PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
Charlotte clamped a fist round her locket and contemplated the Christmas lights for the last time. Since the advent of the new order, everyone wore lockets. When uncertain of seeing your loved ones again, photographs are everything.
On turning sixteen in September, the law demanded Emma report to the ‘Citizen Development and Assignment Programme.’ She’d instead joined her brother in hiding.
Charlotte wept for the memories, the lifetime investment in their little house now scheduled for reallocation. They were obliged to move to government, ‘Third Stage Life’ apartments.
Her husband had planned their flight, but she knew, they were too old for resistance.
Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries here.
Michael Wynn 
Oh, my, you’ve truly given a hopeless feeling to this little story. Is it foretelling, do you think?
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Thank you. I hope it’s not a foretelling, just a surmise on how it could turn out if life took the worst turning.
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Deliciously dystopian
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Thanks Neil
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Daunting dystopian fiction. Well done.
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Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it
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A dip into dystopia. A future I hope we can avoid!
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I hpoe so too. Thanks Iain
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May it never come to this, a time when your life is not your own.
Here’s mine!
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Hopefully it won’t. Thanks Keith
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Fascinating dystopian story. Great take on the photo prompt.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks, Susan
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A dreadful prospect. Well written.
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Thanks, Linda
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When i read this I sensed defiance and sacrifice. The personal loss of freedom.
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Thanks James. That’s exactly what I was striving for, I’m glad you felt that way.
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A grim foretelling of a possible future.
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Thanks Draliman
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Dear Michael,
The terror in this shrills right through me. Well written and all too real sense about it.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle. Hopefully it won’t become real.
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I felt Charlotte’s despair at the loss of her life and freedom. Well written, hopefully fiction, dystopian story.
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Hopefully it stays fiction. Thanks Brenda
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Fascinating, dare I say it feels like a taste of Covid
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It’s sinister, wahtever it is. Thanks Michael
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How awful that at sixteen that is considered too old for resistance. Living in hiding for the rest of your life or until some powers manage to destroy this regime is no way to live. So sad.
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HI Dale, you’ve mis-read or I’ve mis-written. I’d probably lose the argument so it’s me that’s mis-written 🙂 The children have fled into hiding, it’s the parents who whilst wanting to, are realistically too old to resist. Thanks for the comment.
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Ah dang. I’ve gone back to read it and to be fair, it’s not really clear that is is their children who have fled…
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See, I said I’d lose in an argument. 😂
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Hahaha!! 😁
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i assume emma was her daughter?
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Yes, the son and daughter have fled to avoid being taken into the state programme. Thnaks Plaridel
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I have to agree with the others. This story seems to describe a dystopian world.
Frightening to think of this happening. Have a wonderful weekend, Micheal.
Be Safe … Isadora 😎
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Thanks Isadora, you stay safe too.
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What used to seem dystopian now seems like, “I could see that happening.”
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Unfortunately we do seem to be on that path. Hopefully we won’t seee it happening. Thanks for reading.
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Wonderfully written and just a little too close to real. Great job of building and critiquing a world system in just a few words. Brilliant.
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Thank You, very much
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I really don’t like the idea of those third stage life apartments. They sound too much like short fixed-term leasehold with departure in a wooden box.
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And you’re right Penny. It’s all very sinister. First stage, school, second, rearing family, third, out to grass, no societal use. Thanks for commenting.
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Gosh this is so tragically sad. Beautifully and scarily told.
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Thanks Laurie
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Sounds like they get discarded quickly in the new world order. Depressing to work so hard for something just to have it taken away 😦
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It sure is, let’s hope it never comes to this
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You grabbed my attention with this one and I wanted to learn more about this world in a Schadenfreude kind of way. Nice writing!
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Thank you for your lovely comment. I’m glad you liked it
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