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 – RESERVE
Click here to hear the author read his words:
Business
The last time I saw Ian he was in a dead end job and a dead end marriage, so I’m quite surprised when he calls and invites me to dine in La Croix, Edinburgh’s newest, and expensively exclusive restaurant sensation, and even more so when he arrives wearing a £5,000 Tom Ford suit and a smile I haven’t seen for a decade.
After a sumptuous meal he takes me to his new apartment, a penthouse with views of the castle and the New Town where we stand, brandy in hand, gazing at the monument to Sir Walter Scott in Princes Street Gardens.
As my curiosity has now overcome my natural Scottish reserve, I ask just how illicit his earnings are, and if he is involved in the drug market.
He laughs that that is far too dangerous for him but, as he leads the way to a back room and unlocks the door, admits it is a bit illegal.
I stare at him in disbelief as I look over a single bed, a bucket that is clearly used as a toilet, and, weeping in a corner, a small girl.
Then I smile.
Sound Bite Fiction 
Gasping at the tearful ending.
LikeLike
Thanks, Lisa, sorry about that, sometimes we need to say the unsayable.
LikeLike
The writing in excellent, as usual. The topic, so well communicated, makes me feel ill.
LikeLike
Thanks, Liz, I share your feeling absolutely
LikeLiked by 1 person
Horrific, haunting. You have mastered the art of writing these types of stories.
LikeLike
Thank you, dear Indira, horrific and haunting are just some of the words for these atrocities
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome, Ceayr.
LikeLike
It started out so well, and then along came that ending. Ouch.
LikeLike
Cheers, Keith, I like ‘Ouch’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, wow. Horrific. A lurch to the stomach. So well told; the image you’ve painted in my mind is going to stay with me…
LikeLike
Sorry, Chris, but I guess that was my intention.
We need to remember that these things happen.
LikeLike
Wow. A hard one but you speak the unspoken. Good for you.
LikeLike
As you say, Lindsey, some things are unspeakable, so we must write them
LikeLike
“A bit illegal” gets me. Horrible, ungodly awful. You told it well, though.
LikeLike
All your words and more, Mimi, unforgivable actions
LikeLike
I know it happens, that it’s out there. And I can not “like” this story. The narrator’s smile makes it a true horror story.
LikeLike
Thanks, D, it is truly ghastly, I have to agree
LikeLiked by 1 person
great post, bu tje photo takes the prize. So haunting. really a thousand words isn’t enough. Great!
LikeLike
The Scott Monument, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh is an impressive piece indeed.
LikeLike
👍👍
LikeLike
Thank you, sir
LikeLike
Now this is a Six!
Readers of all cultures, even Britain (and its associated colonies) will totally recognize* the fundamental truth in the rise of culture. No price too high, provided the rewards stay one step ahead.
*hey! speaking if recognizing… having spent hours with google maps and street-views, I could picture the geo-references. As to the underlying assertions of the power of ambition, just need to check out current events
LikeLike
Exactly, Clark, some people will do anything for money.
LikeLike
Jeez, that last line.
In fact, the whole build up to that last line.
Horrific.
A powerful portrayal of the underbelly of our society, and all the more powerful in its horror because of that last line – there is no redemption.
LikeLike
Sadly, Jenne, these people are out there, living among us.
LikeLike
OK, I give up, totally lost. We Australians have no reserve so I ask ‘What’s going on here?’
LikeLike
Not sure what needs to be explained, Doug.
Ian has a child chained in his home for what can only be nefarious purposes.
Take it from there yourself.
LikeLike
And here was I thinking it had to be something D&M beyond the words presented. That’ll teach me to over-think things. 😉 btw please kill Ian before the next episode.
LikeLike
Good question to ask: “I ask just how illicit his earnings are”. And with the small girl we can imagine just how illegal (and immoral) it all is. Well presented story.
LikeLike
Thanks, Frank, illegal, immoral and utterly vile.
LikeLiked by 1 person