Freddy lost his leg again.
The town drunk hops down the street. His backpack, wearing thin from years of service and homelessness, flops ungracefully with each wavering leap and land.
“Fred, where’s your leg?” The shopkeeper is a kind man with fluid soul in his eyes.
I imagine Freddy has soul in his eyes but through overgrown, matted hair there’s no telling.
He hops past the shopkeep, visibly shaking as he lands.
“Fred, your leg?”
Freddy freezes, we all know he’s a stubborn man. His mouth works silently, formulating words he doesn’t quite have.
“That’s Dad to you.” Freddy mumbles.
PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll
Word Count: 100
Thank you as always to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for putting together Friday Fictioneers.
Excellent. I can picture it perfectly, and an unexpected ending.
Thank you!
What a great opening line! Who could not read this?
Thank you! I’ve been trying to work on my opening lines, glad this one is catchy
The shopkeeper is a kind man, so one assumes Fred is too stubborn to let his son take care of him. Lots going on here, good story.
Thank you! I appreciate it
Drunk or sober, hopping any distance is a challenge!
I would agree! I think it’s safe to say Freddy has had a lot of practice.
Oh that last line drove a spike into my heart… so sad.
Thank you for reading! I know. I noticed a lot of writers went with a veteran theme for this week. It seems unfortunately appropriate.
It did… 4th of July to boot! Ugh… dis I just do that? 😊
Oh, what a horribly sad picture you paint today for us. So easy to picture. So sad a reality for far too many.
Thank you for reading and commenting! It is an unfortunate reality for many
Vividly written.
Thank you so very much!
There’s clearly a very sad back-story to your piece. A great read.
Click to read my FriFic tale
Thank you so much for reading Keith! I appreciate it.
Great story. I’ll have to make the same assumption about the shop keeper that Iain made.
Thank you! It’s a good assumption to make.
Great take on the prompt, Kelley. Some of the homeless I’ve visited with very prideful and sometimes downright hateful. Many suffer from mental illness. You never know what kind of response you’ll get when you approach one. You did a great job conveying that in this story.
Thank you for reading! This is very true. There’s a sense of “can’t ask for help” sometimes and of course mental health still has a stigma surrounding it.
Great take, Kelley. We can never really know another person’s story.
Thank you so much for reading and yes, you’re so right.
Yep, got to maintain some kind of respect and status from your family, if no one else.
Thank you for reading!
Great characterisation with a superb ending
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
“Fluid sould in his eyes.” Nice. And then just when I thought you were getting all literary ( meant most affectionately, it’s the vein of writing i tend to go for) you drop in the humor of not being able to see the dad’s soul for all the matted hair. Great!
Minor typo? My choice would be to capitalize “Dad” in the last sentence ( very poignant by the way), since it’s being used as a name.
😆 Thank you for reading! Good point on the Dad in the last sentence, thanks!
Wow! I love every word of this, this is masterfully written. And a spark of humour in the sadness: never give up.
Thank you! I really appreciate it!