#Friday Fictioneers — The Scourge

Genre: Dystopian
Word Count: 100

THE SCOURGE

After the floods and gales, pestilence descended, and you had to pretend you were ill or get eaten. It began with the homeless and the already forgotten, those without symptoms and too aimless to feign the tell-tale cough.

Not so Vince, with his filched pot of pepper and his begging tin filled with dried butter beans from the dumpster. I remember his contagion act all too well. The raw eyes and the pepper sneeze. The butter bean chest rattle.

I never let on. Being a vegetarian with allergic rhinitis, why would I? We were the last two survivors, the obsolete.

#

Friday Fictioneers: 100 word stories
Photo Prompt: image copyright (c) Roger Bultot

                

Author: Sarah Potter Writes

Sarah is a British eccentric who writes offbeat fiction, haiku and tanka poetry. When stuck for words, she sketches or paints instead. She's into nature conservation, sustainability, gardening, dogs, natural health, and reading. Her sociability is something that happens in short bursts with long breathing spaces in between.

31 thoughts on “#Friday Fictioneers — The Scourge”

  5. Dear Sarah

    I have to admit that when I saw your story in my feed, I jumped to the end of the squares. 😀 I’m delighted to see you here. Such a dark story. Leave us hope it never comes to this. Well written.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dear Rochelle,
      I even managed to surprise myself by finally coming up with a story after such a long blank re inspiration. Having seen this week’s prompt, I went into the garden, sat in the sun with a nice cup of tea, and “ping” suddenly the first two sentences of my story came to me. Ironical that the sun should trigger such a dark story.
      Yes, I’m hoping it never comes true, but looking at people’s behaviour in the UK (thanks to the media), there are some worrying things happening, such as people stealing facemasks and sanitiser from the hospitals, the supermarket shelves are three-quarters empty — anybody would think the zombie apocalypse was around the corner!

      All best wishes,
      Sarah

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Dear Sarah,

        I’m a bit irritated by the panic that’s gone global. Are we only now realizing we need to wash our hands? SMH.

        Shalom,

        Rochelle

        PS hope you’ll swing by my little rerun story. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Dear Rochell,

        I did post a comment on your rerun story. Where has my comment disappeared to?

        My PC is about to update itself now, so I will search for my comment tomorrow, or re-comment.

        All best wishes,
        Sarah

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Nice to see some of your recent work, Sarah! Hope things are holding steady in your part of the world. We are all on pins and needles, so to speak, out here in Southern California!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hi Carla. I’ve not written anything new for months but felt that the latest Friday Fictioneer’s picture prompt couldn’t be ignored as it seemed so relevant. Things are sort of steady in my part of England. My district hasn’t yet got any reported cases of the dreaded virus, nor been hit by any of the terrible floods that have happened in other parts of my country. I think all we can do is count each relatively trouble-free day as a blessing and enjoy the reprieve while it lasts.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. It’s a nice time to stay home and write. Lots of rain in our area of Southern California, and the virus has everyone in a panic, so the grocery shelves are empty when it comes to bottled water and toilet paper! I think things will calm down in another few weeks.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Same here in the UK. Not a toilet roll in sight! I’m not sure about bottled water. I’ve not looked for any. Our tapwater is good where I live, and bottled water gives me reflux as it’s too acidic.

        Liked by 1 person

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