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.
Oooh, that was a good one. I really liked the line “as though things happened around him, rather than to him.”
Thanks, Nicole, some people seem to live just off-stage, don’t you think?
Powerful, cool and mysterious. Love the Phil B art too, and totally got that 007 vibe with the brill touch of that added symbol ☮✌
Thanks, TAM, Phil’s art is always eye-catching, I think
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
I enjoyed The Dubliners, his short stories, and the first 5 or 6 words of Ulysses!
Glad you enjoyed despite that, Clark
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.
Laughing.
I like ‘Yay’.
Happy you enjoyed it, Denise
Even living with them for years, people can be a mystery.
Very true, sometimes scarily so, Mimi
Ooh! Very poignant. I felt quite tearful about the distance between them and the lost opportunity for possibility. Love this.
You are very kind, Lindsey.
And save your tears, please, it’s total fiction!
Wistful, rather romantic and really well conveyed. Great Six!
Thanks, Chris, glad it worked for you.
Dads can be like that. Moms, too.
Wonder what our children see/wonder in us?
Maybe best not to know, Liz!
Words to live by!
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.
I think there are often hidden parts of our parents’ past, Frank.
Glad you enjoyed.
Really, really well done
Thank you, sir
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.
Thanks, Jenne, inter-generational relationships can be difficult sometimes…