All About Patience

~ Sonya

Dropping her line into Fool’s Lake, she patiently waited for something to bite.

Okay, her patience lasted all of five minutes. Blasted fish. To think she’d caught her own flies ‘cos ‘that’s how you do it,’ apparently. Her foot got tapping all by itself.

‘Wouldn’t do that. Scares the fish away.’

She looked up. The old man looked at her foot.

‘Oh.’

‘You Big Bob’s girl’s girl?’

‘Yup.’

‘Sorry ‘bout your mother.’

She nodded – the easiest way to accept sympathy.

‘Bob make you come here?’

‘Sorta. I said I could catch a fish.’

He smiled.

‘Better make sure you do, then.’

‘How?’

‘Patience.’

He dropped his line.

‘Some things take their own time.’

***

The story above is 113 words long, but the first sentence is part of this week’s Monday’s Finish the Story prompt (the other part is the picture by Barbara W. Beacham). It was a bit tricky to get it right, and I don’t like the title much. But I hope I got there in the end with the story. Here are more stories inspired by the prompts.

22 thoughts on “All About Patience”

    1. Thanks for stopping by, Barbara! I think today was my first time writing something for the challenge, but I’ve been reading the stories for a few weeks. I’ll certainly be back next week 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I loved this story. I loved the fact you’ve named the lake ‘Fool’s Lake’ (real or made up?). And the understated dialogue is a joy- that hint that she doesn’t really want to engage in a conversation about her grief (as indeed, you often don’t). Also, the wisdom in the old man’s words- ‘some things take time’. So true of fishing and the grieving process.
    Your blog is a great idea- you must be very disciplined to write a story every day. I look forward to reading the next one x

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Lynn, thank you for your lovely words! They made me happy. It seems the story works the way I wanted it to work, after all.

      I can’t take credit for the name of the lake, though – it was part of the first line that went along with the picture as the writing prompt.

      Like

  4. Well written, Sonia – and you’ve even managed to keep to your self-imposed 100 words! The crisp dialogue is very effective, and the odd mannerism – the smile and the nod – help us to picture the scene. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Millie!
      This one took a bit to get it down to 100 words. It’s good, though, makes me think about how to say what I want to say.

      Like

    1. Phew, that’s good to know, Rebecca. I’ve never fished in my life, so I’m glad it resonated with you.
      Thank you for reading and leaving a comment!

      Like

  6. I really felt the impact of the wisdom in this story, “Some things take their OWN time.” Isn’t it true we all want things to happen in “our” time not realizing it is different from other people’s (or fishes) time? Very nice story.

    Liked by 1 person

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