Copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
It occurs to her that since he brought her here, there has never been a day without mist shrouding the boundary fence.
How strange; when he talks about the view – the rolling fields, the distant spires.
Every morning he leaves the house, disappears into the mist and takes the motorway south to the sun, re-emerging revitalised at dusk.
Today she ventures out of the garden. The other side of the fence, right around the house, the ground sheers away into an abyss.
She returns indoors, sits at her typewriter.
Slowly, she begins to construct a fragile bridge to the outside world.
Since arriving home from Spain a week ago, life has been a whirl of catching up, re-stocking (or attempting to) and planning how to cope with the situation. I’m so grateful to be back home, and I’m fortunate that social isolation is no big deal for me. I’ll try to be more inventive next week, but this week it’s a retread, appropriate for our time, from five years back. Thanks to Rochelle for bringing Friday Fictioneers together from all over the world. Stay safe, stay home, keep well – wherever you may be.
castelsarrasin 
Mysterious and magical. Beautifully constructed, Sandra
LikeLike
Many thanks, Neil.
LikeLike
What he said!
Elegant and enchanting.
LikeLike
Thanks very much, CE. Stay safe.
LikeLike
A fragile bridge indeed, but a great story.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for commenting. 🙂
LikeLike
Love the last line…
Self-isolation is great, I enjoy it… except now it’s not my choice and want to go out, yet I bet I don’t. Thanks brain! Hope you have enough to get by.
LikeLike
We’re coping. Not easy when you’d run everything down before going ‘on holiday’. But we’ll get there. Thanks for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Sandra,
I’m glad you’re back safe and sound. I can’t say I remember this piece. She sounds like a recluse–a writer. As always well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLike
Many thanks Rochelle. Take care and stay safe. I know you’ll make good use of your enforced isolation.
LikeLike
Take care, Sandra.
Spain is seriously affected. Your words have hope. May the bridge with outside world be restored.
We are all on the same boat.
My country is under 21 days lockdown.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading Anita.
LikeLike
The ground sheering away into an abyss led me to suspect a tragic ending. Instead it offers a glimmer of hope – Lovely!
LikeLike
Thanks, Clare.
LikeLike
This reminds me of Virginia Woolf (though she wrote longhand) in its quiet despair. My own writing has fallen by the wayside amidst the unspooling tragedy, though I am still far removed from its epicenter. Our human connections are both frail and robust, so I am working to keep them strong. Glad to read your story. Hope amidst the uncertainty.
LikeLike
Thanks for your comments, Josh. Stay safe.
LikeLike
I actually love the first line – that hint of being held captive, both by the man who brought her here and somehow too by the all encircling mist. And then he leaves her in the house alone, there’s the fence and the abyss… She might be physically captured but she can roam through her writing. Just wonderfully written.
So glad you’re home safe and well. We have temperatures, sore throats, aches but nothing worrying as yet. Stay well
LikeLike
I hope it’s not what you fear, Lynn. That’s the problem isn’t it, every cough, hot flush…
Stay safe and I hope you can continue your business remotely.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, who knows. Could be Covid-19, might not be. It would be good to know, then once we’re well we can go out and help others without worrying. Take care
LikeLike
Wonderful story, Sandra. So evocative!
I returned home from Spain a few days ago too. We had a real struggle with Brittany Ferries who had cancelled our reservation. They blithely offered a refund. We didn’t want a refund, we wanted to go home! Absolute nightmare.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
LikeLike
We had a much more positive experience with Brittany Ferries, Susan. They quarantined us in our cabins but brought food to the door. I still remember the feeling of those last few days as ferries were cancelled and borders closed, seeming to cut off every avenue back home. It was truly a nightmare.
LikeLike
Glad you made it back safe Sandra. Your story evokes the rather eerie quietness that has spread around our town now – I am (for the moment) one of the few who leaves in the morning and returns in the evening!
LikeLike
I hope you stay safe Iain as you go about your business. Take care.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t think I was part of FF five years ago, so this was NOT a re-tread for me:) Most appropriate, as you say, for the times.
