Friday Fictioneers – Charcoal Charlie

~ neilmacdon
ronda-pov
PHOTO PROMPT © Ronda del Boccio

“You’re Charcoal Charlie,” he said.

The name’s Fred, but I guessed they gave everyone a name in the ballooning club. Perhaps the moniker was a slur, on account of my skin colour.

“Get under the envelope and flap the edges open,” he said.

“Sure thing, massa.” I hoped he’d understand the irony.

Holding the edges of the balloon and flapping like a rooster, I felt ridiculous, but the bag began to inflate.

Then, a wall of flame jetted past me.

“WTF? You almost burned me to a crisp,” I yelled.

“Why do you think the job’s called Charcoal Charlie?”

 

 

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

72 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Charcoal Charlie”

  34. Fred better get out of the club before he gets burned! His safety doesn’t seem to concern anyone. I like the ambiguity of his nickname. I guess it’s up to us to decide whether he was picked because of his skin colour.

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