Desperation (#FridayFictioneers)
It’s Friday Fictioneers time again! The concept is simple. Every week, the talented Madison Woods posts a photo prompt and, as a Fictioneer, you write a 100 (or thereabouts) response to the prompt. If you like writing then you might enjoy playing along. Click HERE for all the details and I hope to see your entry this week!
Here’s this week’s photo prompt:
DESPERATION
Separated from his wife, Morris reached through the fence. Ignoring the blood and pain from the barb he screamed: “Rifka!”
Rifka turned. “Maish.” She began approaching the fence but was held back by her sister.
“No, Rifka. Keep walking.”
“Down, Jew,” the guard barked. “Move.”
Ignoring the guard, Morris quietly weeped. “Rifka! Vos iz dos?” What is this?
The bullet entered Morris’ skull and exploded out the front – a mass of bone and brains. He hung like a broken marionette, his arm held fast in the razor wire.
Rifka turned and ran to the fence.
“Maish,” she sobbed. “Ikh hob dikh lib.” I love you.
(100 words + six extra words for the six million)
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), which marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising was observed this year on the evening of April 18th.
Michael B. Fishman
Michaelsfishbowl 
Whoa. Graphic and brutal. Great reminder and telling.
My attempt: http://unduecreativity.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/sharp/
LikeLike
I apprectiate that. Thank you!
LikeLike
Powerful reminder, again. Seems many of us associate barbed wire with the same mental images. Very graphic, separation brutally portrayed. Well done.
http://castelsarrasin.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/trespass/
LikeLike
That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the barbed wire. Thank you, Sandra.
LikeLike
It pains me to read this. Too graphic, too real, too heartbreaking, too horrific. But the stories need to be told over and over again…lest they be forgotten. “Never again” …but will they learn? Only time will tell. Thankfully, there’s the Holocaust Museum in DC…which all school children should visit. Here’s mine (a tad lighter)
http://www.triplemoonstar.blogspot.com
LikeLike
Honestly, I think we’re doomed to continue making the same mistakes over and over again until none of us are left to make mistakes. Thanks for stopping by, Lora!
LikeLike
Very powerful piece. Mine seems almost lighthearted in comparison (though it’s not). Very well told.
My attempt:http://authorbrandonscott.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/when-hope-dies/
LikeLike
Thank you, Brandon.
LikeLike
Strong. Powerful. Well done.
Here’s mine: http://thebradleychronicles.wordpress.com/
LikeLike
Thank you, JK.
LikeLike
Beautifully and powerfully written, bringing out the horor and the gut wrenching suffering of the holocaust. Never again! Here is mine: http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/fridayfictioneers-sobibor/
LikeLike
I hope, Never Again! Thank you for your comment.
LikeLike
Wow, heartbreaking and frighteningly true. Well done.
I’m over here: http://elmowrites.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/friday-fiction-soul-memories/
LikeLike
Thank you, elmowrites!
LikeLike
What a brutal and sad story. Your images were very powerful.
Here’s mine: http://postcardfiction.com/2012/04/27/scraped/
LikeLike
Hi Janet. Thank you for reading and commenting.
LikeLike
Very powerful writing here, Michael. And heartbreakingly accurate.
Mine is here:
http://siobhanmuir.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-200-words-for-fridayfictioneers.html
Siobhan
LikeLike
Siobhan, thank you for reading and commenting!
LikeLike
Unbelievably sad, but still must be believed; it is true.
LikeLike
Unfortunately it’s true. Thanks for reading and commenting, Carlos.
LikeLike
We write so we may remember — six more words for the six million.
Thank you for the brutality in this story. Great work.
Me: http://the-drabbler.com/trespass/
LikeLike
Thank you, Robert!
LikeLike
Very potent story, Michael. I feel about like you with the inevitability of humanity’s inability to get past the brutality toward each other, though I hope I’m wrong.
LikeLike
Thanks, Madison. I also hope you’re wrong, but I don’t know. Maybe I’m somewhat of a pessimist, but when I keep seeing examples of brutality and expressions of anger I don’t know how things will ever change.
LikeLike
Sad that such horrible atrocities must be commemorated–but they must! You’ve painted a remembrance that should teach us a lesson in humanity. Hopefully, mankind will learn from it. Well done.
Mine: http://www.vlgregory-circa1800.vpweb.com/blog.html
LikeLike
6 extra words… that added a kick!
LikeLike
Michael, this brief writing brought back the same feelings of despair I had while reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – one of my favorite books. Desparation captured precisely and vividly. Well done.
LikeLike
Extremely powerful. “a mass of bone and brains. He hung like a broken marionette” really hit home with me. Keep up the good work.
LikeLike