A middle-aged man and his trophy-wife:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”,
“What?, these are mountains Robert, there’s no wood for miles”.
“And sorry, I could not travel both”.
“What are you talking about, one leads over the cliff, the other back again, let’s go back”.
“See, in leaves no steps have trodden black”.
“Of course, Robert… most people ain’t suicidal, come with me”.
Robert sighed, looking at his young companion.
“… and I —
I took
the one
less traveled
byy
ee”
—
Later at the hotel the blonde smiled at her lover:
“… and that has made all the difference…”
© Björn Rudberg
Wow, a picture of my own taken when hiking on Madeira… made it very hard to write about, but somehow the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost got stuck in my mind, which made all the difference.
To learn more about Friday Fictioneers go to Rochelle’s and read her story as well as instructions. For other offering click below.
—
March 21, 2018
This is one of my favourite poems and it gives me faith when I’m feeling a little jaded about my own journey. Lovely story, and thanks for the beautiful photo this week. 🙂
I hope I didn’t destroy the poem for you by being flippant about it 🙂
Of course not! Poems can carry a variety of meanings! I read somewhere that Frost wrote it as a joke about his indecisive walker friend, who then stopped speaking to him. So I imagine it meant something very different to Frost himself. 🙂
Love Robert Frost and love that poem!!!
Thanks…you, actually, pulled 2 stories from me with that pic. I wrote one official and linked to the other (which is my fav).
Scott
Mine: https://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/heres-your-sign/
Ha. thank you… glad I could inspire.
Had to link to my second story.
Nicely done, Bjorn. Loved the way you have used Frost’s poem. She has been clever with her choices.
I think she was… but I don’t think she pushed him at least.
I didn’t think that she pushed him either. That part came out loud and clear
I love this and love the poem. I got gripped by the two stories
and the imagery is so brilliantly well executed. 🙂
Thank you Charlie.. had fun writing it.
The ending bit about E.E. Cummings cracked me up.
I get the feeling he couldn’t stand her less-than-enthralling companionship one more second; that’s why he took the plunge.
Frost breaking up into cummings… yes I think this was a parting for mutual benefit.
Neatly done Bjorn.
Thank you.
Your male protagonist got a wee bit carried away, I think. Or maybe slipped into melancholy?
Thanks for letting us know where it was taken. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be Bolivia, but it put me in mind of it.
South America is not a bad guess… some of these Atlantic Islands are really half-way there.
sad for robert, but it was an accident bound to happen.
Maybe he thought it was the end of the road anyway.
An excellent use of a great poem.
Thank you… I had fun fitting a story to the poem
Great take on Old Robert, Master Bjorn!
Thank you Colin
Now the trophy wife will have enough funds to become a Sugar Mama and have all the ‘pool boys’ her heart desires.
I must confess, I chuckled when he went over the edge.
Maybe she will start to write poetry herself and then put rocks in the coat of her jacket.
So she knew the poem all along — nice twist! I like how you used the photo prompt to bring in the idea from the poem.
Since you’re the one who took the photo, perhaps you can explain: what does the sign mean? The image looks like someone directing traffic, holding his hand out as if to say “no passage”. But then there’s a red line through it, which normally means “no” to whatever the image is. So to me, it looks like “no people directing traffic allowed here” — LOL!
Ha.. It does mean no passage but it’s mostly used at building places.
Well, perhaps that’s what you get from having a trophy wife – after all ,trophies are of little use other than to look at and remind you how amazing you are! Love those lines too. Well told tale Bjorn
The joy is always getting the trophies, never having them
Very true 🙂
Well, he seemed fairly okay with going over the edge. Though he didn’t seem quite in his right mind.
I think me might have thought that was the right way to end it.
Oooh! A wicked woman. He must have been rich!
Having trophy wives is usually connected to funds.
LOL!!
An excellent take on an inspiring picture. Nice one.
Thank you Ketih
I’m guessing that Robert had found out about the lover, and realised his trophy wife was only after his money. If he’d believed she loved him for himself I suppose that could have sent him over the edge. I very much like the way you use the poem as part of the story narrative.
I think he just accepted that she would do better than he.
Great story to accompany an exceptional photo, Bjorn.
Full marks twice.
Thank you… it’s fun to see your own photo and trying to remember where it was taken.
Cleverly done. And a great photo, Bjorn.
Thank you.. seeing your own photo makes reading the stories twice as fun.
Dear Björn,
A different take on an old favorite. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
PS thanks again for a great photo.
Thank you for using my photo… makes reading twice as fun
The pic was good fodder for writing this week, Bjorn. Enjoyed it! 🙂
I love the use of my own picture… so many good stories to be had.
Oh that was cleverly done. A trophy and conniving wife hiding her light under a bushel. Poor Robert. I imagine he didn’t see it coming.
Or he did it for her…
What a fabulous take on your picture, Björn!
Love the mix and match with the poem.
It was fun to patch a story from the poem
You did well!
Congratulations on your photo being used. : )
A wonderful play of words … loved it.
Isadora 😎
Have had so much fun reading all the stories… will soon come to your.
It a wonderful compliment to you to have so many interesting stories written about your photograph. Bravo …
Your photo has taken us to a lot of different places, perhpas none any more sad than your own story–featuring a favorite poem of mine 🙂
The poem seemed it could be part of a poem.
Thanks for the photo Björn. You did a great job combining the poem and the photo.
Thank you… it was fun to do.
Ha ha ha, that was a wicked use of the classic Bjorn, loved it. Btw, my wife and I are also going to Madeira in May, maybe we’ll encounter this sign there, with different results of course (hopefully) 🙂
That particular place is hopefully rebuilt… when we were there it had just been massive landslides, so many of the best paths were closed.
Fingers crossed.
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He misunderstood her – on so many levels! Appreciate the creative spin on a famous story and thanks for the photo 🙂
Or he just saw exactly what was coming.
Those crazy middle aged men,,, trickery and trophy wife’s. I’m leaning towards a corvette myself. Great photo Bjorn. (..) <– missing dots
Ha.. or maybe becoming a mediocre poet like myself.
So the trophy wins a prize in the end. Wicked story.
I think she does…
Very clever take on the Robert Frost poem.
I could not do it in any other way with that picture.
It was a great photo Thank Bjorn!
I loved your story, Bjorn.
May be, he really loved her and hence the final resignation (made light-hearted by your skilful narration.)
Thank you for the great photo.
A concisely told tale. Good one.
Oh wow. SO well done! I loved the way you expressed the difference in the two–perhaps due to the generational difference, perhaps just due to a difference in how two people see the world, live their lives. Thanks for the great prompt!
Robert Frost, very fitting! I loved this photo prompt. (Had no idea where it was, though).
I love that poem. Great story Bjorn
She was smarter than he figured I think
Ah, she discovered Frost in the end. While she may not have pushed him, maybe she drove him over the edge.
Good one, Bjorn!
Robert Frost’s poem was also the first thing i thought of when i saw your photo, but i never would have come up with such an amusing story. Very well done!