The Will

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rusty bike, rust sculpture

“Who gets the bike?” Uncle Lionel asked.
“His instructions were clear,” said Grandma. “You pick one item.”
“Even her?” sneered Aunt Maybelle.
Grandma nodded. “Lotta’s one of us. Her Ma isn’t here to choose.”
“Let’s draw lots,” suggested Uncle Atticus, who was Gifted with luck.
We all ignored him.
“Look, does anyone else want the bike?” Uncle Lionel edged closer to its rusty curves.
I raised my hand.
“Perhaps you could race for it,” cooed Grandma, fetching the brooms.
Later, she watched me polishing my prize.
“Your Grandpa showed you the shortcuts, didn’t he?”
I nodded.
“Sly old devil,” she grinned.

 

Picture copyright: Sandra Crook for Friday Fictioneers

This story was written for the Friday Fictioneers. Click the little blue smiley fellow to read more stories from other authors.



45 thoughts on “The Will”

    • I’ll settle for quirky. Quirky is good. They’re witches in this tale, and I cheated by using characters I’ve used before. I’m glad you liked it, and that it makes sense as a standalone story.

        • Thanks Alastair, I really like these characters, and it gives a sense of continuity when I use them again. Depends on the picture though, I can imagine some prompts might leave me struggling to shoehorn these people into a tale. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

          • I find that with mine The tree one last week I couldn’t use, or the horse and hose. They ended up being stand alone. The bike just screamed at me though. Although I found it difficult keeping it within 100 words. I think I used 120. Which was a huge reduction on the nearly 200 originally 😆

            Reusing characters though, is great as you can flesh them out more. Give them a background

    • I’m always striving for the unexpected, glad I achieved it here. Thanks, Janet 🙂

      • The question in FF becomes what’s unexpected. We all try to be unexpected but soon we expect…the unexpected, the twist at the end, the story that starts nicely and ends badly, etc. Maybe the unexpected then becomes a nice, normal story. 🙂 It’s interesting to speculate about that while enjoying all the stories.

        janet

        • I think you’re right – I’m always looking for the twist, and the genre I’m trying to write for is children’s fantasy fiction, where twists and turns are expected. That said, some of the nicest stories I’ve read from the Friday Fictioneers have been the gentlest and most simple ones, where the twist was wringing the most emotion from 100 words.

    • Yes, witches and wizards – I can’t seem to stay away from them, though I did have a time travel story in mind for this picture at one point. Thanks for reading!

    • Thanks Rochelle, glad I pulled off a surprise ending, and equally glad you enjoyed reading! 🙂

  5. truly bewitching… not just with shortcuts but I heard he used his new PFC-13 broom and had even beaten his cousin Harry with it once.

    fun dialogue and characters… Randy

    • Thanks Randy, the shadow of Harry Potter stretches a long way doesn’t it? Unsurprisingly, I’m a huge fan of the books!

  6. Ah well; another family squabbling over the remains of another… Good to know even witches and warlocks suffer this malady too. Don’t know why they should miss out.!

    Very down to earth characters, even though they are of another dimension; so to speak 😉

    • Thanks Carolyn, I think people will be people whatever their powers, and some of them won’t be very nice. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂

    • The picture was crying out ‘magic’ for me, so I went with it. Thanks for reading!

  9. I like this family – they’re the ones that turned Grandpa into a toad aren’t they? This has great dialogue; a nice vignette.
    Claire

    • The very same family, they’re stuck in my head at the moment. Glad you liked the dialogue 🙂

  10. Trudy that was superb. I loved so much about it, Lucky uncle Atticus trying to make it a game of chance and the others ignoring him, and eager uncle Lionel edging towards the bike. This was a great fun and the characters were bursting off the page. Well done. 🙂

    • Thank you, and glad you noticed Uncle Atticus. I imagine in other situations he gets his own way, just not with family. 🙂

    • I think he meant her to have it, without causing a big argument by bequeathing it by name. Families can be difficult at times like that, and he was thinking ahead. As you say, ‘Sorry Uncle Lionel!’

    • Thanks for reading. Grandparents can be so important in your life, can’t they? I’m glad my story brought your grandpa to mind, he must have been a character! 🙂

  14. I’d be really interested to see what witches could do with that bike. Loved the story. That’s one of my faves so far.

  15. Hi Trudy
    A great tiny tale! I especially like how you’ve manage to shoehorn so many characters into 100 words without losing them or confusing the narrative.
    I was interested to read your exchange with Janet about the nature of twist endings in flash and short fiction. I am a fan of this sometimes now rather unpopular resolution, but the best of them work really well within the context of the tale whilst other are punchlines. This does not make them poor, it is just that they give a different flavour to the story, one that perhaps is less long lasting. The difference between the shock from a shot of tequila and the glow from a good glass of red wine!

    Cheers

    Nick

    • It’s fun to do, too. You can explore the characters a bit more. But who knows what next week’s prompt will bring?

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