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The Route of Life

Photo Copyright: Jean L Hays
Photo Copyright: Jean L Hays

Janet noted the changing of the seasons, she noticed her customers getting older. She saw business prosper and fade. She watched her own body changing, but Franks steel blue eyes never changed. His desire for her just grew stronger. Children and grandchildren came and left. Life just moved forward until the day she saw the black Ford V-8 Sedan, its two occupants flashed guns and told her to hand over her cash.

History does not note the passage of Bonnie and Clyde though this town. Yet Frank blamed the pair for Janet’s death, as the life left her eyes the very same day.

Footnote: Bonnie Parker wrote two rather interesting poems. Had she not become a criminal, might she have gone on to become a great writer and poet?

This Post Has 52 Comments
      1. Interjecting here. Michael, if you were to put a wide space between the lines where the POV changes it would make sense. Starting the new paragraph with ‘History…’ will make it clearer. After all Janet was killed. So the last couple of lines can’t be from her POV. I hope that makes sense.

        Shalom,

        Rochelle

  1. Great take on the prompt Michael. I’m not sure whether you intended the reader to construe that she never got over the shock of being robbed and just faded away after the experience, or in fact she died at their hands. Either way, I didn’t notice the POV change, it felt appropriate under the circumstances.

  2. Loved your take on this picture. And I liked the changing of the POV. It made sense to me. Maybe just put an apostrophe in Frank’s?

  3. Yes, the Bonnie and Clyde motif is great. They came through Kansas when my dad was a boy. Years later, he got to see their car. It hadn’t been cleaned up, either. Blood and bits of brains on it. UGH!

    Great story, Mike!

  4. That’s marvellous on so many levels. The history, Jane’s reflection, then the famous gangsters who may or may not have been like history describes them, and a grieving husband. Great writing, Michael, apostrophes or not. 😀

  5. Good fictional story based on reality, Michael. I thought it sounded like Janet didn’t die physically at first but gradually from the shock of the robbery. I’m still not sure. Good writing though. 🙂 — Suzanne

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