On his deathbed, Malcolm pondered the joys in his life: quail’s egg, lark-tongues, caviar and Kobe-beef washed down with Chateau Chéval Blanc.
Both ruthless and fortunate, he left in his wake swindled business-partners and mistresses dumped for bodies turning limp.
His pale whale-like body reflected his diet; in need of assistance folding flesh into his Permobil.
He rang, and noiselessly his staff appeared, the young masseuse, his chef, the butler and his footmen.
He needed one final service.
“Relieve me of my wealth to push me through the needle’s eye.”
Malcolm died, signing the papers condemning his servants to hell.
© Jean L. HaysNeedles(s) to say I thought out of the box here, thinking of the quote “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”. I am not sure it will help Malcolm
If you want to read more stories follow in the footsteps of Rochelle, and to find more Friday Fictioneer stories click on the fat froggie below.
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October 23, 2019
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Interesting use of the prompt, Bjorn
Tried my best
Malcolm sounds like a real charmer.
A charm to die for.
Good story.
🙂
Definitely easier for the camel to go through the eye of the needle than this rich old man to go to heaven.
I think he will go were he belong and the servants will be happy for the funds they received.
Wow, what a take on the photo prompt! Great read, Bjorn.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Thank you Susan
Dear Björn,
I love how far you stepped out of the box. I did get the eye of the needle reference and thought it was brilliant. Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you… yes the reference is quite obvious for most.
Excellent social commentary, Bjorn, and so well-told. That’s got to be a drawing of Malcolm after the story. Froggie never looked so unhealthy!
Malcolm is a bit like Mr Toad maybe…
I doubt if it will help at all…. Nice one.
Nope… but maybe he is safe… he had no soul to save and will just vanish into smoke instead of torture.
I’m sure you are right
Well, that was a cool and unexpected twist!
Storytelling is so much more fun sometimes.
Oh boy, not a nice man!
Not nice at all.
Great take on the prompt, Bjorn. Do you know Carol Ann Duffy’s poem about Faust? It’s at this web address, if you’re interested. https://genius.com/Carol-ann-duffy-mrs-faust-annotated
I have that book and I love those Poems so much. The twist in the end have some similiarities I agree
Strongly written. Malcolm’s life in the poem, very clear and emotional.
Malcolm satisfies his lusts of the flesh in all manner but has no
balance within. So he dies totally empty.
Amazing.
miriam
Totally empty… but maybe he remains as empty
Fabulous!!
Thank you
A brilliant take on the prompt and so eloquently written. Nice one Björn,
Thank you… I had fun thinking of Malcolm
Unique take on the prompt, I enjoyed this.
Somewhere in the back of mind I thought of Citizen Kane.
His servants will probably survive, only having a quarter each of his fortune. Love the Fat Frog!
A quarter of it might be safe
What a lovely frog you found to match the story 🙂 I loved “folding flesh into his Permobil.” Although I had to look up Permoble 🙂
Thank you.. it’s a good thing that we don’t need the permobil
Christ what an awful bloke, brilliantly macabre piece, I love it!
Revolting man really… he probably fermented to death.
Like in se7en the film about the seven deadly sins, gross
What a horrid man and what an excellent take on the prompt.
What a horrible man. Bet no one mourns him. Great use of the prompt!
Wow well done! Great take on the prompt. He’s a complete despot methinks
I have enough trouble getting a thread through the eye of a needle. It will take a large needle for him to succeed, but then why should he?
Clever one. After all that sinning, he still knew something of the bible.
I didn’t know what a Permobil is, happily so. Could have been a camel for all I knew.
No one will know if Malcolm could enter the eye of the needle, for sure his staff would bless him for leaving a lot of wealth behind for them. They will not be held responsible for the way this wealth was acquired.
It’s sad that the joys in his life were associated with food and wine and not with the richness of relationships. You described well an indulgent, selfish man to the end. Exceptional story!
It’s a good thing for his servants that Malcolm isn’t the one judging their final destination. An interesting read!
Great take on the prompt, Bjorn. Your picture of a man lost to greed is a compelling one. Though I suspect Malcolm has rather missed the point – surely he’s more likely to pass through that needle if he’d been kind during his life, thoughtful and empathetic to those ageing mistresses? He seems like a bad man right to the end. Well told indeed
Interesting take. I got the reference. Though, it seems Malcolm’s superficial attempt at redemption may be a case of too little, too late.
Very interesting take on the prompt. Certainly makes you think!
I recognise the biblical reference to an old semitic aphorism, what a creative way to take an insider view of life and wealth and the truth of the saying.