Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly challenge presented by my old friend Al Forbes.
The idea is to write a short story (200 word max) inspired by what you see in the picture (below).
This week our intrepid leader presents a striking image by Sally-Ann Hodgekiss.
Click on this link to enter your tale, and to see what others have written.
© Sally-An Hodgekiss
Click here to hear the story read by the author:
Market Day
It is market day in the small town.
Women go about their shopping in bright afternoon sunshine.
Children play in the quiet streets.
At first the drone from the sky raises no more than mild curiosity.
Aircraft flying overhead is not a new sight in this increasingly troubled region.
Then there is an increasing awareness that something is different.
The planes are circling, coming back lower.
The first bombs fall.
People stare at the sky, transfixed by terror, as buildings are shattered around them.
Wave after wave of concentrated bombing reduces homes, shops and churches to rubble.
As mothers run searching for their children, and shocked men emerge from workplaces, they believe that they are in the midst of a nightmare.
But now it gets worse.
Incendiary bombs tumble from the heavens, and fires break out everywhere.
Then the strafing begins.
Low-flying aircraft use machine guns to butcher the panic-stricken hordes fleeing the mayhem.
The blitzkrieg is born.
Pablo Picasso screamed his outrage at this atrocity in one of the Twentieth Century’s iconic masterpieces.
Guernica.
Sound Bite Fiction 
This is powerful CE. Scary. I like the line at the end, it’s trivial while the rest of the story is reminiscent of WWII of course with the blietzkreig or lightning warfare. Sadly, I’m remind of the events in Manchester. The more things change, the more they stay the same I guess. Hugs CE. Hope life is treating you well!
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A powerful description of a terrifying day in history, C.E. Good writing as always. —- Suzanne
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Your story perfectly fit the ominous feel of the photo.
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Wow. That was an intense and saddening story. I didn’t know what Guernica was so I looked it up. The image fit your story perfectly.
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And sadly this evil continues today. You Illustrated the evil events at Guernica well.
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Ah yes, Guernica. This was one of the first hints of how horrific modern warfare would be. The painting expresses the horror perfectly. This is a great blow-by-blow description of how it felt to be there.
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Thanks for giving me the excuse to look up that painting; I thought I’d seen a lot of Picasso, but I don’t remember that one. Powerful stuff.
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Ceayr, you wove magic with this one.`
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When you mentioned the planes, I knew what was coming, but Picasso’s “Guernica” was a nice touch.
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Your take on the prompt took me completely by surprise. It’s imaginative, well-timed (not long after the 80th anniversary of Guernica) and, as always, superbly executed.
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