Welcome to the land of Friday Fictioneers which starts on Wednesday. Please don’t be confused, as people from all over the world participate and so the challenge has to start on Wednesday to be fair to those all over.
Thanks for reading and visiting and if you would like to participate with us, please head over to the headmistress Rochelle’s blog and read up on the few rules. If you just want to read other great stories based from the same picture, then click here and read away! Oh, make sure you read and comment on mine first though. Thank you very much!
THE CHALLENGE:
Write a one hundred word story that has a beginning, middle and an end. (No one will be ostracized for going a few words over the count.)
THE KEY:
MAKE. EVERY. WORD. COUNT.

Genre: Literary Fiction (100 words)
Walking down the planks she is frightened, her heart beats fast, her palms sweaty, her breath taken in short gasps.
Marriage, arranged when she was but a child. A man she has never seen. Now grown, she is told to fulfill her obligations.
Her mind screams, no! But her feet take her onward.
A love is in her heart for another. Alas, he also is promised to another, as that is the way of her people.
She walks to the end, lifts her eyes in fear. Tears start to fall, as she sees her lover waiting for her.
Their eyes show relief, then love.
A happy ending! Yes, I love happy endings!
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Thanks! I love happy endings too 🙂
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A lovely story Jackie and one wonders the pain arranged marriages cause. You have treated the topic very well with a hopeful ending. Well done.
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I love happy endings. Call me a softy. lol Thank you Michael.
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You are most welcome.
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awww i love it. they were blessed with such a perfect ending.
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thank you kz! 🙂
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Oh, that’s perfect! Well done, Jackie 🙂
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Thank you Sheena! 🙂
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Nice twist there. Sadly, I doubt most arranged marriages will end (or should that be start?) this way.
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Well it is fiction 🙂
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Yay! A lovely ending… what are the chances of that!? Nice read.
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Thanks for stopping by! Well I’m an optimist. 🙂
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Such a happy ending; well done for lifting the mood this week Jackie. 🙂
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Thank you Sandra! 🙂
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I enjoyed the happy ending, too, Jackie, and I can imagine her relief at seeing the man she loved. I’m a little confused, though. How was she there without anyone else around if it was supposed to be her marriage? If it wasn’t her marriage, why was she meeting the man for the first time alone? Not trying to nitpick, just feel as though I’m missing something.
You hear lots of terrible stories about arranged marriages but we know an Indian couple who had an arranged marriage and it’s worked better then many non-arranged ones. Input by the couple works the best. How horrible if you were betrothed to someone old enough to be your father or a horrible person!!
janet
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It started out much longer with other people, but I had to cut something to make it 100 words so I’m afraid that’s what got cut. It was hard but I loved the story I wanted to tell. 🙂
Sorry if you got a bit confused.
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LOVE the happy ending! Wonderful.
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Thank you! And thank you for stopping by!
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A bit of a “The Graduate” slant to the ending–where do they go from here? We need a sequel on our happy couple–they definitely have our sympathies and good wishes.
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Thank you vb! Maybe next week I can work a sequel. 🙂
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I felt her fear strongly, Jackie, so I’m glad it was a happy ending for her.
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Thank you Karen, I’m glad it was too.
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A scary start! I am glad it worked out well!
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Thank you Sarah. glad you stopped in!
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I’m so delighted this had a happy ending, Jackie. That would be horrible if they couldn’t stand each other. Surprisingly, sometimes these things work out. Unique take!
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Thanks Amy! I was in a good mood hence the happy ending 😉
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Hi Jackie
Great story – nice twist – I didn’t see that coming 🙂 What a lucky pair, and how lucky most of us are to be allowed to make our own choices.
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Hi EL! So good to have you back again. And thank you, yes it’s good to have choices. 🙂
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By accident, a happy ending for your couple.
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What a relief that it all ended so well, I thought it was going to be the start of a terrible life.
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no terrible lives here. Only happy endings. 🙂
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Dear Jackie,
So in the end, they’re actually betrothed to each other without knowing it? Or they’re running away together? Either way, love a happy ending. Nice one.
shalom,
Rochelle
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They were actually betrothed to each other without knowing it. 🙂 Thank you Rochelle.
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Ooh, even better. I was hoping for that. That’s a story that could be expanded upon. 😉 Just sayin’…
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Could be. I might have to think about that! 🙂
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Good story with a great happy ending. Many of the Indian couples we know who had arranged marriages were able to meet and talk so they knew a bit about each other and could decide if they wanted to go ahead with the marriage. We even went to an engagement ceremony for one couple. Of course with some more traditional families it’s still done the old way.
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I knew it still happened in places. I just had to make my couple have a happy ending. Thanks for coming by. 🙂
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What a relief that it had a happy ending. I was bracing myself for something really awful.
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There were a lot of unhappy endings this week, I had to go the other way. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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Cool-I love happy endings and interesting that the supposedly “illicit” romance become “legal” here-yay for that too:-)
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Thanks! I love happy endings. 🙂
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🙂
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It was a nice way to end this, Jackie. There are so many awful ways it could have gone! Thanks for being kind to us. 😉
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thanks Dawn. I do try to be kind. 🙂
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You’re one of a kind! (badump bump!) 😉
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a happy story that at first made me think oh, no…arranged marriage. could be awful. a great finish.
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Thanks! 🙂
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Phew, that was a close one! 😉
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yes it was! 🙂
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Well done. You painted her fear and trepidation so strongly that I was relieved at the end with them.
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Thank you Sarah! 🙂
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Jackie, PERFECT story! Absolutely perfect – well written and this made me happy! Nan
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Thank you so much Nan!
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