Where does the damn time go? It seems like I did last weeks FF about 2 days ago.. My life seems to be accelerating at an alarming pace, but thanks to Rochelle for keeping this old wagon rolling, but finally seeing the sun for a time this week seems to help, lets see if it gets my muse going. Thanks to Anne Higa for the photo, I genuinely have no idea what is going on, so lets see what follows:
On My Marks…
Get Set…
GO!!!
Jack and Jill did not get up.
In hospital beds opposite each other, they were lowered into a medically induced coma. Their hair was wild, thin and showing a silver tinge as the decades rolled by.
The Muzak had changed somehow; becoming more tinny, the nurses checking in periodically, changed too, gradually less aware of the story of these two elderly unfortunates, its relevance “Pailing” into inconsequential folklore.
One day Jack got up, and after a few weeks convalescing managed to shuffle to the bathroom unaided, where he slipped and fell into a urinal, blood pooling around his lifeless corpse.
There we are, a tale of Fairy tale woe, inspired by the bucket, and the bucket only. 100 words on the nose. Enjoy.
The Count Of North Clifton 
Believe it or not, this is the very first time I so much as noticed the bucket. Even so nice and cute a couple young uns as Jack and Jill have, In real life, to age. It’s so sad to hear of the misfortunes of some of our favorite people
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One of the side-effects, or at least co-existent effects of the last global pandemic (the 1918-19 flu pandemic) was a wave of encephalitis lethargica which caused people to fall into a coma, recovering years or decades later, thinking they were still young. I don’t know if you were aware of that, but this story reminded me of it
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Neil that is a sobering thought. I wonder what aftereffects we’ll have from covid? I just got my 2nd dose of the vax yesterday and it feels like someone’s beat me with a sand sock.
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The brutal reality.
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What a sad tale. Well written!
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One of your best tales so far, Shrawl. You’ve taken Jack & Jill beyond their 15 minutes of nursery rhyme fame. Poor bugger should have asked for help to the can.
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Powerful prose! Lasting imagery.
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Dear Shrawley,
That certainly put a dark spin on an old nursery rhyme. Poor Jack and Jill. Cut off in their prime.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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So happy to see one of your nursery rhymes brought back in all its horror and gore!
Poor bugger… after all that…
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Thanks Dale, the bucket immediately did it for me! I cant remember the last Jack and Jill story, but i’m sure it was pretty grizzly!!
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You do these so well 🙂
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What an end for these legendary characters! I love the use of the word “Pailing.”
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Sorry about that, a pretty poor pun!!
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I thought it was fun! 🙂
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What a shock it must have been for whoever found “Coma Jack” dead in the bathroom. I’m guessing that Jill came quickly tumbling after when Jack kicked the bucket 🙂
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