© Jean L. Hays
The Road Less Traveled
Fiction; 100 words
Mac stared at the decrepit road from the tree line. It stretched east and west, further than she could see. A few birds hopped around deep holes that marred the surface, pecking at the black dirt and rocks.
John crept forward and crouched next to her. “What do you think?”
“We’ll keep to the sides, in the trees where we can.”
“Do you think there’s cover the whole way?”
She swept her eyes up and down the old road, their path to the developmental center. “I don’t know.”
“And if a crew comes by?”
“We’ll have to hope they don’t.”
***
Photo prompt & featured image: © Jean L. Hays
Friday Fictioneers is a weekly challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. The above is my 100-word fictional story. This week I’m continuing my exploration of characters and their story from the YA novel I’m writing for NaNo! Each week, writers are offered a photo prompt, from which we are challenged to write a complete story, in 100 words or less. Then we post, share, comment and critique with dozens of other writers. Click the blue frog button to find more stories, and join in!
The Mom Who Runs: 
well a bit mystifying, hope it ends well for them.
http://obliqview.blogspot.in/2016/11/the-trading-post-prompt-jean-l-hays.html
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Thanks, ibarora. The road is a bumpy one, and I’m far from writing the end, but rough idea of how it turns out!
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Great little vignette, would love to read more of the story and see how it develops, and if they make it!
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Thanks, Iain! There’s a few other pieces on the blog about the same characters. I need to add a common tag for the working (and surely not permanent) title: Aftermath. It’s under heavy development this month, with aims to be complete around January. Hope you’ll keep tabs on them! 🙂
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Look forward to it 🙂
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Tags added! If you search for “Aftermath” it’ll pop up with the character & scene explorations, plus the original inspiration for the story, a 24-hour challenge called “One Throne Joust.” I’d love to know your thoughts if and when you have time! Happy trails! 🙂
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Dear Sara,
I wondered who they were, where they were headed and why they needed cover. Atmospheric and well written, leaving lots of questions.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Greetings, Rochelle!
Thanks! I hope it didn’t leave you with too many questions. The prompt inspired a scene that’s a bit further ahead in the NaNo WIP than the draft, and I decided to explore that moment. It’s hard to walk away from a story and it’s characters once you’re deep into it!
Happy trails! 🙂
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I didn’t understand this. It read like an excerpt from a longer piece. I didn’t know what the development centre was, or why they were going there, or what a crew was. But it is atmospheric
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Thanks, neilmacdon. Sorry for any confusion! I made a note at the bottom that this piece was an exploration of characters and a situation from the WIP project for NaNo. It’ll fit in with a scene that’s further along in the story than the draft currently stands, but the picture spoke of a certain moment that’s on the horizon, so I couldn’t pass it up! Happy trails! 🙂
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Thannks for explaining. Good luck with NaNo
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Thanks! See you around the FF posts next week!
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