A mass shooting at the fair, the media was swarming survivors like blood-thirsty vultures, thrusting their cameras in Lisa’s face.
“How do you feel?”
What could she say?
Determined to overcome her crippling phobias of spiders and heights, Lisa had decided to brave the Spider Ride. She’d been doing mindfulness and chanting, and hoped they’d help…but useless.
“Why? Why? Why?” She gasped.
Then, she heard gun shots.
The ride stopped.
Trapped sky-high and terrified, Lisa prayed for the first time in eternity.
Almost oblivious to the carnage, she was just relieved to escape.
Forget determination.
Her new mantra is acceptance.
…
100 Words
PHOTO PROMPT © Mr. Binks.
This has been another contribution to Friday Fictioneers kindly hosted by Rochelle Wisoff Fields at Addicted to Purple.
Regulars to Friday Fictioneers won’t be surprised that I’ve added to the FF graveyard, and I must say I felt an eeriness about this prompt which took me down this much-traveled path.
This story was well and truly cut back and ended up with Lisa so caught up inside her own panic attack, that she’s all but oblivious to the tragic loss of life. I am not sure how true to life it is, but I am repeatedly confronted by people lacking in empathy and not getting what seems fairly obvious to me. I have also become aware of a term called “Main Character Syndrome” where people see themselves as the main character and ignore the needs of others and how they might impact on them, and also that they might be a sub-character in someone else’s life.
Interesting and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Beyond the Flow 
This is a terrific story, Rowena. It definitely rang true. 🩷🌺
Acceptance is a great lesson to take away from that horror
I have to agree with Neil on that one. Sometimes, amidst the horror, we learn acceptance.
Terrifying scenario.
Terrifying, what can you do when caught up in such a horrible situation?
Difficult to accept senseless violence, but if it helps lessen the trauma for now, wise choice. I hope she gets trauma and phobia treatment in the near future.
But then we are all Main Characters in our own lives and stories. If we let go of that we might end up as doormats. Very insightful story.
That’s one way to put spiders and heights into a new perspective. A horrifying experience for her. I hope she finds a way to balance determination and acceptance.
Thanks very much , Margaret. That is a challenge for all of us both in terms of our expectations of ourselves, but also of others. I consider myself a fairly optimistic person, but have had that challenged of late when a few friends have conquered the odds with some health challenges. I am trying to believe more in hope and the possibility that the unlikely positive outcome will eventuate.
Best wishes,
Rowena
I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately. I heard it put another way by a young motivational speaker a few days ago about being “CEO of your own life”. I am still thinking that one through. Sounds great in theory. I am married with young adult kids who are struggling to find their way and got thrown off course by the extended covid lockdowns we had here as well as some health issues. I also have some fairly acute health issues and ride a bit of a rollercoaster depending on how things are going. I don’t feel like the CEO of my life, and yet even though my health has been challenging over the last couple of weeks, I have had some pretty satisfying wins with doing some artworks, getting through some books and writing.
I’ve been trying to reorganise our household and switch from a scenerio of mum and Dad with kids to four adults sharing a house and everyone needing to pitch in. I struggle to confront my kids about this stuff, but my daughter pre-empted me calling a meeting over a relatively minor matter and we got onto a whole lot of deeper stuff across the board. Small steps but I am looking forward to setting these changes in motion.