Heavy silence fell when an elderly man with a cane came
in to buy a coffee. The customers in
Rick’s Coffee remembered him well. Oh
yes, they remembered him.
He called himself “Fred”, but no one ever knew his true
identity. An air of inaccessibility surrounded him, which was just the way Fred
liked it. All that anyone knew was that
Fred was superb at tracking. Did something like that in his military days. Animals or people, Fred was on their trail
while foot prints were still wet.
Some said Fred could find a mosquito hiding in a free
standing rotting tree, during a raging sand storm.
When “Fred” left, walking slowly with his cane, all exhaled.
They had not wanted a repeat
of the last time he came for coffee.
No. They did not
want that.
The italicized underlined Wednesday words are courtesy of River, who was handed the baton from Wed. Words writing challenges, Delores from Under the Porch light. This post is from 2015, along with the sentence prompt.
A great take on the words, though I itch to know more. Mind you Delores passed the baton on to me, and River is one of several people who provide us with the prompts.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I got lazy.
DeleteSuch a clever story using those words, Susan. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteHah, my ending would involve that, once sure everybody was there, he'd bring whoever was hunting them down on all of them!
ReplyDeleteThat is just evil, but it could work.
DeleteI'm thinking, I'm thinking..... Good one!
ReplyDeleteSherry & jack smiling (some)
Just picture being in a coffee shop, and go from there.
DeleteHe sounds like quite a character.
ReplyDeleteHe became a legend in his own time.
Delete"Fred" sounds like quite a character.
ReplyDeleteYou just don't hear "Fred" much these days. We have a ton of lizards and we always call them "Freds". Why?
DeleteI believe Fred was lonely. His erratic behavior was a defense mechanism.
ReplyDelete'Could be any reason.
DeleteYou mentioned in the comments above that "Fred" was a legend in his own time. Maybe it was more a legend in his own mind! The story has me wanting more!
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to write a story that has an enigma at the end.
DeleteIt could go in many directions.
ReplyDeleteLovely story of Fred.
ReplyDeleteHa - what the heck did Fred do? Yes, you keep us guessing. Great job!
ReplyDelete