Copyright Jellico’s Stationhouse
He was the missing piece in the jigsaw of my life, and I had to have him, even though he belonged to someone else.
So when we met socially, the three of us, I was carefully attentive towards her, always making sure I didn’t hold his gaze for too long, and avoiding any physical contact, for fear I’d give myself away.
It was clear he liked me; I knew he would love me.
And I was right – he shows me that every day now.
We’ve moved far away, and our lives together are perfect.
She can have other children anyway.
What a magnificently moody, brooding photo this week from Jellico’s Stationhouse. Good choice, Rochelle! Click on the blue froggy to add your 100 word story to the weekly gathering that is Friday Fictioneers.
castelsarrasin 
I thought I knew what was going on until the last sentence? Is “he” a child? Did she steal him?
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Yes. 😦
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Ah, then I did follow it 🙂
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Dear Sandra,
That last line sizzles. I read it twice to ‘get’ it, but when I did it was the big OH! Brilliant.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. 🙂
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Oh, what a twist! You left me speechless.
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Thank you!
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Moody and a great twist in the tale.
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Thanks for reading. 🙂
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Stunning twist – I didn’t need to read it twice!
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I’m pleased to hear that!
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I’m sensing there’s an Amber alert happening soon. Well done.
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I think the amber alert happened quite some while back. 🙂
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Interesting… loved it!
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Thanks!
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I didn’t see that one coming. I wish this were simply fiction.
janet
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Thanks for reading, Janet.
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Wonderful as always, I’m sure a lot of us feel like we have a missing jigsaw piece in life somewhere.
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Luckily, we don’t all take it when we find it. 🙂
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She creates a hole in another’s life to fill the hole in her life. Sigh!
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That’s how it seems. 😦
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Sandra, your writing kills me. In a good way. Bravo.
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Many thanks Kecia.
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Every parent’s worst nightmare!
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Precisely. Thanks for reading.
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Sandra, this is absolutely brilliant. Few people write characters that truly scare me. But this narrator is the thing nightmares and broken lives are made of. Wow.
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Thank you Magaly, I’m honoured to have scared you. 🙂 I loved your offering this week, – the language was delightful. I’m sure I’ve commented on your site before, so I don’t know why a form-filling was required in order to do so again. But just to let you know I’ve been there. 😉
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If you’ve cleaned up your computer since you commented the last time (or are using a new device), the site will ask for the information again. Sorry for the extra step, but my posts would be drowning in spam otherwise. 😦
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Sadly, my computer IS drowning in spam, spoof, phishing and porn messages right now, which is why I’m unwilling to give out my email address any more than I have to. I haven’t cleaned up my computer, incidentally, and only use the one device for commenting, but this has happened before with other sites. I look forward to reading more of your work, however. 🙂
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Understandable. 🙂
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Shades of Nabokov. He justifies his monstrosity thought pretty lies he tells himself. Really well done and horrifying.
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I love it when a reader sees something in my story that I didn’t intend. Particularly when that ‘something’ offers a better interpretation of what I wrote. How infinitely more horrifying the story becomes. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Well done, this a story to conjure up fear in any mothers life.
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Thanks Michael.
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Oh, my word! There was I thinking infidelity and you give me child abduction! Very well structured with a lovely set up and a killer twist in the last line. Expertly done as always
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Thanks Lynn, glad you liked it. 🙂
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My pleasure 🙂
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Sounds like a spot of cradle snatching. At first this felt sinister, but then it mellowed into a love story, of sorts.
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A very selfish love story, but a love story nonetheless.
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Ouch! The twist was delightfully harsh.
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Thanks Alica, glad you liked it.
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What a heartbreaking twist. I was annoyed she was stealing someone’s husband, now I’m furious.
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Thanks for reading. Sorry to enrage you! 🙂
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Every mother’s nightmare.
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Indeed.
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So, I wasn’t the only one who went dark for this prompt. Nice angle.
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Thanks Melody.
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I’ve just been to your site and read your dark offering. We did indeed both go dark this week. I enjoyed it.
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Oh you heartless thing!
Good story. Was it her spouse or child the narrator ran off with?
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The child, that’s why she rationalised that the mother could always have another one. Thanks for reading.
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Holy crap…that took me a minute…then..yikes!
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Thanks for reading, Dawn. 🙂
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Brilliant twist Sandra.
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Thank you!
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It took a minute before the lightbulb came on. Making children is a rather nasty business–not the initial act, mind you–but the birthing, diapers, teething, etc. They are much more pleasant after they’ve been weaned and are big enough to fetch stuff for you.
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I’ll take your word for all of that. 🙂
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I greatly enjoyed this cat and mouse game that you played with us. Sinister is the word for this but then you are such a masterly writer. Superb is an understatement.
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Thank you!
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Great piece, dark and twisty.
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Thank you!
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Intriguing! Alas human relations are rarely straight forward. Great write as always.
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Almost always never what they seem. 🙂 Thank you for commenting.
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Enjoyed the twist at the end. Beautifully written!
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Many thanks!
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Naughty naughty, I could feel the tension:)
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Thanks for reading.
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What a creepy woman. Well done!
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Thanks Rowena.
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I had to read it twice! Brilliant twist!
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Thank you!
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Oh hell, that hit me in the guts. This is every mother’s worse dread. That poor woman. And the way the abductor makes light of the pain she has caused with that last sentence, as if she has stolen an item of furniture or a doll that can be replaced without too much inconvenience.
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I think the narrator has more than enough problems of within herself, without wreaking havoc on other people. Thanks for reading, Sarah.
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Wow. I didn’t expect that twist at all. If this were a contest, you’d like the challenge this week. Very well done.
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Thanks for reading. 🙂
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Incredibly powerful, Sandra. A mouth-open ending for me. Ssooo … good.
Isadora 😎
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Thank you for reading, Isadora.
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Whoa! That last line was unexpected. Very well done!
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Thank you!
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it didn’t seem fair stealing somebody’s child. but who am i to judge?
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You’re as qualified as any, I guess. 😉
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You do know how to lead your readers around by the nose. Nice misdirection. You left me with a heart-felt ‘ouch’ in the end. The poor parents. Brilliant writing (as always 🙂 ).
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Many thanks!
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Oh wow. Didn’t see that coming. His new parent comes across as so caring, and calculating. So tightly crafted.
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Thanks Sarah Ann.
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Great twist at the end of your flash! Some mothers in law should be kept at arm’s length 😂 Not all ‘though. I’m a nice mother in law, even if I say so myself 🙂
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I love it when people take something from a piece that I didn’t intend. Thanks for reading and commenting Luccia.
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Oh dear, do you tell me what you intended! Did my imagination run away with me?😀
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Great twist, I thought it just a tale of one woman stealing another’s man until that moment. Very hard hitting and effective
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Thanks, Michael.
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The first line pulled me in, and the last line confused me until I read it again! Nice one.
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I had to read it twice, but then whoa…that’s pretty evil all right. Superb, Sandra.
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