Susana stands stiffly, watching people run to the water’s edge, and return.
Each picks up a stone or bottle fragments polished by wave-driven sand.
Some discover Japanese glass floats in blue or green.
Others find pearls tucked inside broken half-shells. And squeal.
They have no idea they are stealing when they slip her treasures inside their backpacks.
Still, their ignorance makes her angry.
She conjures wind that whips sand, and rocks and driftwood into an angry funnel
that dances down the beach and swallows them whole.
Susana smiles in the silence and slowly bends to collect what is left behind.
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I liked the description of the sea’s treasures (and the fact that the goddess of the seas was called Susana)
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Thanks, Neil. I didn’t want to come up with a god-like name because I thought Susana could be a simple goddess of fate with a short temper.
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The collector collects the collectors.
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Or disappears them. Thanks, James
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Very beautifully described.
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Thank you, Neel.
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Susana Is quite a stern taskmistress.
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Indeed! Don’t mess with her stuff.
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I like your idea of a Goddess with a short and hot temper. We need more badass women in power. Ok, maybe not but, I was amused.
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No! I agree with you. Badass women get ‘er done! Thanks, Tracey
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I’ll think twice the next time I pick up a shell on the beach. =) A very creative story in so few words!
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Thank you, Brenda. I know! You never realize whose treasures you might be taking.
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Wow.. hell hath no fury like a woman who has something stolen! Eh? Well done! ❤
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Indeed! “Don’t touch my stuff!” Thanks for reading.
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So unfair of her to steal a life for the petty, unwitting theft.
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So goes the life of a Goddess who overprotects her stuff. 😉
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No messing about from Susana, not even a warning! Lovely use of the prompt.
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Thank you, Ian. Some Goddesses just can’t do the warning thing.
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Guess I’ll have to give up beach combing. It was kind of fruitless here in Arkansas anyway.
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Ha!!! Indeed. Unless it’s around that little mud hole from last week’s post. 😉
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You’ve conjured up quite a powerful water goddess there – one that doesn’t put up with strangers stealing her stuff, good for her! I was struggling to see the connection to the photo, though. Were you thinking that the beach is like her museum?
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So interesting that you’ve mentioned that! My husband asked the same question. I zeroed in on the stature in the “middle” of the picture, and what she might see from that angle. What I saw was the people milling about “collecting” ideas just as one might collect things on the seashore. The tiles in the picture look like sand. Ta-da! It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
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Ooh, I totally didn’t look at it that way before, but now I see what you mean!
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🙂
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She is a tad possessive, is she not? And guess a warning just isn’t strong enough 😉
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Ha! Just a tad.
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Well, she takes no prisoners! Nice one 🙂
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Nope! Not at all. Thanks, Ali
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Delightfully different and a refreshingly different take on the image.
Click to read my FriFic tale
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What a lovely thing to say. Thanks, Keith
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I can’t help feeling that Susana’s temperament is decidedly ungod-like, but hey, who knows how you’d feel after breaking onto one beach after another for eternity. Pretty vivid imagery here, Alicia – I liked it a lot.
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Thanks, Sandra. She is a bit on the cranky side. I’m glad you liked it.
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Dear Lish,
I like how you went from the art museum to the beach and a testy goddess. Imaginative and well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, Rochelle.
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Well done for a really original take on the prompt! I think Susana is a very believable goddess. She has a responsibility to look after her patch of coastline, after all – and the power to do so, too. I like your descriptions of the finds made by visitors.
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Thank you, Penny! When I lived on the Pacific Northwest peninsula, these were the items we found. Plus agates by the handful.
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oh my! you can’t mess with a goddess like susana. she has no mercy.
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Good on her! Thanks for stopping by to read and comment.
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Very original.
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Thanks.
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A vengeful creature here. I’ll send back the broken milk bottle by post. Let the courier take their chances.
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Good thinking. Thanks for reading and commenting.
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Lovely picture of exactly what happens on any beach. Except I never before thought of it as stealing 🙂
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Because you’ve never run into Susana. Thanks for reading and commenting. I always appreciate it. 🙂
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Eek, she would have punished me, too. I love to collect stuff on the beach. Great story, Alicia, what a great character Susana is.
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I have many Japenese glass floats in different sizes, buckets of agates and bags of beach glass. PLEASE don’t tell Susana. I’m glad you like her. Thanks so much.
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😀 That reminds me of the bags with small colorful gravel I brought from crete… maybe she has messed with my mind?
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😉 Perhaps.
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Oh Susana!
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Ha! Indeed.
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Susana’s not having a good day. Loved the excitement of the seekers, and really felt Susana’s upset and anger – great images.
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Ha! What a great way to put it. Maybe she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. 😉 Thanks, Sarah Ann
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Oh the rage of a goddess is not something to take lightly… Sad when you don’t know you are breaking the rules.
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Somehow I don’t think some gods and goddesses care too much about setting down rules. Thanks, Bjorn!
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Fabulous.
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Thank you!
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Really nice take on the prompt. It’s always interesting how we all can interpret the same thing in such different ways.
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I know! So many ways to see a picture! Thanks.
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Eeeeeekkkkk. Wouldn’t like to encounter her!
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She be a nasty one. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.
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Love your vengeful goddess – and so many are, or so we’re led to believe. No one sees they’re stealing until it’s too late – but perhaps they’ll learn now she’s shown her power. Beautifully told as always Lish
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Thank you, Lynn. I do believe they will leave her stuff alone from now on. I always appreciate your stopping by. Lish
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My pleasure Lish
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The sibilant beginning reminded me of the old tongue twister: “She sells seashells by the seashore.”
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Oh, what a lovely thing to think about. Thanks!
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