It’s the first Wednesday of the week, so time again for Friday Fictioneers. The hottest joint this side of the equator, pull up a chair, grab a drink and join in the party. A 100 words of fiction around a weekly changing photo. Enjoy..
Photo Copyright : Ted Strutz
It was the memory that gave off the smell. So much fear, it clung to her; to her hair, to her skin. With every breath, she could still taste the shame.
“Go on, it’s only a swing” they’d said,
“We’ll sit next to you” they’d said,
They’d lied.
She’d seen them at the rail, pointing, laughing. The lonely girl who thought she’d finally been accepted, soaring alone, 60 feet above.
She’d peed her pants!
20 years later, laughing seagulls circled above. A single tear pooled.
Chiding herself, she got back into the car.
After all, seagulls don’t laugh and big girls don’t cry…
helen midgley 
Oh! Do I remember the sting of childhood chides. You captured it well. Now ~ pull on the Big Girl pants and get on with it. Well done.
My pants are all big 😉
This brought a smile on my face. Well written
Thank you 🙂
How long for such wounds to heal?
Good piece.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Bad childhood memories can linger forever. Well told.
Thanks for commenting. One of these days I might write a happy tale 😉
Wonderful but sad story about bullying. Your story shows how traumatic it is for those who are bullied, chided, made fun of…
Maybe she should have eaten a couple of hot dogs and a pizza first. When that splattered on the spectators at the rail, they wouldn’t have been laughing so hard.
It’s sad when one person gets singled out in the pecking order. Hard to recover from humiliation too. Very well written, Helen.
Thanks, I could imagine one of your witty takes having the vomit rain 😉
These memories will never leave her. Kids can be so cruel. Beautifully written sad story.
Thanks 🙂
Oh, I’m sure they do. What a sensitive portrayal of how childhood cruelty forms the adult. Nicely done.
Thank you 🙂
Ah, poor thing. Those kind of memories haunt us. But they also help make good writers. 😀
I think grown ups can never teach their off-spring on how to be cruel, it seems to be human instinct. A perfect sad story..
I think that may be true, 😦 But thanks for comment 🙂
This story brought the movie Carrie to mind… Very moving story, Helen, of childhood pain. Such a real story for so many.
Poor thing; my heart broke for her. But, at the same time, I want to tell her to put the past away and move forward!
Those rotten, little brats! I want to punch them for her, Helen. Wonderfully crafted and written story. All the sights and sounds are captured here.
Sad story that we’ve all experienced in one way or another – and I’m guilty of even being on the other side of the fence a few times as well without meaning to do the harms to others that I had done to me.
Randy
Good for her for facing her fears.