This week’s Friday Fictioneers photo prompt is courtesy of Adam Ickes.
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Photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers 18 July, 2014 ©Adam Ickes
Always Read the Label
Gruff was proud of his horns. Then men came, measured them, tapped them, ran their fingers over every last, curving inch. They gave the farmer a bottle of whiskey and a wad of cash before shoving Gruff into a van.
He remembered their smell and the sound of the engine. When the Aberdeen Angus in the next field were massacred he knew exactly who was responsible.
So when Gruff heard the van, he fled. Several hedges later he found a building with an open door. He hid inside … only to find an all-too-familiar smell as the owners of Nature’s Medicine Unlimited (Guaranteed Rhino-horn Free) returned to their office.
©Siobhán McNamara
siobhanmcnamara 
Dear Siobhán,
Poor Gruff. It seems his attempted escape ended in the wrong place. Well done.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle, a bad choice of hideout indeed
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Oh dear! Different take on the prompt there Siobhan. 😦
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Thanks Sandra, it was my second attempt.
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Oh no – poor a Gruff.
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Thanks for reading 🙂
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Talk about unlucky, but at least thier medicine is rhino free. Makes you wonder. Nice story.
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Thanks Cole 🙂
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Poor Gruff!!! This story made me smile – is that okay?
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That’s ok Alicia, it made me smile too. A little dark humour never hurt anyone 😉
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Whew!!!!
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Oh, that sounds like a bad case of Murphy’s Law – find a great hiding place and forever think “Of all the places I could have hidden.” Great story!
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Sometimes there is just no escaping the inevitable ….
Thanks for reading 🙂
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Uh oh!! Those beautiful horns 😦
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One man/woman’s beauty is another man/woman’s profit
Thanks for reading, Jan 🙂
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Great social commentary – commerce conquers all. 😦
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It sure does, solve one problem, see another take its place
Thanks for reading 🙂
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Dear Siobhan,
He’s going to animal heaven. it’s crowded there, but they don’t have to put up with people. Nice story.
Aloha,
Doug
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Now that’s a happy thought Doug 🙂
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Poor Gruff 😦 Guess he should’ve run the other way.
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A bad choice, sadly for him
Thanks for reading 🙂
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Dear Siobhan,
I especially like “Guaranteed Rhino-horn Free.” You packed a lot into this well-written short story. It’s one of my favorites this week.
All my best,
Marie Gail
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Thank you so much, I wasn’t sure if I had got the story across as I wanted 🙂
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Oh, yes! And I find it interesting the way you chose to address so many different elements of the picture through the course of your story. Nice and tight. Keep up the good work! Sometimes a literal interpretation of the prompt works well. This time, you nailed it.
Cheers!
MG
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Poor Gruff. Rhino-horn free medicine isn’t a comforting thought to a goat.
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Indeed, not much comfort when you become the replacement!
Thanks for reading 🙂
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Siobhan, Poor Gruff indeed. I also wonder what’s in some of those “natural cures” people take so trustingly. Well written with dark humor. 🙂 —Susan
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Thanks Susan 🙂 a friend of mine who is a qualified herbalist once inadvertently ordered me a remedy that contained gecko – I am slow to trust either conventional or complimentary medicine at the best of times due to a severe allergy, so I only discovered the gecko because of reading through the ingredients!
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Siobhan, That was wise of you, especially since you have an allergy. 🙂 —Susan
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How sad! Nice take on the prompt.
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Thanks Indira 🙂
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Keep running Gruff! Keep running!
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Thanks for reading 🙂
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Well, Gruff escaped once on account of his perceptions and intelligence, so let’s hope in the second episode, he does it again.
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He just might 🙂
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Oops, he made a wrong choice there. It’s good the poor rhinos get a break, but then someone has to provide the horn, it seems. Gruff didn’t have much of a chance, I guess.
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Good story! You did a wonderful job! Nan 🙂
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