It is Friday, after all. So, better late than never, here’s my story for Rochelle’s own picture prompt this week.
It’s arguably not a story, but it came to me all at once, and when I typed the last word you see below, I noticed it was 100 words exactly, so I couldn’t resist the feeling it wanted to be posted as is. Apart from changing one adjective that didn’t seem quite in keeping, I haven’t changed it at all, but I welcome your feedback.
Grandma’s Clock
Everything in Grandma’s house was old. Grandma herself, obviously, had been alive long enough to remember black and white television, Nixon and the Civil War, and she had a telephone that plugged into the wall and you had to stand right there in the kitchen if you wanted to talk, because you were tethered there like a goat.
But the oldest thing in Grandma’s house was the golden clock. It never moved. Uncle Joe said it was right twice a day, but Grandma said it told the time she met Grandpa and was always right. I liked Grandma’s version better.
elmowrites 
A lot in a little. 🙂
Oh good; that’s what FF is all about!
This is great. Some stories just want to be. Lovely and moving, but for older folks like me the grandkid’s description of the dark ages is hilarious, too.
Glad you caught the dark ages, gah! I grew up with those goat-tether phones and remember the first time we got a cordless. Most kids now don’t know any different … and aren’t even tethered to the house.
Some stories just need to be told! I guess I’m from the dark ages too since I grew up when the tethered phones were all that we had.
I love your idea on the fixing of time,
Thanks, Mike. The clock was what struck me most in the picture, so I went with it
It has happened to me a few times that it just became 100 words (I still recall the time i wrote a sonnet, that became 100 words exactly).. I do think it is a story… especially that end… Grandma’s version was the best.
Yes, funny how when you do this enough, you seem to tune into the required length automatically, Bjorn. Makes it hard when I’m trying to write something longer though!
I certainly remember those days, and fondly too. No, not the Civil War!
Really, Perry? I guess not many people are fond of wartime 😉
This is a great story and the voice really makes it. She’s a sweet old woman. I like her version better too.
Tell me which of us doesn’t like to cling onto a memory or two!
Love the description of being tethered like a goat!
To millenials, the very idea must be outrageous!
Good one, Jenn.
Cheers, Ted!
I love the idea of the clock being right twice a day, PLUS it having stopped, or did Grandma stop it, at just the right time.
It’s an old joke, and another thing that gets lost in the digital era, but I prefer Grandma’s version too. I’m not sure whether the clock literally tells the time they met (and if so whether Grandma set it that way), but it might do. I was originally thinking it was just that she kept the non-working clock because it reminded her of that time: a story in itself in which she is taking a clock to be repaired when she meets a handsome young apprentice in the repair shop and although he can’t fix her clock, he wins her heart.
Woooooo. Nice! Jen, this is a gem of a story. Concise writing and it hits on all cylinders. Bravo in CAPS!
Aww, wmq, you make me blush. Thank you.
😉
Dear Jenn
Tethered like a goat. Great description of those days. All of it brought back memories and I would argue that it is a story. Just read between the lines. 😉 In other words, I enjoyed it very much.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I’m glad you liked it, Rochelle! And thought it was a story – nothing happens, but you’re right that a lot happens between the lines, as I was just expanding on to Alicia above.
when it boils down to it, time is relative. great story.
Isn’t everything?!
Lovely story. A love story, I think. 🙂 I love that the golden clock has the time that matters most to Grandma pinned to it, a different kind of tether than the phone. The story feels like looking at a photograph in an album. Album on my lap, clock on the mantlepiece, tea in cups, maybe a slice of cake, Grandma beside me, all her history sitting in the room with us. Beautifully resonant. Thank you.
Absolutely a love story. I love the way to describe your feelings whilst reading it; your comment is a story in itself!
I wondered whether the second sentence was intentionally long, to replicate the “and this, and that” way that children speak. Nice story, Jen.
You are cleverer than I am, Sandra. The effect wasn’t deliberate, but I’m glad it came across that way – I had a sort of stream of consciousness in my mind, which I think it why I didn’t punctuate more generously!
Great story. Loved the stream of consciousness feel to it. The line about ‘tethered like a goat’ made me smile. I know that feeling!
Thanks Erin, I’m glad you enjoyed the flow.
Beautiful. The pace and tone are just right. I love the balancing of the two views about the clock, and you finished it on just the right note.
And I like this story exactly as it is. The final two lines are pure perfection.
All my best,
MG