Friday Fictioneers is here again with a photo from Managua Gunn.
He stood at the palace gates. Not too close; he wasn’t fooled by the guard’s imitation of a statue. One wrong move and she’d use that gun to beat him into submission or put a bullet in his brain.
He shifted, uncomfortable in his unfamiliar clothes. The bright yellow smokestack of the steamer ship bobbed steadily as the ship drifted towards the open ocean. He licked his lips once, squinting at the sparkling water. Any minute, now.
The boom as the steamer exploded and captured the guard’s attention gave him all the time he needed to slip through the gates.
Vers Les Etoiles 
Now THAT is what I call a diversion. 🙂 Nice one.
Thank you, Sandra!
Great story! I like the excitement in this piece.
Thank you! I thought it needed some movement since the guard has to stay still.
Crafty little tale!
Thank you!
This is completely different from what I’ve read so far.What a great job of creating so much action from such a “still” prompt! 😀
Thank you, Linda! The brat in me didn’t want to focus on the guard too much.
Haha! Keep up the brattiness, Wanderer! ;D
That is one thing I believe I can promise to do!
HA! 😀
I can’t believe I just mentioned a few comments ago that terrorists might use a diversion to get the guard away from the gate. Spooky!!!
janet
How odd! I didn’t see the comments, but I suppose I’m glad I’m not the only twisted little mind to think of it. Although, this is not an act of terrorism based on the character background I have in my head—potential downfall of the 100 word parameter!
OK, I admit I’m not a mind reader and the comment just happened a few minutes ago, so you wouldn’t have seen it. However, it seems to me that the steamer exploding is terrorism. But the general idea remains the same: created a diversion and slip past the distracted guard. 🙂 What you say about the 100 words is very true. Sometime people take my story or a part of it completely differently than I’d imagined it. Never a dull moment!!
janet
Very true! And I think I jumped the gun on my anti-terrorism comment. The blowing up of the steamer was undoubtedly premeditated, and a very not-nice thing to do. I always like hearing the different interpretations—it’s always a good learning process, too. Oftentimes, something I thought was obvious is not or something I WISH I’d thought of people see in the writing.
one reason to have more than one guard on duty
Maybe there is one and our intruder will be caught any moment!
And we’re off and running! Yes! I could smell some suspense in there! This seems to make a super start to a great mystery thriller. Thanks for bringing this to us!
Thank you—for reading and commenting. Glad you liked it!
Just wonder what’s inside those gates….
That IS the question…
Dear Wanderer,
A tightly written piece that’s left me in suspense. Nice.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you, Rochelle!
Everyone (myself included) focused on the girl in the uniform. Yet somehow you pulled out the yellow smokestack detail. Good eye, and well done!
Thank you! I’ve always been fascinated by the sea and with ships, so the background drew my eye.
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Holy smokes! That’s an impressive diversion Very clever idea here. I liked it a lot.
Nice! I want to read where this is going. The descriptions were really strong, and the pacing pulled me in.
Thank you! It might be part of something bigger, I haven’t decided. Thanks for reading.
Okay, I’ll bite, what’s the man up to? My guess is that it’s not anything good.
Or maybe the people guarding the palace are up to no good!
he certainly know how to capture attention(diversion) ! nice take on the prompt..
Thank you!
Sounds like the beginning of a great adventure. I wonder how he’s going to get out again? 🙂
That’s an excellent question…maybe this week’s fictioneers will give me a chance for the next segment!
And then what???
That is the million dollar question!