Je suis Charlie – Friday Fictioneers
THE DETAILS:
Friday Fictioneers: 1 picture, 100 words, scores of people from around the world sharing their creativity and vision. Feel welcome to join in; visit Rochelle Wisoff-Fields HERE to find out how.
THE PROMPT:
This week’s photo prompt courtesy of, and copyright by, Jan Wayne Fields.
Je suis Charlie
If I understood how this universe worked then maybe it would make sense. Twelve people die and I’m spared because I was late for work that day? My birthday and I was running late . . .
Why me? What makes me, Renald Luzier, special?
My wife makes dinner, sets the table. With no appetite I stare out the window thinking of questions with no answers. I cry. Why me? I’m a cartoonist! I draw. Like little children, I draw pictures. We were all little children once; didn’t we all draw? When did we lose our innocence and stop drawing?
Ninety-seven words. One reserved for the 17 victims, one reserved for the 21 who were injured, and one reserved as a prayer for peace.
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Please visit the other Friday Fictioneers by clicking the little blue frog below. You’ll find just about every type of genre you could imagine and some really creative writers.
Michael B. Fishman
Michaelsfishbowl 
Fitting story for the past week. I read only this morning that one cartoonist had overslept and was thus saved, so I’m assuming it is of this person that you write. I’m sure his thoughts and emotions will be going pretty much along the same lines. Well done.
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Thank you, Sandra!
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Indeed.. to be the survivor always seems to be hard the question of why you live easily becomes the overwhelming question..
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Strange how many people almost regret living though such trauma by a fluke of time or place or . . . Unlike Sandra, I hadn’t heard about the cartoonist that was late. Poignant take on the prompt. And I like the idea of reserving the three words.
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Thanks, Alicia.
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Heartbreaking. Well written.
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Thank you, Louise!
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Nicely apropos, Michael.
janet
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Thanks for reading and commenting, Janet!
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Yes, heartbreaking and shocking acts.
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I agree. The world needs some heartful and loving acts…
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You are absolutely right. I think it will take many people doing many loving and heartfelt acts to cover such evil. Even then, can that be done? I hope they can be stopped, and soon.
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Dear Michael,
A lot to think about. Well written down to your three reserved words. Je suis Charlie. Je Suis Juif.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. “Je Suis Juif” – you learn something new everyday so thank you for that as well!
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A well-crafted ode. Nice job. I know people who arrived late at the Pentagon on 9/11 and you’ve captured survivor guilt well.
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Thank you, I appreciate that.
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Survivor guilt, always difficult to understand. Timely and well done.
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Delighted there’s a prayer for peace.
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If there is one I’d like to learn it. The more people praying for peace, the more likely we are to actually achieve it.
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Dear Michael,
Thank you for this memorial piece, so brilliantly and poignantly written. Sometimes there are no answers. Peace.
Aloha,
Doug
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You’re welcome, Doug. And thank you for the kind comment!
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Touching. Thank you.
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You’re welcome. And thank you, Kathy, for reading and commenting.
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So sad. A sensitive and moving tribute.
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Thanks, Margaret!
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Sensitively written. Well done.
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Thank you!
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Michael,
This seems an appropriate memorial for the fallen cartoonists and other victims in Paris. I especially appreciated your reserves–the three words left unspoken.
All my best,
Marie Gail
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Thank you, Marie Gail.
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So heartfelt. All of it so very sad.
Ellespeth
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It was all too sad. Hopefully we can all see a time where we’re able to move past silly differences and live together as just a bunch of humans.
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Dear Michael, It has been a hard two weeks of sorrow. This was so uncalled for. Why oh why don’t they learn to put their energies toward something constructive? All they want to do is to rule the world – well, you will never rule me. The world is too beautiful to have you in it. Somehow, I wish we could snap our fingers and all the hate would be gone – but I don’t think that can happen. Well done! Nan 🙂
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Thanks, Nan! Fundamentalism in any way isn’t a good thing. It’s sad because we are all of us, with the exception of some cosmetic differences, exactly the same. It’s unfortunate that we let ideological differences pull us apart and make us hate. Maybe if we all snapped our fingers together we could do something?
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Very thoughtful tribute. Well done.
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Thank you!
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If you knew not yet, Michael, I saw many interviews and other apparitions by Luz ( his caricaturist / reporter name ) and he is indeed more shocked than even the survivors.
You can see one on the next Sunday Unity march comforting him.
He his a doctor by trade, specializing in on-site first answer and yet when he discovered the scene that morning, others EMS had to pull him out as he was rendered useless by grief.
Senseles feelings of culpability are one of the many facets of PTSD.
Thanks for finding that specific link to the prompt, Tay.
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Thank you, Tay. No, I didn’t know any of that about Luz. All I know is what I learned from the stories I read.
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YVW! 😀
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