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 excellent photo by Jean L. Hays takes me down a predictable route.
Yep, dull as ever, what can I say.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on the picture, below.
Copyright Jean L. Hays
Breakfast
Although it is not yet 9 o’clock the Avenue des Alliés is pulsing with life.
I sit outside a café, enjoying orange juice and croissants in the morning sunshine.
And wondering yet again if I am the only person in France who does not drink coffee for breakfast.
As I watch people going about their daily routines, little stories form in my head.
I am, after all, a writer.
Ostensibly.
I smile as I think of the cache of passports and other tools of the trade that are hidden in my little apartment.
I can hardly write about my real job, can I?
Sound Bite Fiction 
Even with the fake passports I’m surprised they let non-coffee drinkers into France…could be cover blown right there!
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Mysterious character. Writing style is very nice.
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Sounds interesting. I suppose such a life could, after a number of years, become tiring. I think I might forget who I really was after a while. It makes an interesting story though C.E. Happy New Year to you and yours. Well done. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Ah … a writer could most likely cover his tracks quite nicely writing about what he does I think, a good mystery is always appreciated. Great write as usual CE …
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Sounds like Ian Flemming and how he started out. He just needs to write about it all later and pretend it was all fiction. 🙂
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Mr Fleming’s exploits were never quite as thrilling as Mr Bond’s.
Despite my idyllic lifestyle, the same is happily true of me.
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This gentleman isn’t so boring after all. Other than not drinking coffee, he blends in quite well. I enjoy people watching too. It’s how I collect characters for my stories.
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People watching is my second favourite pastime.
Collecting them is first.
But not for stories.
For the pot.
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oh….the devil in you! Love the twist here. Made me smile. Such a fun piece to read on the second day of the new year! Smiling I am.
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Oh, the imp in you, Lillian!
Love your comment.
Made me smile.
I am just happy you enjoyed my story.
Smiling I am, too.
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Awe! A double agent posing as the average person just having some juice and croissants. I can see the newspaper headline now………
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Exclusive! Man doesn’t have coffee sensation!
And, reading the comments, my narrator is a busy guy!
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Very clever!
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Thank you, Ma’am.
And welcome to Sound Bite Fiction.
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Oh! Excellently done! A lovely nostalgic Parisian moment and then the surprise ending!
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Thank you, Liz, very happy you enjoyed my little tale.
As an aside, in this case, not Paris, but the Côte d’Azur.
Not that it matters to the story, but that’s where I live.
Bonne Année.
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I see that many think of passports are a secret agent… alas I started to think of false passports and human trafficking… I liked the first person perspective here.
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In a 100 word story, Bjorn, different interpretations are pretty much inevitable.
I am not unhappy about any of them.
Always a pleasure to read your views here.
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A smiling assassin?
Visit Keith’s Ramblings!
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You got it.
Breakfast al fresco always makes me happy, Keith.
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What a mystery – spy, thief, terrorist?? Maybe he really is a writer. He could become all other things that way. Great writing, CE. And ‘dull’, ‘predictable’? I think not.
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Thank you once again, Margaret for you enthusiastic support and too kind words..
I am happy that you enjoyed it so much,
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I love a great spy story! Even if he is not the spy ‘on duty’.
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Glad you enjoyed, Roger, .
Thanks for your visit, sir.
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I do like the way you tell your stories CE and this one is no exception, just the right amount of intrigue to keep us all guessing. Hope you had a happy Christmas, best wishes for 2016.
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You are very kind, Dee, both in your comments and your good wishes.
Happy New Year.
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You are clearly not the person we think you are. A non-coffee-drinker? What other secrets are you hiding?
Rosey Pinkerton’s blog
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Many, and much more nefarious than that.
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Everyone needs a good cover. Especially him!
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Very true, Dr Ali.
Thank you for visiting again.
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I don’t drink coffee either. Each to their own.
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Indeed, Carol, we are not here to pass judgement.
In fact, I occasionally have an after dinner coffee.
But never for breakfast.
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Nice twist at the end making a man, who otherwise may have been boring (not drinking coffee for breakfast) into one chap I’m hoping I avoid. Oops…. where’s my passport? Happy New Year.
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I really am the only person in France, and perhaps the Western world, who doesn’t.
But if I don’t get my OJ the body count rises fast.
Happy New Year, Irene.
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Ooo shades of 007 or Jason Bourne. Great job!
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Thank you, Mandibelle, I am grinning happily now
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It appears as though we were writing at the same cafe today. I swear I never read anyone’s fiction before I write mine. I would shoot people too if I didn’t get coffee in the morning.
Happy New Year
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Ah, the waiter said a pretty lady paid for my OJ.
Thanks Tracey.
Happy New Year to you and yours
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You’re welcome.
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It always comes out in the writing though doesn’t it? He will be found out by some reader sometime.
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You got me, Joseph!
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😉
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I am very suspicious of him …
Hmmm …
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Can’t see why.
Maybe you just have a suspicious nature?
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LOL!
I think so.
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Reblogged this on anelephantcant and commented:
AnElephantCant drink coffee
He is already on the excitable side of hyper
If he takes too much caffeine
His pink bits turn green
And he birls and skirls like a demented bagpiper
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then i must lock my passport around my body! this is a wise approach. thank you!
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Always keep your Id safe from theft, Matthew.
Oh, don’t forget to send me your bank details for security purposes.
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Such a charming fella, ostensibly
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Such a sweet comment, ostensibly.
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LOL…Happy New Year!
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And to you, Dawn, have a good one.
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Ignore him, Dawn.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
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Dear CE,
A writer must gather info for his craft, right? There’s a certain something in your MC’s voice that is both charming and menacing. The gentleman thief. You do this so well. Should I be wary?
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Charming and menacing?
In that case a lady should always be wary.
And stay on her tip-toes.
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Watch that overt smiling – could raise suspicions so early in the morning. I worry about your protagonist.
Hope we all make it through 2016
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It is a quiet smile, Patrick, and the French are early risers and full of haricots already.
You should be quite safe.
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I like the ‘voice’ in your stories. It always sounds polite, reflective… and menacing. I shall tell myself he’s a thief, though my brain is telling me he’s a terrorist. Good one, as ever. Happy New Year to you, CE.
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Thank you, Sandra, I like to think I am a polite, reflective sort of chap.
Menacing?
Only if someone has put out a contract on you.
If not, Happy New Year to you and yours.
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What? You don’t drink coffee and call yourself a writer? Oh right. Ostensibly!
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I don’t drink coffee but I do shoot people who irritate me.
Just saying.
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