Flash, Mini Story, Photo Prompt

The Greenhouse Effect

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Our gracious host, Rochelle, is asking us to get
creative in 100 words or less using the photo
seen below. Welcome to Friday Fictioneers
This is where the prompt took me.

© Sandra Crook

The neighborhood kids swear the pond grants wishes, but only in winter when it’s frozen solid. You write your wish on paper, wrap it around a stone, and drop it through the mesh gaps before the ice gets too thick.

By spring, the dormant plants bloom in impossible colors….purple roses, blue marigolds….one for each wish caught below.

My daughter dropped her wish in November. I’ve walked these stones every morning since, watching the ice thicken.

Yesterday, I saw green shoots pushing through the mesh.

Today, her doctor called with the greatest news: remission!

I’m building a greenhouse around the pond.

NAR©2026
100 Words

This is “Fix You” by Coldplay

9 January 2026

 All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

44 thoughts on “The Greenhouse Effect”

  2. Dear Nancy,

    What a wonderful and hopeful story. I can see where she’d want to build a greenhouse around that pond? But wouldn’t it take away from the magic when the pond freezes?

    Sorry about your rib. I bruised a rib and that was painful enough. Get better soon.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    Reply

    1. Dear Rochelle,

      When I wrote this story, my thought process had not yet reached that stage. You’re being much too logical for a Friday Fictioneer! 😂

      At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the pain is excruciating; fortunately, it only hurts when I move, cough or laugh. Sneezing is out of the question and don’t even ask about going to the bathroom! 😳 Ice helps, as do pain meds, and keeping my mind occupied by writing. Thankfully, I have not lost my sense of humor.

      I appreciate your very good wishes. Thank you. 💛

      Shalom

      🕊️

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      Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Brenda. I really appreciate your good wishes. I had a nasty fall in the bathroom and now I’m dealing with a very painful fractured rib. I’m so pleased to know you enjoyed my story. Isn’t that song wonderful? I’m glad I was able to share it. Thanks for your very kind comments, Brenda.

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      1. Hi, Nancy my New York sister 💞 I am sorry it is going to take you some time to be fully recovered, I was lucky, I have a bit of padding so I think it saved me – just a lot of bruising – I can live with that 🙌

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        1. You certainly were lucky, Ange. My friend next door fell in her kitchen and fractured two pelvic bones. She’s having a rough time. It’s amazing how much a little broken ribs hurts; I’ve been through a lot and this is right up there in the pain department. Thanks for your lovely comment! 💕

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