No one could say what happened at the flat on Giles. Not the neighbors who heard her sobs at night. Not the postman who saw the bruise at her throat. Not the boy in the flat below who felt the ceiling shake with the blows. Not the ladies who smelled the whiskey on his breath seven days a week as he staggered past their shop. Those days a man did what he pleased with his wife. People kept quiet.
And when that day came when he stumbled up drunk to the rooftop, past the locked gate and through the bolted door, and then managed to pitch head-first over the wall nearly as tall as he, well the people kept quiet about that too.
She left Edinburgh a widow.
—
128 words.
This has been an edition of What Pegman Saw, a flash fiction prompt inspired by Google Maps. To read more flash fiction inspired by a tour of the location prompt or to submit your own, click the blue froggy button:
If you’re wondering where I got the inspiration, click on the photo prompt and look down. This was one of those crazy discoveries on Google Street view. For more, visit
80 funny, creepy, strange, disturbing Google Street View Images
I must confess I had a hard time with this one. I was ready to dispense of the thing with a five-word unpublished story, but my dear husband was having none of that.
I gotta quit killing off my characters.
PS If the inlinks code isn’t working, try copying and pasting this:
<a href="http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=686669" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://www.inlinkz.com/img/wp/wpImg.png" /></a>
k. Rawson 
Chilling and wonderfully written.
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Sounds like he got what he deserved. Very well written. The words flow beautifully over and around a very sad subject.
(P.S. I can’t find the inlinkz code! I did last time, this time it seems to be hiding again.Sorry.)
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Thanks for the kind words! I am not sure what will happen if I paste code in the comments… Like maybe the wordpress police will come for me, but here goes:
hope this helps! Looking forward to your story.
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Arrgh! It looks like they stripped out the html I tried to paste into the comment. I’m going to try editing my post to include the code.
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It was there for last week’s prompt but seems to be “invisible” for me this week. Obviously, others have found it.
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Hmm, Karen and J. Hardy, a match made in heaven. Between the two of you, someone always dies. I’m working on my gritty prose so stay tuned. The Pegman ain’t seen nothing yet. This is a great challenge.
Happy New Year,
Tracey
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Lol Tracey, that’s funny now that you point that out. You have a happy new year yourself! Can’t wait to see where you take the Pegman next.
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Dear Karen,
I’d say that man was someone who needed killing. I loved the matter of fact tone of it. So much said in the way everyone just turned their heads.
As for the link I just copied and pasted the instruction from the homepage, including the blue frog icon. It worked without a hitch. Easy.
Shalom and Happy New Year,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle. So glad you are joining us this round 🙂 Thank you and Happy New Year.
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Love your repetition – the list of the ‘not’s reinforces what an entire community is not seeing. Your spare language works really well here too – nothing florid, just the barebones of the cruel life she was leading. Love too, the way the ‘not’s help her in the end. Just a great story and beautifully structured
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You are very kind. Thanks!
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My pleasure 🙂
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Darker and DARKER! Shall no significant other dwell safely in the halls of your devious mind?
Another thrilling ride in 60 seconds or less.
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I do seem to be killing my characters off at an alarming rate, but in my defense, this guy totally deserved it. Thanks for reading and thanks for the kind words.
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Yes, you should stop killing them all off.
But I am glad you killed this one before you quit.
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Lol! Yeah I seem to be a serial spouse killer lately. He’s the last one for awhile. Thanks for reading!
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You de certainly seem to have an affinity for killing off people. But this one did deserve his end. Good structural writing.
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Thanks and thanks for reading!
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Funny how that sort of thing happens when you are drunk… the roof, you say?
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Sometimes people fall 😉 Thanks for reading.
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