
It was the last day, the very last. And my heart was breaking. Tomorrow, I’d be off for a new life. Today, was for Carol. Down by the riverside we followed our favourite walk.
“I’ll never forget you,” she said.
The idea of being forgotten slashed my stomach with fine surgical strokes.
“Come with.”
Down on one knee in the park I went. A shard of glass cut my knee, but the pain seemed a relief.
Carol’s face assumed a mask of grief. “I can’t. I’m promised to another.
A tearful embrace as goodbye.
Such things hurt when you’re eight.
.
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

So long, farewell ….
First loves and the first cuts are the deepest.
Tracey
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Thanks so much, Tracey
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A very sweet story. Well done!
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Thanks so much
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First love – you never recover!
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Thanks so much, Violet
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Childhood resilience! They will live to love again.
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True, but they don’t know it today
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darn, i can relate. thanks for the memories.
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My pleasure
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the cutting on the knee was the foreshadowing that this was not going to work – and cute to have it be youthful love
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Thanks so much, Prior
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🙂
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“…slashed my stomach with fine surgical strokes.” Great line, especially from an eight-year-old.
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Thanks so much.James. Of course it’s not the eight year old boy who’s telling the story.
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Awwww…sweet story.
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Thanks so much. Dawn
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Awwwww
Great last line
Poor petal. Heartbreak is so rough. Haha. I’m sure he’ll get over her though. 8 is a tough age!
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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It’s never too early to have a broken heart or kneel in broken glass. I still remember my broken hearts from back then.
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And didn’t it all seem histrionically catastrophic?
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Of course.
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What a romantic this boy is! He’s bound to find a new heart to pin his love to.
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Almost immediately on arrival, I’d guess
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lol! Hopefully landing on a worthy soul next time.
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How lovely. We both seem to have reverted to childhood this week!
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Must be the lure of the choo-choos
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First cut is always the deepest. Lovely write, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Dale
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Dear Neil,
Such a sweet story. One never knows what their future might hold. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks so much. Rochelle
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Wonderful story, Neil, in every way. Youthful love for him that he will someday recover from. But for her…promised to another. So sad!
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Thanks so much, Brenda. I think she may have been exaggerating
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Whew!
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Everything does seem like the end of the world at that age. Great storytelling.
-David
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Thanks so much, David
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