
Keaton Island
My morning bike ride will take me to town, where I’ll pick up sourdough bread and assorted produce from the CSA share.
I hear laughter before seeing them. Around the curve, in matching red Adirondack chairs, their gazes are fixed on Keaton Island.
I stop and ask if they are on vacation.
“Our daddy vacations here every summer,” one of the honey-blonde beauties drawls. “That’s his place, out there.”
I smile. It’s not my place to argue.
I buy two apples for the ladies and stop on my way home — but they are gone.
Her photo, dated 1942, flutters in one chair.
[103 words]
Nice to be back to FF after blogcation.
Buster Keaton summered in my home town for years. He had two sons, but in my story, I gave him two daughters. I like to think that Keaton still vacations here.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host of Friday Fictioneers.


Beautiful written ❤️
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Thanks, Maggie :)
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Perhaps they never existed?
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May be! The daughters he never had but wanted. Thanks for your comment, Neil.
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Dear Lisa,
Good to see you back. I’ve noticed the absence of your presence. Intriguing story that makes one gasp at the end. I loved Buster Keaton….and your story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thanks for noticing my absence and for welcoming me back. Glad you liked the intrigue of my story. Yes on Keaton, he was a class act.
Shalom,
Lisa
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nice to have you back, Li :-) I love your story! <3
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CA thank you x 2 :)
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Great silent film actor. My favorite film of his is “The General.”
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Agreed on his acting and loved The General.
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You are a good soul, Lisa!
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Dwight, it takes one to know one ;) {{{HUGS}}}
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:>) Thanks!
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I really thought this was your story!
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It has the ring of it for sure.
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:>)
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Beautiful combination of whimsy and nostalgia. Very nice, Lisa.
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Thanks so much, Nancy :)
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Most welcome, Lisa
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Great story Lisa I love the bittersweet sense of nostalgia and mystery. How interesting to learn about Buster Keaton too, it’s a lovely, haunting vignette 🙌
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Ange, thanks! I love Neil’s imaginings on it.
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Yes – very interesting
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A lovely thought, and story.
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Thanks, Dawn. And I agree with who said great new pic!
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Your story reminds me of an old movie called Portrait of Jennie with Joseph Cotton and Jennifer Jones. If you have never seen it I encourage you to do so.
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Will look for it, thanks, V!
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i wonder if they were ghosts?
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Good guess, Plaridel.
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Fun!
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:)
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Absorbing read, and wonderful detail in the backstory.
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Glad you enjoyed it, James, thank you :)
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That was interesting, Li.
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Thanks, Chris :)
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A delightful tale for your return visit – an interesting little footnote too!
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Thanks, Keith, glad you enjoyed it :)
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How great Lisa! We are in sync… I just wrote up a Buster Keaton movie for tomorrow earlier tonight.
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Fantastic. Doing a little research on him for the story, I learned his first marriage wasn’t very happy and he became estranged from his 2 sons. Makes me feel bad for him. I do remember you wrote up some of his movies before and I remember watching The General back then. Great movie!
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Yea…he married into the Talmadge family…not a good choice. Oh I love the General as you know. Tomorrow is the movie where his most famous scene comes up…where the house comes down on him through the window.
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:)
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This was lovely, Lisa. I admit to never having seen a full Buster Keaton film. I might have to rectify that :)
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Dale, thanks! I think some of the movies are shorter than others so not a huge time commitment.
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A lovely piece of imaginative writing Li.
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Ob, thanks! :)
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what a wonderful ghost story! Welcome back from blogcation as I embark on my own.
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TOL, thanks very much x2. Have a wonderful time on walkabout. See you on the flip side.
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Oooooo
I love the mystery
Ghost story!
Fabulous
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Many thanks, Laurie!
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