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It’s Different Now

May 25, 2017

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, J. Hardy Carroll, who can be found HERE.

THE STORY:

It’s Different Now

I enjoy exploring abandoned buildings. Houses, barns, garages, makes no difference to me. Abandoned buildings are great places to pretend to be an adventurer and, with camera in hand, to let my creativity fly free.

When I was young these abandoned treasures were everywhere, but there aren’t many of them around nowadays. They’re torn down and redeveloped quickly and fences keep people out.

It’s different today.

Today when I play adventurer and take pictures in broken-down structures I think of Israel, New York, Boston, Paris, Iraq and Afghanistan. And now Manchester.

Different ruins. Different destruction. Different abandonment.

Different reality.

– 99 words. One word left over in memory of the victims of terrorism –

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.

19 Comments leave one →
  1. May 25, 2017 10:36 am

    A fine FF there Michael. Sad that your list of cities is so long and sadder still that you could name many, many more. Haunting and well told

    Liked by 1 person

    • Michael B. Fishman permalink*
      May 26, 2017 6:15 am

      Thanks, Lynn. In truth I almost deleted this and started over because how could I leave out Orlando and San Bernadino and right here in St. Cloud, Minnesota? And the thought that a person could probably list 100 cities was almost overwhelmingly sad. Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. May 26, 2017 1:32 am

    Sadly, well done! 😦
    If I leave you a cookie, will you give me a comment? 😕

    Liked by 1 person

  3. May 26, 2017 1:38 am

    Very moving story, Michael.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. May 26, 2017 4:54 am

    Dear Michael,

    Subtle and powerful statement. I love Leonard Cohen. Had to wait to click post comment to hear the whole song.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Michael B. Fishman permalink*
      May 26, 2017 6:48 am

      Thanks, Rochelle! I don’t think many people appreciate Leonard Cohen because he doesn’t have a “beautiful” voice or anything like that, but those words . . .

      Liked by 1 person

  5. May 26, 2017 8:28 am

    No bigger Leonard Cohen fan than me. And loved your story, sad and indicative as it is.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Life Lessons of a Dog Lover permalink
    May 26, 2017 12:38 pm

    Great tone in this story. Listing the new destructions we have suffer was very effective. It is startling to think the list is incomplete and growing.

    Like

  7. michael1148humphris permalink
    May 26, 2017 4:18 pm

    You told this so well.

    Like

  8. May 26, 2017 4:40 pm

    Poignant. Good take.

    Like

  9. May 26, 2017 11:20 pm

    You’re right in that so many more could be listed. Places of destruction not only through attacks, but through war and conflict. So many places could go onto your list Syria, Palestine, Burma, Sudan…
    Abandoned places are so hauntingly intriguing. You can almost feel the past echoing in its ruins. Lovely POV.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. May 27, 2017 2:12 am

    This is really touching

    Like

  11. May 27, 2017 2:21 pm

    This is terrifying… and alas the list is very very long.

    Like

  12. May 28, 2017 11:52 am

    You took us from childhood to adulthood with a jerk. In a very well-written way. Perhaps my favorite story this week.

    Like

  13. May 30, 2017 4:19 am

    Good writing, Michael, powerful use of the prompt. —- Suzanne

    Like

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