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 photo, which this week is very American.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on this picture, below.
© J Hardy Carroll
Click here to hear the writer read his words:
Windows
Windows are just glass.
In reality, they have no inside, and no outside.
If we turn them the other way they are exactly the same.
And yet looking out of a window is a totally different experience from looking in through one.
In the first instance, generally speaking, we see a world populated by many others, perhaps known, perhaps not.
In the second case, all too often, we are intruding, perhaps uninvited, into the privacy of a person, a couple, a family.
At night, on the outside, we can be almost invisible.
Why do we relish this so much more?
Love the introspection here without the feel of darkness.
Thank you, Sascha.
Yep, just a wee bit of philosophical rambling for a change!
I liked it! 🙂
Excellent reflection, c.e. I did not feel the menace at all in this well-written piece.
Thank you, Dale, there was no intention of menace, although some read it in.
I honestly thought not.
I quite agree. You’ve made some good points about the similarities and differences between inside and outside, gently moving the reader with you as you look. Loved it, and your recital of it as well.
Thank you, Karen (no more Sheila, okay!) for your kind words.
I am glad you enjoyed the reading too.
I am not always sure it is worthwhile, but you made it so this week.
why does it remind me of a besieged castle? those who are in wants to get out and those who are out wants to get in. 🙂
Interesting interpretation, sir, thank you
Interesting, that some people are trapped inside glass bubbles.
Perhaps we all are at some time, James
Definitely, something to think about.
Thank you, Tessa, my job is done!
I think any gossip magazine is the equivalent of looking in someone’s window. It’s ironic that celebrities love to be on the big screen, with all eyes on them, but off-screen would be prefer to be left alone. What they don’t want to realize is with celebrities it is open season on snooping. It’s the price they have to pay. For the rest of us non-celebrities we are entitled to whatever privacy we choose, with few exceptions.
An area I have never explored, so I can’t say if it is justified or not.
Thank you for your thoughts.
You are welcome.
Very thought-provoking piece.
Glad you thought so, Jo, thank you
I love the way you have described the different ways you can view a window… reminds me a little bit of Jung, and the way you cannot really see the inside of anyone…. we do have our own windows don’t we?
Thanks, Bjorn, we do indeed, in so many ways.
Loved it, thought provoking stuff and you absolutely nailed it!
Thank you, sir, much appreciated
I really enjoyed your description of the window, very philosophical. It’s true, we are all drawn to watching through the window; inside to outside, outside to inside. Anonymity is appealing.
Thanks, Brenda, I think you got exactly what I was trying to say.
Nice observation of the human condition. Remind me to get some of that reflective sticky stuff…
Thank you, sir
Hey mankind is so cursed to be an incurable voyeur
Laughing. Maybe so, Larry, maybe so
I’ll never see in or out of a window in the same way again!
Put your glasses on, old chap
Oooo I really like this. What you’ve done here is very clever. Makes one think
Then I am happy, thank you, Laurie
Looking into someone else life from a distance unnoticed has its fun. We enjoy the drama without getting affected. Kind of like a silent movie. Till we get caught.
A different world, sometimes
At night, some of us black out the windows in an attempt to maintain our privacy while others leave their open for viewing.
I definitely enjoyed “your” view into windows.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed
I’m sure I’ve bumped in to him while out ‘walking’ late at night…
As I tried to say, Iain, clearly with limited success, many of us feel our eyes drawn intinctively to a window, much like a television in a room.
AH! An unexpected and fabulous viewing angle (pun and all …) 😉
Nice!
Thank you, Na’ama, for the praise and the pun!
🙂
Dear CE,
A peeping Tom perhaps? Nice take.
Shalom,
Rochelle
That was not my intention, m’lady, but seems to have been interpreted that way by several readers.
I meant the story to be somewhat more philosophical and seem to have missed the mark.
A voyeur lives to observe, but not to BE observed. Some weird kink in all the little convolutions of the brain 🙂
My point is that there is a little of that in almost everyone, Linda
Who, ME? Well, yes, I am a people-watcher, but I don’t do it under the cover of darkness and I don’t poke my nose in where it clearly doesn’t belong. I agree with you–there’s a little of it in all of us.
I certainly relished your story! That last line is such a witty conclusion to your description.
Thank you, Penny, happy you enjoyed.
Creepy. I think most of us hate the idea of someone going around peeking in windows. A good story, C.E. I’m sometimes glad I live a few stories up. Now if we only had a lift. —-Suzanne
In fact, Suzanne, this was meant more as an observation than a threat!
Glad you enjoyed regardless.
The subtlety of the character description is sublime. Very well done, CE.
Thanks, Varad, glad it worked for you.
Acutely observed, beautifully executed. The menace is wonderfully understated. Well done. Says so much in so few words. (As a mundane aside, I have to dispute the bit about them having no inside and outside. Our double glazing contractor has managed to lay two conservatory ceiling panels the wrong way up – and after almost 12 months we’re still waiting for the second one to be replaced.) I’m thinking of contracting Portuguese Tony to deal with them.
Thank you, Sandra. Praise from Caesar…
And I laughed aloud at your ‘mundane aside’.
I am no expert on double glazing, but I am probably less of a threat to your home and happiness than Tony Casquette!
Let’s hope he doesn’t graduate from windows to doors
Nah, he’s just nosey!