Friday Fictioneers | Inside the Mind of Isadora

January 27, 2017
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 30 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Pop Pop’s Antique Car

This is an encore of a previous entry for Friday Fictioneers. Our Purple Goddess has granted permisson to repeat our story since the photo prompt is having another go-round. Enjoy ….

The parade was on Sunday.

Nana was excited. She’d be driving Pop Pop’s antique car.

He’d purchased it at an auction. It took him 8 years to restore her.
Sadly, he never got to show her off.

“Will you be able to see, Nana?”, I asked.

“I’ll be dazzling wearing my wide brimmed yellow hat”, she beamed.

“But, the ophthalmologist said to limit your driving.”

“Lily, I wouldn’t miss showcasing your Pop Pop’s car for anything.”

She slept soundly, with a dazzling smile, that night.

I drove the car wearing her wide brimmed yellow hat.

She would have been proud.
2017©Isadora DeLaVega

Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100 words

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers challenge

click here or the froggy button above

September 17, 2016
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 36 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – The Bills

The letters were stacked high on the kitchen table. Bills. They were four months behind on their mortgage. The last letter warned of foreclosure.

Sighing wearily, she walked to the basement where her husband often hid-out, drinking booze and smoking marijuana. He’d told her it made him relax.

She could smell the pungent odor as she descended the stairs. Her decision to leave him hardened.

He was lying on the cement floor.

Shocked at the needle hanging from his vein; a note on his lap.

‘The insurance money should be enough for you and the kids.’

“Coward”, she screamed.

2016©Isadora DeLaVega

Word Count: 100
Genre: Flash Fiction

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers
in this challenge: click here

*****Photo Prompt©Shaktiki Sharma

March 3, 2016
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 52 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Just a Boy

He was born with a death sentence.

The doctors spoke gently as she wept.

She was overcome by the diagnosis of hydrocephalus.

She carried him for 9 months. He couldn’t have a disability.

How could she create a defective child?

They told her to institutionalize him.

You won’t be able to manage his condition.

She refused. He’s my son. I’ll always love and care for him.

He is 59 now. Sits on the floor staring at the wall – any wall.

He just stares and holds his little jar of batteries he calls his friends.

A boy in an adult body.

2016©Isadora DeLaVega

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Word Count: 100

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers challenge
click here or the froggy button above

***** My brother was born with this illness. Although his jar wasn’t filled with batteries, the photo immediately brought him to mind.

***** Hydrocephalus (from Greek hydro-, meaning “water”, and kephalos, meaning “head”) is a rare medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain. This causes increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and may cause progressive enlargement of the head if it occurs in childhood, potentially causing convulsion, tunnel vision, and mental disability. It was once informally called “Water on the brain.” information from wikipedia

February 26, 2016
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 49 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Pop Pop’s Antique Car

The parade was on Sunday.

Nana was excited. She’d be driving Pop Pop’s antique car.

He’d purchased it at an auction. It took him 8 years to restore her.
Sadly, he never got to show her off.

“Will you be able to see, Nana?”, I asked.

“I’ll be dazzling wearing my wide brimmed yellow hat”, she beamed.

“But, the ophthalmologist said to limit your driving.”

“Lily, I wouldn’t miss showcasing your Pop Pop’s car for anything.”

She slept soundly, with a dazzling smile, that night.

I drove the car wearing her wide brimmed yellow hat.

She would have been proud.
2016©Isadora DeLaVega

Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100 words

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers challenge

click here or the froggy button above

February 6, 2016
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 34 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Love is Like a River

The cloudy night casts a shadow over the river.
Sitting on the bank, I’m regretting my failures while mourning my loss.
We’d felt solace here.
You were the chuckle in my laughter. The path I walked that kept me straight.
We spent time listening to the reverberations of the rivers course.
Your eyes twinkled as you listened to me speak tender words of love.
The placid water exudes a strange calm.
There’s a stillness in the air that surrounds me.
Looking at the reflection of my face in the serenity of the water;
My thoughts linger gently on yesterday.
Gone …
2016©Isadora DeLaVega

Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers

in this challenge: click here or Blue Frog Badge

December 2, 2015
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 39 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Narnia Adventure

Photo Prompt by Roger Bultot

Narnia Adventure

“Hello, Mrs. Benson.”

“Hi Peter. What’re you boys up to do today?”

“Just a little hiking.”

“Be sure, to come home before dark.”

“Okay, Mom.”

**********

Outside, Peter tugged Andy’s arm.

“What’s the rush?”

