Kreative Kue 255 asked for submissions based on this photograph:

John W Howell is the author of the John Cannon trilogy of My GRL, His Revenge, Our Justice and Circumstances of Childhood, co-author of The Contract, and blogs at Fiction Favorites.

Light the lights by John W. Howell © 2020

“Well, we finally made it to Broadway.”

“Oh, my goodness. What a trip it has been.”

“You are so right, sister. We have come a long way.”

“Did you ever think we would be here one day?.”

“Not even in my wildest dreams.”

“When I was a little girl, I used to dance and sing and pretend to be on Broadway.”

“Me too. That’s amazing. We had the same thing going on.”

“I used to put on shows for my family. I even had a cardboard sign with Broadway written on it.”

“Oh, that sounds cute.”

“I would charge my family a penny for the show.”

“Hahaha. I would probably have had to pay my family to attend, so I never mentioned a price.”

“So now we are here. What is the first thing we should do?”

“We need to find an agent.”

“Yeah, and then some auditions.”

“How about an apartment?”

“And some food.”

“Uh, ladies?”

“What?”

“Yes?”

“I think we better get jobs.”

“Buzzkill.”

My effort was

Homeward bound.

“I cannot believe that you brought Mum out with … TAXI! … all this lot going on.”

“How could I not, Elena? It’s Mum’s birthday after all. We always bring Mum out for a nice meal on her special day.”

“Didn’t you notice that … TAXI – Oh for pity’s sake – TAXI … all the restaurants and everything are shut?”

“Yeah, I kind of heard they might be, but you always hope, don’t you?”

“Is that what you live your life on? Hope?”

“Ain’t nothing better.”

“TAXI! Where in the name of all that’s sacred are all the taxis? … Glory be, Louise, you’re not hoping, you’re wishing.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Let me explain. You hope for a sunny day, an empty road to cross, an open eatery. All these things you can reasonably expect to happen. Not necessary they will, but they can. You wish for a lottery win!”

“Can happen.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Can too. People win all the time.”

“Against odds of seventy-eight gazillion to one, yeah. You can’t live your life on those odds.”

“Why not?”

“Cause you’ll go through life disappointed. Like I am at there being no effing taxis.”

“So how are you going to get Mum home?”

“How am I going to get her home?”

“That’s what I asked.”

“How am I going to get her home? How are you going to get her home, more like it.”

“Why is it down to me?”

“Because it was your idea to bring her out on the one day the city’s locked down on account of the election.”

“Tell you what I don’t get…”

“What?”

“I don’t get why the city’s locked down for the election. Never is usually.”

“Don’t you watch the news channels?”

“Nah. Boring.”

“If you had, you’d have known that they’re expecting big trouble. Riots in the streets they were talking about. Advised every business to close down for the day, board up if they could.”

“I didn’t know about that.”

“It’s been all over the news for a week or more.”

“So where are all the rioters? Same place as the taxis?”

“Looks like maybe you’re not the only one doesn’t bother watching the news channels. Looks like the rioters didn’t watch, either.”

“Taxi drivers did — ouch!”

21 June 2008

On to this week’s challenge: Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.