Every Wednesday Redwood Wisoff-Fields posts a picture prompt challenging writers to create a 100-word story, poem, or whatever works for you. After posting your work on your blog, go back to her site and add your link on her Friday Fictioneers post. Place. Page.
Give it a shot. I prefer to stick to 100 words, but she doesn’t mind either way. Not everyone has the time to sit and write, revise, edit, revise, edit, etc. until getting it down to 100 and telling everything you want to tell.
A few comments at the end…
_______________________________
“Into the Woods”
“Now?” asked Son.
“No. He’s not far enough.”
“So?”
“If he hears us, he’ll run,” said Father.
“I’m hungry.”
“We’ll eat later.”
“Why are we after him?”
“Because he’s after us.”
“You sure?” asked Son.
“They all are.”
“Should we whisper?”
“Child, he can’t understand our words, nor we his.”
“He’s not speaking.”
“They speak with actions, not words.”
“He hasn’t done anything.”
“Not yet. He will.”
A knife clicked open.
“See?”
“Dad, how’d you get so smart?”
“Takes years. You’ll be smart someday.”
“How old are you?”
“Almost 200.”
As Pete carved his first initial, leaves rustled behind him.
______________________
100 words
brainsnorts inc. 
Interesting story. I had to read it twice… I liked the last line about the rustling leaves. I think the person with the knife is in trouble.
much trouble. thanks for reading once. twice is a blessing. happy weekend.
Really different and I like it! The father is indeed very smart. Good writing! Nan 🙂
thanks very much for stopping by. yes, the father has many years of wisdom still left inside his bark.
Me gusta. No esperaba ese final.un abrazo
thanks very much for stopping by and enjoying. hasta viernes.
I like. I did not expect that ending. A hug
thanks very much. i aim to have the story seem to lead you in one direction, and then flip it entirely with the last sentence, perhaps causing you to rethink everything you just read. thanks for stopping by.
Oh, oh no. I think Dad is a bad man.
dad is a man who has seen others hurt and plans to strike first. “bad” is open to debate. self-preservation is not.
Great job giving the trees the leg up. 🙂
thanks very much. i was hoping at first it might seem like a human stalking a human, or then maybe an animal, such as a bear. and then, hopefully clearly, a tree.
That’s exactly what it was like! I had to read the piece twice to be sure.
terrific. i’m glad it was worth your double time.
Scary trees!!!
and to them, equally scary humans. thanks for stopping by.
My pleasure.
As I read this, Dad & Son are trees, right? What an interesting POV. I suspect Pete with get whacked in the head with a branch.
i was hoping at first it would seem like human vs. human, then animal (maybe a bear) vs. human, and then ultimately tree vs. human. thanks for stopping by.
Dear Rich,
Would you want someone carving into your midriff with a pocket knife. Sentient trees. Guess we never stop to consider, do we?
Smooth, fast paced dialogue.
shalom,
Redwood
thanks very much for stopping by. as for the pocket knife, i forgot to add a note at the end that, back in grade school, i spent endless hours climbing and just hanging out in trees. i have always thought them to be under-appreciated and magnificent “beings.” however, in my grade-school ignorance, i commonly carved my initials to leave my mark as to where i had been. i never thought about the potential damage.
Trees… Or Ents?
or both. 😉
I guess that the roots will come up for revenge.. those humans with axes and knifes.. Had not seen your writing in a while.. and I always enjoy it 🙂
thanks very much. and i always enjoy your comments. because of an odd work schedule and bad timing, i don’t usually see the pictures, but i saw janet’s story, then took a closer look at the picture, and something came to me, so i went with it. now i’ve got a lot of reading ahead of me. happy monday.
So good to see you back again, Rich. Your writing, like the tree, has gotten better with age. 🙂 I did a double-take as well which, as you say, is generally a good thing. I liked your comment about carving your own initials. Of such moments come stories.
janet
Thanks very much for several things in that comment. As for the trees, there are very few things I regret in life, but strangely enough, harming a tree is one of them.
I love how reading the comments cemented my thoughts on the story which as many others did, I read more than once. Dialogue is fun!
Thanks to the picture providing visuals, my stories are probably 90% dialogue. Dang it. Now I am compelled to do the math.
I know – math is so hard when it deals with tricky numbers such as 100 – 90. Life needs to be made simpler, I vote they take away the pennies from the coin selection to lessen the burden of math. It may even solve homelessness!
This is not going to end well for Pete. Lovely POV of the trees, but I wonder if Son will ever be as smart as his dad 🙂
Thanks very much for reading. Son has many years to catch up, but nothing is written in stone. or carved wood.
I had to reread and backtrack and then…oh yes! The poor trees. They should rule the planet. I wish they could. Nice one, Rich!
Thanks miss. There was a time I bet when trees did rule the planet. But then that evolution thing, and we got smarter, and then we got dumber.
OMG… I love this. Liked it on the first read, then had to read the comments to “get it,” then read it a second time… very nicely done! I love that you incorporated the male in the distance of the pic; I chose to ignore him myself. Well done! :>
Thanks very much for reading and sharing your thoughts. At first, the picture did not really do much for me. Then I saw the man in the distance. And then I thought, ” watch your back.”
Excellent :>
Very good post. Love the photo! My children still spend much of their time in trees. I’m a tree hugger. We love to camp and hike in the woods. Thanks for sharing this. ~Victoria Marie Lees
oh i should thank you for reading. nothing to thank me for. thanks for stopping by. happy almost friday.
Trees do have spirits. Someone tires to carve their initials in me and I’m fighting back. Perhaps setting the birds loose from my branches on attack.
nothing unfair about that
Fascinating!