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 delightful photo by Karen Rawson at last brought spring sunshine to my wintry mind.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on this picture, below.
© Karen Rawson
Click here to hear the writer read his words:
The Hill
These days I tire easily.
I once strode purposefully towards distant destinations, my step never faltering, and yet delighting in the sights, sounds and smells of the sea and the countryside as I passed by.
Now I amble aimlessly, never venturing far, and find on arrival that I have absorbed nothing of nature’s beauty on my way.
In my apartment too I notice a difference.
Dust gathers in the corners of my home as it does in the corners of my mind.
Neither, I realise, will ever sparkle again.
Each minor task is a challenge, and every hill a mountain.
Sound Bite Fiction 
My house is dusty as well.
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Well get some spring cleaning done!
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A good rendition of what it is like to age. Sadly I can relate to this.
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Thanks, Irene
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Beautiful writing. (no snark here 😉 ) I do like to think that gathering dust means that one has had better things to do.
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Thank you, Sascha
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An apt, and sadly beautiful, account of the aging process.
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Thank you, ma’am
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Beautifully written. I particularly like the line ‘I have absorbed nothing of nature’s beauty on my way.’ That is so sad.
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Thank you, Clare.
Sometimes we are so wrapped in our problems that we forget to enjoy our lives
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I would prefer to ignore your story as too depressing, but you’ve written it too well. Eventually age gets us all. Well, bugger that!
Take care, and enjoy a few glasses of good wine! That’ll perk you up!
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The clue is in the challenge title, Penny.
It’s fiction, just a story!
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Possibilities of ageing, illness or depression. Though it seems more like depression to me. You wrote this well.
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Just a rainy day in paradise!
Nothing too serious.
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Sometimes opening the windows and let the breeze and the sun clean the dust out of mind and house helps. And sometimes it doesn’t. Beautiful writing in any case.
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Absolutely!
And let’s not take this, or ourselves, too seriously.
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I hear these feelings well, and have often considered telling them, but am glad I have not as you have said it so well.
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Thank you, Kelvin
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Il est temps de faire le ménage dans la maison et dans la tête!
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Je n’ai pas d’aspirateur!
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Je te prête le mien
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There are crumbs of comfort in not being able to see the dust. Or the crumbs.
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Yes, the eyesight deteriorates as quickly as the mind!
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Wonderfully written. Very authentic.
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Thank you, Lisa
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Age, the one enemy you can never hope to defeat.
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We just try to avoid for as long as possible
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Dear C.E.
Depressing and true to the lives of all too many. Written with wonderful honesty.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Perhaps as factitious as your own piece, m’lady
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The life of someone aging.. great visual. I thought at first he was a ghost. Beautiful and sad at the same time.
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Thank you, Courtney, sometimes days are just like this
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This voice is so credible.. I think we all reach that point sooner or later
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And more frequently with the passing years, Bjorn
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Wow! Have you been lurking in the corners of my house and the empty pockets of my mind? You captured aging beautifully in this. Aging isn’t for sissies, that’s for sure.
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I confess to being an occasional lurker, Alicia, it is one of my better faults!
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I love that comment of yours, Alicia “Aging isn’t for sissies!” LMAO!
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What? No murder and mayhem? You need to read my short story, Growing Old is not for Sissies. Sit down, take your shoes off, and rest a spell. You’ll feel better in the morning–and only be one day older.
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Too busy wandering, or wondering, around in the mote filled atmosphere to contemplate slaughter, Russell.
Maybe next week, when I’ll be a gigantic 7 days older.
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Yes, but what a view from the mountain top.
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Forgot my glasses!
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Heading downhill, step by step by step.So sad.
My FriFic tale is called Solace!
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But inevitable, Keith.
Thanks for visiting
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Thoughtful and sad, a process that will come to us all, in different timescales and in different ways, but unavoidable. Such is life.
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Indeed, Iain, just life.
Thanks for your comment
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You’re late. And you’ve turned up without a corpse as well. Are you quite well?
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Sorry, Sandra, and I didn’t even have time to forge a note from my mum.
How about I do a timely massacre next week?
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A poignant snapshot of the ageing process. Wonderful take on the photo prompt.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thank you, Susan, we all struggle a bit sometimes
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I agree with Neil – sad but beautiful. There’s a feeling here that your MC is suffering (illness? depression? loss?) and what they’ve been through has impacted on their joy in life. A tragic tale C
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Thank you, Lynn, I think most of us have these moments sometimes
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Very true. We all have some days when we just can’t face things.
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That’s sad, but beautifully written
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Thanks, Neil, just happy it said something
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