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.
And the prompt, which this week is provided courtesy of Jeff Arnold.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on this picture, below.
© Jeff Arnold
Click here to hear the writer read his words:
Babysitter
I tell them I don’t need a babysitter.
But they don’t trust me, I guess.
I am too wild, too irresponsible, too callously violent.
I am only 11 years old, what do they expect?
So when they ‘have’ to go out, mostly to the pub with their friends, I am confined to my room.
And this stupid girl is here ‘just to keep an eye on you’.
She is clueless, of course.
The police arrive as the house burns.
My mother faints when I take my hand out of my pocket.
I laugh.
‘She still has her eye on me.’
Sound Bite Fiction 
Hmmm…what is in his hand?
A lighter?
An eyeball?
I could tell this story to my nieces and nephews as well! hehehehe
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I feel sure your young uns would know what was un his hand, Dawn!
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LOL
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Horribly appropriate for the season, nice one
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Thanks, Mick, I like ‘horribly’!
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Mmm horribly is good. Book is up for preorder on amazon if you’re interested
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Urk! I just hope she didn’t give him her heart.
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Yeuch! That would be horrible!
But I do like ‘Urk!’
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Revoltingly brilliant!!
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Drat! I was going for brilliantly revolting!
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LOVE that last line. Ah, kids these days.
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Gotta love ’em, eh, Stu?
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Well written! Definitely gave me chills!
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Chills are cool, Ashley! Thank you
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Incredible dark tale, that was enjoyable! In the spirit of Halloween… =)
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Happy you enjoyed, Brenda
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Very dark. Fantastic!
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Thank you, Lisa
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Disgusting and brilliant!
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Thank you, Jilly, you are a sweetheart, just made me smile again!
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Very dark and gruesome! Scary child.
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Thank you, music to my ears!
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Evil has no boundaries in the mind of a child.
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And sadly, James, in the minds of some adults
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As a teacher I’ve been told never to tell an autistic child to ‘wash your hands in the toilets.’ From now on I’ll keep an eye on all those other throw away phrases. Truly truly gruesome!
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Truly truly gruesome! Thank you so much! I am a happy bunny here!
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I have goosebumps. very well written!
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Goosebumps are good, I am happy now!
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…then he popped it in his mouth and swallowed it! Nice one.
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Oh Keith, that is not nice!
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This is a very cruel eleven year old! Has he taken out eye of the babysitter while setting her and the house on fire? Very dark indeed!
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Yep, that’s pretty much it, sir. Sometimes I enjoy a little dark!
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Ha ha ha, loved that ending. Wicked!
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Great, laughter is good, black humour rules!
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Well. That’s the second sinister kid so far. This is turning out to be a very sinister chess game, indeed. “She still has her eye on me.”
Yikes!
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I like Yikes! I always enjoy a good gasp of horror!
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Eww. Now someone other than the babysitter or mom and dad will be watching her. Yuck, You did a great job.
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Eww and Yuck, how cool! Thank you, I am all smiles here!
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You should be. You wrote well.
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Eww. Just eww. Creepy character, not to be left unattended. Although I doubt anyone will sign up to babysit anytime soon!
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Oh I do like ‘Eww. Just eww.’ That has brightened my day, thank you!
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Yuk! (In a good way).
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Yuk is always good, I think!
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You presented the perfect story to encapture the creepy feeling of that eye.
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Thank you, Alicia, what a lovely comment
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Perfect story for Hallowe’en… Mummy and Daddy have no clue about the monster they spawned, do they?
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Well they do realise their little angel is not perfect, I think
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Of that I am sure… maybe not to the full extent!
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Oh my goodness, what a last line. Deliciously gruesome story!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Oh your goodness! Really, Susan! Laughing, thank you.
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Dear CE,
Oh my! That boy’s the epitome of the Bad Seed with pun firmly in hand. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, m’lady, I do like an ‘Oh my!’
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Oh my, what a story!
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Oh my, what a comment!
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Of course confining a child to his room is cruel, but I think in the end there are no justification for murder.
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Wow, you are in a serious mood this week, Bjorn!
And right, of course.
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Dangerous child.
Too late for babysitter. Poor thing…
Have a great week!
Queen In Quicksand – Anita
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Thank you, Anita
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Delicious, even by your high standards that’s wonderfully gruesome.
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How very kind of you, Iain!
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Sharp and to the point, you burnt it with this one.
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Ba boom! Thanks, Michael
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Gruesome child. It’s not only clues that the babysitter is lacking now. Not, I suspect, that she’s in a condition to care about that. You’re on form.
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Thanks, Sandra, hard earned pocket money here!
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A grizzly pun, lov ingly rendered
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Aye, Neil, a wee bit black humour is good for the soul
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