Tag: photo prompt

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Finally

Tina Stewart Brakebill

The house was quiet.

Finally.

The loud click of the lock had echoed in her mind for just a moment as she shut out the last of the stragglers. But the constant stream of words had stopped.

Finally.

No more kind-hearted souls urging her to “eat something.” No more obsequious parishioners offering her sympathy and prayers. No more polite policeman asking stupid questions. No more of his exacting demands for unattainable perfection. No more of her internal screams of anguish. No more.

Finally.

She gazed out the window. His final view offering her an open road to the future.

Finally.  

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

The attempts at unblocking my writer’s block seems to be have channeled me to the dark side! Thanks Rochelle and Sandra for the inspiration for this 100 word ode to revenge or maybe regret or possibly hope. The reader can decide. Visit her site for more info on the Friday Fictioneers challenge. 

19 September 2025

 

 

Haiku & Other Poetry, tutto e niente

SenHai-Saturday (the moon and my mind)

Tina Stewart Brakebill

the moon turns its face

and the sea mourns salty tears

as summer burns hot

 

harmonic breaking

turmoil as a design flaw

my chaotic mind

 

Shifaaz shamoon – Unsplash.com

 Thanks to Susi for the great prompt to create one senryu and one haiku to accompany the image (above). As a remember, a traditional haiku describes nature or a season, while a senryu focuses on human nature and emotions.

SenHai Saturday #15

 

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Gran’s Tampa Totems Table

Tina Stewart Brakebill

Everyone was so busy reminding the grands about shady web threats and unknown numbers, they forgot that old men still answer their doors for young girls.

Her patter felt smooth as he ushered her inside.

Then she saw it. Her gran’s Tampa Totems Table.

She knew it wasn’t. Gran’s totems were gone. Like her.

Still, she faltered. Memories flooded in. What would Gran say if she saw her now?

It took only a moment to recover her flow, as she remembered Gran’s final words: “Smile. And don’t forget. Men are all the same. Stroke a mark’s ego and he’s yours.”  

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Thanks to Rochelle and Friday Fictioners for the inspiration to write after an extended break. Visit her site for more creative writings.       

6 December 2024

 

 

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

the hitchhiker

Tina Stewart Brakebill

She had been looking for a sign. Was this it? Had the cosmos spread out a tarot reading just for her? She tried to decipher its message, but she was distracted. The man hummed as he cleaned the window shield. What was that song? It seemed so familiar, but the melody struggled against the discordant squeak of the squeegee. She looked at the wall again. Danger. Caution. Dead End. The signs seemed clear. But then she recognized the tune: Let it Go.

Instead of walking away, she opened the car door: “Thanks for the ride.”

Surely, a girl-dad was safe.    

 

6 September 2024