Roger roamed the vast spaces of his luxurious home, marveling at the grandeur, the wealth, the style, the lavishness of it all. He congratulated himself for having made it, for proving his childhood tormentors wrong. He had laughed in their faces one by one as he had amassed his wealth at their expense. He had taken perverse pleasure out of grinding them under his well polished, very expensive, loafer heel. They had said he would never amount to anything. They had said he had no potential. He laughed, and it echoed throughout the place to return to him as a haunted rasping croak, at the thought of the misery on their faces as he’d toppled them. Hooking a hand beneath his coat breast, he turned to wind his way up the grand staircase.
Roger smiled all the way to the top. All in all, life had been very good to him.
…..
Susan had to pry the nails out of the boards that had blocked the doorway for the past three years to gain entrance to the home. The property had just been added to her listings the previous week at the reality agency she worked for and it had taken her several days to make it out there to do her initial inspection. The old door protested her attempts to pull it open, only giving in with an ear splitting shriek when she put all of her strength into pulling on it. The smell of the place assaulted her nose and her eyes began to water. Cobwebs hung across every open space. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all charred black and cracking. She had been prepared for the sight more than the smell. The news reports had all indicated that the fire had swept through hot, fast, and deadly, trapping the previous owner. She stepped across the threshold and climbed up the deteriorating staircase to tour upstairs first.
Susan smiled all the way to the top. The place needed some work but she could see the potential still.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Word Count: 340
Written in response to this week’s Picture Writing Challenge provided by moi. What do you see when you look at the picture?
The Matticus Kingdom 
This photo and your story reminded me of one of my Kris Kristofferson songs, “Darby’s Castle.” I highly recommend it —
Great picture prompt, and a great story to go with it.
Thank you! And thank Moi for finding the great picture and hosting the prompt challenge!
Thank you Moi! 🙂
I should have put that reply here really, and spelt it correctly… You’re welcome
Your welcome 😀
lol – nice to meet you. 🙂
*wave* likewise
An interesting picture and gives one a prospective. I’m on going up the stairs or down. As one approaches life is the prospective the beginning when it is the first few steps or is it later when you going up and do not what is up there?
Very interesting thoughts! Where are we each on the staircase? Should we worry about reaching the top? What are we each climbing towards? Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
just a thought about the lighting, could be one walking up the stairs towards the bright light into another state of mind that is bright and clear compared to the musty darkness at the bottom of the stairs which hides great ideas and wont let your mind run at its full potential. just the way I see it, great story/picture.
I completely missed the lightning! Great spot and I think you may be on to something there. Moi’s prompt is still open, write up what you see and link it back. I’d like to see where you go with it.
Thank You for your interest but I am new to blogging and not sure what you mean when you say link it back,im sorry. if u could point me in the right direction?
No worries, would be happy to point you in the right direction. “Link back,” also referred to as a “pingback” simply means copying the http:// address of the post you want to link to (in this case it would be Moi’s original prompt that this post was written in response to) and pasting that address into your post somewhere – you can either leave it as a direct link with the whole http:// written out, or you can hide it in text as a hyperlink (there is a tool for that in your post writer – if you hover over the buttons you can find it, it’s the one that looks like a paperclip). Voila done. Once you publish your new post (with the link in it) WordPress automatically creates a link between your new post and the post you are linked to so that the person you linked to can find you, and people who read your post can find that person too. 😀
Nice one, sir!
Thank you! 😀
Perhaps if you had used more words you would have seen more potential as well, what do you think?
Possibly. I was trying to be concise… convey the mood and the story for both of the sections without being more verbose than was needed. It was a challenge for me as tend to gravitate towards using an abundance of words in my posts. 😉 (and my comments too)
I think what you wrote works but a few more words might have been helpful in this case to really say what you wanted your audience to hear.
Duly noted. Thanks for reading and commenting! And as Moi’s picture prompt is still open, feel free to tackle it and link it back to his original post. What would you write about from the displayed scene?
Yikes, that gave me goosebumps. One person’s misery is another one’s fortune. Nicely done. And congrats on getting Freshly Pressed. 😀
Thank you! It’s an interesting thought, right? I wonder how many things are like that in life… one person stumbles so another can rise up…
oh lovely..brilliant…definitely congratulations on being freshly pressed…i like the concise.
Thank you! Very glad to hear you enjoyed it. 😀
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Wow a good post! Do check up ny blog too and follow. Haha. I see ladders on that picture
Thanks, headed over to check our your blog now.
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These are both really good pieces, well written, concise and yet intriguing.
Thank you!
I certainly can not write, so not a critic that can offer anything useful! Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed, was intrigued, and want to know more! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading and commenting. Always happy to hear that something I’ve written was enjoyed.
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Oh, I am so glad I asked! And I am so glad I didn’t miss this little gem. Beautifully crafted my friend and I think it is soooo amazing to get pressed for a fiction piece! Wow! Wow! Wow! Congrats again, you truly deserved it. I will be able to say, I knew him when….
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the compliment. We’ll both we able to say “knew them when” after Fauxpocalypse (however it is spelled) gets notoriety. 😉
Ha ha ha. I’m always like “can you use it in a sentence please?”
Yay to notoriety too! I’m getting excited now. I guess my edits will be soon. Hope you had a great weekend with your lovely family. Kim.
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