PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
The bagels that greeted the fresh-stepping crowds gave their spot to hotdogs for a quick lunch, which were replaced by burritos, squishy supper eaten by an evening crowd on their way to drinks. Now it is hot pretzels and empty streets. The city that never sleeps must just be dozing.
She sits alone, trusting the lighted square.
“Guess who,” I say, covering her eyes.
“You’re late, Gregg,” she says.
“You guessed wrong.”
I cover her mouth and drag her to the dark.
The vendor sells his first pretzel in hours. Gregg?
Somewhere the bagelman prepares his cart for the day.
***
Word count = 100
Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Roger Bultot. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.
Trent's World (the Blog) 
That was scary, Trent. The descriptions were great. I liked the everyday preparations going on in contrast to the attack. Life is often like that in big cities. I suggest they get better security at that location. :) — Suzanne
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They need better security, and perhaps people doing an early morning rendezvous should stay closer to other people until their dates show up… Thanks
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The start of a horror, (a sort of Stephen King prelude). I like the gentle lead into the story and the sudden turn – great stuff. Does the Bagel-man sell the fleshy parts in his buns?
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Thanks. I’m not sure, but I have heard that when the vendors at that location try to sell you Mrs. Lovett’s brand fresh meat pies. just say “no” ;)
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I’m sorry you bothered explaining it. I was working it out and had more than one story out of it.
Scary.
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In ways a 100 word story is almost like a poem and everyone can come up with their own interpretation…. Yeah, scary in a rel world way.
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A story of regret and what-ifs. You never know when the boogieman is gonna getcha.
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He can be lurking in any shadow…
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Brrrr! That’s a little chiller, Trent! If I were the cops, Gregg would be top of my list of suspects…
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Poor Gregg, I’m sure he will be at the top of the list while his big “crime” was just running a little behind schedule. Thanks.
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Such a wide spread of food items, on the other hand Greg is out to quench another hunger!
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Oh no, what a horrible shock for her. She thought she was safely waiting for Gregg. Nice one!
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It seemed like such a nice, friendly place to wait… Thanks.
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Oh, the poor girl. Perhaps it would have been better if Gregg had been waiting there for her instead of the other way around.
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Gregg should have been on time, though I am beginning to feel sorry for him that everyone is blaming his tardiness for what happened to the poor woman ;) Perhaps she should have sat and chatted with the pretzel guy until Gregg showed up.
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Yes, maybe she should have stayed where the pretzel guy was.
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I’m sure it would have been much safer….
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Very scary and sad. Great descriptions, it’s almost like a film.
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Thanks.
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There’s “late” and then there’s “tragically late”.
Hey, our links are right next to each other and have the same title :-)
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Yes, and this was tragically late! I did notice the titles. I think I grumbled a little bit about my bad timing for posting right after you, but chuckled about it later.
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If only Gregg had been on time….
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Yes, in some way the entire tragedy can be blamed on his tardiness.
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LOL, this would make a great PSA for being on time…
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I’ll have to add a tag line, “And the moral to this story, the point I hope you take, is that if you are meeting someone any place but at their home, be sure to be on time or anything that happens to him or her will be on your shoulders forever” ;) lol, nothing that a huge dollop of guilt can’t help…
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that’s priceless :)
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How could you? To leave us hanging like this…
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A slight hint – Gregg is the guy buying the pretzel. After a while he gives up and goes home, assuming his date blew him off. He never sees her again. Nor does anyone else….
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That I figured…which still leaves us hanging 😉
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yeah, I guess I did….
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Theres some nasty stories from this one, brilliant stuff!
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A few us had to go the dark side… Thanks.
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Oh! Another really scary one 💜
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The direction I was headed.
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No nice at all. But excellently told 💜
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Nope, not nice. Thanks!
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Ouch. Life goes on.
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Maybe not for the victim here… ;)
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A nasty sting in the tale. Good one.
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Thanks, Iain
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Oh no! His date is in trouble. Gregg has no clue. Gregg is in for a shock.
It’s not safe even in a lit street…
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It is a little late for Gregg’s date, even if she was sitting in a well lit area…
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Is Gregg the bagelman? Or the bogeyman?
Or is he dead too?
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Gregg is the person who just bought a pretzel, trying to figure out why he can’t find his date. I just realized that I missed the line-break between “Gregg?” and the sentence about the bagleman, so hopefully now that I added it, it is clearer that “Gregg?” belongs with the sentence “The vendor sells his first pretzel in hours.”
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I think it was Greg all along. She wouldn’t have mistaken his voice
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That’s true, but whispers aren’t always give-aways.
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