Friday Fictioneers: Lost in the Desert

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
©

© Douglas M. MacIlroy

“We should’ve stayed with the truck.”

” No-one would’ve found us. No-one knew we were in the desert let alone lost. I know there’s a  town at the end of the road else there’d  be no fence to keep the sand back.”  The two men staggered on, conserving their energy and need for water by not talking. Mile after mile.

” Look! Buildings.  A stream. A mirage?”

“That’s no mirage.” They ran to the water’s edge. Stefan put a cupped hand in it, screaming as his skin peeled from the flesh. ” God help us. They’ll kill us. We’ve found their nuclear reactor.”

In response to Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers  where we are invited to respond in 100 words or less to the photoprompt this week supplied by Doug MacIlroy.

Unknown's avatar

About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist

I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
This entry was posted in fiction, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

64 Responses to Friday Fictioneers: Lost in the Desert

  1. Hykeham Photography Group's avatar micklively says:
    April 22, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    I like the dramatic ending.
    Good piece Irene.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. noelleg44's avatar noelleg44 says:
    April 22, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    Good grief! What an ending!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Snow's Fissures and Fractures's avatar Snow's Fissures and Fractures says:
    April 22, 2015 at 11:33 pm

    Oh my, that was unexpected! Great story.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Sherri Matthews's avatar Sherri says:
    April 23, 2015 at 2:00 am

    Wow. I love your flash fiction stories Irene…at first, the snow had me thinking of a scene out of the film ‘Fargo’, which is one of my favourites. You really knocked me off kilter with your shocking ending. Now I’m sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happens next to these two guys…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. TraceyDelaplainMD.com's avatar Tracey@WhatsforDinnerDoc.com says:
    April 23, 2015 at 2:50 am

    Me thinks the radiation will kill them before the others have a chance.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. Sandra Pavloff Conner's avatar Sandra Conner says:
    April 23, 2015 at 4:40 am

    Oh, scary indeed! But you had my undivided attention from the beginning to the end.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Fabricating Fiction/Louise Jensen's avatar FabricatingFiction says:
    April 23, 2015 at 4:56 am

    Wow. I wasn’t expecting that end. Well done.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. Claire Fuller's avatar Claire Fuller says:
    April 23, 2015 at 6:14 am

    Wow – that was a shocker! I wasn’t expecting that. Great writing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. Raewyn's Photos's avatar Raewyn's Photos says:
    April 23, 2015 at 6:46 am

    Ooh, what an ending.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. The Writer's Village's avatar The Writer's Village says:
    April 23, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    “skin peeled from the flesh” pretty graphic image and pretty upsetting. Don’t think there’s much room for hope here.
    Too bad. Randy

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  13. joseph elon lillie's avatar joseph elon lillie says:
    April 23, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Frying pan meet fire! Great ending.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. rochellewisoff's avatar rochellewisoff says:
    April 23, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    Dear Irene,

    I’d say with skin peeling from flesh, they don’t have to worry about someone killing them. They’re dead already. Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  16. Björn Rudberg (brudberg)'s avatar Björn Rudberg (brudberg) says:
    April 23, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    What a horrid end.. really good.

    Like

    Reply
  17. BrainRants's avatar BrainRants says:
    April 24, 2015 at 1:59 am

    Well, he won’t have to worry about the thirst much longer.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  18. Dave's avatar Dave says:
    April 24, 2015 at 7:56 am

    Ruh roh. That’s gonna leave a mark.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  19. GHLearner's avatar gahlearner says:
    April 24, 2015 at 9:24 am

    Eek, that came unexpected. Unsafe nuclear reactor…. they’re dead. Great twist.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  20. patrickprinsloo's avatar patrickprinsloo says:
    April 24, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    That is bad luck, indeed. Well ended.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  21. Margaret's avatar Margaret says:
    April 24, 2015 at 8:46 pm

    Very tense. They’re in hot water now for sure. Great ending.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  22. Lorna's Voice's avatar Lorna's Voice says:
    April 25, 2015 at 12:51 am

    Your story is quite similar to mine! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  23. Russell Gayer's avatar rgayer55 says:
    April 25, 2015 at 4:33 am

    Egads! Good thing he didn’t dive right in.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  24. milliethom's avatar milliethom says:
    April 25, 2015 at 5:44 am

    Gripping story, Irene, and the surprise ending is excellent. The skin peeling from Stefan’s hand is an effective image.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  25. Ula's avatar Ula says:
    April 25, 2015 at 7:03 am

    Oh my, that is horrifying, but good.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  26. Priceless Joy's avatar Priceless Joy says:
    April 25, 2015 at 8:15 am

    Wow, when I got to the end I felt my face turn white. I would say that is excellent writing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  27. Charli Mills's avatar Charli Mills says:
    April 25, 2015 at 11:37 am

    Oh, wow…quite the thriller!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  28. Cerys Morgan's avatar Cheryl McCullough says:
    April 26, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    Unexpected ending. Loved it! Brilliant use of the prompt. Well done 😃

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to lingeringvisions by Dawn Cancel reply