SNOW ANGEL - a 100 word story for Friday Fictioneers

SNOW ANGEL

With the temperature twenty-five on the beach, the last thing we expected was snow, but after a night of heavy rain the mountain shone brilliant white.

After lunch we hired a car and drove up to look. It was magical but freezing, and we weren’t dressed for snow.

Driving back round never-ending hairpin bends, my foot slipped on the pedal and we slid towards a vertical drop.

Two feet from certain death we stopped, with the bonnet touching a snowman.

Or so I thought, until our snowman spread its beautiful wings and soared away over the sunlit void.

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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers on her blog https://rochellewisoff.com/ and to Jan Wayne Fields for the photo prompt. You can read other stories by following the above link.

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When I lived in Tenerife, the sight of snow on the mile-high Mount Teide was an annual treat for the eyes. Once the Cabildo had cleared the very steep and winding access road, locals would drive up there to play in the snow, even enjoying barbecues, before building snowmen on their bonnets and driving down - the winner being the driver who got the furthest before the snowman melted! 

There is so much more to Tenerife than the average tourist sees - it is hardly surprising that my adopted island inspired my Living Rock series of books. If you would like to buy A Volcanic Race, the first in the series, click on the cover at the top of this page.

STRANGER IN TOWN - a story in a hundred words

STRANGER IN TOWN

The saloon sign creaked in the chilly wind and Brad succumbed to its invitation. A dozen men fell silent as he entered and ordered a beer.

“Friends in town?” the barman asked.

“No, just passing through.”

“You expected somewhere?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Storm coming – we’ve got beds. You can get a bath at the barber next door.”

“Guess I could use one,” Brad laughed, drained his glass and went to get cleaned up.

As the door shut behind him, the barman said, “Right – who’s first?”

“I’ll have six, Todd,” said the Sheriff, “Best pies in the county.”

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Friday Fictioneers' prompt this week was so bleak that it made me think of an empty town in the middle of nowhere, and as I know nothing about boxing, I let my mind wander. Hope you like what I came up with.

Thanks as ever to Rochelle for hosting FF on her blog  https://rochellewisoff.com/  and to J Hardy Carroll for the pictorial prompt that inspired us this week.

My alternative thought was to write about the snow we have around our village in the south of England, but that would have involved me posting a picture of the massive bruise I acquired when walking 'off-piste' in search of my own photo opportunity - not a pretty sight! - so here's the photo I took when I'd picked myself up.

AND - for any of my readers who weren't brought up in England, or who have never encountered the wonders of theatrical melodrama, here's a clue to the story behind my story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd

BARGAIN COTTAGE

BARGAIN  COTTAGE

We were on a winter break when we saw the cottage, picturesque beneath its blanket of snow, and at that price we snapped it up.

When we returned in the spring the cracks were showing, literally, and the architect recommended a complete rebuild.

Bravely we declared living in a caravan made us feel young again, though to be honest, cold showers on arthritis did the opposite. But we’d found a good builder and work progressed well – until they demolished that wall.

They’d uncovered the real skeleton in the cupboard – no wonder the cottage had been so cheap.

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This week's photo, taken by Dale Rogerson, immediately brought to mind my daughter and her husband, who are renovating a cottage in Northern Ireland. They haven't found a skeleton - yet. This is their cottage, photographed last week, and they're very comfortable in their caravan - or so they claim!

Thanks to https://rochellewisoff.com/ for hosting Friday Fictioneers. You can read other stories by following the Blue Frog link on her blog.

I am trying to get to grips with Twitter, having only used it spasmodically so far, so if you see me popping up in odd places on that site, please wave . 
Oh yes, and if you have read my book, A Volcanic Race, and enjoyed it, please be kind enough to recommend it to your friends and post a review on Amazon.
For some reason known only to themselves, Amazon don't co-ordinate the reviews on their various national sites, so only half of my excellent reviews appear on the UK site - some are on other sites around the world. Go figure! 
If you haven't read it yet, there's a link up there at the top of my blog 😼

NURSE FIONA - flash fiction

NURSE  FIONA

Fiona settled at her desk to complete a job application, and was dithering over the question, Why are you leaving your present job? when she heard a faint sound from the corner bed.

She soothed the old woman’s restless hands. ‘Are you in pain, Mabel?’

‘No, dear. Just sit with me. I see it’s snowing – like when I met Arthur.’ She giggled girlishly. ‘I threw a snowball to catch his attention.’ Suddenly her head lifted. ‘Arthur?”

