Written by John Davis Frain

A to Z Blogging Challenge – Day 6: F

Fisherman

“Starboard, lads, double time, she’s crashing down on us!”F

The sea was a tempest, rocking monstrous waves and unleashing its fury on our courage.

“Hold fast,” I called to anyone who could hear above the squall as salt bit into my scarred lips. Safety an afterthought, I gripped the nets to pull in our catch and feed the crew.

“Jacob,” Mom interrupted, “out of the aquarium, you’re scaring the fish again.” So embarrassing – why can’t she be like other moms and catch me masturbating?

 

And just like that, we finally have a story with nobody dying.

Writer’s note: The original story for F was called Frain and I fell from a ladder and broke my skull while drinking whisky — ’twas the drop that killed him, the first officer on the scene says. But since some people were getting worried about my mental health — not to mention my physical health after falling from a ladder — I did a last-second lineup change. And besides, it’s only your imagination that kills the editor in our previous story!

How did this all start? Blame Hemingway who crafted the six-word story (“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”), which led me to give a shot at six-sentence stories.

Gee, why don’t you come back tomorrow! Also, this just in … during the all-request lunch hour, you can suggest occupations for any of the upcoming letters. In other words, I didn’t plan at all and haven’t written a thing yet for the rest of April

Most of all, thanks for stopping by!

 

25 thoughts on “A to Z Blogging Challenge – Day 6: F”

  1. John Davis Frain! You are a master at these six sentence stories, and I’m NOT just saying that! It just keeps getting better and better.

    And I actually think your other idea titled Frain would have been really good too. “Twas the ‘drop’ that killed him”…ha! Drop/ladder. Drop/whisky. Also, your stupendous knack for giving us little surprises. I was going along with the Fisherman story…then you pop up with a kid and his aquarium!

    Brilliant!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You, Donna Everhart, are way too nice. And I’m NOT just saying that either! After all, I’m hoping to be you in a year. And I won’t tell your kids how nice you are since they’d never believe it anyway.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Hilarious! Especially since the aquarium in my house is just 1.5 gallons, so my mental image is very strange!

    Confession: I hadn’t noticed these were all occupations. Another constraint you’ve put on yourself! Good luck.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yeah, I don’t know how that constraint got there. Just sorta showed up, and now I have to stick with it since I’m all the way to F already. I wonder if this is how Sue Grafton got started!

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    1. Families know best, Café. And they’ll tell you so.

      On the other hand, if permission doesn’t come, families are usually pretty good at forgiveness too. But don’t tell ’em you heard it here!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey, thanks Serena. I’m looking forward to the rest of the month too. Just wish I’d have thought this through back in February and could have done a little more planning. Oh well, good time to experiment.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Ha, I love this. You and Colin have such knacks for flash fiction. I laughed, which is good. I was expecting a death.see what y’all do to me?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. So funny, Julie. Stick around, I bet there’s a decent chance someone dies here in the next 24 hours. But we’ll catch the culprit and make her pay! Or, I suppose there’s a chance the killer could be male. A little odd, but ya never know.

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    1. Thanks, Kae. I wish I could tackle long form with the same results. I’ve been working on a flawed plot point for two hours and I’m ready to jump out my second-story window. Good thing it’s not warm out and the windows are locked shut.

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    1. Well, Monica, you are welcome to hop on over anytime you like. We’ll leave the light on for ya. People are getting killed here almost on a daily basis during the month of April, but you’ll be safe I promise.

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