My first try at Friday Fictioneers (with thanks to Gilly Gee at Lucid Gypsy, whose post told me about it). The basic idea is to write more or less 100 words, based on the photo below.
Lunacy
She peers up at a moon encircled by distant trees.
Be careful of sinkholes, her teachers said. Water flows through limestone, dissolves it, washes it away. Slowly, but water has all the time it needs. Finally the fragile stone bubble crumbles, collapses. The underground world is left open to the pitiless sky.
She’s lucky, the troll girl thinks. By day, she’d have found this hole full of poisonous sunlight and left only her body turned to a boulder to shield her friends. She squirms back into friendly darkness; better set warnings so no one else stumbles into the polluted area.
A Number of Things 
Welcome to the Friday Fictioneers group. I hope you find that this is a nice group to participate in!
Neat story. Very interesting.
My attempt: http://unduecreativity.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/she-called-to-him/
Thank you! It sounds like an interesting place to practice.
That made me smile, and not just because I’m a Terry Pratchett fan. I was as taken with the description of water’s effects as I was the unique point of view.
Welcome, from another noob (second week for me!)
http://notforallmarkets.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/stay/
Obviously my troll is more traditional than Pratchett’s – Detritus doesn’t seem to worry about sun, does he?
Just heat for them, he made some adjustments! I always joke I’m part troll, as summer hits and I become both sluggish and rather dense.
Hmmm…a troll that can only come out at night. I guess night walks are out!
Yup – old school trolls who turn to stone in sunlight! But I’m assuming they prefer to stay underground, so I think cave exploring would be more dangerous than nighttime surface walks.
I’m claustrophobic so danger in doing that! LOL
A truly original take on the prompt. Enjoyed it. Welcome to Friday Fictioneers.
Mine’s at: http://castelsarrasin.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/you-called-friday-fictioneers-may-2012/
Thank you, Sandra!
Wow Sharon I’m so glad we both found FF! I love ‘water has all the time it needs’, this is a clever,lovely piece and makes me think I should try Terry P.
Thank you so much! And definitely sample some Pratchett.
I don’t know much about trolls. Interesting piece though. Welcome to the group. Keep writing. Here’s mine: http://www.rochelle-wisoff.blogspot.com
Well…like a lot of folklore creatures, trolls are sort of what you make of them, mix and match traditions. Yours is a real chiller!
I like your description of what the water does to the rock. Plus there’s a troll. Can’t really go wrong with a troll. Welcome to the club!
My attempt: http://authorbrandonscott.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/death-cart/
Thanks, Brandon! I enjoyed your little slice of history.
Welcome to FridayFictioneers–delightful starting post. We’ll be looking forward to more of your work.
Thank you!
Glad to see someone resurrect the noble troll. Nice fairy tale quality. Enchanting. Thanks for reading and commenting on my story.
Thank you! The photo felt as if I was looking up from the bottom of a deep hole, and the story just developed from there.
Sunlight as pollution. Definitely a different slant. Very nice. I haven’t explored trolls much. Guess I need to read up on them. I didn’t realize they couldn’t tolerate the sun. I’m also new. This is my second attempt here: http://melodypearson.com/flash-fiction/friday-fictioneers-photo-prompt/
I suppose anything in the environment that’s bad for you could count as pollution! I like the uncertainty in yours about just who – make that what – Mariska is.
I like the description of the sinkholes. So down to earth and easy to uderstand (no pun intended) welcome to FF. Mine is here: http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/fridayfictioneers-tanoas-baby/
Thanks! I grew up in central Pennsylvania, which is limestone country, and sinkholes can turn up anywhere, anytime.
Welcome to FridayFictioneers, Sharon – we only ‘joined’ last week 🙂
I love the “water has all the time it needs” and, being ignorant about trolls, appreciated the lessons 😉
Thanks for your comment on ours.
http://www.lazuli-portals.com/flash-fiction/moon-and-sky
Thank you! I like the idea of things like this that develop so slowly and gradually but then “suddenly” make themselves known. Yours is so sad, and so well done.
Welcome to the Fictioneers! This was a creative use of the prompt — enjoyed it!
Thank you – I’m glad you liked it!
A very cool turn – at first I was just enjoying the description (left open to the pitiless sky) but then the way you explain that and expand it to show us the sinkhole from a totally new perspective — it all just made this a very rewarding read! Nice job
Brian (Thanks for commenting on mine. Here’s the link in case anyone else is interested: http://pinionpost.com/2012/05/11/the-runaway/)
Thank you! Actually, the perspective shift grew from the length restriction – I started with “it looks as if we’re looking up from the bottom of a deep hole”, to “why did the character fall in? How on earth can I resolve this in only 100 words without cliches?” to “what if the character likes being down in the hole, or underground – and in that case, what sort of creature is she?”
I love how restrictions can turn out to be so great!
This is great. Can I draw your troll? I like the name of Friday Fictioneers. Sounds like a band of masked people on horse back brandishing quills and parchment.
Ziggy, I’m so honored I’m almost (but never quite) speechless! Oh, yes, please!
Ooh that’s great 🙂
And I love the image of those fiction desperados – beware the midnight ride of the Fictioneers!
Totally opposite the usual viewpoint! I loved it. Excellent story. Thanks for joining us and sharing that 🙂
Why, thank you!
Welcome to the Fictioneers! I thought this week would be all about werewolves and vampires, but trolls I had not expected! you give us a clear image of her own version of good and bad here and I look forward to reading more from you in the coming weeks.
I’m over here: http://elmowrites.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/friday-fiction-halloween/
Thank you! The funny thing is that vampires and werewolves never crossed my mind until I started reading some of the other stories. Then again, my mind is a strange place.
Don’t see much of traditional trolls these days! Great ‘Fictioneers debut, I hope you stick around.
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
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