
Kneeling before the old chest, watching the winter sunlight filter through the dusty window of the attic, I’d paused in trepidation. I’d never been in this part of the house, as my uncle had forbidden it and his directives were not to be ignored lightly; but I’d been driven to explore the unexplained parts of my past and now I’d discovered that the chest contained the final few pieces of the puzzle.
Finally, I’d unlatched the lid and lifted it.
If only I hadn’t. My uncle had been right.
That day I learned that some things are better left undisturbed.
Image credit: Pinterest
Written in response to two challenges:
Di of Pensitivity101‘s Three Things Challenge – PAST, FEW, CHEST
Denise Farley of GirlieOnTheEdge‘s Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt – FILTER
These few lines are very suspenseful. i want to know more.
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Thanks, Molly! Me too… 😉
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Loved this Chris.
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Thanks, Di 🙂
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you’re welcome
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How interesting Chris. This can be developed into a full story.
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Thanks, Sadje! But it will have to wait it’s turn…
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One day….?
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And? And?…..🙃
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Sadly the challenge limited me to just 6 sentences 😉 😀
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I hate when that happens!😄
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Great buildup of trepidation and that mystery cliffhanger to finish! 🙂
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Thanks, Tom 🙂
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P.S. sent you an email in advance about the eBook offer. Hope it works for you. 🙂
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I saw it 🙂 By the way, my mom didn’t manage a review but she did give you 5 stars from her Kindle!
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I know – I saw it on the UK site; really kind of her for leaving it! Give her a huge thanks from me 😀
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Welcome to Six Sentence Stories, Chris. Excited you joined in this week 🙂
Talk about a great example of “more is less”! Vivid description of opening scene, very nice tension build up and you left this reader wanting to know more 😀
3 prompts? Excellent triple play 🙂
Do come over and link your Six at Girlie. Post is published with the inlinkz code. Let me know if you have difficulty linking up.
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Thanks, Denise! What fun these are. You’ll definitely be seeing more of me 🙂 I’ll pop over later and see about the link up.
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I’m dying to know what was in the chest
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Ha ha! Me too, Christine 😉
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Love it! The photo is intriguing and the desire to know what could be in the antique trunk sounds like more than I could resist too🤔
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All those possibilities and probably some very dark family secrets… 😉
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😬
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Love the six, love the trunk love the visual of the filtered light. I have my grandfather’s trunk. He would be 152 were he alive, so I know it’s an oldie. Love things like that.
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There’s so much history contained in old objects… and stories too…
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I am left wondering just what was in that chest. Good preparation for the next chapter.
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Thanks, Frank! But will I tell… 😉
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The problem, of course, is that we are only as sick as the secrets we keep. The not knowing would have tormented, possibly more than knowing and then dealing with it. Well done story!
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Some things just can’t be left alone…
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oooohhh such an intriguing little tale Chris… i love how you build the momentum here… makes me want more…
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Thanks, Mich 🙂 I feel like I might have opened Pandora’s Box! 😉
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Oh, cliffhanger! I need to know what is in that trunk!!
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Mmm… are you sure?? 😉
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So interesting writings. Love it.
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Thank you, Olivia 🙂
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What a great lead in! I would love to know more about this story. BTW that is such a perfect photo to use with your SSS.
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Thank you, Pat! Finding an appropriate and legally useable photo is sometimes the hardest part of the challenge 😉
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Oh WOW, this is too good!! Will there be a follow-up, I wonder–to tell what was discovered??
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Thanks so much, Jael! On the follow up… maybe 🙂
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Cool! You’re welcome 🙂
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Great six! I’m so curious.
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Thanks, Lisa! So am I… 😉
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Excellent image use*
(Part of my enjoyment of these Sixes is what I can learn from others), in this case, the ‘formatting’** of your Six is quite instructive.
I suspect we all have ideas we’d like to try, but watching someone else go ahead and actually do it…. and succeed, is the best form of this ‘reading-Sixes-to-learn’.
*while the use of a particular image is a part of the creative process for many of us, there’s a weird thing (often when the image is selected early in the writing process), when the effect (of a particular image) becomes more than we anticipated…
** the single line spacing to emphasize the narrative
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Thank you for your encouraging feedback! Your point about the choice of image is a good one. Unless I’m writing to a photo prompt, I almost always leave the ‘chore’ of finding the image to last, when I’ve already written my piece and formed my own picture in my mind. I really should try to do this the other way round.
Single line spacing often appears in my narratives!
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Ooo, you’ve certainly got me desperate to know what was discovered. Great writing, as always, Chris.
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Thanks, Susan! We may yet find out… 🙂
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It’s what’s not said here which speaks the loudest I think. You’ve done so much with so little – I can hear the creak of the hinges and see the dust motes hanging in the air…
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Oh, excellent, Matthew! I’m pleased the set up allowed you to fill in the gaps 🙂
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