SAY IT
WITH FLOWERS
After I’d posted something controversial on
social media the hatred and threatening
I didn’t recognise the scrawled
signature, but I fetched a trowel and planted them in my window box, then picked
up the watering can.
An unexpected odour wafted up –
someone had filled it with petrol! That could have ruined all my plants, I
thought, putting it down carefully. Really, this was going too far.
Then the grey box under the tap began
to tick.
...................................................................................................................
Another image, another 100 word story. I have so many stored on file that I may have to make a book of them! Thanks to Rochelle for keeping all of her Friday Fictioneer flock supplied with inspiration, and to Rowena Curtin for the photograph. A friend who came to tea earlier today brought me flowers, but her intentions were purer than the giver of those in my story!
Or, for my local followers, a reminder that all seven of my novels can now be borrowed from the library.
...
Happy gardening!
Yikes! Social media at its worst! Excellent writing : ) (This is granonine)
ReplyDeleteThank you - social media is anything but social!
DeleteBloody hell! Things are getting crazy out there!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the trouble, they are.
DeleteA nicely done rising tide of threat
ReplyDeleteThank you, Neil, for noticing!
DeleteYikes!
ReplyDeleteYikes indeed - especially if petrol is also involved.
Deletesuch is life in a society getting more polarized.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately that is too true.
DeleteGood lawd, what is wrong with people?
ReplyDeleteItis kinda sad that this work of fiction reads so true for many of us.
I know - people on social media get far too carried away.
DeleteOh no! I knew there was a reason why I'm just a social media lurker. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI took am a lurker - I am very careful before I make a comment.
DeleteI liked the contrast between the nice harmless items and the threat they hid!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Iain - the image was so inoccuous that I had to do it!
DeleteI wish it were fiction, but I know about at least one case where a woman was bullied into suicide by the haters. Great story telling, Lizy.
ReplyDeleteThat's dreadful, yet it doesnt stop them.
DeleteSounds like a bad day going worse. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteNothing would surprise me these days. Good one,
ReplyDeleteSandra
DeleteI know this is just a story (and a very good one), but it's sadly a reflection on the world we live in.
ReplyDeleteYes it is, unfortunately, but thanks for the compliment.
DeleteOh boy. The escalation of the threat to your MC is riveting. You've shown the insidious nature of social media at its worst. Trust the human race to take a useful tool and use it to bludgeon others. Just as well there are some bright spots in the internet world - like Friday Fictioneers.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margirene - I'm grateful too for FF as a light in the darkness. Also to vss365 on X-formerly- Twitter - you might look for that too.
DeleteDear Lizy,
ReplyDeleteThe sad and scary thing about your story is that I could see it actually happening. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Things these days do seem to be more extreme. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteWow, spell binding story. Glad it's fiction! :)
ReplyDeleteSo am I!
DeleteYikes. I really hope this never happens in real life, but some of the posts do feel like they're looking to explode. -Angela
ReplyDeleteThere are some really weird people out there.
DeleteOh no, that's awful. Nowadays, I could see that really happening. Sad. I didn't notice the gray box. Clever!
ReplyDeleteIt's not impossible, sad to say.
Delete