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Monday, May 13, 2013

TUESDAY TALES PICTURE PROMPT - THE BIG LIE - 300 Words



Welcome to Willow Falls! Thanks for stopping by to read my Tuesday Tales short piece written to this picture. This WIP has a tentative title.  Scroll down for link to rejoin Tuesday Tales.

THE BIG LIE
Willow Falls lost its charm for Dale Carruthers many years ago, after she found out Cliff Thomas had married someone else. Now, she hurried down Main Street doing errands, Drugstore, Library.  Dale left her stepmother’s coffee house in the capable hands of Jonesy, an old family friend.
Traveling from New York City to Willow Falls to look after her ailing stepmother wasn’t a big inconvenience. Dale was a widow now for three years. Her father had passed on four years earlier. Her mother died when she was a child. Dora, her father’s second
wife, was sliding downhill fast.
“I don’t expect her to make it to the holidays,” Dr. West had said.
Dale’s chest had constricted at his death sentence. 
But she had to be practical. The lease on the coffee house was up in two months. Dale would live in the house she grew up in and run the business until the lease expired. Then she’d go back to her empty life in Manhattan until Dora died. 
Dale returned to find her twenty-year-old son chatting with Jonesy.
“You’ve got an internship for the holidays?” The older woman inquired.
“Yep. With a lawyer in town.”
“Good. We’ll probably have to be up here anyway,” Dale said as she unpacked small bottles of pills. Jonesy poured coffee.
“Funny thing, Dora keeps apologizing to me. Keeps saying she’s sorry. But I don’t know what she’s talking about. Do you, Jonesy?”
Jonesy sipped her coffee and lowered her eyes. “Nope.”
“She has dementia but still. She murmured ‘the lie, the big lie’ several times, then she cried. I haven’t a clue.” Dale stared at Jonesy.  
The older woman checked her watch. “Oops. Gotta go. Past break time.”
“You were her best friend, Jonesy...”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent! Loved the story; I'm hooked, want to keep reading.

An Open Book said...

Love the whimsical way Jonesy's name is tossed in... makes you feel right at home

Unknown said...

I need to know what the big lie is now. :)

Iris B said...

Love your stories. I wonder what the lie is and whether they actually will stay and not go back to Manhattan.

V.L. Locey said...

The lie?? Okay, you did it again, I~m hooked, Jean!

Sarah Cass said...

Oh, you evil woman...I must know what the lie is...and why my gut is telling me it has to do with Cliff. I know you're going back to Hack and Rory (whom I adore) next week for a few weeks at least...which leaves me going "GAH"...b/c you've hooked me into this one too! LOL

Rosalind Smith-Nazilli said...

I have to find a way of getting some kind of file together to read everything.. I am hooked now on this as I am on Hack and Rory.. not to mention everyone else.

Great hook Joan.. What more can I say...? xx

SherryGLoag said...

Intriguing, and of course I'm sure Jonesy knows far more than she's admitting to.

Tai Vicari said...

Oh yes you do know what she's talking about. Wow this is great. I want to know the "Big Lie" 300 words just isn't enough.

Lindsay said...

This is looking to be another great book Jean. Wonder what the lie is all about

Karen Cino said...

Oh dear. You left us hanging. I have to know what this big lie is all about. I'm hooked.

Davee Jones said...

she is SUCH a bad liar...I'm intrigued to know what Jonesy knows.

Carolyn Gibbs said...

That was a great cliff hanger, Jean. I'm dying to know what the lie is.

triciaandersen said...

Ahhh...now I need to know what the lie is too! I'm getting so into Hack and Rory and now I want to know more about this story too. Can we have Tuesday twice in a week??