A pink dress. That was just like her, choosing something so ostentatious. Something she would never wear. The fire escape clung to the old building with iron fingers. The dress fluttered halfheartedly, a butterfly with a bent wing.
It looked strange, so clean against the old soot-stained stone. He knew she was up there, waiting. Avoiding the puddles, he walked across the cobbled street and came to the bottom of the ladder. He stared up at the dress, whirling in the damp breeze. The steely sky overhead promised rain.
He grabbed the bottom run and swung himself up. He grinned.
Another Friday Fictioneers challenge from Rochelle. This week’s photo by Janet Webb.
Vers Les Etoiles 
Beautiful descriptions!
Thank you! Glad you stopped by!
Is this a rescue? A forbidden rendezvous? An elopement? An escape? Not really sure what’s going in here, darling. Did I miss it?
That is precisely the problem I had with it. I settled on a secret rendezvous of the plotting and not romantic nature but it’s vague because I couldn’t quite decide. Cheating is the order of the day.
I agree. Beautiful descriptions and lovely writing.
Thank you!
yeh I take it the guy is not really that concerned about her virtue or well being
I also liked the way you painted the back drop
There’s just something so eerie to me about this photo and I’m not sure I quite got the words right. But something sinister is definitely afoot.
You do lovely descriptions and I like that you left the story to fire our imaginations without revealing too much (and maybe you didn’t even know where it was going after this, which is fine and happens all the time!)
janet
It might be fun sometime to have a 100-word prompt and then have everyone write their own endings or next sections, just to see how diverse the stories would be!
janet
That would be something! It reminds me of an exercise I did in a creative writing class where we all wrote a short paragraph and then passed it to the side and the next person re-wrote it. The changes were fascinating!
Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I feel like one of the great things about Friday Fictioneers—and the photos chosen–is that you can be open ended!
I love a gap for my imagination. To me it was definitely a secret and maybe forbidden rendez-vous. Is his name maybe Romeo?
In all honestly my mind flickered to Rapunzel but never to Romeo, but he very well could be!
***In all honesty
I too thought of Romeo! Wonderful descriptions 🙂
Absolutely divine! An excellent piece… my mind is running in circles piecing together the rest! 🙂
I would personally love to know what dark circles your mind drifts to!
The grin is what lends itself to the mysterious…
Thank you for recognizing that! Is it sincere? Sinister? Anticipating?
Great metaphors; the dress fluttering like an injured butterfly.
Thank you! I’m glad that one wasn’t too much
This was really nicely written. I could feel the moisture in the air. And see the dress blowing. You really brought me into this. I loved it.
Thank you so much! Thanks for stopping by.
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Dear Wanderer,
A lovely story that has a fairy tale quality about it.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Beautifully written with a great eye for detail. Well done.
I am not sure of his intent, but I loved all the descriptive lead up. I especially liked the comparison of the brightness against the darker building.
Thank you! I ended up leaving his intent vague as I was not certain of it myself and I wanted there to be an element of something sinister for those that cared to see it.
Suppose it depends on one’s state of mind what interpretation one puts to the implications of a dress outside and a grinning guy starting up the stairs.
Precisely!
Great Flash, vivid descriptions… loved this one;
The dress fluttered halfheartedly, a butterfly with a bent wing.