Copyright Sandra Crook
From the window of the smallest attic in Dijon, she calls to the boy teetering on the ledge below.
“Fais pas ca!”
He looks at her blankly. Not French then.
“Tue das nicht!”
He shuffles towards the edge.
“No lo hagas!” Perhaps he’s deaf, poor mite.
As she climbs onto the roof, a phone rings.
The boy rummages in his pocket. Not deaf then.
“Hello?”
Oh, English, never thought of that, being in France and all.
“Nah, I’ll get back to you, mate. Came up here to get a signal, but there’s some mad bird here speaking in tongues … looks like a jumper.”
The photo prompt this week is mine, taken in Dijon. France. The rooftops of Bourgogne are a sight to behold for their design and craftmanship. I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must be if you need to replace a roof tile. 😦 Friday Fictioneers kicks off again today, with Rochelle playing centre-forward. For my American colleagues, that’s the person who’s supposed to kick the ball thingy into the net thingy. Anything you want to know about English football, ask me.
castelsarrasin 
Lovely twist at the end and it sort of reflects the way we all look at your lovely photo and come up with our own interpretation.
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Thank you! 🙂
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That looks like a beautiful place to visit, and I can imagine how difficult it must be to change one of those tiles.
Very amusing story as I suspect, this scene has been played out more than once!
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Thanks Francesca. Yes, there’s almost always someone around to get the wrong end of the stick… 🙂
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Dear Sandra,
This one has me laughing out loud. Talk about a failure to communicate. 😉 As always, pitch perfect.
As for English football…I think I understand it better than American football which I don’t understand at all.
Thank you for the beautiful photo. We’re world vicarious world travelers via your camera.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle, glad it made you laugh – I thought I’d better lighten up somewhat this week. 😉 Ah, American football. Neville took me to an American football match at Wembley on one of our early dates. Despite that, I married him. Pleased to oblige with the odd photo from time to time. 🙂
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Hysterical 😄😄😄 and thanks for the photo prompt!
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My pleasure Jan, look forward to reading yours in due course.
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Dear Sandra,
Laughing into the night here. (We have no signal either). I’m still in the process of jumping. Thinking of you every time the tour passes over or near a canal.
Love and Aloha,
Doug
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Thanks for reading Doug. Just don’t go too near that edge without calling me first – hope all is well. Yes, I’m loving the tour too, particularly with Froomy having such a good run again this year. You take care, we’re missing you.
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Lovely photo Sandra! I spent some time admiring the roof before I even began writing my story 🙂 Sorry, I gave it a sad twist. Your story had me laughing hard but silently (just in case my family thinks I’m a mad bird). Too good!
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Glad you enjoyed the story, and the roof is indeed a work of art. I seem to spend all my time with my camera pointing skywards when I’m in Burgundy.
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Hahaha, loved it! You made my day. 😀
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My pleasure Lore.
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First of all I envied you for being able to visit such a nice place – ready to captivate any soul with a hint of romance. Secondly your fun take feels almost captured from a real-life daily scene. And I solemnly acknowledge your knowledge of anythingy related to footy!
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Thanks for reading Horus. And yes, I know as much about football as I do about anything. Ahem!
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Very funny, Sandra.
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Thanks Mick 🙂
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This made me laugh, fun all the way.
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Glad to hear that! 🙂
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Great pacing on this.
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Many thanks!
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Hahaha – your story made me laugh. I could just hear the accent. Thanks for the lovely photo this week.
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Thanks Claire.
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Ha! Thanks for the early morning laugh.
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My pleasure, Alicia. 🙂
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Great photo, great story.
And, re your misdirection comment, right back at you!
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Thanks CE. 🙂
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Loved the twist at the end. Those twists always make a short story more impressive. Love the photo, too.
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Thank you!
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Really funny 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂
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This made me smile and I loved the twist at the end. Thanks for the photo.
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Thanks Mike.
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Lol. Some people would do anything to send a tweet.
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Thanks for reading Paul.
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Truly delightful. 😀 I hope both of them are okay, and that he got the signal. 😉 Loved the twist.
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Thank you Vinay.
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Absolutely love this! Thanks for the lunchtime laugh. 😄
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Thank you!
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I’m still laughing. 🙂 😀 That’s a lovely photo Sandra. Thanks for sharing it.
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Glad you liked it Norma. 🙂
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LOL. Loved this!
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Thank you. 🙂
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It was hilariously delicious! (Is that a word?)
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Certain of it. Thank you! 🙂
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My pleasure!
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OMG..Sandra..this truly made me LOL! 😉
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Thanks Dawn. 🙂
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What a funny story … and I’m still giggling. 🙂
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Giggling is good for you. Thanks for reading.
