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.
Today’s photo of a magnificent tree in a beautiful setting is by C. E. Ayr.
Hooray for me!
It is a happy memory of a wonderful visit to a fabulous city.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on the picture, below.
© C. E. Ayr
Click here to hear me read the story:
The River
I tell my wife I will not take the children today, it is too dangerous by the river.
She is unconcerned about me, she knows I am indestructible.
But the dog, as always, needs to be exercised.
I say goodbye with a kiss.
Twenty minutes later I am plunging into the freezing torrent to rescue a child who has slithered down the far bank.
Almost exhausted, I grab an overhanging tree, a dozen or so metres before the falls.
Then I realise I need two hands to lift the limp boy on to the branch.
One of us will die.
Sound Bite Fiction 
Hm. Hmm,hmm… If this narrator were one of the people you often write about, the papers would write about how the child slipped through his fingers when he heroically tried to rescue him. Since no one is around, who’d tell him a liar? If someone were around, there’d be help. Or he could be a hero and die. Great story for a beautiful picture. I, too, love Vancouver.
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I do not even know who to root for. You’ve certainly left me thinking.
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Good story, C.E. Thanks for the great picture. Perhaps your character will survive going over the falls. Indiana Jones and his group survived going over two of them. I hope someone comes along and takes the boy off the limb. Good writing as always. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Hooray for you indeed CE! A wonderful, inspiring, pic and a well-told cliff-hanger tale.
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Enjoyed your reading and the completeness of this tale! Very poetically told.
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and thanks for the image–very inspiring!
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I wonder how he will choose.
Lily
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Ah, and you don’t give us an ending! It makes one wonder how one would act in those situations.
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I forgot to say I loved the photograph, calmness and serenity of the place. Where is it?
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Glad you enjoyed the Chinese Garden, in Chinatown, Vancouver BC, a truly wonderful city with beautiful people
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How horrible, CE. I hope someone is nearby who can help.
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Nah, isolated spot, one of them is doomed.
Doomed, I say, dooooomed!
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Truly tense and tragic story, and then all your comments get me chuckling.
Oh the roller coaster of emotions that is Friday Fiction!
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As my old Latin teacher always told me, if you can’t be useful at least be entertaining!
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Oh my, what a story! I hope someone comes to their rescue.
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Ah yes, hope is a wonderful thing
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Doesn’t seem like a good situation to be in. Of course, he’ll put the boy on the branches with both hands. I guess he’s not so indestructible? Sad for his kids. (notice – short comment 😀)
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Thanks
(short reply!)
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What a horrifying ending to such an upbeat story. I loved that the child “slithered” down the embankment. Great word choice. I think there is no choice in the end and your hero knew it. I just want to know what happened to the dog.
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Glad you enjoyed so much about the story.
The dog?
He emigrated to South Korea.
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Great story, touching, but wait… up in the sky… it’s a bird, no a plane, why it’s superman!
Randy
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I leave it to the reader’s imagination to interpret my words as they will.
Thank you for commenting
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Phenomenal story! I’m so impressed, especially with the ending. What a horrible choice.
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How very kind of you, Sonny, I am more than happy with your reaction
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Oh don’t leave us hanging there! What happened next??
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I don’t know, I have used my 100 words!
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Ooh, a suspenseful cliffhanger. What will he do? Nice one! And thanks for the photo.
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Thank you, sir, glad you enjoyed the story and the photo.
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. . . and now a word from our sponsor. Your ending is a great spot for a commercial break. Perhaps a rug cleaner that will remove blood stains, or the benefits of pre-planned funerals.
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Like Tarzan, back in the day, falling off the cliff every Saturday morning, only to cling on by his fingertips the following week.
That is why I prefer Wile E. Coyote, much more true to life.
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There are always choices to be made, some tougher than others.
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Too true, Alicia, and sometimes we get them right.
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Sometimes.
