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A Rapt Audience – Friday Fictioneers

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Good Wednesday morning, my peeps!  Yessiree, it is still muggy and stankin’ hot, here in the Montreal area.  The rains come in tiny spurts and offer zero relief.  In fact, I think they just bring the humidity level up several notches.  I’m sure all a y’all are tired o’ talkin’ about the weather so how about we move onto some story-tellin’ instead?  Our wonderful leader, Rochelle has once again provided us with a picture (thanks Ted Strutz!) worth 100-words.  Words, we writers and wannabe-writers, hope will make you laugh, cry, suck in your breath, anger you, scare you… and even get you to want to participate!  Speaking of which, should you be feelin’ it, why don’t you click on that there blue froggy below and add your 100-words worth?

©Ted Strutz

Get your code here, folks!

A Rapt Audience

Arms locked, Colin, Monique and Denis crossed the street.  The siblings had spent their adult lives roaming the globe on  many a worldly adventure together, eschewing the conventions of marriage and family.  At 84, 89 and 86, respectively, they were finally ready to put away their passports and relax for their remaining years in a small coastal town.

Their Friday-night suppers at the diner on the pier was the town’s favourite activity.  Tables were set up around the retired adventurers’ so all could listen to their wild exploits, told with such passion and verve.

One of the rapt ensured their stories would live on.

144 thoughts on “A Rapt Audience – Friday Fictioneers”

  1. Each town should have its share of old colorful raconteurs. Don’t you like the Oxford comma? In your first sentence, instead of “…Colin, Monique and Dennis crossed the street.” a lot of people would have put “…Colin, Monique, and Dennis crossed the street.”

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  2. Dear Dale,

    This feels like the final chapter of a delightful novel. I can imagine the adventures these three have had. Uplifting story that just left me grinning. I hope the ‘rapt audience’ is taking notes or has hit the record button on his or her phone. Lovely piece, my friend.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      Exactly what I wanted to portray. I would love to know just what they have seen and done, don’t you? Yes, there is one taking notes and hopefully recording. I like to think a post-mortem book will come out! 😉

      Lotsa love,

      Dale

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    • I truly like to think so! When you have an unconventional trio such as these, who knows what they have done and seen? Glad you liked!

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  6. Q,

    Stories told from observing are the best. Names change but the tale remains the same, and then it’s out there somewhere, which is really very cool.
    These three culprits have a book in ’em, and a lucky recipient more than willing to do their bidding.
    Beautifully penned!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I used to love spending time with old people when I was a child and teenager, but I fear that there’s more of a generation divide now and that a lot of them are more interested in electronics than the stories of old people. On the other hand, if the olds are interesting and eccentric enough, rather than being miserable old wotsits that spend all their time grumbling, then they stand more of a chance of procuring a captive audience. Bring back the oral tradition of storytelling. Come to think of it, there’s an exceedingly eccentric man I know who’s in his early 80’s and who goes into schools storytelling. He can keep a whole classroom enraptured with his tales for an hour at a time, so you could hear a pin drop, greatly to the surprise of teachers who have trouble keeping the class interested for more than 5 minutes at a time.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. It felt like a satisfying dawn of lives well lived. All three of them makes me want to grow old right now with my friends. That’s amazing how you made a youngster like me feel excited about growing old. 😅

    Liked by 1 person

    • There are definitely pluses to growing old(er). The more you develop those friendships now, youngster, the more you will have to share later!

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  11. A heart-warming story, Dale! You tell it simply, and very effectively. I love the way you have the other citizens coming to the diner, and the tables being arranged around the tale tellers.

    Liked by 1 person

    • The comments are sometimes the best part, don’t you think? Glad you enjoyed the story too 😉 Old timers and their tales are the best.

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  20. I liked your story, Dale, and can see Colin, Monique, and Denis in the photo. You don’t know this, but just to the left of the photo is a restaurant called Downriggers that sits on the water, and that’s where the people were going, and if I remember correctly it was a Friday Night. Behind the tree is the ferry landing where people enter Friday Harbor, you can see the posts that hold the ferry thru the tree. The masts you see belong to the Spike Africa, an old sailing ship that takes people out on cruises in the San Juan Islands.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I like how they gave up marriage and partnered up with each other instead to share a love of travel and adventure. Well-lived lives, off the beaten path. Truly inspirational. I would love to be one of the rapturous audience members.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Lovely to find a situation where people are hanging on the words of the older generation. I remember some of my father’s stories about working on the railways; they’re almost Dickensian in my memories. My OH remembers a time when Christmas wasn’t Christmas without sitting at the feet of an aged uncle for some of his stories. In my experience though, that interest in the past of others seems to have waned. Heartwarming, Dale.

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    • I must be feeling the lack lately… all the older people in my family are dying off at what feels like record speeds and the stories are getting fewer and rarer.
      It does seem that interest has waned. Sad thought,
      Very glad you enjoyed my story, Sandra.

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  29. I like the determination of the men to know how they want to spend their waning years and to find a place where they can to live doing just that. Bravo. Now what do you imagine for women of a similar age? P.S. I use commas just like you do in the first line of your story. I am an American English major.

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  37. One of my old neighbours back home went on a cruise when he turned 90. His wife had passed away after a long illness and he figured he should go out instead of moping at home.
    Sibling love is great when you survive the teens anyway 😉

    Btw it’s 28 C in Montreal – “muggy and stankin’ hot”? That’s winter here 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  38. All their traveling seems to have kept them in good health 🙂 Loved your story, Dale. And I will never stop using the Oxford comma. Old habits are hard to break, especially when there’s no real need.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. It’s good their stories will live on. In a way I’m sad only one of the rapt is in a position to make sure. These are three siblings we could all have benefitted from meeting I feel.

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  41. Une histoire très agréable! You’ve packed so much into 100 words, especially in this sentence: “The siblings had spent their adult lives roaming the globe on many a worldly adventure together, eschewing the conventions of marriage and family.” How refreshing to read about siblings who stay close and move to the same place after retiring from travelling. 🙂

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  43. and he uploaded the video on YouTube and forgot all about it until some ‘YouTube reactors’ found it and made a reaction video and bugged the viewers for donation to make more such videos. Sorry… wen’t off on a tangent.

    Loved the story about the siblings recounting their stories only for a single person paying rapt attention.

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  47. I hope there are children in this rapt audience and that they’re inspired to live such adventurous lives. I love this, Dale! (And though I have nothing against the Oxford comma, generally I don’t use it!) 🙂

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