PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
Saved by a Fungi
Jeremitha, age fifteen, is the oldest of five children. The family lives in a stone house they moved into a decade earlier. She remembers her father designing, creating, and installing their iron front steps. Between children, Jeremitha’s mother restored the interior to its 1700’s-era splendor.
Dr. Smith has diagnosed Jeremitha with iron deficiency and prescribes shellfish and spinach. Bedridden, Jeremitha prays she will get well soon, as she is to be prima ballerina at her dance school’s performance in a month.
A large mushroom sprouts in the front yard. As Jeremitha grows stronger, the mushroom grows larger. When she’s healed, it withers.
[102 words]
Note on writing process: the stump looks like a giant mushroom to me. I have read where fungi can absorb radioactivity and other toxins from the soil. From there, I imagined the MC being healed by fungi. I also wanted to include the lovely building and steps in the story. Great image to write to, Dale!
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
This was super interesting! :)
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Thanks, Na’ama! Sometimes you have to go with the muse :)
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I think it is usually good advice to go with the muses … going against them is notoriously … well … ill advised … ;)
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:)
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What a fabulous and original take, Lisa. This is great!
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Dale, you have to take credit for some of it with your image. Thank you <3
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And itsy-bitsy bit ;-) 💞 And you are most welcome! I capture another really cool trunk today!
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<3
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Brilliant backstory. I love this.
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V, thanks, much appreciated!
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Oh I love this take, Vicki. That last line!
🙌🏽
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Thanks, Cindy (from Lisa) :)
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It’s a lovely belief, Lisa
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Thank you, Neil <3
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Great story! That stump does look a lot like a mushroom!
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:) Glad I am not the only one who saw a mushroom (that looks like it’s been chewed up by critters.)
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What a great idea to have the mushroom help with the healing. Fungi do indeed accumulate radioactive substances, and heavy metals. That’s why we didn’t eat mushrooms from the woods for many years here after Chernobyl exploded. They’re still contaminated.
And I love that you included the steps in your story, I was staring at them for a while, too.
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Gabi, I’m glad you know about fungi and radioactivity. How do we make the fungi safe again, I wonder. Cool on the steps :)
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I don’t think we can, not for a very long time.
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Lovely story with the healing of Nature at its heart. Fungi, truly, are phenomenal. Their mycelium spans the earth
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Joy, thank you. I’ve read about them and have seen a really good documentary on netflix about them. Also heard a virtual lecturer talking about the Kingdom of Fungi.
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beautiful story….loved it
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Nandini, thank you <3
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Yes – like you Lisa when I first saw it it reminded me of a giant mushroom! Glad you went down the fungai route 🥰
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Awesome, Ange. Me too! Thank you.
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Love this story Li
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Sadje, I’m not sure if the fungi or her prayers healed her, and I’m not sure if it matters. I’m happy she was blessed <3
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Yes indeed, it really doesn’t makes any difference because the outcome was a happy one.
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:)
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🥹
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Dear Lisa,
What a charming and enchanting take on the prompt. :D I love a happy ending.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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A very interesting story.
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A cure by affiliation and nature’s magical powers
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Indeed! :)
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Excellent 💯
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Delightfully different, Lisa, I learned something too!
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Happy to hear it, Keith :)
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i wish trump could be healed the same way, but alas, his mushroom is too tiny to work any magic. just ask Melania, she’s seen the whole tragic tale up close. :)
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Plaridel, not even worth a Bobbitt. (hope you get the reference lol)
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it just bobbed in of my head. :)
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Fascinating idea about the mushroom absorbing the toxins and the dying. Great descriptions here
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Thanks much, Laurie.
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