“Excuse me, has anyone seen my mouse?” Damn, that’s not working.
“Help, there’s a tiger on the loose!” Unbelievable. Still no response. You’re all dead from the neck up.
“Fire! Fire!” Well, that’s flaming useless. My lighter’s not working.
“Does that bag belong to anyone?” Excellent, they’re getting twitchy.
“Make way for the bomb disposal unit.” OMG, I hate crowds.
Phew, they’ve gone. Now I can tell my behaviour therapist I made it through the shopping-centre without panicking.
“Oh, no. Help! Somebody, please. Take it away.”
(shaking my fist at the sky) “What manner of twisted deity creates spiders?”
#
Friday Fictioneers: 100 words stories
Photo Prompt: image (c)Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
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Sarah Potter Writes 
This is great!
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Thank you, Dale 🙂
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I think I can relate. I hate crowds too! Well written!
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Thanks, Caerlynn. So do I hate crowds, hence the inspiration behind that story. I’m not particularly scared of spiders though, but then I don’t live in a country where many of them are deadly.
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What erratic behavior. You caught the panic in your protagonist personality very well.
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Most erratic, although if someone had been behaving like the character in my story in my part of the world, probably everybody would have ignored him and he’d never have cleared the street. The English have a way of pretending to be terribly preoccupied and totally ignoring a person who’s behaving in an odd manner.
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funny. very funny. well done.
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Thanks 🙂
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You’ve a dark, “wicked” sense of humour there, Sarah. I loved this piece and also can relate (not with spiders, but definitely crowds at different times)! Although we have huge spiders that come out, end-of-summer, and spin 20-foot or so webs across the backyard trees, and I’ve walked face-first into those a few times, which is not particularly enjoyable/is rather startling. I now walk with my hand up in the air in front of my face at that time of year and day. Fortunately, they’re not poisonous, although I might be. 🙂
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Those garden spiders and their orb webs — I’m always walking into them. They rebuild their webs so quickly after you’ve destroyed them, too.
I hate crowds and wrote that short story after a most unedifying trip into my local town centre that I had to make, as I needed to pay a cheque into the bank:-)
In case you haven’t noticed,I’ve just done my 777 Challenge post! Sorry about the delay.
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😆
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Haha…very good this Sarah. After all that, undone by a spider. What will the behavioural therapist make of all this? Mind you, I detest crowds so can relate! Great stuff 🙂
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In my house, I’m the person who has to capture spiders in a jar and take them outside, well away from the house so they don’t come back again. That being said, if my dog sees one, she’ll deal with it. She also captures moths in mid-air before they can eat my clothes! But having got stung twice as a puppy by wasps, she tells me when one is in the house and stares at it pointedly until I remove it.
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Ahh…your poor baby 😦 Wasps are my morbid fear, spiders my daughters, or at least the ones with long legs. Our cats tend to catch and eat moths but I have to get hubby or my boys when they lived at home to remove them, can’t bear them either!! You are obviously the brave one in your house Sarah when it comes to spiders and wasps 😉
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Maybe I would feel differently about spiders and wasps if I’d ever been bitten or stung by them. I know with wasps that they’re attracted to adrenaline, so if you’re afraid of them and start flapping your hands about, they’ll chase you all the more. Mostly, I sit there very calmly and they buzz around everybody else!
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Ahh..you are very wise, like my husband who tells me just the same. I flap about. Consequently, I’ve been stung a few times. Actually, a wasp sting isn’t too bad, I’ve had worse (and I’m not allergic) but it’s the thought that one actually touched my skin that totally freaks me out. The spider bite I had was far more painful but I’m still okay with them…just don’t let any hairy tarantulas loose in the house!
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No tarantulas definitely.
PS Sorry I haven’t emailed you today about your December guest storyteller slot. Got distracted and now need to cook the supper. Priority email for tomorrow.
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No worries Sarah. I’ve been having internet problems on and off today and haven’t been able to do much of anything. Still trying to resolve this darn BT issue. But Windows is working so I look forward to hearing from you as and when. Enjoy your evening 🙂
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Dear Sarah,
I can’t stand to be in large crowds. (It got worse after Risperdol). And I’m terrified of spiders. Two phobias in one story. 😯 Thank you. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
I keep writing about things you can identify with, and/or scare you. Must write something sweet and touching for once. I’m glad you survived that story and hope very much that you live somewhere where the spiders are harmless — not that that makes much difference with phobias, I know D:
All the best
Sarah
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I can only handle crowds for a limited amount of time. My husband can’t take them at all, and gets very anxious, so I could relate to this. Nicely done!
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Thanks, Amy 🙂 My husband is better than me dealing with crowds but he does like his own space. My son and I are terrible about them, although worse in confined spaces such as shopping malls, swimming pools, concert halls, cinemas, where there’s a sense of being trapped and the acoustics are overwhelming.
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Great portrayal of panic Sarah – I’m with you, don’t like crowds but I do like spiders 🙂
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It’s amazing how many people are telling me they don’t like crowds. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s just that I have an affinity with people who don’t like crowds, or that nobody very much likes crowds and their instinct is always, I wish I could have this place to myself. This is worth exploring further.
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Know exactly how that feels!! All those people in the mauls – enough to drive you insane!
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Grrrr. I think most of those people are probably feeling the same. Collectively, humans are a nightmare, but individually, they may just be tolerable — on a good day.
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