With infinite tenderness, you place yourself across the path of my danger, stopping the hurtling train. You are my superhero.
The whispers start. “She can’t exist on her own.” “Dependency”. Even “Stockholm Syndrome.”
People can be cruel. “Don’t listen,” you say.
I go out less and less, avoiding the voices and the stares.
You make me a nest, and my legs wither. My chest inflates only shallowly now.
Too late I realise what you are.
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
Neil MacDonald Author 
From hero to controlling bully in a hundred words. Expert handling of the prompt.
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Thanks so much, Jilly
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Dark, powerful, excellent!
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Thanks so much
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Poor girl.
Has to face Stockholm syndrome and superhero & villain.
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Thanks, Anita
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You have woven a tale most darkly… well done!
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Thanks so much, Dale
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An unsettling take. What darkness lies behind the hero’s mask.
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Thanks, Iain
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A powerful take on the prompt, love it.
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Thanks so muck Kelly
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Evil masquerading as tenderness and love. A shocking story – very well done, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Edith
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Such horrors you describe, nicely done. I wonder will that be the on going fate of this prompt
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Thanks Michael
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Well-crafted. It takes an outsider’s perspective.
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Thanks, Joshua
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Dear Neil,
Haunting and so powerful it sizzles.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Rochelle
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Deep!
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Thanks, Reena
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I have a friend for whom this could have been written. Chilling and powerful.
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Thanks so much, Sandra
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quite the psychological piece. – leaves a sense of uneasiness (which I am sure you intended)
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Thanks so much
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Terrifying. Perfectly written.
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Thanks so much, LInda
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Succinct and frightening. It crosses my mind, though, that the husband may indeed see himself as a good guy looking after his fragile flower of a wife. He may love her to bits, but just be very misguided. Which doesn’t make him any less a monster, of course.
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Along with the banality of evil goes the sentimentality of evil
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Even when gilded with the best of intentions a cage is still a cage.
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Quite so
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Chilling and told with great skill.
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Thanks so much
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I’m looking at this differently from the others. I think she finally realizes that she is the self-made prison of her mind. Striking story either way.
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Thanks so much.
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it was unfortunate that she fell for him. she shouldn’t have been too trusting.
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Perhaps, but then, if we don’t trust, where are we?
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Killing with tenderness! Who is this person and who is being held captive?
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A woman who wants to be loved and a man who wants someone to love him
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You skillfully catalog her naive and guileless cooperation in her own entrapment. A fly, snared in a web or drowned, responding to the allures of a pitcher plant.
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Thanks so much
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A prisoner of love? A very indestructible human trait.
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The toughest bonds are made of it
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Compassion can be deadly – wonderfully conceived!
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Thanks so much, Dahlia
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Beautifully done.
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Thanks so much
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Nicely one. Emotional manipulation and control can be as horrifying as physical abuse.
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Thanks. Maybe more so
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Oh, so dark. Made darker by the fact that it can be some people’s reality. Nicely done.
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Thanks so much, Jo
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Oooo dark piece. Well told the piece by piece loss of self
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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A prisoner she became, how well written, that was ace!
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Thanks so much
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So well done! The lure into darkness.
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Thanks so much, Sascha
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Dark, disturbing, and beautifully written. ‘Love’ is not always rosy and bright.
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Thanks so much. Some prisons are made of human arms
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‘and my legs wither’ – masterful use of imagery. We had the same idea but I prefer your treatment of it!
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Thanks so much Lizy
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Wow, what an excellently written, dark and mysterious tale, evil hiding behind a mask of goodness. It’s as if he saved her to absorb her life force.
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Thanks so much, Brenda. I’m not sure he understood or intended what he was doing. Evil isn’t always a matter of intention
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That’s certainly true.
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Sounds like a co-dependent relationship. As another has commented, the man may believe he’s doing the best thing for her, and doesn’t necessarily have sinister intentions. Powerful writing.
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Thanks so much, Magarisa
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Wonderfully written. Compassion with a patronising undertone isn’t really compassion. Real compassion has a level of honesty in it & trust in the person you’re advising. Great job.
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Thanks so much, Lisa
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a dark tale. chilling. thanks for commenting on my story
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Thanks so much
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An unsettling and disturbing read. A slow and painful realisation for your narrator. Well told.
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Thanks so much, Sarah
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