It’s Friday Fictioneers, my favorite writing challenge each week! Rochelle Wisoff-Fields runs this band of merry writers, posting a weekly photo prompt for us. Using the photo for inspiration, participants are asked to write a 100-word story, with a beginning, middle and end. It’s a wonderful challenge with lots of interesting outcomes. Check out other participants here.
This week, I saw the prompt and knew instantly where I would go. This week’s story plays off of a post from two weeks ago. Check it out here.  As always, I appreciate any feedback. Please check out Tales From the Motherland on Facebook. Hit like (because it’s a nice thing to do), and feel free to leave me a comment or thought. * It would be great if I could remember to add my link to the list! I was excited to get in early this week, but forgot to link up. Arrgh.
My story this week is 100 words, exactly.
Image: Janet M. Webb
I held the peppers, feeling their waxy smoothness, and debated which to use. Dinner hardly mattered, and meant everything, simultaneously. Jim would be home tonight, and we’d finally talk.
Since finding emails documenting his affair, and our fight on the beach, we’d barely spoken. His arrogance and insensitivity stunned me; drenching rain mirrored my flooded emotions. Shopping, I practiced the right words to end our marriage.
I’d been a fool; now I was locked and loaded. I’d hired the best pit-bull attorney, his indiscretions were filed, and I would season his spaghetti sauce with the peppers that burned the most.
TALES FROM THE MOTHERLAND 
Nice continuation on “Pecked to Death”! I liked this one too. The last sentence has a lot of zing. 😉
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Thanks Miss Tiff. I liked that last sentence, myself. A nice zinger. Thanks for following along! 😉
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You’re welcome! It’s my pleasure. 🙂
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So clever and creative. Love it!
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Thanks Carrie. Something tells me I may take this story out for a ride, a few more times… 😉
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I loved this installment of the story, especially: “Shopping, I practiced the right words to end our marriage.” Wonderfully clever, Dawn!
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Thanks Cathy… I feel like “Eve” is becoming a real character for me, and I think we might hear more from her, in the future. 😉 Thanks for your continued support!
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Oh my god, that was awesome.
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Thanks! I love your enthusiasm. 🙂
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Great job 🙂
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Thanks Helen! I appreciate your feedback.
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It started off with such a romantic tone and then turned into something else entirely. 🙂
I loved that last line.
-HA
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Thanks. It’s a continuation of a post a few weeks ago… I felt like I left that one hanging, and really found myself drawn back. I imagine it may not be over. 😉 Glad you liked the last line; I worked at it.
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I hope she tossed some seeds in too. ;D Great post, as always.
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Thanks Em. I hadn’t thought of seeds, but I did think of poison. 😉 Something tells me this will continue though, so the seeds may come in later.
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Heehee! Revenge is sweet! or should I say HOT!!!! I hope she bought some ghost peppers…. 😉
Loved your story!
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Thanks! I can’t eat spicy food at all, so this was a fun way to go. So glad you liked it. Hope you’ll visit again. 🙂
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I think she’s going to pick the hottest peppers available! Good one, Dawn!
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No doubt, Amy. She’s got a point to make, and hot peppers seems like the way to go. Thanks.
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Lock and load and take no prisoners!! Fabulous ending- caught me by surprise.
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Not sure it’s the ending… this one may need more space to develop. Thanks Sue! Much appreciated.
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‘locked and loaded’ ‘pit-bull attorney’. Great phrases – enjoyed this.
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Thanks Sandra. I appreciate the specific feedback… I had fun writing this one.
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Vicious, I like it!
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She found her mojo. Thanks Mr. Binks! I appreciate you stopping by and sharing some feedback.
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well, good for her! ^^ great story. i also loved the phrases ‘locked and loaded’ and ‘pit-bull attorney’ 🙂
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Thanks KZ! Glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to write. 😉
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Dear Dawn,
I like her style! I hope dinner burns like hell and she keeps a cool head as she takes him for everything he’s not worth.
One note: I think “debated” would work better in the first sentence.
Good job.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh, thanks Rochelle! I will check out that and may change it. I always appreciate ways to improve a story. Thanks for the suggestion. Shalom, Dawn
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Dear Dawn,
Going to be a hot time coming and going. Sometimes I wonder why men get married at all, considering how evil women can be. Why can’t they just shoot us and be done with it? But, I guess men get married because they are confused a lot of the time, what with two brains and all and neither of them very smart.
Great story. Still laughing here.
Aloha,
Doug
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Thanks Doug! I think Jim’s in for some pain… and well deserved. I think men and women mostly deserve each other, but sometimes the scales get tipped. But, you are adorable. 😉
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BTW: love the new profile photo. Funny to see you surrounded by the other white stuff!
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Thanks Dawn,
Time for a change, I guess. Thanks for noticing. Was a nice snowy day on the summit of Mauna Kea.
Aloha,
Doug
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Whoa! That’s on Muna Kea! Gorgeous, really gorgeous, Doug!
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NO – Not hot peppers! Oh God – you must really hate him! Well, he was a bastard so I guess he has it coming. This story reads well and invites you to keep going. I hope you do because I love reading your stuff. – Mike
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Thanks Mike… and you know how I feel about hot peppers! As much as you like them, I hate them. I hope to continue this, at some point. 😉 Thanks for following along.
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If insanely hot is what she’s after, she needs to use the ghost pepper.
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Ghost peppers it will be. I love the idea of hitting him with the sauce. Thanks Adam; I appreciate your time.
