Photo by Liz Young
“That must have been one hell of a party.”
“Rebecca! Language!”
“Oh, Father, really.”
“Don’t ‘Oh, Father me.'”
“Well, did I have fun?”
“If you consider drinking home brew with stable hands and smoking cigarettes with parlor maids fun then, yes, you had a splendid time.”
“Gosh, no wonder I feel a bit out of sorts.”
“Out of sorts. Do you remember milking Mrs. O’Leary’s cow?”
“Cow?”
“Yes, you left the lantern in the shed. When the cow kicked it over all you said was, ‘It’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight.'”
“God, I did have fun!”
Up From the Ashes 
What a lovely take on the prompt
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Thanks. It took me two tries to post my story this morning – that’s why the Take Two. The original story had a link to the Great Chicago fire and an explanation that I was going on the light side today. No dead people, no poisoning. Thanks for reading, Neil.
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Is that the true story of how the fire started? I know it started in a cow shed – it’s one hell of drunken night out to destroy a whole city!
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I think that’s the standard story about how the Chicago fire got started, but I don’t know if it’s factual.
Rebecca has a strange idea about what’s fun.
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Yes, she certainly does, Little Renegade!
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No, not true. Rumor has it Mrs. O’Leary left a lantern in the cow shed. Here’s a link to the the fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire. If you look at my reply to Neil, you’ll see why this was lacking in my post. Thanks, Iain.
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Evidently, I’m having trouble blogging today, Iain. Thanks for tracking down my reply. Alicia
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To further the answer, there are several theories.
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Dear Lish,
I’m glad to know what really happened. 😉 Well done. You set the era well with dialogue.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle.
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Oh Alicia. This was truly a fun read.. Not that the great fire was fun but definitely your description of how it might have occurred was great!
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Thanks, Dale. Girls just want to have fun, yes? Thanks for reading. P.S. Love your new haircut!
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Yes, we do!!
Thank you!
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She’s really going through teen rebellion.
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I suppose she is. Thanks for reading and commenting. Like I said, no dead bodies this week – well, maybe a few caught in the fire, but I didn’t do it this time.
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Love the character of Rebecca you paint here. What a minx.
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At least she only smoked and drank and milked a cow, right? I still think O’Leary did it.
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Interesting take on the prompt, Alicia. Plenty of roast beef after that little episode.
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Ha! So true. Thanks, Sandra.
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“One night late, while we were all in bed
Mrs. O’Leary hung a lantern in her shed
And when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said,
‘There’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight.’ ”
Yes, my mom taught me that. Interesting because the day she taught it to me, we got into a huge argument afterwards. No wonder that song brings pain. 😀
Five out of five burnt ends.
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What a memory. A funny song and an argument with Mom. I’ll take the five burnt ends and use them wisely. Thanks!
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You are MOST welcome.
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Sounds like a pretty good night out to me! Shame about Chicago…
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Thank you. It kind of reminds me of me when I was young – except for the burning down Chicago bit.
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Oh, that was a funny one. Talk about ‘smoking’! loved it!
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So glad you saw the humor in the story. Thank you for reading and commenting.
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The Chicago fire was indeed a tragedy, no doubt about that. But how you’ve portrayed the starting thereof, now, that’s what’s funny. And here I always thought it was the boy scout roasting marshmallows on a gas range…. 🙂
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Yeah – that would do it! Clever take.
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Why thank you, Liz.
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Ha! She sounds like a great gal to have around! Great at a party, anyway. Nicely told tale and great dialogue 🙂
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Thank you, Lynn. One of the challenges in my monthly writing practice group is to write a scene using only dialogue from a once sentence prompt. It’s a fun exercise. I’m glad you enjoyed my additional “practice.”
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It’s a tough call, that. An interesting exercise, though, conveying information to the reader without the conversation sounding forced or unnatural
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Brilliant and such great dialogue.
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Thank you, Louise. As I told Lynne, one of the challenges in my monthly writing practice group is to write a scene using only dialogue from a one sentence prompt. I really enjoy that particular exercise.
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I used to avoid dialogue! It’s an art and you do it very well.
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Fun story. I can feel her confusion.
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Good! She is a bit muddled. Too bad it was Father who was paying attention….. Glad you stopped by to read and comment. Thank you.
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I sensed the date in your writing, which was great.
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Oh, good. Using only dialogue, it’s often hard to portray what period you’re working with. I’m glad this worked for you. Alicia
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I guess we know the truth about the Great Chicago Fire now, don’t we? Well done.
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Oops, I didn’t read the title until I wrote my comment. i guess I wasn’t clever for knowing about Mrs. Leary’s cow, was I? 😉
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Clever, schmever. Sometimes I forget to read FF titles until someone else mentions how grand it is in their comments then Ooops! It’s all part of the delightful game. Thanks for reading and commenting, Trent. I appreciate it.
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There’s been many fun stories on the photo prompt this week. This one could be added to the group.
Love the fact that Rebecca has a hazy memory of the night before. There was a lot visual in your story. I enjoyed it very much, Alicia. Have a nice weekend.
Isadora 😎
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Thanks for saying so! You have a good weekend, too. I’m going out of town next week – to spend time in an old lodge at Lake Quinault on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula so will miss FF. I’ll try to stop by and read your story the following week.
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No problem, Alicia. It’s always a pleasure to read your stories and have you read mine but life has to lived and enjoyed. Have a safe trip and most of all HAVE FUN !!! Isadora 😎
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Well at least it was a cow she milked and not the bull… 🙂
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Oh, Bjorn! That made me laugh. Thanks, I think. So glad you stopped by to read.
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Sounds like there was enough bull to go around. 🙂
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Ha Ha!
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Rebecca’s father certainly seems to be taking it well. Perhaps they made some smores.
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BBQ’d rump roast followed by smores! Thanks for the idea.
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i wonder what happened to the cow?
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Roast Beast, I suppose. ; – )
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That was a fun read, I like her spirit and strange lack of remorse.
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I believe she’s a bit of a rebel – also, she may have more than a few regrets in a few days. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Oh dear. I knew teenagers were hard work, but to burn down a whole city accidentally, is some fall out. I guess it would be worse to burn it down purposely. Either way, a good reason for her to disown her face for a while 😉 Well imagined, Alicia.
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What a delightful comment – a good reason for her to disown her face for a while. Thanks.
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She sure is the life of the party. That was a fun read, but the poor cows, is no one thinking about the poor cows? 🙂
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Thanks for enjoying the story. I think the cows in the Chicago fire were the least of the town’s worries. ; – )
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A fun read. I really enjoyed this.
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Thanks, Clare.
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The headline read: Bad Girl Sets World On Fire. I like the calm father/daughter conversation. “Oh, pass the jelly, would ya, Dad.”
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Honie ~ what a fun observation! The conversation is rather blase, isn’t it? That’s what a 100-word limit will do.
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I like the conversion. I makes the observer stop and think, wait, what?
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Thanks, Honie! I also tried to portray a stilted conversation between a “stayed” father and an independent daughter in the 1800’s.
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And now we know…the rest of the story! 😉
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A well-kept secret, yes? Thanks, Dawn.
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That is a great story, made me shake my head. 😀
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Me, too! Thanks. 😉
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