{This is in response to Rochelle Wisoff-Field’s Friday Fictioneers Prompt, pictured above.
The task is to write a 100-word piece based on the photo. Thanks again for the prompt and for reading!}
Gardening was her thing, not theirs.
Never once planted a seed.
Perhaps, purchased a potted plant. From Produce. And watched it wither and die.
Negligent. Except their nails.
“What shall we do?” she’d ask.
“Stay in…movie…video games…stream…role play?”
Disappointing.
Especially if you were a hero. Living life. Riding the rapids.
Or merely playing no role but your own.
One bronzed finger pressed the doorbell. Pale faces, pale arms urged her inside.
“N-N-Not today,” she said, turning. “I’d rather stay out.”
They swarmed to bowls of chips, feeding their starved ambition.
Wisteria wandered off, alone. To garden.
She needs to get rid of her friends. They were pissing me off when I was reading the story. Nicely written, Andrea.
Well, if my characters got under your skin, then my work here is done!:) Thank you Piyali!
Lovely piece.
Thank you so much, Lisa!!
I sometime wish there was a middle way… but humans tend to be obsessive.
I may have overdone the good and evil dichotomy a bit in this piece, bjorn. It’s just amazing to me, how rarely people think about what they’re missing, when their nose is in a screen. Loved the poetry on your site, by the way. Ommm.
reply regarding the name –
yes – but seeing that it is the name of plant likely got into my mind – so I was just thinking of that – but the comments sure can help a 100-word piece come alive even more eh?
You bet!
at first I did not get that Wisteria was the girl then it was clear after reading the comments – ‘and sadly you summed up a big part of the culture here – parts of it can be lackluster
Yes, I was a bit concerned about not naming her until the end of the piece. I did not want the idiom of the first line to sound awkward, by my inserting her name. That is why I put her name in the title. But that may not have been quite enough. Fortunately, it was a battle between “her” and “them,” so that eliminated the pronomial confusion of a two-woman face-off! Oh, the difficulties of 100 word compositions!
The name Wisteria makes me think of Desperate housewives, and I guess the other ladies are that type. But Wisteria could do with some company that speaks to her soul. Loved the style of writing.
Thank you, Fatima, the nail comment and the name were, I think, a tip of the hat to Desperate Housewives, though I’ve never actually sat down to watch it. Desperation does seem to persist in our culture whenever we stick our heads in the sand, and there are so many ways to do that, whether through pleasure, liasons, screentime, or just writing flash fiction.:)
Loved the dystopian feel to it. If people stopped gardening and only ate chips and watched movies, that would certainly be dystopian. Love your take, Andrea!
Yes, I think it felt very Gollum-like to me (as in, Lord of the Rings), the part about pale arms, pale faces. A big part of courage, in life, is rejecting the dystopias offered by others!
So true! And there are lots of those around 🙂
🙂
I am glad the garden won out.
Me too!
She’s just an old soul stuck with the current generation gadget addicts. She should take some ‘me time’
“Gadget addicts” has a very good ring to it, Varad. Life is becoming so entwined with the gadgetry, that I think none of us can be “pure”, in the sense of not dependent, upon the very gadgets that drive us crazy. It is a very modern conundrum.
Wisteria (oh, how I wish it grew here!) needs to dump her supposed friends and find some more suited to her…
I think, underlying the piece, and yet unspoken, is the notion that at certain times in our lives, we grow away from those, who were once fast friends. And that can be hard to acknowledge and act on.
Sheesh. What a bunch of yucky friends. She needs to dump them.
I’ll be sure to tell her, granonine.:)
Good for Wisteria, sticking to what she enjoys. Mind you, perhaps she should try watching the occasional gardening show on TV!
Yes, Penny, there are good ones out there! My attitude toward them is similar to my attitude toward cooking shows: Boy, I sure would like someone to do that for me!
Great internalization, and I would have done the same as Wisteria!
Thank you Jan, I think? I’d love to know what you mean by internalization. I’m only familiar with the sense, in which you adopt the attitudes or beliefs of your group, through continued immersion in the group. Would you mind elucidating a bit further, so I understand?
Good for you,, you are a stronger, and perhaps more horticultural, woman than I!
I’m typically on the couch potato side of that story 🙁 A very apt name for the woman who gardens!
I think we all share elements of both, draliman. A time for every purpose.
I hope ml last comment didn’t get lost in the wires!
Youre fine, Kelvin. Just had to go on my desktop ( no mean feat, in this crowded house) to find it!
A fragmented tone for a fragmented view. Love it. And how the pace speeds up, get energised, by the young folk! Great writing.
Thanks so much, Kelvin! I suspect the choppiness was more a result of a panic of editing than intention, but I did want to project exuberance (certainly, relative to her peers, anyway) in the main character. Ha!! just looked up “exuberance,” to make sure I was using (and spelling) it correctly, and got this: 1)the quality of being full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness; ebullience.2)the quality of growing profusely; luxuriance.:) Gotta love the English language . It’s always right there, when you need it! Exuberance has a gardening meaning!
Lovely writing.
Thank you so much, Jilly! I do so admire yours.
She did well to resist the siren call of the couch potato. I’ve been sucked down into the comforts of my easy chair, so I know.
I, too, should own stock in Netflix and Comcast. This character is purely aspirational, and sadly, not in the least autobiographical.:)
Love that Wisteria, a lovely purple flower, loves to garden. Yes, like cooking, gardening seems to be a hobby that attracts fewer and fewer. Of course, maybe it is all about the nails. Well done! 🙂
I love wisteria, the plant,too. We have a beautiful local garden,and the wisteria’s purple flowers look like bunches of grapes, trailing over the tops of walkway trellises. The plant provides needed shade in springtime and summer. Out of bloom, the established plant looks old and gnarly: a perfect Halloween plant.
It seemed like a good name for this character, if you’re able to disregard the “Desperate Housewives” reference (Wisteria Lane).
It is sad, that some of the great pleasures in life seem to be going by the wayside, victims of our frenzied lifestyles. I am, personally,not including among those great pleasures getting your nails done, although, I’m sure, it is relaxing and gratifying for many.
Poor Wisteria, seems like she needs to find a new group of people who share her interests.
You got that right, Iain!
The short sentences make the story active, just like her. I think she needs new friends. I love this.
Yes, I think you’re right. Hard to find gardening friends in this age group, though, I think. Hard to find even in my age group! Thank you, Im glad the piece seemed energetic, like Wisteria.
Lovely story – I liked those short, staccato sentences. Nicely done.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Thank you Susan! Lots of subjects and adjectives went in the trash bin this morning! Glad it worked for you!