Friday Fictioneers 11 – 12 – 2021

Another Wednesday as marvelous Rochelle inspires us for Friday Fictioneers. We write micro-stories given ideas by a new photo each week, provided by creative and imaginative compatriots. You can read the rules over on Rochelle’s blog and join in the fun. Here is the photo and my story for this week.

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz. Click for trip to Rochelle’s blog.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
Title: Blind Man’s Bluff*

If Russians discovered us, we’d be captured or killed as spies. The last we saw before submerging to the bottom of the fjord were escarpments and mountains.

Life in a submarine a thousand feet down on the ocean floor is tense with fear and physically miserable. A whisper meant discovery and death. We sat for days entombed in dark silence.

Our air gone foul; our batteries low; we decided to escape. We started. Slowly, we crawled between underwater mountains.

Then, the skipper’s voice, “We’re clear. Surfacing in international waters. Another day at the office for Cold War bubbleheads, eh mates?

Look both ways as you run silent and deep.
Mind the safety of gaps between glacial mountains.
Learn the endurance capabilities of human life.

***

Click on picture of the Spy Submarine (USS Connecticut) to read other stories from the same prompt.

*Title from the Book, Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew.

 

47 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers 11 – 12 – 2021”

  2. I’m with Iain. I don’t think I’d do very well in those conditions… Life in a submarine is not for the faint of heart!
    Maybe a few books to distract me?

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    1. I bought the book I mentioned when I toured The US Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum on the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut. Same trip we visited Montreal. I love to tour them and read the stories, I’ve no plans to even ride one.
      That story is my take on a true event. Scary stuff.

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      1. I figured you were knew what you were talking about! I wouldn’t mind walking through one like a museum. I might even not mind a ride in one if we knew for certain it was safe, i.e., not in any dangerous waters! It must have been terrifying.

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  3. You could not have added more tension, with the feeling of being trapped and hunted under water. A reminder of the effective use of submarines by the Germans during WW2 in the North Atlantic. the life of a submariner is definitely not for the faint hearted.

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  4. Bill,

    Your transference of word into the reeling emotional playgrounds of yo-young fear, claustrophobia, elation and deliverance is superb. Now if I can get my heart to slow down and my breathing under control, I will get back to my own word-crafting! Thank you and brilliantly done! -Gypsie

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  6. I can only imagine how it feels in a submarine because I certainly never want to find out. But I admire our veterans and those who have sacrificed for us just the same! Thank you Bill for a great story!

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  7. Dear Bill

    I can’t imagine being in a submarine for any length of time…and I’m not claustrophobic. My husband served on several carriers and their quarters were tight enough. Bless those who serve under the sea. Well written story sir.

    Shalom

    Rochelle

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    1. Thank you, Rochelle.

      I had one friend who served on a “boomer” sub, but he ended up with a career in the Air Force with me. I have toured several subs, carriers, battleships, etc. (the Navy life intrigues me).

      Peace,

      Bill

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      Reply

    1. Thanks, Keith. And it’s all day and night, almost every day. I could not do it, but it intrigues me that some of us can.

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