
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
“Our neighbors to the right were so close you couldn’t change your mind but they’d know. The ones on the left were closer.”
I nodded. Pops could get nostalgic.
“Up at dawn, off to work or school. Dinner at 6. Routine. That’s what I miss.”
I knew the word. It was for people who were comfortable, knew where the next meal was coming from. People who assumed they would be alive at the end of the day.
“This could’ve been home.”
“Come Pops,” I said, taking one last look at the burned-out city, “it’s dangerous here. Time to move on.”
— —
Word count = 100
Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Dale Rogerson. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.
Interesting. Well put together.
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Thanks.
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Very well-constructed story, excellent title and I really like the witty observation about the close-at-hand neighbours – I have those neighbours but as I never want to feel alone I enjoy hearing them sneezing and changing their minds.
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Thanks. It’s always nicest if you get along with your neighbors when you’re that close…
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Oh, unexpected twist at the end. Nice.
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Thanks!
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Everything from “back in the day” always seemed better – in this case it’s true! Nice one.
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Of course everything was better back in the day. The world is going to Hell in a hand basket, most likely because of the little things, like all of those stolen paper clips ;) Thanks.
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This was wonderful, Trent.. well, up until the burned out city part ;-)
Nostalgia does play tricks with our memories.
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Seeing burnt out cities does seem to put a damper on the fun… ;) Most people do think the past was so much better than the present, while we have actually been improving. Well, except for the burnt out cities…
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Dome things in the past ARE better… just not all 😉
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Agreed. Music was better!
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Can’t disagree
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Interesting take! :D
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Thanks!
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Pleasure! :)
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Nostagia on the brink of the apocalypse. Nice concept.
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They might have moved a little beyond the brink, but what better time to remember better times? Thanks.
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Looking through the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia… this one really drove it home. ‘Routine’, what a good title – coupled with your little description, held so much more meaning.
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Just about everyone sees the past with those rose-tinted lenses and we usually see the past as much better than today, though that is rarely true. However, it is very true int his story ;) Thanks.
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So much disruption in so few words.
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That’s so sad 💜
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Yes. Something about the indistinct character caused by the screen shouted “nostalgia for days gone by” to me….
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Good story.
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Thanks :)
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🌹💜
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Nostalgia makes every picture look rosier!
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It does, even if that picture is absolutely bleak.
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This story came across so clear, nicely done.
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thanks.
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Nicely done, and true for so many of us who have visited our childhood homes after being away for many years. (“Yikes, I don’t remember it looking like this! What a dump!”).
My mother-in-law’s favorite saying about city-type housing is that you can shake a mop out your window and break your neighbor’s window across the way.
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Thanks. Our memories always make things nicer, bigger, etc. Of course in this story “Pops'” home was destroyed by war/comet impact/zombie apocalypse or whatever, so it sure wasn’t what it used to be ;)
I’ve heard a few good phrases about how close the neighbors are, but for some reason this one is always the first to my mind.
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That’s a beautifully crafted story. I love the way you pivot it on the title phrase “I knew the word” – clever, clever writing that!
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Thanks! Of course that I used the phrase in the title was almost an after thought – I typed out “Routine” and my fingers just kept typing…
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Routine is an interesting concept, and most of us have more of it than we realise.
Even a life as disorganised as mine finds regular time to write, read and think.
Excellent story, love the line ‘ People who assumed…’
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I think we all do have little routines and feel a little out of sorts when we can’t follow them. My pets are all on routines, though we didn’t intend for it to be that way, and remind us when a routine is broken, often in a not very pleasant way.
Thanks!
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There is something comforting about routine, and something scary about the unknown beyond it – especially in this scenario!
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It’s amazing how calming staying with the routine can be, but then… I think my characters are trying to find their way to Montreal ;)
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Dear Trent,
There’s a lot of story here between the lines. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
PS, your Friday Fictioneers line “This week’s prompt is here…” J Hardy Carroll needs to be changed. ;)
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Thanks Rochelle.
Ooops, I obviously copy and paste from the previous week and I missed the name. I’ll correct it to Dale. Thanks for the catch.
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;)
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