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 most talented Fictioneer, Sandra Crook.
Click here to hear the author read his words:
The Dress
She loved that dress.
I, on the other hand, hated it.
She said it made her feel like a woman again.
It certainly made her look like one.
Rather too much, I thought.
She was still young, she argued.
She was married, I said, with two young children.
It’s just a bit of fun, she laughed.
I didn’t mind her enjoying herself, but I thought it was inappropriate.
She wore it for her ‘girls night out’.
The one she never came back from.
We still don’t know what happened to her.
But they found her dress, discarded in a field.
Tragic, poor woman.
I had to stop my eyes leaping to the end for the expected dark turn… 🙂
Eye leaping is forbidden here, Ali!
Lots of ways of reading this; Did he do away with her? But then again did she run off with Farmer Giles?
A great piece of mystery and gently told with lots of hidden undertones.
Thanks, James, glad it provoked a thought or two
I hope she found a new life, this reader looks to the brighter possibilities 🙂
Without her favourite dress?
Ah, in a monastery, perhaps…
Dark clouds lurk, no matter what.
Well done
Oh, I like dark lurking clouds!
I wonder if he killed her?
Laughing.
I wonder…
Ooh, I wonder. At least the farmer found a good use for the discarded garment!
Always look on the bright side of life…
You do the whistle, okay?
Oy. A sense of disaster right from the beginning. Excellent writing.
Thanks, Linda
I didn’t see where this was going. Those last lines were powerful. Sad story, beautifully conveyed.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Very kind, Susan
He seems kind of flippant about his missing wife. All the same, a great read!
Flippant?
Hmm, interesting…
I’m hoping he didn’t have a hand in his wife’s demise. But I’m not terribly optimistic. Great voice in this, you got the measure of the disapproving husband.
Thanks, Sandra.
For such a nice lady you are deeply suspicious, aren’t you?
But was it the dress that got her into trouble, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Some things we never know, Iain
Great take CE. I am guessing it’s the husband’s voice. Trying on his wife’s words again, as if it will bring her back.
Exactly, JJ, and thanks
Grim, but beautifully written
I’ll take that every time, Neil!