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 photo, by Dale Rogerson, provoked an immediate need to visit the bathroom.
Too much information, perhaps?
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on this picture, below.
© Dale Rogerson
Click here to hear the writer read his words:
The Naiad
Water is the source of all things good, she says.
Every creature on earth, every plant, requires water to live.
Without it there is no beauty, only desolation.
You’re a Mermaid, I ask, sceptically.
A Naiad, she replies, a Mermaid, by definition, lives in the sea.
I am a guardian of fresh water, this is my domain.
Her elegant arm indicates the stream and the lake from which it flows.
I catch and bind her hands.
I have need of you, I say, Nature can take care of itself.
I will die in captivity, she says.
I shrug.
Then I’ll find another.
Sound Bite Fiction 
This little story capture what’s bad in humanity… excellent writing that made me lose another little bit of hope for us a specie
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Thank you, Bjorn.
Sorry for being so pessimistic, but sometimes I look at our fellow humans and despair,
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Evil man!
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Evil mankind, Dawn
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You and neil have hit upon the same theme. Powerful allegory.
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Thank you. We have both remarked on this similarity, very differently written.
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Selfish and brutal exploitation, great allegory for the way we treat the planet.
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Sadly so, Mick. Cheers
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The naiad met the wrong person, someone greedy and callous to the world’s need for her. Sounds all too familiar for real life. Well written metaphor.
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Thank you, Brenda.
Seems to be how things are at present.
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This is one grim tale of the destructive nature of some
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Exactly, Michael
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Cold-hearted bloke, isn’t he?
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Yes, as are too many of us.
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Brutal, as indeed are some of mankind.
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Sadly so, Clare
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A practical sort of chap, our hero.
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I think stupid and short-sighted might be more accurate, dear sir
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Wicked, wicked man. Nicely written.
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Wicked, wicked mankind, Jo.
Thank you.
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I was unable to ‘like’ this story for some unknown reason, but I thought I would let you know anyway that I liked it. 🙂
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Thank you, much appreciated
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Let me start by saying that if I had not written my story before reading yours, I would probably start wondering if my muse didn’t plagiarized yours by accident.
I love this eerie piece, and the terrible reality dancing in its theme. The narrator is a despicable creature, the way he treats another living being makes my skin crawl… and my feet want to kick him in the teeth.
I hope the Naiad can turn his words against him, that she can show him that Nature (and her creatures) can, indeed, take care of their own (and self).
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I sympathise with your views, Magaly, they are exactly in accord with my own.
I hope you are right, but I suspect that we will continue to destroy our planet’s natural resources until it is too late.
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Naiads aren’t salty enough for me, I like a bit of salt..
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Laughing.
No comment.
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Well told tale, Mr. ayr. Man’s callous waste of natural resources…
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Indeed, Dale.
I am surprised that your delightfully refreshing photo led to such a dark place.
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For so many… we are a wicked bunch.
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Yeah, he’s a romantic for sure. Consumerism gone mad.
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And one day we will arrive at a real Black Friday with nothing left to consume.
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Till one has a choice to go for another, then what? Beautifully written. The way we are misusing water, horrifying, indeed.
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Indeed, my dear Indira, we are misusing our planet’s resources at a frightening rate.
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So true. But hope is still there. Some people are doing selflessly to save it.
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Wow! always knew you, i mean your writings can be so deliciously wicked, Ceayr.
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Laughing. Thanks, Neel
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What happens when there are no more others? I fear we will find out.
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We share the same fear, Karen.
Thank you for visiting
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Dear CE,
Such a statement of how humans have raped the natural resources. What happens when we can’t ‘find another?’ Well done, sir.
Shalom,
Rochelle.
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Thank you, m’lady, my point exactly.
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Bad luck for the naiad that she met a psychopath.
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And bad luck for Mother Nature that she met mankind.
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This reads like a metaphor for the world we live in. Sadly and nicely done.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Exactly so, Susan.
Thank you
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Naiads have a pretty tough time of it – overshadowed and mistaken for mermaids, then bound up and stolen away. Hopefully some sort of magical curse awaits him for his deeds.
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The only curse awaiting all of us, Iain, is the destruction of our planet.
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The brutal callousness of unthinking exploitation well-captured, mate
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Thanks Neil, you hit the nail on the head.
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