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6.12.18

TIMETABLE - 100 words for Friday Fictioneers


TIMETABLE

The island’s steep lava flows sprawled into the Atlantic like giant starfish arms, each inlet battered by waves that had gained strength across a thousand miles of ocean.

Manuel had grown up here, knew it intimately, and he had a foolproof plan. Rob the village store just as it was closing, then escape along the railway line and hide in the tunnel as he had when he was a boy. The police, having to use the winding road, couldn’t catch him.

Unfortunately, in the years he’d been away, the train timetable had changed. Jumping to the side wasn’t an option.
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 This week's photograph, thanks to Dawn M Miller and https://rochellewisoff.com/ , reminded me of La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands. It doesn't have a railway, but the road around the island is cut through each starfish arm and skirts precipitous drops to the valleys. That's the mostly yellow one on this map!

I have taken on another challenge this month - one from National Flash Fiction, to produce an Advent Calendar of flash fiction using a different prompt each day. Feel free to scroll through my archives and read them.


36 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Helen - first comment as usual X

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  2. A shocking story but so beautifully written. Particularly lovely for me: sprawling like giant starfish arms: great stuff. Jilly, Sugar on the Bee

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    1. Thank you Jilly, especially for picking out a phrase that I was pleased with X

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  3. Replies
    1. Sometimes a slight miscalculation can have disastrous effects.

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  4. Nicely wry ending. I've lost count of the times I've sipped a sundowner gazing across to La Gomera.

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    1. Me too - and have you driven along that road? Scary, isn't it!

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  5. Serves him right I suppose...

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    1. I suppose, though a tad severe for a bit of robbery.

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  6. Oh dear. More research was required, methinks :-)

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    1. Manuel wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer!

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  7. Always double and triple check your heists! If the movies teach us anything it's that they often go wrong, even when your plan seems impeccably sound.

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  8. What did he expect? HE didn't plan very well, did he?

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  9. it looks like the long arm of the law will finally catch up with him this time around.

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  10. Terrible things can happen when we don't keep up with current news. And some can burn the flesh off one's bones, it seems.

    A Flash Fiction Advent Calendar sounds glorious! I shall certainly take a look-see.

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    Replies
    1. Manuel should have researched a little!

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  11. Poor Manuel did not plan his heist properly. He may have to go away again for a long time.

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    1. But will it be to prison or hospital?

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  12. Oh! Sometimes, change is not for the better and it seems keeping up with the times would have been in his favor. Well done.

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  13. Dear Liz,

    Manuel should've checked things out ahead of time. Hospital, prison or morgue? Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    Replies
    1. My imagination has him in the morgue!

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  14. Loved the writer and the backstory. thanks for both.

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  15. I haven't driven on La Gomera but on other islands and in Norway... those winding roads are scary...

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    1. Too damn right they are - hairpin bends, no safety rail, sides so steep it feels like you're driving off the edge.

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