I'm loving the photo prompt for this week's Friday Fictioneers, courtesy of the lovely Madison Woods. This reminds me of my own stint in the desert, a place I came to love and call home, a place I dearly miss. So, here's my 100 word tale. Feel free to leave your comments and your links.
 |
| Photo by Amanda Gray, courtesy of madison-woods.com |
Welcome to Nowhere. Population: 1. The crooked door, peelin' paint and broken windows shout “nobody’s home.” Ain’t nothin' here but endless scrub and sky and God forsaken blistering heat – my own personal Hell.
Been holed up here for weeks now, all alone. The hiding out? That’s easy. It’s the waiting
gets hard. Out here, nothing sneaks up
on a man ‘cept what’s inside his head. The secrets. The sins.
Wish I knew if Jed was a-comin’; if he hid it like he
promised. Them clouds been promising a storm, too; but so far ain’t no sign of
rain, or Jed.
100 words
Two words came to mind as I was reading this: solitary confinement.
ReplyDeleteIt's like being on death row in a desert. Very lonesome.
Nicely depicted.
http://logo-ligi.com/2012/07/06/healing/
This reminds me a great deal of Paint your Wagon. You've done a really great job maintaining the narrators tone throughout the entire piece. Great job!
ReplyDeleteCould feel the heat and the solitary hell. Good job.
ReplyDeletewww.rochelle-wisoff.blogspot.com/2012/07/encampment.html
If the heat don't get him the boredom will. I'd never had cabin fever in the summer until this year, but at least I'm not alone. I loved the line, "nothin' sneaks up on a man 'cept what's inside his head." Great use of the photo prompt.
ReplyDeletehttp://russellgayer.blogspot.com/
I think that's my favorite one too!
DeleteGreat language, and I feel for the guy -- not so sure Jed's coming.
ReplyDeleteyeah, me neither. Thanks for the read.
DeleteHi Stacy,
ReplyDeleteWow,I really admire the style of this. You really put me inside this guy's head. I could feel his desperation and despair. Great little piece of writing.
Ron
Interesting style, excellent take on the photo prompt. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI think the storm will show up long before Jed. It certainly does sound like Hell for him. The descriptions were great.
ReplyDeleteI'm here: http://mysocalleddutchlife.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/the-house-that-jack-built-ff-6712/
This is one of my favorites by far this week. That second paragraph is so perfectly voiced, and then the hopeless parallel he draws between Jed and the promised rain at the end is a nice ringing line to leave it on. Great writing.
ReplyDeleteBrian (http://pinionpost.com/2012/07/06/kyawe/)
Great voice to this piece. It felt very believable. I liked the ending.
ReplyDeleteReally nice piece of writing. I like how you make the reader believe we know so much more than the main character.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting mine.
Love it. Welcome to nowhere. Population 1. Isolation. Boredom. Wonder how he intends to protect himself when thunderstorms and windstorms threaten? Nice work.
ReplyDelete