FFfAW: Arrivals

Posted on by Louise Bunting

I’m a day early this week with my entry for the Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers (FFfAW) Challenge, run by Priceless Joy, as I’m going to be busy for the rest of this week. The chances of being able to write anything over the next few days is slim. As this week’s photo prompt was provided by me I didn’t really want to miss it!

The challenge is that you write a story of 75-175 words inspired by the photo prompt below. I hope you all like it.

Photo Prompt: © 2015 The Storyteller's Abode
Photo Prompt: © 2015 The Storyteller’s Abode

Arrivals

Millicent watched as the train neared the station, her earlier sense of trepidation rapidly growing into full-blown panic. He wasn’t going to take the news well – she knew he wasn’t!

She cast a gaze towards the exit, fighting the urge to flee – but that would just make it worse. He’d arrive home soon enough and then she’d also have to explain why she’d failed to meet him. She couldn’t do that…

With screeching brakes and weeshing steam, the engine pulled to a stop in a cloud of puthering smoke. Carriage doors flung open.

Edward grinned as he saw her, jumping down onto the platform with ragged hat in hand, hair as mussed as ever. He didn’t care who was watching as he threw his arms around her, placing a tender kiss on her lips. Sighing, she relaxed into his welcome embrace.

She had to tell him. Now. It would be better if he heard it from her rather than found out on his own. She drew a  breath. “Eddie, I’m afraid my mother has come to stay.”

Word Count: 175

If you’d like to read the other entries, click the little blue frog.wpImg

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This week’s photo prompt (as I mentioned above) was provided by me, so I thought I’d add a few facts and another few photographs for anyone who might be interested.

The photograph was taken in Grosmont, a stop on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) in England. This is a heritage railway that runs between the seaside resort of Whitby and Pickering, a journey of 24 miles.

The line was first opened in 1837 and was run by various companies until its closure in Dr. Beeching’s cuts of the 1960s. The the NYMR Preservation Society was formed in 1967 and the heritage railway established.

It’s now claimed to be the busiest heritage railway in the UK, possibly even the world – one source (unverified unfortunately) says that it carried 350,000 passengers in 2009! I visited a few years ago with my sister and my train-obsessed nephew.

If you’d like to know more about the NYMR you can go here or here.

Here are a few other (largely unedited) pictures I took while I was there:

43 thoughts on “FFfAW: Arrivals”

  1. Louise it is a beautiful story. Perhaps the word “beautiful” won’t do justice with it. An excellent description and the way you have sketched the scene is amazing. The twist in the end brings smile on my face.
    I always love reading your stories and this one is my favorite. And, a special thanks for this week’s photo prompt. I love this picture so much 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Madeeha! I’m very glad you enjoyed it. This story was very easy to write, especially compared with some I’ve laboured over recently!
      I’m also glad you like the prompt picture. We visit railways whenever we go on holiday with my nephew (he even calls himself a ‘train-geek’). You’d think I was just as obsessed with them considering the number of train photos on my computer! Editing them is always good fun, though. 🙂
      Thanks for visiting.

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      1. No, you are not obsessed but you are a good photographer. It’s always a refreshing experience to see pictures on your blog.
        So keep visiting railways and keep writing such stories 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thanks. 🙂 I’m still learning with my photography but I feel I’ve improved a lot since I started putting them on my blog. I look at the pictures I took a few years a go (like those I put on this post!) and see all the things I could have done better. 🙂

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  6. Weeshing Louise is a new word for me. I did like your tale and the photos, who doesn’t love an old train. I used to travel to school on one once……

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    1. I believe it’s a word train enthusiasts generally use to describe the releasing of steam (or so my nephew tells me). It possibly originates in the Thomas the Tank Engine stories, though it might have been in use before. 🙂 I’m glad you liked the story. Travelling to school by steam train must have been quite a memorable experience! Thanks for visiting.

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  7. Loved the twist at the end, makes it almost sound like it’s every mans nightmare, lol. I also appreciate the rest of the facts you gave about the actual train too. Great pics.

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  8. Having one’s mother come to stay certainly would throw a wrench in a relationship. Let’s hope she doesn’t stay too long or helps improve the situation instead of making it worse. I understand her stress telling her husband. LOL! I thought it made a great twist at the end and you certainly had a good tension build up to it. Well done! Thank you for this beautiful photo prompt Louise and thank you for participating in FFfAW challenge!

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    1. I don’t think her mother approves of Eddie – somehow I can’t see her helping the situation! I’m glad you liked the twist. I have to admit that until I got to the end I didn’t really know what she was going to tell him, myself. There were several possibilities.I’m very glad you enjoyed the story and liked the picture. 🙂

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    1. The worst of news! I always thought my nephew made up the word when he kept on referring to trains ‘weeshing’ – it turns out that’s what train enthusiasts call the releasing of steam. I think it might even be a phrase used in Thomas the Tank Engine!

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    1. I’m not sure any of them are going to be having a particularly good time until Millicent’s mother has gone home! I’m glad you enjoyed the story. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.

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  11. A lovely story Louise ~ I am also fond of your wonderful word weeshing, not being into Thomas the Tank I have to admit I had never heard of this word before. A really great funny last line ~ Sometimes that can be a fate worse than death. 🙂

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  12. Love the twist at the end. Poor Eddie 😄 you took great pictures too! Love them! ❤️

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  13. A particularly uncomfortable situation for any man for sure! Hope they make it out of it unscathed! 😛

    Oh and I used to watch Thomas and Tank Engine on TV too! 😀 Don’t remember the word ‘weeshing’ though, but it’s a useful word!

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  14. Wonderful story with a nice twist at the end. Interesting characters. Would have liked to learn more 🙂

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  15. A great story. I had no idea what Millicent’s news was and so it was a good twist. I always liked my wife’s mother but that would be a strain on anyone’s marriage, I’m sure.

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  16. Excellent description of her feelings….. Of course, I was thinking of a different ending, and chuckled when I read that last line. 🙂 I can just picture the look on Eddie’s face after he heard that! I wonder what kind of conversation they had on their way home? ….my guess is…not a real happy one.

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  18. That’s a sweet story! The build up of tension and the anti-climax. Oh well…little nightmares of married life 🙂

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