Friday 27 September 2013

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS - CHOOSE ME! - MY 100 WORDS BY LINDA PALUND




CHOOSE ME!

            “Choose me,” moaned the Blue Door.  “The world owes you a living.  You will be alone and depressed, but chemicals will keep you high.  You will exit life quickly, without leaving a trace.”
            “Choose me!”  Declared the White Door. “You will be safe in the hollow of conformity, replete with peace and tranquillity. You will prosper, with grandchildren and garden parties.  The earth will never move beneath you.”
            “Choose me!” Cried the Red Door.  “You will have a life of passion, adventure and adversity; breathtaking highs and awesome lows. You may wind up broke, but you will have truly lived.”


This Dabble in FLASH FICTION is from FRIDAY FICTIONEERS courtesy of:

16 comments:

  1. You've got life pretty well summed up right there, Linda. Very perceptive and even haunting. Wonder if it's possible to change doors later in life?

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    1. If only.... In my latest chapter of real life, I finally looked covetously at the white door and understand why so many chose it. I couldn't fit all I wanted to say in this - I wanted to mention "Trust funds" and other safety nets missing from my chosen life....

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    2. Oh dear, I am afraid it is not all that exciting. My life was kind of like Zeligs. I was in the right place at the right time, but never managed to get integrated. I only met Ray Manzarek in the 80s, when Charley and I were in a band in Los Angeles. We played at the Whiskey, opening for Joan Jett (she was lovely). I was amazing as I always am, the band in top form, but I screwed up the door and they wouldn't let Ray in. Later, after the show, he came back stage (he had managed to get in), chastised me for fucking up the door, but offered to be my manager. He was such an asshole about the door, and I was such an idiot, I turned him down. However, later, everyone involved with him said he ripped them off and was the biggest asshole in the biz, which is saying something.
      I was around in the late 60s and 70s, so saw every band live, but was not a groupie, so did not get too close.
      Later, I stalked Ray Davies in San Francisco - he kissed me for my trouble. A lot of people kissed me, but that was as far as they got.
      I saw Bobby Kennedy at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley and shook his hand.
      My biggest claim to fame was having my best friend in the 60s become the Cheryl in the song "Cheryl's Going Home", by Bob Lind - oh yeah, and fighting him off at the Beverly Hills Hotel when I innocently accompanied him to a gig.
      My problem is that I was a bit of a prude - plus I was with Charley (formerly Carlos Repuestodelatable) since 1966, so even as the glamourous and talented femme that I was, and even after choosing the red door, I wasn't willing to fuck my way to the top. So, if kisses were autographs, I have had my share, but never Jim Morrison's. He was far to manly for me.

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    3. Opening for Joan Jett sounds plenty integrated to me! Thanks for your answer, Linda, this was very interesting. I guess being a member of a band as legendary as the Doors might tend to turn someone into an asshole, but as we've said, Manzarek never seemed to get quite the credit he should have for creating the Doors sound in light of the flashier,sexier Morrison.

      Boy, I haven't been kissed by anybody famous and not by all that many people I would have liked to have been kissed by who weren't famous. Your story sounds very much like you chose the Red Door for most of your life and that's THE RIGHT ANSWER!

      Looking forward to more of your flash fiction, you glamorous femme you!

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    4. the small print reads: The red door provides abundance of every kind, fear not.

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  2. I'll take a bit from each! Well done.

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    1. If only we could - or does this mean you already have?

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  3. Dear Lindaura,

    If these are my only choices I choose pink. An interesting POV and I'm happy that you didn't portray the red door as evil. Good one.

    shalom,

    Rochelle

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  4. Dear Lindaura,

    Agristi suits you and your writing. Put the way you put it, why would anyone choose the first two?

    Well done.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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    1. True, I kind of loaded the dice, but still, by the time you wish you had chosen the white door, it is probably too late, at least it is for me, but on the other hand, there are its very up sides, and it is only now that I see the benefits of sailing only on calm seas, like I said, and having those trust funds for ones family....Today Agistri is hot and the waters are calm, of course there is never any surf, nor rain, and not much sea life - but there are no sharks!

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  5. red! then white when i get older. but never blue :) love your interpretation of the photo and the doors

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  6. Sadly, the red door is so overpowering, by the time you wish for all the safety nets the white door folks have in place, it is usually too late. The white doors can look back at you and smile smugly, but you can look back at them, regretting the lack of a safety net, but at least you are still on the high wire, and you can smile with the satisfaction of really risking it all.

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  7. I guess at the end the white would be my choice, though I'd prefer to say that I'd choose the red one...

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  8. I have to say, that standing on the precipice now, finding myself at the fringes of my generation, for the first time, I too wish I had played it safe.

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