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 Jennifer Pendergast.
Click here to hear the author read his words:
The Fire
They give me money, a lot, to burn it down.
An old ramshackle warehouse, big metal shutter-doors, bars on windows, you know the type.
I get through a wee door into the office.
Then it’s easy.
I’ve a couple of cans of petrol that I splash about the cartons and pallets.
Upper floors are wooden, they burn great.
Back outside I see the nightwatchman at an upstairs window.
They said it was empty.
He’s screaming blue murder, that’ll probably give me nightmares.
But it’s an incredible sight, lights up the whole night sky.
I wish I’d brought tea and biscuits.
Sound Bite Fiction 
We should have guessed – the arsonist is a cool headed nasty person who likes tea and biscuits.
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Laughing.
Nobody’s perfect, Patience!
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Well, well, well. I haven’t read you in a bit and yet murder is still happening! 😉 Any time’s good for tea and biscuits though.
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You’re just lucky, Sascha, I haven’t killed any for… oooh… days!
And we agree on tea and biscuits, of course.
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Biscuits? I think marshmallows would be a better choice. But then fire/kettle/boiling, ok I can also see the opportunity for a cuppa.
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But there were no marshmallows in the prompt!
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Oh you devil you! What a cold hearted bastard, dedicated to his occupation I’ll give him that! Lovely wretchedness.
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Comment of the week, sir!
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Surely I win a prize!??
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That’s one ice-cold arsonist there.
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But the wee fire’ll warm him up, Gabriele!
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They shouldn’t have paid him upfront. The guy didn’t do his homework. A cold character indeed. Loved that last line, C.E.
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Thanks, Brenda, happy it worked for you
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Cold fellow isn’t he. But I love the last line.
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Not so much with that big blaze!
Glad you enjoyed
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Clearly, he enjoys his job as a contract arsonist. Unfortunately he can’t pin this one on the night watchman and a death complicates the deed. Hope he got his money first.
He must have grown up in a house with an open fire where he sat having tea and biscuits – something he misses these days.
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Or maybe he was just a bit peckish, James!
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Sinister to the core. The last line brought down the house, literally too.
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Laughing.
Thanks, Neel
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LOL… arsonists are people too! Great tale.
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Well yes, Susan, and they enjoy a wee nibble after work!
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The callousness of this is wonderful!
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Laughing.
Thank you!
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Never enough biscuits! Have to see the humour in these things, beauty of fiction. More tea please.
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I agree, Tannille, nothing wrong with a wee bit dark humour
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Good grief! The arsonist’s-eye view.
Chilling – despite the fire!
And a great wee story, but who knew ‘tea and biscuits’ could be such awful words?
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Hey, I do the funnies, remember?
But I like ‘Good grief’, even without ‘Charlie Brown’!
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My word, CE! You’ve gone and left the poor guy to a gruesome death, and all you can think of is tea and biscuits? Tsk.
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Well, it’s that time already!
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Flamin’ ‘eck, what have you done now?
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The burning question, eh, Keith?
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Ouch! The guilt for that watchman didn’t last long, did it?
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It’s the fault of your goodies, Jen!
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Dear CE,
There’s an arsonist with little to no conscience. Nothing like fireworks to light up the night sky. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Some folk are like that, m’lady, they just enjoy the spectacle!
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I don’t see the prompt in this story. I do like the sinister nature in it though.
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Um, biscuits?
Glad you liked, Mason.
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Okay, sure. I guess I was looking for more of a connection than one word. Good story even still.
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That’s a pretty solid link for me, Mason, I can be a lot more tenuous than that!
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I must remember that when reading more of your stories.
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Une mort horrible, J’ADORE !
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Rire.
Tu aimes bien les morts saignantes et brutales, n’est-ce pas!
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CE, seriously, I think you may need help. Obviously, these are way too many grisly murders for just one writer. Get help. Put an ad in the paper maybe. I don’t want to help you kill people personally, but there are plenty of people out there looking for work. LOL. Too funny. Again.
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C’mon, Anne, be fair, accidents happen.
And I’m trying to picture the ad:
Wanted. Someone to share in an unfeasible number of killings in self-defence, murders, assassinations and a variety of other gory mishaps. No experience necessary.
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That ad would cost a lot of money/jail time. How about: “Murder/mystery help needed. No exp req’d.” Hope this helps! Normally I would invoice for this kind of copywriting but with. Best of luck in your other, other career!
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Expect there will be an upturn in suspicious ‘insurance job’ fires in the next couple of years as we come out of the pandemic. Plenty of opportunities for this MC to enjoy his tea and biscuits!!
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Life’s small pleasures, Iain, what would we do without them!
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I was wondering how you’d go about making gingerbread men sinister. I laughed aloud at the last line. Well done!
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Laughing.
I almost reran this one:
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