Friday Fictioneers – Tourist Trap

~ neilmacdon
jennifer-pendergast5
PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast

There’s whimsy and then there’s madness. In the square, the giant escapement was cute. We sat by the fountain and savoured the play of sun through the holes. Hands big as railway signals indicated the museum and the train station. Disquieting.

We chose the museum. You learn a lot about a community through its relics. The face of a Gulliver-sized fob watch was set into the cobbles of the plaza.

“What time is it?” I asked a whiskered citizen in a top hat.

He capered. “Tea time, of course. It’s always tea-time.”

The only train out was at High Noon.

 

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here. 

Fancy sharpening your skill with writing exercises? The Scrivener’s Forge offers a new exercise every month to hone one aspect of your craft. Take a look at this month’s exercise on character, desire, and suspense here

85 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Tourist Trap”

  6. Enjoyed this one. Sounds like the beginnings of an excellent story, reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s “Narnia” series… or maybe Stevenson’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels” with a little bit of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ thrown in for good measure. Loved it!

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  12. I’m pretty sure I just saw a girl in a blue and white dress run across your story, a confused rabbit followed her… yelling something I couldn’t make out.

    This is brilliant, Neil. Love that the tone is completely matter-of-fact, but so many of use grew up with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that we can’t help but wait for the madness to swallow the golfer.

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  20. Whimsical, but slightly unsettliing too, as I always found the Alice stories themselves. It’s that mix of the real and surreal, the world being knocked off kilter. Very well done Neil – you hit the tone perfectly

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  27. I like my whimsy with at least a bit of madness; otherwise it tends to verge on twee. I loved the bit about the hands as big as railway signals: now that you mention it, those are a bit disturbing, aren’t they? I’ve seen them so often but suddenly they seemed very “Alice in Wonderland” in retrospect — especially with the tea time reference.

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  28. Wonderfully whimsical. Not sure if you meant it this way but I found the only train leaving at High Noon to be very ominous.

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  32. Rabbits? Did I hear you mention rabbits? My dog is on her way. You don’t want to know about her and rabbits.
    I loved the Wonderland elements. They brought a touch of magic to a perplexing challenge this week.
    xx Rowena

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