Friday Fictioneers is hosted by the wonderful Rochelle, the undisputed master of what I call Sound Bite Fiction.
She sets the weekly challenge, the standard, and the prompt photo.
The idea, as always, is to write a story of around 100 words based on the picture below, which this week is supplied by the lady herself.
© Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Click here to hear the author read his words:
Little Pumpkin
My daddy is not evil.
He is really nice, he gives me presents, calls me his little pumpkin.
On television they say horrible things about him, that he is a butcher and a murderer.
That he does genocide.
I know this isn’t true.
I overheard him on the phone last night.
His voice sounded so tired, I wanted to hug him.
Because even then he was being kind.
I heard him say these words.
‘I told you to take care of them all, women and children too, every last one of them.’
So, you see, my daddy is nice, not evil.
And if the criminal isn’t stopped, the child will grow up to be just like him. As we can see even today. Very chilling.
Ouch. The innocence of a child.
Wow, a very chilling story. A powerful punch at the end as always.
Thank you, Brenda, ‘very chilling’ is good!
ooh, that was creepy (in a good way of course). An interesting question, when do the children of awful people find out the truth? Perhaps I should ring up Ivanka or Don Jr and ask.
That is an interesting question. Perhaps they just assume that everyone’s parents are like that?
Daddy might not be evil… but this write surely is. Great one. I can just picture one of Himmler’s (substitute any Nazi leader’s name if you wish) children.
I was not, in fact, thinking of the Nazis, but they do, of course, fit rather well.
It’s not what they say… it’s what they hear…
Three little monkeys?
Oy. And yet, in some way, if he’s kind to his child, this is a saving grace for that child – for now. Because even if there’d be a reckoning later on, for all too many children-of-the-cruel, the experience of growing up is one of cold cruelty at home, too.
Well done, you!
Thank you, Na’ama, there is much truth in what you say.
Thanks, Ceayr … though in the general frame of things, oy vey!
Oh, the magic goggles of naïveté and unconditional love. Little Pumpkin’s innocent POV sinisterly highlights the evil deeds of Daddy. Nicely done.
Thank you, sir. We all have our blind spots.
I wonder so how it really was…. but I guess for some of the kids they were spared the harsh truth by being given a cyanide capsule instead of knowing it all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goebbels_children
Interesting that you thought of the Nazis.
I was more towards Yugoslavia 50 years later, which suggests that evil is pretty much timeless
I suddenly found myself in gangland! If only the kid knew. Nice one sir.
You dirty rat, you!
Shouldn’t surprise us, really. There are plenty of grown-ups still denying the Holocaust ever happened. Great take on this prompt.
Thanks, Linda
This is such a wonderfully told chiller. Because it shows the truth of these things, that people who do monstrous things are still capable of love, kind acts, all the things we associate with ‘goodness’. It’s just they have a part of them that accepts the horrible things they do too,even makes sens of them in some twisted logic. You tell it beautifully, but it is chilling
We are all made of many parts, Lynn.
Many thanks for your kind words
Always my great pleasure, C
Dear C.E.
Sadly, this child is in for a rude awakening. Nonetheless I couldn’t help but laugh her logic.
Shalom and Happy New Year,
Rochelle
Kids are cool.
All the best to you and yours, m’lady
What a bloody twist! Great writing Ceayr, and wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Thanks, Neel, all the best to you too
Tu arrives toujours à me surprendre !
Horriblement génial .
J’adore ‘Horriblement génial’!
Wow, that’s a real chiller, with its stark contrast between the guilt of the war criminal and the innocence of his daughter. Well crafted, CE
Thanks, Penny
Inescapable logic of a child.
If Daddy is nice to me…