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To my knowledge its the hottest peppe in the world. Should give him quite the kick going in and coming back out haha
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Perrrfect. Muchas gracias, Adam!
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Do make sure to spike his coffee with syrup of ipecac, darling. Actually, on second thought, don’t. It’s really awful. Not that I have first hand experience or anything…
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A little Ex Lax in his muffins would work too. Ipecac would be much more direct though. 😉 I hope you have no experience with it, darling!
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Oooo, that will be revenge at both ends!! As someone who’s fostered pit bulls, though, I have to kindly say that most pit bulls are so loving that you wouldn’t want anyone to be like them if you want that person to be aggressive. 🙂 All the pits I’ve known just want to jump on your lap and be loved and loving, not what you want in a divorce attorney (unless he’s your next date!)
janet
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Janet, I feel badly… I know you’re right, and this cliché clearly did a disservice to Rosie, the pit I know at our dog park. Somehow it didn’t work with dalmatian, chiweenie, labradoodle, golden… but your point is a good one. I am a dog lover and appreciate your kind feedback. Thanks for taking the time! 🙂
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As a previously scorned woman I held a cheshire grin throughout your tale.
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So sorry you went through that, and happy I could make it feel a tiny bit better. Thanks for taking the time; much appreciated!
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Yes me too. I don’t wish that kind of pain on anybody. but its ancient history. I am who I am today because of it. Good or bad.
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We all are who we are, for all the good and bad we’ve been through… but it’s awful when we’re in the midst of it. From one Dawn to another, I’m glad you got through it, for the good. 😉
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Thanks Dawn
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Revenge is a dish best served spicy. Really spicy with a lot of habanero peppers. She’s a sharp one, with the peppers and pit-bull attorney. Great story of the scorned woman taking action.
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ank you Zooky. Having started her story a few weeks ago on the FF (the seagull prompt), she just popped into my thoughts. From there, it was all fun. I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. Thanks!
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*Thank* you, Zooky.
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I didn’t like it on the first reading . Then….. it’s good ! ” ….peppers that burned the most” I like . Great pointed finish . Reminds me of a poem I read decades ago that ended ” heart darts I never expected” . End with a stab . Intensive . Hot. Well done .
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Dan, I have enjoyed your support over time, and I respect your honesty here. Not every story is good to every reader, and I appreciate your perspective upon the first reading. I’m glad you took the time to read it again, and ended up liking it. Thanks for that! The line “heart darts I never expected,” is fantastic! Very poignant, and powerful. Thanks so much for sharing.
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Oh! How I wish I could have done that, but the chicken was hiding out at his mommie’s house in Washington at the time… This was great, Dawn! Off to read the tie in now.
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Balk, balk, balk! I wish you could have too. Thanks for taking the time to read it, Lynda. 🙂
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I really like hot peppers though, SO BRING IT ON! Oh, wait, I didn’t do anything. Well, hope you got him good!
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Then, I’d have to find a whole other ingredient for you, Perry. Count yourself warned. Oh, right, you didn’t do anything! 😉 Thanks for reading.
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Glad you decided against the peppers–the scorned wife is always the first to be suspected. Fun story.
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Hmm, maybe you missed some details. She buys the peppers and plans the sauce. Guess she’s now the Usual Suspect. 😉
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Great detail in this story: the waxy feel of the peppers, the fight on the beach, the use of the rain as your flooded emotions and in the end you stayed in the realm of reality, not planning to poison his dinner, just burn his gullet a bit and then burn his wallet legally. Well done.
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Thanks! I’m not very good at fantasy, but realism is my friend. 😉 I really appreciate your thoughtful feedback and critique. I”m honored that you picked up these details and liked the story. Hope you’ll stop back, and check out other posts.
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But after one sip he’ll stop eating. Fairly puny as far as revenge goes! I’d suggest re-writing this and have her liquidise a pepper, squeeze a little onto a sensitive zone of a pair of his underpants, then video his reaction – which will I suggest closely resemble a hoppi war dance – stick the video on You Tube and watch it go viral. 🙂
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Man! Remind me to never upset you. 😉 love your suggestion, though. Thanks for stopping by.
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🙂
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Oooh ya!
Very scary lady.
AnElephant loves this!
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Thanks AnElephant. Given the jerk she was dealing with (she said, reframing from the much more colorful words I might use), peppers seem fairly reasonable. N’est cest pas?
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Tu as raison, TFTM, sans doute!
AnElephant is less scared now.
Probably.
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Mais ouí!
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I hope he likes his special dinner. Now that’s a woman after my heart. She knows how to deal with a cheating spouse. 🙂
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Exactly! Thanks for taking the time, Jackie. I think we all (secretly?) wish we could deal with the bad guys like this. 😉
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Revenge is a dish best served piping hot
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Indeed! Extra hot. Thanks Björn.
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Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
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Exactly! Nothing even close. 😉
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Locked N Loaded indeed. He’s lucky she is only using hot peppers. If he had seen “Something to Talk About” with Julia Roberts he should fear the sauce. Great Story.
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Thanks so much! It was a really fun post to write. I haven’t seen that one, but will look for it.
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And ruin a perfect plate of spaghetti for a jerk? I’d have gone with the poison mushrooms. 😉
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Oooh! Mushrooms, hadn’t thought of that! Nice, Patti! Thanks for taking the time. 🙂
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Love the voice of this piece! Great job capturing the hurt and the revenge and the simmering rage. 🙂
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It was a fun one to write! I probably should have continued it this week… dismantling his key board and painting his office. Hmm.
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