The Friday Fictioneers is a group that anyone may join. We write flash fiction with a max word count of 100 words from a photo prompt. The word count is not a strict limit, which is fortunate for me this time around. Rochelle Wisoff-Fields provides a prompt each week and leads us to the fascinating places our own imagination may take us. My story follows this week’s photo from Ted Strutz.
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Word Count: 110
Copyright: Ted Strutz
Wine of Happiness
“8,000 US dollars for one glass, Senor.” said the cafe’s proprietor.
“Incredible!”
“For happiness? No, Senor.”
Roderick sighed and sipped. This wine had better be worth it.
***
The tanned beauty could have rivaled Calypso. She sat on the towel beside him and smiled. Two happy children played nearby and waved. “Hi Daddy!” they called.
“Where am I?” murmured Roderick.
“The beach, Papi,” grinned the beauty.
“I only remember drinking some incredible wine in Panama.”
“That was six years ago when we met, Papi.” She smiled. “You were so full of light, so happy. I loved you right away.”
Memories of the past six years flowed.
Yes, it was worth it.
EagleAye
Momus News 
He took a chance and it worked out. A delightful slice of magical realism.
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Sometimes it all comes out happy. I hope Gabriel Garcia Marquez is pleased. Thanks for visiting!
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Wouldn’t we all like to drink from such a glass?
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Indeed. No wine could ever be sweeter.
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Ah! What a wonderful little story. That’s my idea of happiness too! 😀
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Thank you so much. And thanks for commenting.
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Nice!
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Thank you so much!
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What a fun story. Nothing flashy or shocking, but I think I wont forget this one soon. Just a creative idea, written very well.
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I guess an easy bliss isn’t flashy, but nonetheless rewarding. You’re very kind. Thanks for visiting.
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Mmmm. A hallucination, or did the bartender pair Roderick off with his daughter / niece / whatever? Anyhow, he got his happiness 🙂
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Just a very strong wine. Lasts for years and puts folks on the right track for happiness. Pretty amazing stuff. Thanks so much for visiting.
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Wow, that’s some wine! I was glad that his memories came back so he could remember how much he’d enjoyed his life and been loved.
janet
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That’s the hard part. I mean, what’s the point of having happiness if you can’t remember it? And therein is one reason why the wine costs so much.
Always a pleasure, Janet. Thanks for the visit.
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Fantasy coming true. well done. In which place do they sell this wine?
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I dunno. I’m still looking for it myself. 😉
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A neat take on the photo… what a powerfully magical wine! I hope lots of details from his past six years come back to him.
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Yes, they do. I couldn’t tell everything thoroughly enough. I was already over the 100 wd limit. But memories of his six years with “the beauty” flowed back all at once. That’s when he realized how happy he was, and would continue to be.
I can’t help but throw a love story in there now and again.
Thanks for commenting!
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Best wine there is. No price to love and the joy it brings.
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Yep. The best love potion releases what’s inside. That way when it wears off, the love that was made was real. No price is too much for that.
Thanks for commenting!
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Dear E. A.
I really enjoyed this one. I’m wondering if it was really the wine or the lack of words within the confined of the challenge. It could be read in such a way that the past 6 years have gone by in a flash but the wine led to their meeting. That’s my take anyway. No matter what your intent, it’s a goodie.
shalom,
Rochelle
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As in the case of all art, it is the interpretation of the viewer that matters most. Your reading of the story is as good as any.
My original meaning is that the 6 years passed normally. It just took that long for the effects of the wine to wear off and return to the state where he drank it. Yeah, a six-year buzz. That’s why the years of memories returned to him, because he actually lived them. Going forward, I think he would continue to live a happy life because the wine had shown him the way via his memories.
It was a real struggle to keep this one even at 110 words. It’s a story that “wants” to be bigger. I may write it again and flesh it out to the size it wants to be.
Thanks so much for your comments.
Cheers!
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Oh yes, the closest feeling I have had like that is waking up in the hospital 10 days after my stroke and finding that I wasn’t “asleep” during that time. Problem is not all those times turned out to be so good.
Scott
Mine: http://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/friday-fictioneers-5102013-genre-horror-humor-pg13/
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Owie. I’ll bet they weren’t so good. I think this makes you a deserving candidate for wine of happiness. As soon as I find some, I’ll have it shipped to you.
Thanks for commenting. On to check your story!
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lol – can’t drink, but the thought is nice.
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Happy thoughts then.
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Reminds me of a StarTrek Next generation episode where Picard is only out for about an hour or two, but lives a lifetime to remember a whole peoples and their culture before the planet got burned to a crisp. I think your guy made out a bit better.
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I think he did. Still, that STNG episode is maybe my favorite of the whole series. I always get a little choked up when I see that one. And at the end he still gets to keep the flute. *sniff* That just gets to me.
Cheers!
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Taking that first risk got the chain of events started, but sometimes I don’t appreciate how great the last six years have been until I look back on the collection of memories.
Good job sending up a great idea in such a short story.
Thanks for posting it.
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Yeah, this one really needs to be longer to get the full effect. Thanks so much for the comments!
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I’m glad those 6 years came back in memory, otherwise it could have been a bit unsettling, all that happiness or no.
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Exactly. What’s the point in happiness you don’t remember? Thanks bunches for visiting.
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What an exciting idea… any left in that bottle?
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I’m still looking for the cafe. It seems to shift position often in space and time, appearing only for customers who need it the most. Apparently, I don’t need it so badly yet. 😉
Thanks for commenting!
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I hope the moral of the story isn’t that money can buy happiness, or that drinking wine makes one happy. 🙂
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Hmm…uh…ah…well, there’s no moral to this story. It’s only to say that interesting shops may be found in Panama. 😉
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oooh, Papi, gimme some of that wine. ^^ on second thought… i had stop drinking when i realized it’s better to be able to remember the fun from the night before. great story. and a good lesson to be learned here ^^
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I still can’t find it myself so I can’t give it to you anyway. In any event, forgetting the fun you had and waking up with only a headache and no memory of the fun sounds counterproductive to me. Seems like you’ve moved in a good direction.
Thanks much for the comments!
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I love the title. Sounds like the wine was worth every penny, especially when the memories came back.
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Yeah, that’s where the wine was worth it. 6 years of happiness, oh yeah.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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