BACK THEN - a story in 100 words

 

 BACK THEN

Grandma was always reminiscing about her youth.

Everything was better ‘back then’ – neighbours looked out for each other, you bought food locally and cooked it yourself, roads were safe to walk along, people read books instead of screens.

We’d smile indulgently and go home to order pizza and watch TV.

 Then the plague came. We helped our neighbours, discovering that the village greengrocer stocked more than we realised, and the corner shop always had toilet rolls. We took our exercise along undiscovered lanes, and someone set up a book swap in the bus-stop.

 We were almost sad when it ended.

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Just found ten minutes to write a story to go with CEAyr's image. Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioineers so diligently for so many years!  https://rochellewisoff.com

We are in the throes of buying a new kitchen. The one we inherited was installed by the previous tenants themselves, on the cheap, and after two years in this cottage we are still not happy with it. So the time has come - savings aren't earning anything anyway!  Next Monday the contractor moves in to make a proper mess, which in our tiny cottage means we will be eating out for a week, purely in self-defence, you understand.

And one more thing - I HAVE PUBLISHED THE FOURTH AND FINAL BOOK IN MY SERIES!! If you click on the LIVING ROCK blog entry for last week, you can read the prologue, which I hope will encourge you to buy my books, all of which are on Amazon. And if you have already read the first three, click on the book cover top right to buy ROCK FESTIVAL.

NUMBER ONE - a story in 100 words.

NUMBER ONE

Sean took over the business from his father when he was twenty, after working his way up from sweeping the floor, so when the pandemic forced a shut-down he was devastated. No money coming in and rent still going out – a disaster.

As the rules slowly relaxed he bought masks and gloves, deep-cleaned the premises, posted a notice.

On The Big Day there was a long queue – his clients hadn’t deserted him after all. Unwilling to turn anyone away, he let them in four at a time, shampooed them quickly and sped along the line, giving every head a number one.

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I have literally no idea what Todd Foltz'a photo is, but to me it looks like a line of bald heads. Once that idea was in my mind, the rest was easy - possibly fuelled by the fact that today I made a hair appointmentfor the first time in months.

Thanks to Rochelle for hosting us on her blog, https://rochellewisoff.com/

WINDOWS - a story in 100 words

WINDOWS

     Looking out of this window I am twenty again, in my first flat, swallowing tears and trying not to admit I’m homesick to Dad, who is fixing my aerial. I might stay here all day.

Yesterday’s window was open to Mediterranean air, the rattle of palm leaves in the breeze and click of cicadas.

Tomorrow – who knows? As long as my memory still functions I can be anywhere I choose. Anywhere other than here.

I always imagined my last sight on this earth would be my children’s faces, not bare white walls, zigzag lines on a screen, and masked strangers.

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I'm still here, still fighting, still writing - though not as much as I should, but this pandemic seems to have frozen some of my brain! One bright note is that I am now in a bubble with my daughter and granddaughter, and was able yesterday to pick our five-year-old up from school, bring her home with me, and dig potatoes. Simple joys make life worth living.

This week's photo prompt took me to a darker place, somewhere I hope not to experience personally, but I know people who have been there.

Thanks to Rochelle for the photo and for hosting Friday Fictioneers on her blog  https://rochellewisoff.com/

HOME SCHOOLING - a story in 100 words

HOME SCHOOLING

It was only something to occupy the kids during lockdown, but it also qualified as home-schooling – a blend of science, maths and art.

Our old tent made the balloon, the guy-ropes attached to Nan’s wicker washing basket. Using a blow-torch to heat it was a bit risky but it worked, and when our balloon appeared above the garden fence, the neighbours cheered. Unfortunately, when Bob from next door offered Dad a beer he let go of the rope.

It didn’t fly far, of course, and the police were very understanding, but Tiddles was traumatised – she never could resist a basket.

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I do hope you are all surviving the pandemic situation in whichever country you live. One of my grandchildren has returned to school, albeit to a class of seven rather than the thirty she is used to, but the older ones must wait until September - that's a heck of a long break in their education.
My mother is still isolated in her Care Home, and although I have been able to see her twice recently by sitting two metres apart in their garden, I can't give her the hug she so desperately wants.
So I have resorted to humour this week just to cheer everyone up - I hope it worked? Thanks to Rochelle for hosting FF and to Ronda Del Baccio for the photograph that prompted this week's stories, more of which you can read by going to  https://rochellewisoff.com/
PS - Tiddles is a common name for a cat - not a child!

PIGEONS - a little hundred word story for Lockdown!.

PIGEONS

I bought this apartment for the view, which now is all I have – I watch neighbours I have never met, enjoying the illusion of company and talking to pigeons.

Overweight Guy is bronzed and fit after weeks of exercise.

I heard Barbecue Couple’s champagne cork pop and raised my own glass to them.

Last week food deliveries stopped. I ventured out briefly and scuttled home, but I brought back more than food. Even in this unpolluted air I cannot catch my breath.

I wonder if there will be any flesh left when they find me – pigeons will eat anything.

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I met a neighbour today who was feeling so depressed about his isolation that I had to write this story - sorry if it's not the cheery story you were anticipating. :)  I hope you are all survivng the pandemic as well as you can, and making the most of your enforced imprisonment to finish that novel?

In truth this image reminds me of the view from a friend's apartment in Tenerife, where the rooftop terraces were used for lines of washing, barbecues and even chicken coops.

Thanks to Rochelle for hostingFriday Fictioneers on her blog   https://rochellewisoff.com/  and to Roger Bultot for the photograph.

PS - Only a day since the prompt yet already I am WAY down the link page - no wonder I only get a few comments!