A 97-word story to a picture prompt from Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and the Friday Fictioneers:
The young girl held her father’s hand.
“What’s that thing, Daddy?”
“Well, there used to be something here called an amusement park.”
“Amusement?” She wrinkled her nose. “What’s so amusing about a busted-up railroad?”
“It’s not a railroad. They called it a roller-coaster. Cars went up and down real fast and people rode in them.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “People paid to get scared back then.”
“That’s stupid. We’re scared all the time, and we don’t pay anything. It’s no fun.”
He squeezed her hand, thinking of the zombies.
“People’s lives didn’t have much meaning back then, honey.”
My first zombie story! 
Join in the fun — write your own story (100 words or less) and post it online. Don’t forget to give full credit to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and the photographer. Then follow the sad little frog to share your post by next Wednesday.
Genie in a Box: Words and thoughts from Eugenia Parrish, Author 
An intriguing set up with most of the story … and then the last 2 sentences do a fantastic job of hitting home the way the world has changed. Well-crafted story.
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Thanks, Dave. I have often wondered why the free and comfortable world needs to seek out ways to frighten ourselves in order to feel alive, or maybe it’s a primitive need to prove that we are brave. But maybe the need only goes so far. I once was on a white-water rafting trip when one of the rafts flipped and was caught on a rock in the middle of the river. We had to help rescue the people, and one woman declared she was going to sue the company. We all told her if she wanted absolute safety, she should have gone to Disneyland!
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I’m shaking my head about the woman from your story of the rafting trip. Sounds like a reaction to swiftly blame others instead of herself. As for rollercoasters, I used to like them — but in my thirties, I found them too intense. I’m 48 now, and they’re *way* too intense. My theory is that some people are thrill-seekers, so they ride rollercoasters, watch horror movies, and the like. I enjoy a good horror book, but I’ve found many horror movies as (again) too intense and reliant on gore instead of suspense.
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Well told,
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Thank you, Michael!
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I’m really, really glad that zombies aren’t real. We’re dealing with way too many real monsters in this world!
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So true. Thanks for reading. 🙂
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Terrific line “we used to pay to get scared”. 🙂
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Ooooo scary. Poor little girl. Sounds like a horrible thing to grow up knowing !
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Thank you for reading. We may not come to zombies, but I worry about our civilization.
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I sure hope not!
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That is so creepy and fun and creepy again. I’ll take my life mildly interesting thanks!
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Thanks for reading! Yeah, I’m in no hurry for my life to get any more “interesting” than it is!
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What a great line “We used to pay to be scared” – crazy when you think of it in this context.
It must be horrible to live with fear all the time. Well done, Eugenia!
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Thank you, Dale! It’s funny but I just read a book (as I mentioned to Rochelle) by Nelofer Pazira titled “A Bed of Red Flowers” about her life in Afghanistan first under the Soviets and then the mujahedin. Even after escaping to Pakistan the women lived in fear of being shot by a Taliban rifle if they showed their heads outside the door without covering their faces and hair, and couldn’t leave their houses unless a man came with them. Her story made me realize how fear-free my life has always been. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have succumbed to depression like her best friend who could not escape living like that and finally committed suicide after Nelofer left. I have no idea how I would react to the kind of world in the zombie stories — which is why I can’t read or watch them. Never even wrote one before! But I sometimes wonder what drives us to risk our lives for nothing more than bragging rights.
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What a horrid situation for that woman. I’d take Zombies over the Taliban (at least they can’t shoot 😉 )
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Dear Genia,
“We used to pay to be scared.” Love that line. Good job on your first Zombie story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, Rochelle. I’m not sure where the zombie idea came from — it just popped up!
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I went on a ghost train in an amusement park once – it was enough to even scare a zombie!
My story!
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I’ve never heard of that. What did it consist of? (In case I ever have the chance :D)
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Tunnels of cobwebs and spiders ghosties and ghoolies and shrieks and bangs!
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Great job on your first zombie tale! I enjoyed the reminiscent dialogue of the father and daughter. =)
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Thanks, Brenda. I do love to write dialogue. Sometimes I have to remind myself to put in a little narrative.
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Great story. I didn’t see it as a zombie write until you mentioned it. I saw it as a post-apocalypse tale. Maybe the Zombies are riding the roller coasters, now. Wouldn’t that be weird…. I wonder, would they lose their heads (or other assorted body parts) as they flew down the steep hill??? Great story!
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OMG, now you’ve put a really bizarre picture in my mind! 😀 Thanks for reading it.
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Hopefully it had some humor….oops… There goes a toe… Lol!
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What a fabulous twist. Also, there is nothing like child logic.
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Yeah, kids’ll keep you from getting too schmaltzy. Thank you, I’m not sure where that twist popped up from! I hadn’t intended it until I typed it.
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Sadly some parts of the world are like that now (though maybe without the zombies!). My fingers are crossed for their survival 🙂
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Let’s hope we’re not on our way, with so many things going out of business, so many pleasures abandoned. Thanks for your comments.
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Great story. Can’t help thinking about zombies and roller coasters combined now for extra thrills!
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Thanks, Iain! Let me know how that goes 😀
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What’s the use of manufactured thrills and scares when your reality is already crowded with them? May they survive the zombie apocalypse!
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Yes, I sure hope so! I suppose we’re lucky to be living in a world that needs to manufacture its thrills. Thank you.
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First, but I certainly hope not the last.
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I don’t know — there’s enough scary things out there to write about! Thanks, Heidi 😀
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Nothing like being scared since you know the Zombies are out there.
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I suppose fear at least prepares you! Thanks, James.
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humans are indeed strange. if there was no fear we would have to invent it to scare the living daylights out of everybody. 🙂
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So true. You would think humans would glory in peace and security, but no . . . Thanks for reading my story.
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I love a good post-apocalyptic zombie story. It’s crazy to think how dangerous life used to be. Now, we immerse ourselves in artificial dangers. Hopefully, we don’t get too far back into real dangers, other than our not-so-friendly neighborhood virus.
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Thank you. Yes, sometimes this proliferation of “reality” and “mega-challenge” TV shows bothers me. Are we really so in need of adrenaline?
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Congratulations on your first zombi story. Someone once said to me “to understand the zombi, you must find his master”
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I’ll add that to my manual! Thank you
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