Joined

39 Replies
PHOTO PROMPT © Marie Gail Stratford

He set his water bottle down where there should have been wine and bread.  The hymnal in the liturgist’s chair had been untouched for almost a year.

On the other side of the room, across the empty pews, Marge sat at the piano.  Her eyes crinkled in a smile. He nodded and she began to play that traditional song.

He watched the screen as ‘Chelle joined Floyd in one little square.

Bob did a silent countdown with his fingers, 5,4,3…

At “one” he took off his mask, smiled at Bob and his camera.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”

***

Word count = 100

Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.  This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Marie Gail Stratford. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.

39 thoughts on “Joined”

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I think that is one of the hardest things – people begin alone when sick and, worse yet, alone when dying. Funerals by Zoom is just not enough… Yeah, after a little thought, the wedding one seemed more appropriate.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks. I was actually thinking of something a little happier – ‘Chelle and Floyd are getting married (the line “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” is how weddings often start). So hopefully not too tragic ;)

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      1. Dora

        Ah! I missed that. Thanks, Trent. I guess funerals more than weddings are on my mind these days. Thank goodness, CNN has stopped their daily Covid death count since the inauguration.

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  11. Bear

    “A strange new world that such creatures live in”…. a badly hashed quote from an old Star Trek episode. Wish I could remember it. Your write reminded me of it. I admit, it will feel strange when and if church resumes. Although, I’m finding I rather enjoy attending online. You get the Word, a sermon, music… and without the social bickering, one-up-manship, racism, classism, etc. I think I could live with this “new” norm in church going.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I think some churches may continue to hold on-line services even after they start holding in person ones. Funny, people from all over the country attend my parent’s church each week, more than could fit in the church, even if divided into two services – I’m guessing that the wedding in this story would be like that, everyone invited would be able to attend, no matter how far apart they are.

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      1. Bear

        Our church was like that. We had two services each Sunday, a traditional early and then a contemporary after, Sunday school between. Now, there’s one service online, only through facebook. If you don’t have facebook you’re “out”… So, I’ve been visiting other churches online. It’s actually been quite enjoyable and refreshing to strip away denom and just go with a service that’s good. If you don’t like the doctrine being preached, it’s easy to click away.

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        1. trentpmcd Post author

          It was big shock for a lot of people. Since I teleworked full time, it wasn’t that difficult, and it didn’t take too long to get up and running on Zoom for everything else, so… But, yeah, a totally different world!

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