PHOTO PROMPT © Al Forbes
As kids we hated going there. Mary once shattered a Wedgewood vase and you should’ve heard Uncle wail. Everything had to be perfect. When we were old enough, we’d always find an excuse not to go, ‘cause what kid wants to spend a month of summer wearing white and sitting hands-on-lap. and watch the old man take tea from the sterling service? I couldn’t remember the last time I went. Which was why it surprised me.
Augustus swept one arm at ceremoniously at the Rambler and handed me the key with the other. “It’s yours now, sir.”
It was perfect.
—
100 words
This has been an edition of the Friday Fictioneers, hosted by the gracious and talented Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week’s photo prompt courtesy the gracious and talented Al Forbes of Sunday Photo Fiction fame 🙂
To read more flash fiction or to submit your own click the blue froggy button.
As a side-note–I recall this picture from last February but I can’t locate it on my blog so I’m not sure if I posted a story or not. I vaguely remember writing one but sometimes they don’t make it to the blog.
k. Rawson 
Guess if you put in the time…
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Thanks for reading Dale!
I guess I was thinking there were no rewards for that perfectionist….
The irony of the Uncle’s perfectionism is that the kids avoided him because, and so he was left alone with his perfect things. And while the narrator hated the Uncle’s perfectionism when he was a child, he’s delighted to receive the car the Uncle kept perfect. So I guess the moral of this story is that there are no rewards in perfectionism for the perfectionist–a reward I mean to teach myself. But I am telling it better in the comments than the story!
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This could stand-in for so many of the demons of childhood.
But not all
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Too many demons for just 100 words. Thanks for reading Neil.
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I wonder if he feels some guilt about not having been to see them in so long. Nice story.
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I wonder. Thanks for reading Iain.
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I can relate to the MC’s aversion to visiting someone who didn’t want you to touch anything. I knew someone who kept a room in their house like that. They may as well have marked it off with velvet ropes. My dad used to say, “If you can’t use it, it’s not worth having.” Sounds like the old car will get some use now.
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Yes indeed, Thank you for reading!
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Dear Karen,
I used to feel the same way about my grandfather. Plastic slipcovers over all the furniture. Lovely in the summer when we wore shorts. 😉
Great irony in the story. Although in your next to the last line you might have one too many ‘at’s’ The joys of the backspace key. Well written nonetheless.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank Rochelle! I will fix the ‘at’, which gives me a bonus word! 😉
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His uncle obviously had fonder memories than he did.
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Aaah. And now he wishes he’d been nicer to the old man.
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Maybe! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Of course, he could have just left some money 😉
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Lemme guess…Uncle has been interred in “the boot”
It can’t actually be this uplifting. Your recent dark streak has me on guard.
Either way, nicely done.
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Wait a wonderful view into a childhood nightmare. I LOVED going to my Grandmother’s. No holds barred. And we didn’t take advantage – I don’t think.
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Nice take. What a surprise to be gifted the car!
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I was puzzled when I read the story —- THEN I saw the picture.
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