PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
This image sings that every picture has a story. Each memento, a rationale. Every cubicle is filled with paper-thin but feeling-rich associations. They are put in their proper places, one by one. They wait patiently until they are chosen in a moment for their keeper’s positive regard.
Yet even the most blessed from the memory strings can plunk out of tune. This image was taken five years ago. Today, you can no longer see the boundaries of wall, cabinet, and cache. Memory detritus overflows an ever-narrowing path in the dust of the past.
She’s on vacation when The Cleaners come.
[100 words]
Just for the record, this image looks TIDY compared to my cluttered home, so please, this is more an indictment of myself than anything!
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the sunny host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
So true. Every thing has its own value.
Hope the cleaners do a good job.
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Thank you, Anita. I also.
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Something tells me she won’t be happy when she gets back from vacation!
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Maybe irritated at first, but after awhile relieved…
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You use the untidy desk as a metaphor for increasing discontent and agitation, but not in an obvious way. You’ve done it subtly, and with some nice descriptive writing. Like it!
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Penny, I thank you for the close read and appreciate your feedback. Glad you like the story.
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Even the comfortable jumble of happy memory can eventuallu overwhelm. I wonder if she’ll appreciate the cleaming or hate it
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Neil, maybe a little of both? Thanks for reading and your thoughtful comment.
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I know the feeling. It might be a relief for her. The stuff with sentimental value is the hardest to let go. (K)
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Oh do I know it as well. I still don’t understand why my sons aren’t interested in taking all of the things I’ve been savings of theirs when they were younger. It hurts in a way 😦
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My younger daughter has promised to take care of my art, but who knows? There’s so much of it. Even I don’t know what’s in all those portfolios. I still have lots of their stuff too, but they both hope to move into larger spaces this year at which time they have promised to take some of it. (K)
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Well, Kerfe, I’m sure you know more about it than I do, but could you have a backup plan to bequeath your art to a museum or museums? Also good news on your daughters moving into larger spaces. One “problem” with my older son is that even though he has enough space now, he’s a minimalist, where my younger son and his wife are more what I will kindly call clutterbugs and so their space is already filled up 😦
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No museum would want my art. It’s all process, really, and once I’m dead it certainly won’t matter to me.
It’s interesting, when I was in my 20s I had nothing. But I’ve managed to accumulate a lot since then, despite all my moves.
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Kerfe, Kerfe, Kerfe, tsk, tsk, tsk, that humility is tearing me up. I’m sure many talented artists have said the same thing. Art needs to be preserved, whether you care about it when you’re gone or not.
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It’s not humility, it’s reality. But it’s OK.
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I wonder how she’ll feel when she returns. It could go either way.
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I wonder also and agree with you.
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I’m with you, Lisa. Compared to my house, this space looks pretty organized! 🙂
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Awesome. It feels good to not be alone in this lol
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whoa! i don’t think she’d like what has happened while she’s gone. 😦
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I’m sure it would be a shock to her system at first.
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This feels familiar. I’m left with the keepsakes of two households and can’t let go of some of the things. We are overwhelmed with things. The memories should still be there without them. It’s like being more concerned to take pictures rather than enjoy the moment. I love that take.
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Gabi, glad you could relate to it. I think a lot of time things act as external memory for us. About taking pictures, a different use perhaps. I think in the case of things, one way to allow oneself to be released from them would be to take pictures. Pictures might serve the same function?
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Good point. Maybe for events… but there are some very personal things, like crocheted pieces or embroidered pieces from mum and grandma… furniture made by the FIL who was a cabinet maker and so on. I couldn’t let go of these until I had to… 🙂
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Ok ok, you can keep one (large) box of stuff 🙂
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😀 Thank you! (Where to put the furniture… hmmm…) No, seriously, when I see how quickly people lose their posessions when desaster or war strikes, I feel spoiled.
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Filing physical documents is an art and science. Virtual files are erasable, and mental files change form. One keeps searching for a constant.
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You’re absolutely right, Reena, and I wonder if a constant even exists beyond that of “no-constant.”
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This could go either way on her return. I’m betting it’s likely not to end well though.
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I agree, at least at first. Thanks for reading and your thoughtful comment, Sandra.
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As cleaning jobs go that could be quite an interesting one, who knows what they’ll come across?
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Oh I’m sure that the perceived — and maybe actual — value of what’s in there keeps it in place and growing…
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I enjoyed the way this unfolded. I don’t think she’ll be happy the place has been tidied up when she gets back from vacation. But, she’ll have it looking her way in no time. Unless … she’s not coming back. Mmmmm … Nice take on the prompt …
Isadora 😎
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Isadora I like the twist possibility that she isn’t coming back 🙂 Thank you.
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Wonderfully done, Lisa. You made so much of the objects come to life. 🙂
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Thanks, Bill, glad you enjoyed the story.
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Perhaps my imagination’s gone off course. I see a sinister motive ‘when The Cleaners come”.
Great piece that grabs the prompt by the horns and brings the image alive.
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James, I can definitely see where The Cleaners might have less than benevolent intent… Thank you for reading and your thoughtful comment 🙂
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Nailed it Lisa … everything does look like it holds a special memory! I prefer homes to look lived in rather than showy museums 🙂
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Thanks, Kate!
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pleasure Lisa!
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I find that my memories give a value to most things. Cleaners be aware…
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lol. Imagining the person’s kids buying her a trip to Hawaii or something and then she comes back…
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I like the undercurrent of foul play in this. I kept going back to it to check if it was just my macabre mind, but the ‘Cleaners’, rather than just plain old lower case ‘cleaners’ and their sudden appearance right at the end definitely adds a sinister note. I love it, and even if I’m wrong, I still love it.
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Margaret, thank you and very happy you liked what you saw a sinister undercurrents. I’m not sure what’s going on either but things are definitely about to change…
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My roommate’s desk behind me. CHAOS! It’s a good thing it’s behind me.
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Everything has a physical place and a place in memories…. yep compared to our house…that is sparse lol.
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For sure on everything and same here, Max 🙂
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This story brought my mother to mind. She was a keeper of her precious things; things that had grown dusty and unattractive, due to her failing eyesight. She hated to let anything go. They all held a memory she treasured,
Lots of nuance, lots of layers, in this story. Well done.
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Linda, your mom and I are kindred spirits. Oh, the things I hold onto! I’m glad my story reminded you of your dear mother. Thank you.
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Dear Lisa,
I hazard to think what the Cleaner might actually do in my room. 😉 Each of those knickknacks represent an event or a fond memory. I realize your story isn’t about me. Perhaps it’s the artist in us that causes us to cling to every artifact and display them as if our studios are museums of our lives. At any rate, I enjoyed your story and related to it well.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, I completely understand about the knickknacks and what they represent, and I agree about artists. So glad you enjoyed the story, thank you.
Shalom,
Lisa
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And I was sitting here last night looking at the knickknacks in my own niche, thinking i should start heaving stuff into a Goodwill box. But I think not . . . not yet. Someday someone else will imbue them with new memories. But not yet.
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I understand, Eugenia. That’s about where I’m at with it. Thank you for reading and your comment.
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Oh no, those poor cleaners. Someone will lose their mind when she gets back, and I’m not sure who I’d rather it be. My other Nana was a hoarder. And cleaning out her place was a nightmare for my mum.
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Yes, it’s a tricky situation on both sides of the hoarding. Thanks for reading and your comment, Laurie.
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Your post is like a blessing for us from God…. Loved it 😊😊😊
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Thanks for the kind words, Foleo 🙂
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