Harnessed to my glider, I linger for a moment. I inhale the scent of my gilded cage. Lavender and salt. My custodian is shouting but I have locked the door:
‘I’ll give you anything you want. Gold and pearls. Stocks or options. Anything’.
I know the only thing I want, he cannot give me.
‘How about my freedom and divorce?’
‘I’ll give you children’.
I leave my balcony. I fly. I flee. I scream:
‘Goodbye New York!’
The skyline fades for toxic marshes of New Jersey. It doesn’t matter, once I signed the prenup I was tethered to his gold.
This picture caused me some problem, but once I started to think of jumping with a glider from the house, the story wrote itself.
Friday Fictioneers is a group of bloggers who write 100 word stories to the same picture every week. Rochelle who has just came out with a new book (Congrats Rochelle), leads and guides us, and primarily set the standard (very high).
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December 7, 2016
Some things are worth more than money. Nice image of gliding to freedom.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
Dear Björn,
Some people will do anything to break a contract. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Actually I thought of Free bird, the poem by Maya Angelou when I wrote this.
Oh…gotcha. 🙂
Exciting stuff, whether freedom or a death plunge.
Nicely crafted, as ever, Bjorn.
Maybe there is freedom in both… but maybe not in being drowned in a toxic marsh.
I like where you took that reflection of gold in the water. What an excellant way to get away.
I think with wings it’s possible… you just have to stay away from the sun (ask Icarus)
Freedom is worth more than gold, that is for sure… I thought for sure she was plunging to her death!
I love that first paragraph.
A gilded cage or freedom, I would chose freedom as well.
I can see how, once you start with jumping with a glider from a house, you ended up here. I was a little confused by “custodian” the first time through; though; I thought at first the narrator was in mental institution and wasn’t sure what she was imagining and what was real.
Not all the marshes in NJ are toxic — if you aim for the Kingsland, you’ll end up the ducks, egrets and turtles.
Nice free flight.
Dear Bjorn,
I was fascinated by your use of the phrase, ‘toxic marshes of New Jersey’. How did you know?
Growing up twenty miles south of that picture, I used to play in those toxic marshes. Many are gone now, but a few still remain, along with my memories.
Nice story.
Yours,
Doug
My wife was a postdoc at Rutgers a year.. I remember seeing them after visiting New York…
Great portrayal of the sense and value of freedom, Bjorn
Sometimes all you can do is jump. At least she has a glider!
That’s a killer of a lst line. I know how she feels – freedom is worth more than gold.
You packed it all in there and gave us a very entertaining story, Bjorn. I love the last line. Great!
Wow just wow!
The “I’ll give you children ” line after all other offers summed up why she wanted to flee…fly. Nicely done.
At least she glided and didn’t just jump to her death to be free. What a tragedy, though. She must have been miserable. Good writing, Bjorn. 🙂 — Suzanne
That’s what happens when you marry a Sugar Daddy. You become an indentured servant for life. Well done.
People don’t know the value of freedom until they lose it. Truly all that glitters is not gold!
All I can say is wise woman. A timely escape, as he was about to clip her wings permanently.
Even with a prenup, one can become disheartened and then be stuck forever. Unfortunate … nicley told, Bjorn.
Isadora 😎
Good for her. Beautiful writing, flying out of that cage is very effective.
great imagery. she can’t really escape, can she?
I felt the freedom that this inspires!
Gliding to freedom! Wow! What a way to go. Very dramatic story.
This evokes many emotions. I like the irony of associating the sweet scent of lavender with imprisonment, then finding freedom in a toxic marsh.
Wow! That’s how keen she is to escape her gilded cage? Extraordinary. Feels like it could be a physical or metaphorical leap for her. Great tale, Bjorn