This challenge is produced by GirlieOnTheEdge with the following simple rules:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word – PRESENCE
Click here to hear the author read his words:
My Father
He was a strange one, my father, not a good man, particularly, but not a bad one either.
Although he never raised a hand to us, and seldom his voice, there was a sort of air about him that meant you walked carefully in his presence.
He lived somewhat in the shadows, I felt, as though things happened around him, rather than to him.
There was something a bit, ah, clandestine about him, as if, perhaps, he had another life.
I always wondered if he was a good guy, like a secret agent, or a baddie, a gangster, maybe.
I guess now I’ll never know.
Sound Bite Fiction 
Oooh, that was a good one. I really liked the line “as though things happened around him, rather than to him.”
LikeLike
Thanks, Nicole, some people seem to live just off-stage, don’t you think?
LikeLike
Powerful, cool and mysterious. Love the Phil B art too, and totally got that 007 vibe with the brill touch of that added symbol ☮✌
LikeLike
Thanks, TAM, Phil’s art is always eye-catching, I think
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t tell anyone, but I was getting a James Joyce vibe when reading, which is odd, because I can’t say I know that much about his work, other than some Cliff Note visits to Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake…
Good Six
LikeLike
I enjoyed The Dubliners, his short stories, and the first 5 or 6 words of Ulysses!
Glad you enjoyed despite that, Clark
LikeLike
Yay. Story time at SBF. Seriously, C.E.. Simple and eloquent, words and voice, telling of the first relationship most of us have – the one with a parent. Splendid Six.
LikeLike
Laughing.
I like ‘Yay’.
Happy you enjoyed it, Denise
LikeLike
Even living with them for years, people can be a mystery.
LikeLike
Very true, sometimes scarily so, Mimi
LikeLike
Ooh! Very poignant. I felt quite tearful about the distance between them and the lost opportunity for possibility. Love this.
LikeLike
You are very kind, Lindsey.
And save your tears, please, it’s total fiction!
LikeLike
Wistful, rather romantic and really well conveyed. Great Six!
LikeLike
Thanks, Chris, glad it worked for you.
LikeLike
Dads can be like that. Moms, too.
Wonder what our children see/wonder in us?
LikeLike
Maybe best not to know, Liz!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Words to live by!
LikeLike
I like the doubt raised about whether one’s father was a secret agent good guy or not and the sense of regret at the end that it is now too late to find out.
LikeLike
I think there are often hidden parts of our parents’ past, Frank.
Glad you enjoyed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really, really well done
LikeLike
Thank you, sir
LikeLike
The story of a boy’s non-relationship with his father in six short sentences.
Strong language conveys his feelings about this – and with not one word too many.
A great piece of writing.
LikeLike
Thanks, Jenne, inter-generational relationships can be difficult sometimes…
LikeLike