Fiona caught the briefest glimpse of an old man before Mabel’s hand relaxed in hers.

After completing the formalities she tore her application into tiny pieces.

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This week's lovely photo was taken by Sarah Potter and reproduced as a prompt on Rochelle's blog https://rochellewisoff.com/ . From there you can follow the Blue Frog trail to read other interpretations of the picture.

I would like to thank the 25 other writers who commented on my blog last week - the most I have ever had for one story - most of whom liked the photo of mine which Rochelle used.

If you like my writing, you can find another of my stories on this site  http://visualverse.org/  which also uses a pictorial prompt,, but although the word limit is greater there is a time limit of an hour - one hour!

EXOTIC FLOWER - FLASH FICTION in 100 words

EXOTIC  FLOWER

Malee’s only way out of poverty was to marry a rich foreigner, and her photograph on the Agency’s website caught Vincente’s fancy – after one carefully orchestrated meeting he proposed.

His apartment in Malaga wasn’t the palace he had described, but Malee told herself she was fortunate – Vicente was a considerate husband, she had found a shop that stocked familiar ingredients, and beneath the trees of the park she almost felt at home.

Then winter came, and the park was buried in snow. Malee spent her days sitting by the window, an exotic flower dying by slow, cold degrees in a foreign land.

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The recent snow in the south of Spain has been an unwelcome surprise to many locals and expats alike - for someone from a warmer country it must have been a horrible shock.

This week's photograph was taken by Roger Bultot and posted on Rochelle's blog  https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/  From there you can follow the Blue Frog link to read how other Friday Fictioneers interpreted the prompt.

SNOW IN SUSSEX

 For those of you who missed the snow in Sussex last week, or don't get snow in your own countries, here are some photos taken last week.

BLIZZARD ON RACECOURSE HILL BRIGHTON

ROAD OVER THE DOWNS

THE ROAD IN FRONT OF MY SON'S HOUSE













THE GARDEN AT AROUND 4PM

THE GARDEN AT 9PM WHEN WE KNEW MY DAUGHTER HAD ALREADY BEEN STUCK ON THE A23 FOR FOUR HOURS.

AN EXTRA DAY OFF SCHOOL - YIPPEE!!




And some scenery to finish with.

this is how we like snow - here today, play tomorrow, gone the next!

I'M BACK!

Back home in time for a cup of tea followed by a drink at Bar Leones and supper at Pepe's.
Kika was so delighted to see me that she turned a dozen somersaults, which is quite an achievement for an old cat - she must be covered in bruises under all that fur - and she had a paw on my lap even before I had lifted my legs onto the sofa.

I also discovered I acquired two more followers while I was away, and I would like to extend a warm welcome to them.

The two weeks I spent visiting family and friends in Sussex were lovely. For one thing, it was the first time in thirteen years that I have celebrated Mothers' Day with my mother and my UK children and their families. They looked after me beautifully and I stocked up on grandson cuddles, though you can never have enough of those, can you?

The weather was kind to me too. I was only rained on once, and the snow that fell on Monday lasted just long enough for me to enjoy the novelty. This was the blizzard we drove through on Racecourse Hill outside Brighton, but we were home in time for tea.

My daughter wasn't so lucky. She left work in Crawley at 5pm and was stuck on the A23 for eight hours. We tried to find news and updates on the radio without success. My son phoned the police to ask what was being done to help all the stranded drivers, but he got no satisfactory answers, He would have rushed off to his sister's rescue if we hadn't persuaded him that if she couldn't get out, he wouldn't be able to reach her!

She survived, tired but unscathed, but there must have been mothers with young children in that cold traffic jam, people in need of medication, and drivers without sufficient fuel to keep their engines running to stay warm. We were not impressed with the failure of the Sussex Police to react more quickly to the emergency.

On Tuesday, though, school was closed. We built two snowmen - Clean Bob and Dirty Bob - then walked over the fields to make snow angels, and by teatime the sun had started to thaw the snow.

Those two weeks gave my eyes a rest from the screen and my grey cells a chance to ponder the best way to tackle the task ahead - another re-write. I was telling my son about it and he asked, "What would you put on the back cover?" Just thinking how to answer that question has helped me to focus on my story and to identify my main theme. Thanks for the inspiration, John - next time you come to Tenerife I'll buy you a pint of Dorada!