Copyright Jennifer Pendergast
Standing on the Edge of Realities
“I’m such an idiot! I walked through that arch, back to this world, and I find her sleeping with my co-worker. I came back—gave up paradise—all for her! Stupid! I can’t go back now—the magic’s all gone—and I’m stuck forever in this tepid modern world. I just want to belong somewhere: I’m only an outsider now.”
The cop was having a heck of a first day on the job. “That’s terrible, sir. Really. If you’ll just step back from the edge of the bridge, I’ll buy you a coffee and you can tell me more about it.”
May 28th, 2014 at 10:29 pm
I’d love to be a fly on the wall during that cup of coffee! Hope the guy takes the cop up on the offer!
May 28th, 2014 at 11:38 pm
Yeah, the whole story could fill a whole book, I’m sure. 🙂 I hope he does too, if only so he doesn’t kill himself.
May 29th, 2014 at 1:05 am
That’s women for you. You give up your magic world and then what do you find… Great take on the prompt.
May 29th, 2014 at 1:46 am
“you can me more about it.” – think you’re missing “tell” in this sentence.
On that note, this made me laugh! I could actually see the policeman scratching his head.
May 30th, 2014 at 8:36 am
Thanks for pointing that out. Finally got the time to go fix it. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 2:21 am
Dave, I always can depend on you for the unique twists and angles. And you did it again. Like Hannah, I, too, would love to be a fly on the wall!
Great!
May 29th, 2014 at 2:55 am
I always look forward to your unique take each week, great job 🙂
May 30th, 2014 at 8:35 am
Thank you, Helen. I’m happy to hear that.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:36 am
I’ll bet he has some other great stories to tell as well. Better to order a large coffee and make it a decaf while the white suits are on their way.
May 30th, 2014 at 8:35 am
I should write the continuation of this, where the man keeps talking and talking and the cop is getting angry calls from dispatch but he doesn’t know how to break away from the conversation. 🙂
May 30th, 2014 at 8:40 am
Does he not know hot to break away for fear of being rude, because he worries he might set the man off or because his stories are so fascinating or unbelievable?
May 29th, 2014 at 9:49 am
Looks like it’ll take more than one cup of coffee.
May 30th, 2014 at 8:34 am
Probably. A cup of coffee and 5 years of therapy, most likely.
May 29th, 2014 at 11:22 am
Maybe if he tries walking back through the gate backwards?!
Thanks for sharing!
May 30th, 2014 at 8:34 am
That might just work. I’ll mention it to him when I see him. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 11:50 am
I love the cop’s character, although given it turns out to be his POV, I kind of think you should name him instead, and then give us his job in his thoughts. Great rant too – darned women!
May 30th, 2014 at 8:33 am
I think it if it was any longer of a story I would have added his name, but when you finish the story and it’s 115 words, you have to be ruthless sometimes. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 3:19 pm
Women! You just can ‘t trust them to wait for you to try life in the alternate universe. They’re never there when you come back through the magic portal!
May 30th, 2014 at 8:32 am
I know, right? Of course, who knows how long he was gone for. He should have thrown a letter through the portal. Don’t they get Wifi over there?
May 29th, 2014 at 4:55 pm
A perfect story for this picture. Loved it!
May 30th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Thanks. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 6:29 pm
Dear Dave,
I know which side of the arch you left the word ‘tell’ on. A very good story. i loved the sudden POV shift to the hapless cop on his first day on the job. Well done.
Aloha,
Doug
May 30th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Doug,
we were coming through the dimensional gate and “tell” jumped off and spun out of sight into the void. There’s not much hope for it.
Actually, it’s back in its rightful place now, snuggled warmly between “can” and “me”.
I can just see the cop thinking, “This wasn’t in the training at all.”
