PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson for Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers. Other stories featuring the prompt can be found here.
Life is a stage. Sometimes, lights beat down on us and we sweat under the scrutiny. Some, thrive, the centre stage thrilling. Others wish for a black hole to open and engulf them.
The real power is backstage. The puppet masters’ pull strings. Money talks. The actors do their bidding, conscious or not. Rebel and break a leg. You’re replaceable, understudies wait for their turn, lured by prestige and false promises.
It’s your turn, enter the stage, follow the script. The audience is waiting.
Don’t forget your lines, watch out for toes. Whatever happens, the show must go on, time is a friend to no one and we are all actors. Now exit!
Great commentary, Tannille. The puzzle is, who’s pulling the puppet masters’ strings?
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That’s the money question….
Thanks N!
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Loved the energy and pace in this story. Nicely done, Tannille.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks S. I wasn’t too sure about this one, it seemed a bit out there lol.
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We are facing riots in the capital city here, and I can relate to this so well.
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Wow, that must be intense. I don’t think it takes much for human’s to turn primal. I hope everything passes ok.
Thanks R!
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Dear Tanille,
Well said! Wonderfully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle! I’ll take a bow😀.
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I’m not enjoying the show I’m part of at the moment, hoping a nice comedy or rom-com is coming along soon to cheer me up!! 🙂
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I think we could all do with a comedy or rom-com, the world is doom and gloom it seems…
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I think we forget this sometimes. Well done
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Although there is free will and the element of surprise, for the most part I think most of us are on auto-pilot.
Thanks J!
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The puppet masters do seem to be in control at the moment. A thoughtful use of the prompt
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It seems to be becoming more and more obvious. Eventually the spot light will shine on the masters exposing them, they are actors too.
Thanks M
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Takes away all the glamour, doesn’t it?
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Trust me to be a kill joy lol.
Thanks D!
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A timely warning, Tannille.
But at the end there is no grand finale, and seldom a dramatic exit.
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True… I’d prefer to go out bang given the choice.
Thanks C!
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That’s quite chilling.
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You have a point. There is a flip side – those times when humanity is at its best.
Thanks L!
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This is a powerful piece, Tannille. You express the ideas and emotions tersely, and tumble them over each other, and over the reader. It’s very effective.
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Phew, it worked. I wrote it thinking this isn’t a story, it’s a mess. Figured I would share anyway.😊
Thanks P!
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All the world’s a stage.
The show will go on even after our role is over!
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Yep. We’re so small, yet so big we impact the lives around us and after us.
Thanks A!
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The theatre of life. An inspired take Tannille.
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Thanks K!
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Oy for the realities of puppetry …
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Yep, threads of society…
Thanks N!
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Indeed! YW!
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I watch the performance
as I wait in the wings
I hide in the shadows
’til the fat lady sings
When the lights have gone out
I have nothing to own
I’m a clown with no face
just a shadow alone.
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Well done P! Envokes gloom. I like it.
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i believe shakespeare will happily agree with you. well done. 🙂
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Ah the god of theatre!
Thanks P.
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It seems the circle is unbroken. Nicely done.
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Never breaks!
Thanks J
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Very true. “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players” as Willy Shakespeare once wrote. I wonder who’s pulling my strings…? 🙂
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Willy knew a thing or two 😊.
Thanks D!
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Alas it could be worse… we could have strings attached being puppets.
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Damn, imagine those in a knot… 😀
Thanks B!
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A little off the usual spot for you, Tanille, and very well done. Your descriptions are excellent.
I’m wondering–end of second paragraph, you used “alluded,” when I think you may have done better with “lured.”
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That was one of those words I debated lol.
Thanks L. It seemed a little different writing it. 😀
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I revisited and decided you’re right about “lured” – I think it was the word I wanted but got it muddled in my head. Thanks again!
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You’re quite welcome 🙂 I think words like to run around in the crevices of our brains, playing hide and go seek, just for the fun of confusing us!
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So true and very powerful! Well done!
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Thanks R!
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‘We are all actors’, love it. Well penned. 🙂
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Thanks S!
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So true and eloquently put. We are all actors in our own play and money is the puppet master.
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Such is life…
Thanks J!
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We went in similar directions. Good metaphors. Well played.
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