Copyright CE Ayr
Once I sensed my younger sister saw him too, I took it down and left it by the refuse bin, consigning it to scavengers or the elements, I cared not which.
A day later someone knocked at my door.
“Do you mind if I take that painting, there’s something about it…”
I leapt at the chance. “Not at all, please do.”
My sister noticed immediately it had gone.
“It’s funny,” she said, “I thought I could see Father in that painting.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, staring at his features ingrained in the faded wallpaper where it had hung.
How hard it was to get this story out in a hundred words. Re-write after re-write, changing point of view, stripping out every spare word. So with one adjective only, I give you this week’s offering. 🙂 Thanks to the mistress of words, Rochelle, the leader of Friday Fictioneers. Stay safe, stay home, stay alive.
castelsarrasin 
It’s still a good and ghostly story, Sandra
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Many thanks, Neil.
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Are they projecting his image onto the picture, or is it something altogether spookier going on? Nice little chill Sandra.
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Maybe a bit of everything, him, them, the supernatural. 😦 Thanks for reading.
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Wow, we followed the same sort of story this week. Very hard to execute in 100 words. I want to know more about their father!
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Yes it was a difficult subject to address succinctly. Thanks for reading.
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Shhhh… he is watching from the wallpaper.
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He’s watching from somewhere, that’s for sure. Thanks for reading.
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What are you doing to us, Sandra?
You entice us with hints and clues and words that nearly tell us, and then leave us wondering.
And yet we care already.
You are a sorceress, I think, with a magic pen
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Wicked! 🙂 thanks for reading.
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As if I’d miss one of yours!
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I felt a shiver running down my spine, nicely done.
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I felt a shiver run down my spine, nicely done Sandra.
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Thank you, Mike.
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Wow, well all your careful editing produced a wonderful story, Sandra.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Many thanks, Susan.
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Father is present. Why would she want to give the painting away?
Maybe he switched places – from the painting to the wall 🙂
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Perhaps not everybody comes from a happy family home?
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That ending was chilling, Sandra. The editing has worked wonders in producing a complete story within 100 words.
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Many thanks. 🙂
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Creepy and scary, and with all your editing, stripped to bare bones, it’s powerful.
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Thank you, Linda.
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Dear Sandra,
You do have a way with a story. I felt the chill in the air after reading. Well done as always.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Many thanks, Rochelle. Stay safe.
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Spooky.
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What an amazing piece. I love the sense of creeping horror.
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Thanks, Josh, glad you liked it.
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Dear Sandra,
Time for the sisters to take out that wall. Don’t you love it when you bust your ass to make the story work and then sit back and read the comments and realise it did? You are bloody brilliant, girl. This one has me wanting to help with the demolition work.
Stay low, D.
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Aww thank you, Doug. It’s lovely having you back on the scene again. Hope the trajectory to normality continues in NZ. Take care.
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Hi Sandra,
Your writing is the Siren’s song that has me tied to WordPress’ mast. (Yes, NZ, knock wood, is doing well thus far. So good in fact, that we’re slipping under the world’s radar.)
Stay well and enjoy the feedback of the faithful.
Love,
Doug
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Doug! I was thinking about you the other day. No reason or explanation. Nice to “see” you.
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Hi Alicia,
Perhaps it was because I’ve been mining stories of old for my ‘diary of a pandemic’ entires. I’ve been reading many of your comments and thinking fondly of you and the ‘Old times’. Thanks for saying hello .
Cheers,
Doug
P.S. (And think you, too, Sandra, for being kind enough to host this virtual meet-up of old friends. It’s your stellar writing that’s responsible:)
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Ohhhh. Kind of a spooky ending and good, too! All good, actually.
Great stuff, Sandra!
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It’s good to see you back again. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. As well as it can be, I mean.
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Spooky to the core. Made me salivating for more. Lovely story Sanda. Hope all is good at your neck of the woods.
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My immediate neck of the woods is pretty low on the Covid statistics, but as the weather improves and the lock-down potentially eases we’re expecting a surge shortly. Stay safe.
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Doug nailed it and isn’t it good to have him surface again? I remember those days of pruning and counting and pruning and counting. I wonder what will be on the wall of the person who took the painting and how long before it gets thrown out again.
janet
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It’s lovely to have him on the circuit again. And lovely to hear from you again Janet. Hope you’re settling down in your new home.
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We’ve settled in, Sandra, although not everything is in its place nor am I sure where “its place” is for everything. But that can be figured out over the next days/weeks. Right now I’m enjoying not having to rush around the way I had to do at the other end to get ready to move by the earlier date. 🙂
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All your word-snipping just made the story precise and tight. It turned out beautifully.
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Thanks Alicia. I felt almost refreshed by the struggle. 🙂
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Very eerie. An excellent story!
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Many thanks!
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Wow, what a cracking story! The father must have totally dominated the two girls. I wonder if they’ll ever fully recover. Fabulous writing, Sandra.
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Many thanks, Penny. He was a force to be reckoned with, I guess.
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A hint of the spooky…
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Chilling and my worst nightmare! Sounds like unfinished business…
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Maybe in their heads… yes. Thanks for reading.
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All the time they thought their father was dead, he was trapped in the wall.
I’ve never heard of a haunted wall before. Now, I wonder what it is about that spot.
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You haven’t got a haunted wall???? 🙂
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I hope not.
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Wonderful writing, Sandra. You manage to draw us in so that we wonder just what spell you have incanted! It’s funny, I didn’t see it spooky so much as wistful.
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That’s redolent of your sunny nature, Dale. 🙂 The eye of the beholder and all that. Thanks for reading.
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Trying to decide if that’s a good thing! 😊
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This story is somewhat a cross between The Grudge and Walled In. Haunting and unsettling tale, Sandra!
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Ghostly-mysterious, wishful thinking, or was he actually there…? Nice one!
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Fantastic, Sandra. Father certainly left an impression on his girls, didn’t he? Not a good one.
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But is he there to protect or torment? A lovely little ghost story, Sandra.
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I had a slight laugh here. Your story makes me wonder if ghost are merely a construct within our imagination.
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The man still haunts them. Wow, that was chilling and beautifully penned, edits and all. Stay safe as well.
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Puts a twist on deceased loved ones watching over us for sure. It seems dumping the painting didn’t get rid of the ghost.
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Nicely told, Sandra. She seems doomed to seeing his image whatever measures she takes to avoid it.
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Obviously, Daddy isn’t going anywhere. Nice one, Sandra.
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A well honed ghost story, I like the tension that you build up. Not a word wasted.
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This took two reads. Good one, Sandra.
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Wow, really spooky. You did a great job in 100 words. Do you think it would make a short story? Thinking Alfred Hitchcock magazine 😀
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If he is on the wall then maybe he is just plastered.
Terrific and spooky take on the prompt.
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