Unhinged – Friday Fictioneers

~ Amy Reese

It’s time for Friday Fictioneers. Thank you to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, our talented leader and to Marie Gail Stratford for the photo this week.

The challenge is to write a 100-word story based on the photo. All are welcome to participate.

I took my cues this week from the strange lighting I saw in the photo. Thanks for reading.

mg-buildings
PHOTO PROMPT © Marie Gail Stratford

(100 words)

Unhinged

“Room 484.” Tom said. “I can’t get off my floor. Remember?”

“Try to be calm, sir.”

Despite the illuminated number, the elevator returned Tom to the 48th floor. The stairs proved as unpredictable, a bottomless series of doorways back to his room.

“Can’t you send someone up?” Tom slammed the phone.

He rushed out to the hallway and then he saw them, vacant-eyed and pale.

“Go ahead,” they said, whispering. “Take the concrete plunge. You know you want to. One of us can go free.”

And someone did.

The elevator resumed normal operations for only one. One of the lucky ones.

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For more stories from the Fictioneers, click here.

48 thoughts on “Unhinged – Friday Fictioneers”

  1. Spooky Amy, but it matches the photo perfectly. BTW, I like the blue treatment on the sand mermaid at the top of your home page.

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  2. Great story- original! And yeah, isn’t the lighting in the image odd. I know sun can bleach things out badly, and shooting through glass without proper filters also does strange things, and then if exposure is off… well it can make for some odd results. Anyhow …. the lighting is really peculiar – but adds a wonderful element to the image – glad you chose to follow that route and play off it 🙂

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    1. Thank you! Photographing with the sun is always a challenge. I like what happened here with the light however it happened. It definitely makes for an interesting prompt. The light helped me find a story. I’m glad you liked it.

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    1. Thanks so much, Neil. I agree when the horror is mixes with the everyday if feels all the more terrifying, perhaps because we can relate to it. Thanks for the compliment. 🙂

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  13. Now that’s a creepy story! Somehow I don’t think “go ahead, take the concrete plunge!” is going to make it as an advertising slogan, but maybe the tag line from this summer’s big scary movie. And it better be in 3D!

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    1. They’re so eloquent, aren’t they? Take the concrete plunge. I wanted there to be no mistake about what they’re doing. 3D or even the motion-watching one. The D-box. Yikes! Now that would be grim.

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    1. Thank you, Trent. For some reason, I enjoy creepy. Oh, what does this say about me? This is one I would actually like to extend. I think it has promise. Thanks for the encouragement.

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