Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly challenge presented by Susan Spaulding, who has taken over this great weekly prompt from my old friend Al Forbes.
This week’s intriguing photo comes courtesy of Anurag Bakhshi.
The idea is to write a short story (200 word max) inspired by what you see in the picture (below).
Click on this link to enter your tale, and see what others have written.
© Anurag Bakhshi
Click here to hear the author read the tale:
The Fairies
The fairies dance in the garden.
My old, jaded eyes see nothing, but the children tell me it is so.
The garden is rich with flowers, this much is clear.
More flowers than I have ever seen in one place, and many of varieties unknown to me.
There are trees from far-flung lands, which have no right to grow in this clime, and shrubs that seem to be not of this world.
They are large, waxy and yet somehow enticing.
The children climb the trees, make dens in the bushes, and weave garlands of bright coloured blooms.
The travellers, whom we do not trust, are camped not far away.
We discourage their presence, fearing their stealth and dishonesty, but they remain just outside the town limits.
To our displeasure, their children too visit the garden, mingling with our own.
Then Mrs Moore’s daughter, Mary, aged seven, disappears.
We search everywhere, then march on the travellers’ camp.
Tempers flare, weapons are drawn, Mr Moore wields an axe.
A frantic travelling woman interrupts.
Her daughter is missing.
Last seen playing hide-and-seek in the enchanting shrubbery.
She too is never found.
And the fairies dance in the garden.
Sound Bite Fiction 
Faeries that cant be trusted, travellers too. Legend and local mythology mixed with part truths, amd the reality of missing child. Faeries? Or something terribly human. Last hug. I will come back & Read some of Pinky’s work later 🙂 Cheers my friend. Wishing you the best. 🤗🙏🎈
LikeLike
Only in fairy tales are fairies friendly. Nicely done, C.E.
LikeLike
Perhaps they found an entry to a secret garden of peace…
LikeLike
Wow, that was creepy, and scary.
LikeLike
Wow, that was creepy, and scary.
LikeLike
Loved the descriptions. At times the enemy lies right in front of us but we are oblivious to its presence.
LikeLike
Il était une fois une histoire qui commençait ci bien et qui finissait ci mal !
Bravo !
LikeLike
Wonderful story! I love stories where fairies seem dangerous as well as beautiful.
LikeLike
But were the fairies there first? In which case they are all travellers on their land. A proper fairy tale with that real life menace.
LikeLike
Never trust fairies.
LikeLike
Nice message. Outsiders are often suspect. Very few realise, may be they are suffering too.
LikeLike
Brilliant!! 🙂
Sometimes danger lurks in the most unlikely places!
LikeLike
Well said, what we think of as dangerous is not always what we should fear.
LikeLike