I don’t mind staying home at all. At 72, I find myself quite content with things in my life. However, I do wonder about that abyss; where he goes, what he does. Kinda creepy 🙂
LikeLike
Yes, isolation is no problem for me, though I do miss driving. Maybe I’ll just go and sit in my car today. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Take a good book 🙂
LikeLike
I want to say the abyss, sloping down from her precipitous perch, is imaginary, or of her own making, her isolation, self-imposed. Her husband wants to be of this world, which suits her purposes, but she has chosen to self-isolate, as they say, so clinically, these days. A writer, indeed. Be well!
LikeLike
You pretty much got the drift there! 🙂 Thanks for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this line, “Slowly, she begins to construct a fragile bridge to the outside world.”
Even at five-years-old, this fits into our current world. For many of us, as writers, that’s life. No pandemic required.
I’m glad you made it home safely. Good luck restocking. My house is full of mismatched, whatever was on the shelf, food and other supplies.
LikeLike
Thankfully I had a freezer full of stuff. Now I’m looking forward to finding out what really is at the bottom of the freezer. A voyage of discovery in an otherwise stationary world.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Glad you’re back safe and sound, Sandra
LikeLike
Thanks Sue. The relief was almost palpable. I still can scarcely believe it. Stay safe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am doing my best!
LikeLike
Maybe the best writers are the creators of that bridge… to reach through the fog and finding the world
LikeLike
Sometimes the fog lasts for ages, and at times is almost impenetrable. Thanks for reading Bjorn, stay safe.
LikeLike
One of them is out of touch, but I’m not sure which one it is. Welcome back to the USA.
LikeLike
UK actually, but home is home wherever it is. Thanks for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very welcome, Sandra.
LikeLike
First of all, glad you are home, safe and sound.
As for this wonderful piece, you do know how to weave a story, Sandra.
Beautifully done.
LikeLike
Aww thanks Dale. You stay safe and warm.
LikeLike
You too!
LikeLike
Welcome home! Did you have a premonition five years ago? A perfect tale for today. As for me, apart from missing out on visits to my local, nothing much has changed – and hopefully won’t.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading Keigh. Enjoy your solitude.
LikeLike
Glad you are home, isolation can be so hard for some. Now more than ever we need to write, phone and send letters.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading Mike. Yes, communication is important at a time like this.
LikeLike
You’ve constructed this really cleverly, piquing our curiosity about whether her isolation is physical or psychological. The second paragraph does that particularly powerfully. It’s a wonderful metaphor for someone who has been isolated finding a way of breaking free from the controlling behaviour.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading Penny. I couldn’t make my mind up whether the barrier was in her own mind or some kind of twilight zone reality. So I left it ambiguous. Stay safe!
LikeLike
I like the thought of writing a bridge. Welcome back from Spain – my stepdaughter and her husband only just made it home too.
LikeLike
Thanks Liz. Yes, I was never so glad to see my own front door.
LikeLike
Oh boy, a bit creepy. Looks like she’s stuck there.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
i wonder when he’d ask her to join him for the ride. 🙂
LikeLike
Maybe never. Maybe she’s just not up for it, in reality.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Spooky and atmospheric! Enjoyed this.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading.
LikeLike
Nicely told with a great sense of sadness, Sandra
LikeLike
Thanks, Michael.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fragile bridge, sad times.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading, Susan.
LikeLike
A brilliant and magical story. I enjoyed it very much. You have a gift!!
LikeLike
Aww thank you, Brenda. Stay safe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You as well, Sandra.
LikeLike
Really liked the mood in this!
LikeLike
Thanks, Russell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful story, Sandra. I loved the ending.
LikeLike
Many thanks, Indira. Hope you are well, and keeping safe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am okay, following 21 days lock down. I hope and pray you all are safe.
LikeLike
Glad you’re back safe and sound. I thought I remembered this story, still worth a retread.
LikeLike
Many thanks for reading a second time. 🙂
LikeLike
I was drawn in by the atmosphere and the tension between the two characters
LikeLike
Thanks for reading, Keigh.
LikeLike
Pingback: All This from a Picture of a Typewriter | The Diligent Dilettante