a hotshot as he thought. I hope he treads more carefully next time or he might find himself in the firing line. Great storytelling – I enjoyed.
Next time?
Margaret, you are crazier than he is!
And thank you, as always, for your kind words.
Oh my you went for the heart breaker story so close to Christmas. His poor wife and child. I wonder if his money means so much now that they are gone. Excellent story. Shocking as ever 🙂
Did you really think you would get Jingle Bells here?
Love your reaction, thank you!
It seems that a person who did so many sneaky things would think just that “I know where the kitchen is.” You’ve got to be a pretty cool character to really not care about stealing and lying and . . .
You got it, Alicia.
Thanks for visiting again.
Not only can he still find the kitchen and so prepare food for himself but since he launders so well he has that domestically covered as well. But the cat will have to go … allergies!!!!
What an absolute delight to see you here, Penny.
And you know me so well.
Hugs and love to your family
I came here again to read it slowly but being a dim wit I couldn’t understand the last line. Rest I liked but is chilling/ shocking.
I don’t get the last line either. However, I’m sure we’re probably in the minority…lol.
🙂
It is a pragmatic and rather cold-blooded view of his situation.
It just means that he is not helpless, he can take care of himself with cooking and suchlike.
Oh, he’s really cold blooded man. Thanks for taking the trouble to explain it. I do appreciate. Very well written.
Oh, oops. I saw the C and though you wanted critiques but it’s part of your name. Too early in the morning for me, I guess. Sorry to add suggestions and critiques if you are not looking for that kind of thing. I loved this piece but the English teacher/Editor in me comes out sometimes.
I noticed.
Miaow 🙂
Excellent title that put me in one mood until you jerked me into something else. I like the progression from hot-shot accountant. I think you could trim a few words and replace them with character building images. For example, “People who prefer that their true income remains undisclosed to the authorities.’ could become “People who prefer their true income remains undisclosed” which gives you 4 words to use. Then you could use those to add a bit to this guy’s character. Maybe something like “I live the high-life” or anything to get us even more in his head and show us more of his personality. Even something more at the end–though I love that last bit. I particularly enjoy the way you saw darkness in this image–Not everyone can do that. It is a gift 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
I am not sure if your comments are constructive or if you feel you must say something.
Re the sentence beginning ‘People’, I prefer to keep it grammatically sound.
Cheers.
Reblogged this on anelephantcant and commented:
AnElephantCant go into that kitchen
He has a terrible allergy to that Cat who is not in a Hat
If it makes him sneeze
He can blow down big trees
And the Cat not in the Hat is as flat as a mat
I don’t see a long future for him. He played a dangerous game and lost. Well written, C.E. — Suzanne
Thank you, Suzanne, very kind words.
Gasp!
Shudder….
Careful, Em, I am not sure if you are overreacting or just overacting!
Merci pour ta visite.
Sooo cruel … (Hand on forehead and still not smiling)
Je suis entièrement d’accord avec les commentaires sensibles et émotionnellement précises de Emmy! ♡
Does this look like a Ladies Club?
C’mon, gals, dégagez!
Dear CE,
I wonder what it would be like to be inside your head. Then again…<3
It sounds like he's going to get his due in the end.
Very well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Plenty of room, m’lady.
Thank you.
Shocking last line! Great take.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed shockedly!