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17.4.15

ONLY EXPERIMENTING - a 100 word story

ONLY EXPERIMENTING

Evan sat on the wall opposite, rocking back and forth and watching the firemen.
“I didn’t mean it,” he whimpered, then looked round to make sure nobody had heard.

Mr Jenkins said you could make fire with a lens and he’d used the magnifying glass from his detective set. He shivered, remembering his fright when the curtain went up with a whoosh.

They should have listened when he yelled ‘Fire!’ but Dad had gone to look before he dialled 999 and now Mum was stuck.

He heard a scream and sobbed, “I didn’t mean it – I was only experimenting.”
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Friday Fictioneers is a group of writers who write 100-word stories prompted by a photograph posted each week on Rochelle’s site
You can read all the other stories – free! – by following the link on her blog
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 NOT ONLY BUT ALSO  

This is my OFFERING for the O-day of the A-Z Challenge, which is to blog every day for a month using the letters of the alphabet as the only prompt. 
My theme is Tenerife, one of the Canariy Islands, where I live.

OBSOLETE – 
Bull fighting officially ended in Tenerife in 1991, but this ruined bull ring in our village stands as a stark reminder of more savage days.
 Before they fenced it off I went inside to look. There was ornate mosaic tiling everywhere in the public areas, but behind the scenes were cement block walls and plaster with deep gouges at bulls' horn height. The animal pens were tiny cells that to my mind still smelled of urine and terror.
 Despite a spell as a parking area for hire cars, and a briefer period as a storage depot for containers, to me it is still haunted.



Here are some OLD buildings in Las Galletas that hold happier memories - and are still inhabited.





Thanks for visiting my blog - feel free to browse and to leave a comment.

26 comments:

  1. Dear Liz,

    I remember trying out the lens to start a fire. It does indeed work. It seems that one of my sons nearly torched the house with one. Nicely done and a hard lesson for Evan.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. How old was your pyromaniac son when he finally owned up?

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  2. Such a tragic fiction today, Liz. I chose to believe his mum gets out safely!

    Bull fighting is such a horrible 'sport' - those poor animals.

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

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    1. I hope you're right about his mum, Annalisa.

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  3. I liked both posts and both have that O word central to the title. The Only Experimenting is sad and reminds me of the case going on here in the US, where a real loaded gun was mistaken for a much less harmful taser, with deadly results. In terms of your second post, it is chilling for so many reasons. I'm glad I found you through A to Z.

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    1. Thanks Stephanie - I am very glad I don't live in a country where the ownership of guns is a right. So many tragedies.

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  4. Sad story. I too hope the mum escapes.

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    1. That poor little boy will never recover if she doesn't.

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  5. So sad, poor kid, hope mum gets out.

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    1. Another vote for her to escape - I think I'd better write a sequel in which she does!

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  6. Tragic tale Liz. Well done.

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  7. How sad! Great cautionary tale.

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    1. Thanks Perry - the warning is clear - don't tell kids anythng!

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  8. I did stuff like that, and it was dumb luck that nothing happened. A very tragic story, well told.

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  9. Some experiments come at a very high price.... Most of us have been lucky enough.

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    1. When I think of the trees I climbed and the rope on which I swung over a river ...

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  10. Nice one. I've done that experiment too. Sadly was not successful in burning the house down but it does get pretty hot with that lens, ouch!

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    1. Did nobody warn you not to focus it on your hand?

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    2. When people warn you to not do a thing.......

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    3. Ah - I had a couple of kids like you :)

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  11. I thought you were just supposed to burn ants and stuff like that. Seems like we tried to light a firecracker once, but that was a long time ago.

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    1. But still your mother / brother / sister / best friend from childhood remind you at every opportunity?

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  12. Most kids try to fry ants... oh! I just Russell's comment! :D

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