“You got the right to one phone call,” he said, raising the visor of his helmet.
All my life I’d been rehearsing for this moment. If a genie offered you three wishes, your first wish had to be that all your other wishes came true. Scheherazade ended her story each night on a cliff-hanger so the sultan let her live another day to hear the ending. There had to be a twist with the phone too.
He smacked the night stick into his palm. “Come on, I haven’t got all night.”
“I must speak to the President,” I began.
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 plot.
Neil MacDonald Author 
Good choice 🙂
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Thanks, Jane
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🙂
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Assuming he eventually succeeds, would that really be the last voice you’d want to hear? Good twist, Neil.
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I think the idea is that he doesn’t succeed
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Aha, nice idea, the last line raised a smile (although which President, the current US one might not be much help to him!)
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Not the US, perhaps
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Wise choice.
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Killer. Hope it worked. A nice take on the Scheherazade story.
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Thanks, Patrick
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Dear Neil,
He’s inventive in any case. I wish him luck with the phone call. Good story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle
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So, Neil, it seems that, despite our earlier discussion, the phone does have its uses
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He can be fairly certain the call will not be completed
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Well played, good sir! Excellent story.
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Thanks
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This is great. Kinda makes me long for the days when calling the president meant something!
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These days you have a choice of things to call the President
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Ha! Yeah! But they better be short, or he’ll lose focus.
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Reminds me of the beginning of Landscape’s hit song, Einstein-a-go-go. Not sure why.
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Thanks, Kelvin
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Oho! Brilliant!
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Thanks so much
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Well done and very clever of him! Another option would be to try and locate his teenager. 😣
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Thanks, Christine
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I’m hoping he’s not counting on Donald Trump. I’m evidently not alone with my concerns.
Hope you’ve had a great week.
xx Rowena
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Other Presidents are available
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Well, good luck with that. Fun fact is that not all law enforcement jurisdictions must offer you a phone call. Some places only let you call a lawyer or similar professional. Some let you have a call but if no one answers, you’re out of luck. Others let you make as many calls as you want until you reach someone. It’s really variable.
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And others just drag you into a corner and beat you
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Sometimes that does happen. Fortunately, my various encounters with law enforcement over the years never got violent.
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lol I love it! 🙂
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Thanks, Sascha
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I would call my favourite coffee shop, for it is going to be a long night.
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Nah, that won’t work. They’ll just deliver coffee
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Hope he doesn’t call the orange one! Hey, maybe he could call the Indian president. We have just got ourselves a brand new one. Who knows, he might just help the protagonist. Good, fun take this one is, Neil. Cheers, Varad
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Thanks, Varad
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Good story. Unfortunately all the “depends on which president” quips have already been done, so I’ll stop there.
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Thanks so much
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I like very much!
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Thanks so much
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I think Scheherazade had a far greater chance surviving than this guy 😊 But thanks for making me laugh 😁😁😁
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he is a trier though, you have to give him that
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This one call will surely be put to great productive use. Good story, Neil.
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Thanks, Neel
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I’d say that’s a twist, all right. And actually an intriguing beginning to maybe a bigger story, hmmm …?
Good take on the prompt, Neil.
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Thanks William. If I were to continue it, I’d have to put in the work of figuring out how he prolongs the phone call indefinitely. And I’m much too lazy to do that
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Not lazy enough to get the reading tastebuds going, I’ll say that much. You always give us a good yarn.
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Thanks, William, I appreciate that
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Oh, that’s beautiful!
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Thanks, Penny
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Good story, though I wouldn’t trust Trump with my safety.
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Other Presidents are available
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Ah, nicely done. Now I’m wondering if he has a personal connection or if he’s just chancing his arm. Either way, it’s worth a go. Great tale Neil
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he doesn’t know the President from a hole in the ground. He’s trying to make the sequence endless
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Ha! I wonder if anyone has tried this in real life and if it works 🙂
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I’m pretty sure this falls into the “don’t try this at home, kids” category
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Haha!
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Oooo good luck with that. What if an aid answers… great tension in this one Neil
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Thanks, Laurie
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I enjoyed the comparisons you made.
Thought provoking story, Neil.
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Thanks, Dawn
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if the president doesn’t want to talk to him, what now? 🙂
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The President certainly won’t want to talk to him
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THE President? Whose President? Surely not that President! Lol… not sure how much help he can be! 😉
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No, another President altogether
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Beautifully done – setting out the rationale and the denouement. I hope he got his one call.
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Thanks, Sarah Ann
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Best to tweet him 😉
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Not that President
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That’s a relief.
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call on which President? India just has got a new President.
http://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/07/the-sunday-call.html
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THE President
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Better call Aladdin (of lamp fame).
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Having Sheherazade as role model, what’s not to love about this guy. Very clever, too, although the wishing for more wishes never works. The magical people are no fools…
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He doesn;t know that though
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Hope that worked!
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The President is a bit busy tweeting these days, unless it is the President of the local chapter of the bikie gang.
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The world is full of Presidents
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