
Miss Maisie make a mausoleum. Weren’t that just like she? Even in death, she lord it over Miss Hester.
But Miss Hester, she smile and sweep her patio; keep her place spick and span. She look from her door through the chicken-wire fence at goat and chicken and pickney playing on the grave.
“You don’ mind that your sister still have bigger house?” I aks.
Miss Hester laugh. “She cyan chase them animal out, now. She gone. And I outlive she.”
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
Dear Neil,
I love the voice in this…right down to aks. Spot on and entertaining.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much, Rochelle
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We like Miss Hester, she’s got it sussed
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I’m fond of her myself
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Neil, being Australian, I wasn’t familiar with the accent and idiosyncrasies there. However, I get the pride of outliving her sister. An aunt of mine who’d always looked down a bit on her husband and thought he’d decided to get old while she still felt relatively young, was most outraged when she developed cancer and was going to die first.
Hope you have a Happy New Year.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Thanks, Rowena. You got it
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The avarice extends beyond death. Good stuff.
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Thanks so much, Joshua
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Oh… and the goats can eat from the flowers too… somehow getting the last word is what counts.
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Thanks, Bjorn
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Perfect voice. Mis Maisie is definitely the loser here 🙂
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Thanks so much, Linda
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Miss Hester has it right. I thoroughly enjoyed the voices in your story. Happy new year, Neil, to you and yours! =)
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Thanks so much, Brenda
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Nicely done! This gal’s got her priorities straight … 😉
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Thanks so much
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NIce voice! I can see Miss Hester cleaning and smiling while feeling just a wee bit smug.
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That’s true. She is a bit smug
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Loved the voices… only the “cyan” I got stuck on. How is it pronounced and what is it supposed to be?
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Thanks, Dale. I dithered over “cyan” because it’s also a real word. But it’s how they say “can’t”
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I think I was uncertain because cyan is a soft “c”.
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I was also confounded by “cyan”. Who is the “they” you are referring to, Neil?
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The them is the animals. You add a “them” to a singular to make a plural in Caribbean English
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Amazing voice Neil, so much fun!
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Thanks so much
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Miss Hester sounds like a self assured woman. She knows what she has and she does not envy her dead sister.
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Thanks so much
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Great dialect in this!
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Thanks, Russell
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Miss Hester certainly had the last laugh!
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And what a belly laugh it was
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Miss Hester is having the last laugh. Wonderful!! 🙂
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Thanks so much Anshu
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Great voice in this. Made me want to wipe my brow and drink lemonade. Sibling rivalry is the pits.
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Thanks so much, Stu
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I could hear her speaking – lovely!
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Thanks, Liz
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Well, Miss Hester got the last laugh in the end, despite Maisie’s pettiness. Beautiful, understated writing and the voice is lovely
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Thanks so much, Lynne
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My pleasure, Neil
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Ha! This is fabulous Neil.
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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Wonderful, I loved the voice in this.
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Thanks so much
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Wonderful read and wonderful voice..
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Thanks so much
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Great story Neil.
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Thanks, Jo
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A great take on sibling rivalry. Look the voice in this one, Neil. Very appropriate.
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Thanks so much, Russell
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Even in death, the competition still abounds, great stuff and Happy New year to you
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Thanks so much
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So good I tried reading it out loud! Nice one.
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Did you get the Caribbean accent when you read it aloud?
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It was an accent but not much like Bob Marley’s!
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This Caribbean dialect you use is so interesting, with the pronoun substitutions, especially. I don’t hear Caribbean voices much, though the island are so close!
I learned two words, pickney and sussed, from this story and the comments to it. I originally thought pickney might be just another farm animal. 😊
The large grave in the picture does look a little grand for its location, a little too big for its britches, so to speak. Nice transition from this to a sister trying to outdo her wiser sibling.
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Thanks so much, Andy
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The voice in this is perfect, pulled me straight into the piece to the point where I could practically feel the heat of the day and the wicker seat beneath me as I listened in on this conversation.
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Thanks so much, Carol. That’s exactly what I wanted to create
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Great epitaph!
Your language is spot on!
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Thanks so much
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it never ends
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Thanks
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This is good, Neil. I got caught up by the dialect which I kept trying to place, which seems unfamiliar to me, but evidently not to others, and the “cyan,” which gets the reader thinking of a color and probably not what you intended.
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I struggled with how to render it.
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Great voice here.
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Thanks so much, LIsa
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She who laughs last laughs best.
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Exactly
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By speaking only one sentence, Miss Hester has endeared me to her. Great scene.
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Thanks so much, Magarisa
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