“You may go anywhere you please in the house,” my uncle said when they took me to live with him, “but never into my study.”
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat.
My guardian taught me boundaries. I learned to push him all the way to, but not beyond, his limits. Boundaries reassure us that, within them, we’re safe
A rise in global temperature of 1.5oC is tolerable. Beyond 2o, we reach a tipping point.
Later, when I met Greta, there was no tipping point, only a fall. Real maps lack boundaries.
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 creativity
Neil MacDonald Author 
Ooh I feel I’d like to know more about Greta!
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She may recur
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I really like your last line. ‘ Real maps lack boundaries’. Wow!
I feel for your protagonist, it’s hard to live a measured life.
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Thanks. And it’s harder when you no longer trust the maps
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Greta sounds like an adventure waiting to happen. Well, perhaps not even waiting any longer.
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We’ve all met a Greta
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I love this, form first to last word. So much said in between.
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Thank you so much. I did have to exercise the white space too in this one
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I believe in boundaries. I also believe in risking the adventure of going beyond certain boundaries. Great story, Neil.
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Thanks. If I’d had more space I would have developed the idea that boundaries won’t keep us safe, and that crossing them isn’t always as perilous as we think
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True, and I think you managed to make that clear in just a few words.
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Thanks so much
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Dear Neil,
It sounds like after playing it safe his whole life, Greta’s going to push those boundaries and take him on quite an adventure. Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. I don’t think he’s ever played it safe. He just had an unreasoning faith in boundaries
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It’s going to be one mad ride, I think. Hope he doesn’t get swept away by the tide.
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Thanks, Varad
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It sounds like Greta is going to cause havoc!
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Nothing in his life prepared him for Greta
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Safe isnt as much fun is it? Very nicely penned.
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Thanks, Dahlia
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Great title. Sounds like Greta may be bad for his temperature…
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Thanks, Ian, I coined a word!
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You’ve written a very clever story with the message that ignoring climate change is a huge risk.
Kudos!
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Yay! You saw what I was trying to do, Thanks
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Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for the ride! Nice one.
Click to read my FriFic!
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Thanks, Keith
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Hurricane Greta — or is she a tsunami? Or am I off the map of your story line? 🙂
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No, you’re absolutely on-beam. That is what I had in mind, though it can also be read as love story with exactly the opposite message
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The best map is a blindfold. Good piece.
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Thanks, Joshua
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An excellent portrayal of someone who wrongly assumed he would be safe within so-called boundaries. The final line wraps it up nicely.
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Thanks so much
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Valuable lessons learned here – the value of knowing which boundaries to cross and which to leave well alone! Greta sounds like quite a gal. Great Tale Neil
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Thanks, Lynn
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My pleasure 🙂
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That was enjoyable to read – and very cleverly done!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks, Susan
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Me thinks Greta is trouble. Or at least a grand adventure waiting to happen.
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Greta is big trouble
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Ooh, I loved the twist on this. I was so sure that once he was forbidden from the study, he’d go there. But no, he managed to resist temptation… until Greta. But then, isn’t that the love everyone wants, the one that sweeps them off their feet?
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And then he stopped believing in boundaries
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I see so many people who wall themselves up, too afraid to open themselves to love, and then – not surprisingly – never finding it. Or finding it and not recognizing it, not believing in it enough to let it grow. Dropping the boundaries sounds like a good idea, in that context.
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Deep thought, there!
Mine: https://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/lighting-the-way/
Scott
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Thanks
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Greta seems to be a force of nature. I’m sure she’ll break his heart…and also that she’ll be well worth it 🙂
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Greta is indeed a force of nature
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Boundaries are a very logical thing, but the heart knows them not!
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Boundaries may be like ghosts,, a creation of our imaginations
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How tantalizing!! Who is she? Great hook
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A force of nature
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Greta must be some lady!
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Or some storm
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The trick is knowing what boundaries are good for us and which ones should never be crossed. Hopefully we will learn more in future stories. Well done.
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Or maybe its about deciding that boundaries aren’t a very helpful idea
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Real maps lack boundaries. Fabulous last line. He’s courting trouble but i guess that’s what he’s been itching for all his cloistered existence. Great writing, Neil.
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Nothing prepared him for what happened. Thanks, Neel
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Dear Neil, I enjoyed your story and thought the reference to obeying the guardians wishes was very mature. Nicely done and enjoyable!
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Thanks, Nan
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Greta, Eve it’s always the woman isn’t it… and maybe we need to look beyond the boundaries.
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Greta is a storm
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I guess he found in some cases you have to set the boundaries. Good writing, Neil. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Or maybe he found that in some circumstances the idea of boundaries doesn’t help. Thanks, Suzanne
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There is a great hint of the passionate, venal and unfettered which just has the reader craving more enlightenment
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I’m loving what different readers see in this. Thanks, Michael
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I think that’s one of the qualities of good writing when it can be read in different ways
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Thanks, Michael
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So much expressed in this one. Really liked the last line.
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Thanks so much
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You so well marry the factual with emotional in this – boundaries undone by love. The story of their partnership is food for many more stories methinks.
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Thanks, Sarah Ann
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Greta must be very hot.
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Very
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