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Yes it is and I don’t do enough of it 🙂 Thanks for writing this lovely story.
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Brilliant!
You’ve made my morning, what a great story!
Well written and very entertaining 🙂
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Many thanks Cheryl.
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Loved the humour in this piece – great picture to inspire us all, thank you very much.
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Thanks Sally.
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What a hilarious story, and a great picture, thanks for letting uns play with it. I’ve been in Dijon many, many years ago… thanks for the memories.
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It’s a lovely city, isn’t it? Thanks for reading.
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LOL. This was so amusing and an enjoyable piece to read. Loved the twist at the end with the mad bird talking in tongues.
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Thanks Irene. 🙂
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I’m shocked–and thrilled–that you wrote humor this week. It’s took a while, but I’m finally starting to rub off on you. 🙂
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I felt a humorous piece was long overdue, Russell. It must be your influence. 😉
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Haha, that’s awesome!
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Thank you!
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First, love this photo. I can’t wait to start writing about it. Second, fabulous story! The little twist. Ah, the misunderstandings of language…it’s hard enough sometimes when you both speak the same tongue! Not to mention when you don’t.
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So true. Thanks for reading.
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You’re welcome!
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Hahaha! Pesky phone signals. I hope they come to an understanding about what each is doing up there.
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Thanks for reading Melanie.
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Thanks Sandra for the photo click. Communication gap due to language barrier was hilarious.
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Thank you!
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Oh Sandra! That was great fun! I laughed out loud!!!! Loved the story! 😀
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Thanks Courtney!
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I’m envious of your many travels, grateful for the many photos, and just tickled by this interpretation. FYI, the ladies of our American fam–okay, I– have a saying: Football butts drive me nuts 😉
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I can share the sentiments Kimberly. Thanks for reading. 🙂
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LOL .. Don’t mind me but I thought the ending was hilarious. This is a fun write and very well done, Sandra. Your photo is incredible. The roof tiles must be magnificent to see in person. I enjoy architecture that is ornate. This photo showcases that.
Isadora
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Oh, this is so colorful, Sandra! So many languages and all. Very clever. I would be that mad bird. Thanks for the beautiful photo.
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Despite having lived in Germany, Spain and France, Amy – I had to look the phrases up to be sure.
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It was well worth the effort. I bet French and Spanish are easily confused. I studied both of them. Of course, I don’t remember much!
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Fun and funny! Thank you for the beautiful photo!
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Thank you Erin 🙂
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seriously funny
That would be me, “the mad bird” trying to save the “jumper”.
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🙂 Good luck with that then Tracey. Thanks for reading.
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I love when a story gets a laugh out loud from me! Fun stuff. Lovely photo as well, Sandra. Thank you for it.
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My pleasure Dale.
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Oh, how i’d love to visit Dijon – lovely photograph, and the story is so typical of today. Very well done!
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Thanks Yolanda.
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I laughed 🙂 – particularly at ‘mad bird’.
Gold.
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Thanks KT. 🙂
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Really well-written and funny story, Sandra. Thanks so much for the great Dijon,France street picture this week. 😀 — Suzanne
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Ha, very funny!
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Thanks!
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Wonderful! That made me smile at the end of a long, stressful day. Thank you!
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Thanks Liz. Now get your feet up and relax. 🙂
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As to the football lingo–give us a little credit. Our women’s team just took the world cup, and we all rallied around them like true patriots should. 😉 Honestly, with all the concussions and brain injuries coming out of American football these days, I think we need to turn our attention to a different sport. My choice would be baseball, but soccer’s a fine substitute as well.
As to the photo, thanks so much for sharing it with us. I’m enjoying the results as I make the rounds this week.
As to the story–simply brilliant. Enough said.
All my best,
Marie Gail
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Yes I saw the USA won the women’s World Cup. Our girls weren’t so dusty either, but I doubt it put the over-paid, over-hyped men’s team to shame. Thanks for reading MG
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That’s brilliant, Sandra. Stellar writing, as always. I love a good tale of cross-cultural misunderstanding. 🙂
-David
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Thanks David. 🙂
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Sandra, thanks for the invitation to come out and play. I co-opted your nice prompt and Americanized it, but your story uses the photo to it’s fullest potential, showing the lighter side of miscommunication. Mine, not so much. See ya ’round.
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Good and funny too. Two people communicating at not communicating. 🙂
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Great twist at the end, excellent writing as always, but this time with a comic touch. Hey, Russell and I don’t like a writer as good as you treading on our turf!
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Lovely story Sandra, and a nice twist
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Oh, so funny. And she’s ‘speaking in tongues’! I loved it. Thank you for the photo, too. Beautiful.
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