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.
And this week’s photo is by C. E. Ayr, that’s me!
I am surprised that anyone doubts the existence of Nessie.
Up Drumnadrochit way, the locals tell you it is easy to spot her.
Step 1, you drink two or three glasses of whisky…
The idea here 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.
© C. E. Ayr
Click here to hear the author read the tale:
The Anniversary
The date on the newspaper jolts me upright.
October 21, 2018.
My mind leaps unbidden to that day ten years earlier.
The day my life changed forever.
It’s in my leather jacket pocket, I call through to her.
A second before remembering what else is in that pocket.
I hear the silence which lasts throughout the evening.
The evening of our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration party.
Almost 200 guests, suspecting nothing.
I was the front man in the business, I did the sales, the client contact, the work.
She was the financial brain behind me.
The one with the old family contacts.
The one who opened the doors.
She took everything.
Destroyed me, and my reputation.
It has been a downward spiral since then.
I am an outcast in our tight community, a city small enough that everyone in our line of business knows everyone else.
Including her.
And her family, of course.
I regret my stupidity.
I still love her, still think of her every day.
But there is no way back.
Never has been.
I sigh, tuck the newspaper inside my trousers, lie back down on the bench.
Another long, cold night stretches ahead.
Sound Bite Fiction 
Wonderful. Leaves you wanting more but not needing it. Bravo.
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Very kind, Tina, thank you
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I love how you bypassed the shocking headline of that newspaper entirely. Everyone else, including me, just couldn’t look past it.
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I am a Scot, we know the truth about Nessie
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Yes, what else did he leave in that pocket, Ceayr? Brilliant write,
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Not just a hole, I guess!
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I like how you left me pondering, what the heck did he leave in that pocket
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C’mon, Michael, you can think of a dozen things
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Maybe he should consider relocation.
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Maybe he wants to stay near her
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We have many asleep on a bus bench here too for much the same reason I’m imagining. Excellent write and thanks for the use of the photo.
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Thank you, Violet.
I love your use of the photo!
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Pingback: Thanks Nessie! – Thru Violet's Lentz
What ‘proof’ did he leave in that pocket? Well, he’s only himself to blame it seems.
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You are a smart dude, Iain, use your imagination!
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