(100-word flash fiction)
TEN YEARS AGO
Two weeks after Moxie went missing, they found a body in the swamp, bloated beyond recognition.
“Open-and-shut case,” declared Detective Inspector Tommy Larkins, known more for his aplomb than his detection skills. The body did get a decent funeral.
The town rallied around Charlie, slow and plodding, struggling with child-raising, yet refusing to remarry.
PRESENT DAY
The kids have flown the nest. Charlie, in the lonely house, lives for the weekend TV show, whose main character bears such an uncanny resemblance to Moxie, it makes his heart melt.
Interestingly, the show is called ‘Hiding in plain sight’.
~~~
Is it just me or are Wednesdays arriving at alarming speed? They say when you grow older time appears to be going by faster. It was just New Year’s the other day and 20 days gone already. Sigh! Thank you Rochelle for keeping the brain creative and ticking with Friday Fictioneers ♥
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
Tap the frog to read the rest of the stories and contribute your own!
Just Joyfulness 
I wonder why she left him
That would have to be another story 🙂
Dear Joy,
I’m sure we skipped a few days in between. Wednesday did seem to spring up early. 😉 Now I wonder who’s buried in Moxie’s grave?
Shalom,
Rochelle
A Moxie proxy?
Some secrets are best to remain buried.
I guess she had a good reason to go, and seems to have made a success of her life since, but it must have been hard to leave her kids behind.
I believe in the animal kingdom too mothers abandon their kids. It depends on how you see it. She discarded one role-playing personality to take up another.
Did she leave him or just run away to find fame and fortune as an actress? Good one.
Thanks Trent. Both, I think 🙂
Makes me wonder about the body in the grave… This is a great snippet of what I really hope is a bigger plot
I hadn’t thought about it, but it’s a great idea 🙂 Thanks Elmo 🙂
They sound like a mismatched couple, a good guy and Moxie.
Good guy? How can you tell?
Oh dear. Poor Charlie!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Maybe he had it coming 😉
Quite a mystery! Curious about the body they found . . . Sequel coming?
Prequel, perhaps 😉
Yes, Wednesdays are appearing way too fast. I remember when January seemed to me the longest month of the year. They’re all way too short now!
It’s a race against time to the grave 😦
You can take this two ways. That’s a good take.
Thanks Sandra. There is always more than one way of looking at things 🙂
Poor Charlie. Still, he had the satisfaction of raising the kids. Great take on he prompt!
Thanks Penny 🙂 Some men are domesticated, some women are NOT 🙂
Now, this is intriguing! Detective Larkins’ open and shut attitude poses quite a few questions!
My story!
Yes, doesn’t it? 🙂
poor chap, he needs to get a life.
He did. It’s on TV 🙂
Interestingly I read this completely differently to everyone else. Moxie’s dead, Charlie killed her and is “hiding in plain sight” and Larkins, now retired, sold the story to a TV network to boost his pension 🙂
Entirely probable. Which is why they say, things are never what they seem. Thanks for pointing that out 🙂
Faking a death is much better than some of those situations play out.
Yes, Wednesday came extra quickly this week. I thought to myself, “Didn’t we just do this?” This week seemed to have come much faster. I don’t know why.
Much better than a messy divorce, for sure 🙂
I was thinking worse than divorce, but that’s true too.
I am with drailman. And yes Wednesdays do come round ever quicker, but thank heavens that they do.
Nooooo …. I don’t like it when time plays tricks like this. I want to savour my days 🙂
The family might be better off without her. Although if she wanted to stay hidden being on tv seems dumb. Liked what you did with this prompt J.
Thanks Tannille. 🙂
I feel for him – is there a hint here that she might actually be his lost wife?
I really enjoyed this take on the prompt. A nice “spin” so to say. And yes, it does seem that this year is flying far to fast already. It’s like one day it was February 2020, and the next it was January 2021…. where did the year go… lost to covid for sure.