"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Friday Flash 55 - Catalog Of Last Resort


He’s looking at a catalog for canes
because he can’t afford the shots.

The house is cold—
propane at fifteen percent.

He claims love is not a consideration
in his life anymore

but he waits for her to get home
to turn on the heat.

He looks for the cheapest
and circles it in red.




If you've written a piece of flash fiction in 55 words, go tell the G-Man and enjoy a flurry of attention from his bevy of FF followers.  The temperature is dropping and now I'm seriously freezing. Wonder if I can turn up the heat....

TGIF!

24 comments:

RD said...

warmth comes from hearts and hands...
even in the dead of Winter

felt

Peace ☮

Anthony Duce said...

Very good. Someone who cares I think maybe better than love.

G-Man said...

Yvonne...
Such a moving story, and perfectly written!
Great love story
Loved your fantastic 55
Thanks for playing, and have a Kick Ass Week-End

Anonymous said...

This is heartbreakingly lovely.

Thank you so much for your well wishes on my blog!

Anonymous said...

Hard times, but so sweet he turns up the heat for her.

Alice Audrey said...

The cheapest cane is the one straight off the tree. That might also help the heating problem.

Here I am being pragmatic when this piece is so piquant. As if I miss the point completely. Silly me.

TALON said...

Awww! I hope she hurries home, Yvonne! Loved this 55.

hedgewitch said...

I found this terribly sad and extremely well written, really effective for so few words. Life is all too bleak sometimes, but even here there's the glimmer of what keeps us going.

Daydreamertoo said...

Aww... so sad because it's so true.

Steven J. Wangsness said...

There's a surprising amount of info in that short piece. Excellent writing.

anthonynorth said...

Poignant but beautifully written.

Bodhirose said...

Very well done...so much depth to these few words...touching.

Brian Miller said...

smiles....very nice story...warm even in the cold and leaves me with a smile

author.nara.malone said...

I know this guy. So sad. Great characterization.

Other Mary said...

Heartbreaking, and too often lived out these days I fear.

izzy said...

What a bare bones story! cold, light, afternoon and whomever his caretaker is! Great, thanks.

Lydia said...

It is lovely, and reminds me of one of the most poignant scenes in Dr. Zhivago, when Zhivago returns home early and finds the house cold and begins to scold his wife...but then is told by his father-in-law that she keeps the house cold all day while he is gone and makes a fire just before Zhivago is due home.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Thank you, everyone, for commenting. I've read each one two, three or more times. It helps me to flesh out my own words, reading what others have taken from them. A special thanks to Galen for hosting and to you, Lydia, for bringing back the memory of that poignant scene in Dr. Zhivago, one of my all time favorite movies. I haven't since seen a winter climate so well filmed until I saw The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo.

Donnetta said...

Hi, Yvonne: Lost of red circles these days. Very good. D

Doctor FTSE said...

Great example of how to say a lot with a very few words.

Jemi Fraser said...

Turn up that heat! :)

The situation you describe is much too common.

Helen Ginger said...

So much said is so few words!

It's cold here. We seem to get warm, then cold, then warm. Today it's cold and rainy. We love the rain, though, since we desperately need it.

Jayne said...

My goodness you pack a lot of emotion into 55 words. Wonderful piece of work, Yvonne.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Jayne,
Thank you so much! A lovely little shot in the arm this morning.

Helen,
Thanks. We've had no snow, nor the deep essential freeze. Bugs will be bad this summer. At least that's the prediction and my dad says it's so, and he knows everything:)