Friday Fictioneers – Strangers

~ neilmacdon
the-gate
PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays

Up to the edge of my hedge, I am safe. I stare out into the empty road—no cars, no people, only increasingly bold foxes.

Then there, at the bottom of the lane, a figure silhouetted by the early morning sun. It walks towards me, as if out of a dream. Another person. Tentatively, I raise my hand.

“How do,” it says, stopping at my gate.

Stranger danger! Who knows what the creature carries?

I run inside and bolt my door.

 

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

83 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Strangers”

  7. I’d be more worried about the increasingly tame foxes. They might look sweet when they’re little, but they grow up into nasty little bar stools. Good take on a telling image, Neil. You did it justice. I imagine it was only the postman.

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      1. Now you got me thinking about the TV advert with the talking box advising folks to mail in a stool sample. Dang. Now I want to rewrite it. 🙂

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  32. Oy, poor terrified dude … 😉
    I think that’s how some people felt, and how some may still feel … and it makes me sad. Because whole precautions are important, and should be taken (and enforce, IMO), the terror is optional …
    Then again, that ‘stranger’ may not be wearing a mask for ‘political statement of selfishness reasons’ and in that case … 😉

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