“I found the wardrobe. We can experience what happened in Narnia.”

“Ugh … it stinks in here.”

**********

“We’re so sorry, Mrs. Benson.”

Her body wrenched.

“Officers, it can’t be. They’re good boys. Who’d do this to them?”

“The abandoned lot is a druggy hangout. They must’ve stumbled across a
strung out junky. It looks like they found a sword among the rubble..”

“It’s the weapon the killer used.”

2015©Isadora DeLaVega

Genre: Crime Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers in this challenge click here or the froggy button
***** The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a high fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It was the first published of seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956) and the best known; among all the author’s books it is the most widely held in libraries. Although it was written as well as published first in the series, it is volume two in recent editions, which are sequenced according to Narnia history (the first being The Magician’s Nephew). Like the others, it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and her work has been retained in many later editions.
information from wikipedia

November 27, 2015
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 23 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Dying Embers of Our Love

Your eyes were filled with hatred as you walked away from me.

You swore revenge.

You shouted, “An eye for an eye” as your outstretched arm mimicked a sword. There was malicious venom in your voice.

How could you feel such rancor?

How could you be so vengeful?

We’d been slowly drifting apart. It had become clear to me.

Once, resplendent love emanated from us. It had made me blind to your cruel ways. But,no more.

Now, the burning embers of our love have gone out.

Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers in this challenge click here or the froggy button:

Photo Prompt for Challenge: Sandra Cook

October 9, 2015
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 40 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Tragedy at the Fair

Huntington Fairgrounds was a local place in town to take the kids every summer. A few rides, game stands with big stuffed animals; over cooked hot dogs, burgers and fries were the staple along with cardboard pizza.

My kids always brought a buddy friend.

They’d hate to leave.

Finally, I’d corral them for the whiny ride home.

“Let’s go”, I’d say. “A bathroom stop before we get into the car”.

Within moments, wailing and screams could be heard.
People running and crying abounded.

Impaled in his chest lay a teen on a fence spike.

He was still in the swing.

Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count – 100 Words

Although this challenge is for fiction stories,

the photo prompt brought this incident to mind, immediately.

****************

This incident is a true story that happened one summer. My middle daughter brought her friend, Lynn, that day. She was her best friend. The boy in the story was her 12 year old brother who had gone to the fair with his friends family. He suffered a great many injuries. His leg was also impaled. After many operations and a tremendous amount of care, he survived but had injuries that left him handicapped including difficulty walking. His family sued the fairgrounds and won their case. The fairgrounds were closed shortly thereafter.

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers

in this challenge click here or the froggy button:

September 24, 2015
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 37 Comments

Friday Fictioneers – Despair

Sitting on the railing, he pondered the possibilities of flight. He was enveloped in a fog of despair. Just moments before his chest was bursting with joyous ecstasy. The love of his life had accepted his proposal. Her smile was radiant. She spoke of an overflowing love for him.
If there hadn’t been that accident on the bridge?
Sitting.
Waiting.
It had angered her.
Days before she’d been despondent. He thought he would reach her with his proposal.
Frustrated, she’d gotten out of the car.
She jumped.
He wanted to fly.
He wanted to lift her up in his arms.
2015©Isadora DeLaVega

Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers in this challenge click here or the froggy button:

************************

What is Depression?
Depression is a real illness that impacts the brain. Anyone suffering from depression will tell you, it’s not imaginary or “all in your head.” Depression is more than just feeling “down.” It is a serious illness caused by changes in brain chemistry. Research tells us that other factors contribute to the onset of depression, including genetics, changes in hormone levels, certain medical conditions, stress, grief or difficult life circumstances. Any of these factors alone or in combination can precipitate changes in brain chemistry that lead to depression’s many symptoms. info from the Univsersity of Michigan Mental Health

************************

For more information about depression:

World Mental Health Day October, 10, 2015 – Dignity Mental Health Foundation
University of Michigan Depression Center – Mental Health

September 14, 2015
by Inside the Mind of Isadora 33 Comments

Love was like a River

Gazing out, I realize this was our place.
We sat here by the river watching it flow, holding hands and confessing our hopes and dreams.
I remember when you said that love was like a river. You thought  the river waters gush created a surge like love with its’ many highs and lows.
Here by the river, my once empty days had been filled with love. You were my smile in the morning when I arose. You were the hug before I fell asleep.
What happened to us?
Where are those days of a love that flowed like a river?

Genre: Fiction

Word Count – 100 words

To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers in this challenge click here or the froggy button: