PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers. Other stories featuring the prompt can be found here.
The public swimming pool lacked its usual morning crowd. A pin could plummet to the cement floor and create sound ripples. The early staff locked the doors. None could wander out and none could waltz in. Half a dozen early birds remained trapped. Footage showed a body floating on the surface. First arrivals dove in and hauled the lifeless sack of bones to the edge. CPR performed with no avail. The victim suffered a hole to the head. Dark mass polluted the water.
“Does anyone know the identity?”
“He looks like that politician.”
“But who would want to kill that wanker?”
That was multi-billion tax dollar question.
Side note: The Australian federal elections are this Saturday. The propaganda is annoying my muse…
I know how you feel
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It’s a circus everywhere…
Thanks Neil!
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He sure had enemies…smart ones at that.
How they managed to shoot him despite the security is another question.
Perhaps his security was involved in killing him? CCTV footage should provide answers 🙂
Just Keep Swimming – Anita
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Good questions. Was he there after hours? Perhaps a rally at the pool the night before?
Thanks A!
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Grisly story! Nicely done. 🙂
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks S!
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It was an inside job. The staff conveniently locked the doors eh
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It could be! I figured doors were locked so police could investigate the morning swimmers.
Thanks L!
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It’s good to know contempt for the politicians is global. Never have they seemed to be making such a complete mess of just about everything!
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It’s insane. Where’s the common sense?
Thanks Iain!
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The dream of many regarding politicians who have scant regard for those of us who live and work in their riding.
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Exactly! Craving for a respectable leader.
Thanks Colline
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No one seems to mourn the politicians who are done in (well, nowadays there might be celebration!)
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Pool Party? 😀
Thanks D!
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Woot!
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I am thankful to live in a country that has the freedom to have elections.
I hate the campaigning, which is endless, ugly, shrill, and dishonest.
So whoever shut this guy up has my sympathy.
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I’m starting to question if democracy is a show for the masses. The rich and powerful seem to be getting away with too much. Little, if any, accountability.
Thanks L!
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Well, that’s what the Press would like us to believe. I’m not sure I believe ANYTHING the news media tells us these days.
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I like your muse, and empathise with her.
As for politicians, maybe a few assassinations are what is needed, pour encourager les autres…
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For the greater good…
Thanks C!
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Dear Tanille,
What a way to pollute a perfectly good swimming pool. Better a muddy creek somewhere. 😉 Well done. You set the scene well.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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That pool might be out of action for a while.
Thanks Rochelle!
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A tranquil scene gets worse the further we read. A political murder shakes the underpinnings of society, even if, as in your story, none seem to mourn the individual. I prefer institutional to vigilante justice.
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Right or wrong everyone has a breaking point. Break the wrong person and they are going to react with violence. I would much rather see freedom of speech employed over murder.
Thanks A!
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Tough or what? Sorry, I’m up to here with politicians of all shapes, sizes and convictions. And I mean the belief type of convictions not the other, though heaven knows we have enough of those too.
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It’s growing tiring. Hard to have any sympathy when pollies have no concern for the public.
Thanks S!
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A great set-up for a political/crime thriller. 🙂 A pool in the morning would be a good place for a murder: secluded, defenseless victim. Good job. 🙂
-David
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So tempting. Perhaps a serial killer out for all politicians… This could get bloody lol.
Thanks David
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Superb scene setting. A pin could plummet to the cement floor and create sound ripples…I like this line. I am beginning to become a fan of your writings, Tannille.
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Thank you for your kind words, Neel. My flash fiction tends to be a mixed bag.
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This sounds like the beginning of a great story. Write on.
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Thanks Jo!
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Oh… sounds like in the end he ended up pollution… wonder how much it would cost to clean up the mess.
Maybe we need to raise some taxes.
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Raise them anyway.
= more floating bodies
= more tax
Oh this could be quite the revenue raising model!
Thanks B!
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Intriguing ideas here-reminds me of why I don’t swim any more.
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Never know what’s in the water… Stay out of the yellow end.
Thanks P!
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There;’s very little sympathy for your politician in the comments thus far which says a lot about the state of politics today!
Rosey, a joke and some wine!.
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Desperate times call for desperate measures…
Thanks Keith!
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Ask the early birds, they may know.
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Someone knows something.
Thanks A!
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I’d say the muse is a little more than aggravated….
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lol can’t argue.
Thanks Violet!
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An intriguing ‘who-dunnit’ story! As a swimmer myself, I resonated with Rochelle’s comment. Why waste a perfectly clean pool (haha). I’m sorry for the angst you are feeling at the upcoming elections. The worldwide political scene seems pretty atrocious.
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All I can say is keep your mouth closed 😀.
It’ll be all over in a couple of days. Hoping to plug out of the victory rah rah. Australia is probably one of the better Western countries politically speaking at the moment but we’re not immune from ego driven politicians. Who knows maybe the muse will blow up the pool next week lol.
Thanks B!
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Elections Saturday, huh? I hope there’s still time to take this guy’s name off the voting card 🙂
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Nope we keep them on the voting paper. We had a whole heap of politicians booted last week from the election for stuff posted on social media years ago but the papers were already printed so their names stay. Not sure what happens if they receive votes. Insane, complex system…
Thanks D!
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A well told story of a vision that I’m sure many have had at one point or another.
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A collective fantasy 😀
Thanks J!
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They say with Bob Hawke’s passing away, labour might get sympathy votes. A meme going around says the solution for the liberals would be to knock off Howard. The end of democracy is here anyway, shown by missing sausage sizzles at the booths this morning.
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Haha didn’t hear about the Howard meme. They’ll bump him next time.
A surprise outcome my butt. Miss Mauds / Muffin Break had those coffee bean tallies and Libs ranked the highest. Me thinks the media polls just pulled a Trump because he was never going to get in. Sorry Bob your labour passed with you.
WTF no sausage sizzle, decaying culture. So glad I did a postal, I might have been disappointed. 😀
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An interesting mystery, Tannille. The crime would have had to have been committed before the first people arrived. It must have been planned. The body should have been left until the police arrived. Now CSI will have to get to work. With politicians anything is possible. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Exactly. I actually imagined this as one of those crime shows. The intros always fascinate me.
Thanks S!
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I’ve learned the little I know about CSI from the crime shows. I’m also a mystery reader. 🙂 — Suzanne
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does the remains have orange hair? it’ll help identifying him.
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Ronald McDonald?
Thanks P!
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