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So much melancholy coming from that photo today, C.E., yours with a cliffhanger. Thanks for the prompt. What fabulous city is this?
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Glad you liked photo, Ted, it is from the Chinese Garden in Chinatown, Vancouver BC.
Which is, as you say, a truly fabulous city with beautiful people.
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I live nearby in the San Juan Islands. I’ll check it out on my next visit.
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One can just hope we will never end up having to make a choice like this. Great writing!
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Thank you, ma’am, one of the more difficult decisions, certainly.
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I am Bridget. I will be back next week 🙂
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Enchanted, Bridget, I hope not to disappoint.
(I also do Sunday Photo Fiction, you might enjoy The Past from a few days ago.)
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I will look into it 🙂
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I guess there is not a lot of time for a choice either… as long as there is life there is hope… what a tension you built in the end.
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Thanks, Bjorn, glad it worked for you
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What a cliffhanger!
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Or, in this case, treehanger!
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Hehe
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Look on the bright side, one will also live!
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Yeah, but one out of two, Paul, not that great really…
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I shall tell myself that someone else happened along to help him out. After all, you said he was indestructable. Maybe the dog went to get help for them both… ?
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I think Lassie is trying to tell us something.
Yes, Timmy has fallen down the mine shaft again this week and broken his left leg in two places.
But he has water and his pocket chess set, and that picture of the girl he likes, so he is good until we finish ploughing the field and shooting a few buffalo.
Good dog, have a biscuit.
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Good Lord, C! That’s a tragic, tormenting tale. I wonder if your narrator will be indestructable, or if his luck has run out? Really well constructed and dramatic. Where was the picture taken – near you?
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Laughing, Lynn, at your opening words!
Glad it got to you.
Taken in Vancouver BC last year when I spent some time there, fabulous city, wonderful people.
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See what you did to me – made me go all 1950s Received Pronunciation! Did you enjoy Canada? Good place to practice your French 🙂
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I loved Vancouver and its environs once again, but that is easy, there are people I love there.
And it is a beautiful city, with superb natural beauty only an hour away in different directions.
No French spoken in BC, sadly, or anywhere else in Canada, if you believe French people!
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Haha! Is there a rivalry between the French and French Canadians then? In some areas of Canada I know
there were strict rules on incomers having to learn the language if they didn’t already. Maintaining the culture, even if it is an imposed one 🙂
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So sad, a no win situation.
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Yes, but someone can still get a draw out of it!
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Oh the irony! Life is full of them, isn’t it? Now… there you go, just leave us hanging as to what choice he made. Love it!
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Your choice, Dale, you make them every day.
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This highlights how unpredictable and fragile life can be – snatched away in an instant with no prior warning. Being an optimist, I want someone to walk by and rescue them both!
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Is it a bird, is it a plane, no, it’s a butterfly, they are doomed!
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What a cliffhanger! Save the child and be a hero is the obvious out, but if you were writing a longer piece maybe it would be more interesting if he chose to save himself…
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For you to decide, Iain, my job is done here.
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Beautiful.
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Thank you, dear Indira
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Wow. This is so strong. Amazing. I wonder if we are to read his wife’s thought about him being indestructible at face value, then we know what happens next. Brilliant writing (and reading).
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Thank you, Claire, I am more than happy you enjoyed both.
Don’t all women think their men are indestructible, at least until a certain age?
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you set out, never expecting such a choice, And there it is. Bang. Great dilemma!
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Yep, we rarely plan such moments, but they do arrive.
And sometimes we get them very wrong.
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Dear CE,
What a choice to have to make. Methinks he’s not so indestructible as his wife believes. A hero’s story. Or is it? So much story in so few words.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Life is full of these moments, m’lady, although perhaps not quite so critical as this one.
Your question is apposite.
Thank you.
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Left me in need of reading more, that was beautiful.
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Thank you, Christa, in 100 words that is all I can ask for.
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