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15.2.17

THE HIGH LIFE - fiction in 100 words

THE HIGH LIFE

Karl wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he was good at football – very good – and was quickly snapped up by a major team.
He was regularly front-page news, blinking in flashlights outside nightclubs with a series of stunning girlfriends. 

His team managed to keep his worst excesses out of the papers – he was their golden boy as long as he kept scoring goals with his world-famous headers. His life was the envy of many – until he developed a blood clot on his brain.

Deprived of the adulation on which he thrived, his downward spiral was swift, and ultimately fatal.
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This week's photo is one which I took myself ! I was out for a walk one morning in Tenerife when I spotted this macabre still-life. To read how other writers inerpreted the image, go to  https://rochellewisoff.com/ and follow the link.
This story is not the only one I've written this week - I am delighted to tell you that on  http://visualverse.org/about-visual-verse/  you will find my name in the list of authors.

51 comments:

  1. Dear Liz,

    This story feels more like fact than fiction. Well done on many levels. And thanks again for the great photo!

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Well, I didn't have any particular person in mind, but one sees so many similar stories these days. I wondered which of my photos you would use!

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  2. I agree with Rochelle - this does feel very real.

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  3. As much as they are over-paid, I have some sympathy for sportsmen who suddenyl find themselves washed up at 30 years old, deprived of doing the one thing they have been good at their whole lives. It must be a very empty feeling. Nice take.

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    1. Too much too soon and no advice on how to weather the storm - they are sad, aren't they?

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  4. Thank you for a very inspiring photo. Great story, rings so true.

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  5. I find it hard to muster much compassion for footballers but I'll make an exception in your main character's case. It must have been all those goals he scored by heading it in. Great photo, Liz.

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    1. Headers and head injuries have been in the news this week, hence my story.

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  6. A fate shared by many a sports-person I fear. Your inspiring photo has taken us in all sorts of directions this week. Thank you.

    Click to read my story!

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    1. There have certainly been a good variety of stories this week.

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  7. Oh yes, this does have a way too real feel about it. We hear so many horror stories of what these poor men (usually) have become or not

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    1. Even the ones who seem to be leading charmed lives can turn out to have feet of clay.

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  8. This is a story told so often... loved the picture, and it was almost a story in itself.

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    1. Finding that head with its fag packet and bottle was pure chance, serendipitous and haunting.

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  9. very well done - and sadly, the story of many guys.... well done (and love your photo featured this week) peace

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    1. Some of these footballers shouldn't be allowed out without a minder.

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  10. First, thanks for the photo. It's delightfully odd. On the other hand, your story isn't. When athletes are discovered, they rise too high too quickly and drop like rocks in the end. Timely story, Liz

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    1. AS I said to Y Prior above, these young men need better advice and leadership than they get.

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  11. Ouch, a brief flare in the spotlight and just as suddenly, gone. Thanks for the photo!

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  12. Sports Illustrated has done several stories over the years about athletes who once earned millions a year and wound up in the poor house only a short time after they left the sport. Some, like young Johnny Manzel, self-imploded before their career even took off.

    Like another reader said, this is very real. Thanks for the great photo.

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    1. You'd think people who have to be fit enough to play football would take better care of their bodies.

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  13. A vortex many fall into. You've brought it across well and nicely compacted.

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    1. Love that word vortex! Thanks for commenting.

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  14. if anything, he had enjoyed the fame while it lasted. :)

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    1. Somebody has to see the bright side of the tragedy!

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  16. Liz, I'm so pleased Rochelle decided on your photo. It's a great one. It evokes so many thoughts. Your story is tragically heartbreaking. A young person's demise at an early age if always a tragedy. Well done ...
    Isadora ��

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    1. Isadora - thank you on borh counts. I sent Rochelle several photos but was surprised when she chose this one. She was right, though, as there have been such a variety of stories.

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  17. Great image and story, Liz. It does sound all too real. Apparently these young people never learn about similar fates from older athletes.

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    1. Being young, they believe they can handle it.

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  18. Thanks so much for providing this week's photo prompt. I did consider writing about the person setting all those things up in place and wondered whether you'd stumbled across it as is or had composed it this way. I have put a few photos together a bit down that path but not quite so bleak. Could see it being a student's major work and the school calling home to discuss.
    Fame is an interesting thing. Also I feel that coaches wind up obsessive people and use these obsessive qualities to develop their talent beyond what's healthy. Then, people wonder why things went wrong when they helped create "the monster". I'm not sure that I've explained it well.
    We had a tragic case hit the papers this week of former Olympic swimmer Grant Hackett who has had a major meltdown: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/good-luck-grant-hackett-and-all-strength-to-you-and-your-family-20170216-guf26s.html
    Thanks for such an interesting take and the photo.
    xx Rowena

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    1. rowena - thank you for your thoughtful comment. I found the objects as I photographed them, and although it's quite possible somebody posed them, they were simply lying on the verge in an abandoned building site.
      There are tragic cases every week at the moment, it seems, which is why I wrote what I did.

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  19. Very real and chilling tragic.

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  20. Fame is so capricious, isn't it? Great still-life photo and great story, Liz.

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    1. Thanks JJF - not having experienced fame I can only comment from the sidelines, but it does appear to be a two-edged sword.

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  21. Great story. Great photo!

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  22. The end is chilling. A nice read.
    Thanks a lot for this photograph... My imagination had quite a time with this prompt!!

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    1. Thans Yuhu - you are among the majority who liked the photo.

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  23. Being from the United States, I especially enjoyed your word usage in this story.

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  24. Thanks Dawn - are you referring to 'not the sharpest knife in the drawer' ?

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  25. This could be a true story as so many sportsperson spiral downwards unable to handle the fame. On another note thanks for providing this week's photo prompt. The body count is high this week ;-)

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    1. A corpse-less head was bound to bring out the macabre in us!

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  26. A realistic write. Thanks for an awesome photo prompt :)

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  27. Liz, an interesting take on your photo. It's always a bit of surprise when Ms. Wisoff-Fields uses one's photo! I wasn't sure how this photo took you to football, but enjoyed the story telling. Like others, I expected it was real and waited for a link, which makes it all the more fascinating. :-)

    While my story gave many the chills, I found this photo to be one of THE most inspiring so far on FF! I can think of several stories I'd write for it. Wonderful prompt!

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    1. There have been news stories recently about footballers suffering head injury and dementia after years of heading the football, hence my story. So it's based on fact, but not personal.
      How about writing your other sotires and sharing those via a Facebook link to your blog?
      Thanks for your appreciation of my photo.

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