May 29th, 2014 at 6:29 pm
Dear David,
What a horrid thing to find on return from Paradise. As always your writing takes me places. Well done, sir.
shalom,
Rochelle
May 30th, 2014 at 8:27 am
Thank you, Rochelle for your comments. I surely don’t envy him. Some of my friends or family might see this story as a metaphor for me moving back to the States in a few weeks, but it’s really not, just the inspiration for it. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 6:43 pm
David, Well-written story. That poor cop. I hope he’s able to talk the man of the edge of the bridge. I think that fellow wil be going for more than coffee though and sadly it won’t be back to paradise. Good story. 🙂 —Susan
May 30th, 2014 at 8:24 am
Thanks Susan. Hopefully he can find some way to cope. It’s not easy after a big loss like that.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:58 pm
poor guy! 😦
May 30th, 2014 at 8:23 am
yeah 😦
June 3rd, 2014 at 2:26 pm
how about next post?
June 3rd, 2014 at 3:07 pm
I don’t feel inspired which is terrible. I’ll try to do one tonight.
June 4th, 2014 at 3:22 pm
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeez do!
June 5th, 2014 at 8:23 pm
For you, I will try. 🙂 I just got back from an overnight trip. They had a computer in the hotel, so I could write my Friday Fictioneer story, but I’ve still been on my feet all day.
June 6th, 2014 at 1:16 pm
hope you are resting your feet!
thanks for the story, it is creepy but fantastic.
May 29th, 2014 at 10:01 pm
This is great – but you have a typo that must be fixed: I’ll buy you a coffee and you can me more about it.” You need to put the word “tell” in between can and me!
May 30th, 2014 at 8:23 am
Yeah, someone else mentioned the typo and if anything, I guess it’s a testament to how busy I am that I didn’t fix it right away. It’s amazing how many times I can read over a 100-word story and still miss something like that. It’s all fixed now. Thanks. 🙂
May 30th, 2014 at 12:00 am
Neat story. We never know who’s right in thier claims.
May 30th, 2014 at 8:21 am
Probably not, unless he has some proof. Do you think he’s telling the truth?
May 30th, 2014 at 2:27 am
Oh.. yes.. some doors you can only go through once.. and coming back is not always the best thing
May 30th, 2014 at 8:21 am
It’s hard to know until you do it. The worst is if regret consumes you later for it.
May 30th, 2014 at 4:44 am
Major sacrifice. Will jumping help?
May 30th, 2014 at 8:19 am
Like the wife in Inception? I don’t know but that’s an interesting question.
May 31st, 2014 at 8:39 am
David – I always look forward to your unique take on the prompt each week, you never disappoint.Good job.
Dee
June 1st, 2014 at 11:08 pm
Thank you, Dee. I appreciate it. 🙂
June 1st, 2014 at 3:23 am
What an interesting story.. Great take on the prompt. Be careful what you wish for. Lucy
June 1st, 2014 at 9:05 am
Nice little twist, but who’s to say it isn’t real and the cop’s just stuck in his own mundane little universe? Fun to think about.
June 1st, 2014 at 11:07 pm
Good point. It’s all relative and nothing is certain, especially in the Friday Fictioneers. 🙂
June 1st, 2014 at 10:03 pm
A very humorous story. The ending works very well, though I’d have been tempted with an unintended reference by the cop about the other side of the bridge being a whole different world
June 1st, 2014 at 11:05 pm
Maybe with more words I could have. 😉
June 1st, 2014 at 10:30 pm
Great voices to tell this story – the cop comes across as so weary and wary.
June 1st, 2014 at 11:04 pm
Thanks. I was going for overwhelmed, so that’s similar, yes. 🙂
June 5th, 2014 at 1:35 am
Now this one needs to go beyond….or let me jump!
June 5th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
If it were longer, it would go beyond, but you will have to fill in the rest. 🙂
June 5th, 2014 at 9:49 pm
This is like the corollary to last year’s travelogue!
June 5th, 2014 at 9:50 pm
(except for the “Paradise” part…)
June 5th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
true…
June 5th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Yeah, it really could be. I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. You remembering that makes me happy. Considering the travelogue was written as if it were me, that would be quite depressing. 🙂
June 9th, 2014 at 12:33 am
If he’s not been too bad a person, jumping off that bridge just might take him back to where he came from!! 🙂