The two writers in France went to Mille et Une along with dog Sherlock. The mint tea and hot chocolate created a good ambiance. The photo that was the prompt was on the table.
D-L's Free Write The Auction
Maisie picked the figurine off the shelf with the 30 other figurines she'd scored from car boot sales.
The second she'd heard Flog It would be doing an appraisal at the castle she decided to join the throng carrying their antiques in hopes of being chosen for the TV programme.
***
"There's no mark on it saying who made it," Maisie said to the Scottish appraiser.
"But there is," Anita said. She turned the figurine so the woman sewing a blue jacket was on her head. "See."
Maisie noticed three circles in the base.
"Two circles are from a pottery factory that operated here in Edinburgh 1883-1894. The third is the owner, Malcom MacKenzie. It's a rare piece done by him."
***
The day of the auction the Presenter Paul Martin and the TV crew were at the back of the auction room.
The auctioneer, a chubby man was someone Maisie had seen on various antique shows dozens of times.
"We have an opening bid on the internet of £3,000."
Maisie sank on a chair behind her. She needed it until the hammer came down at £15,000.
"How much did you pay for it?" Paul asked.
Maisie could barely get the words out. "£2."
Julia's Free Write
Tucked away in a small corner of her garden was a small ceramic statue: so life-like.
I was visiting the grandchildren overseas when I wandered into their yard and made the discovery: perfect in every color and detail, I was intrigued.
Why the statue, why here in the very modern Japanese-style garden?
Later I asked my granddaughter. “Oh that,” she replied. “We put it there as grandpa could no longer bear the sight of it.”
His beloved mother, a poor seamstress back in Russia at the turn of the century. It was fashioned by the son he lost too early, in one of the many pogroms.
Rick's Free Write
She wasn’t the only retouche in the village, but she was the best. Yet she charged so little, even her own dresses had patches. There was such a steady supply of customers, especially tourists once they realized she spoke some anglais, that her back was consistently sore from sitting and her hands arthritic from holding the needle. There were times she had difficulty threading the needle or wielding the scissors.
Marie-Frances was now nearly 90, having arrive in the village as a toddler during La Retirada exodus from Spanish Catalonia in the winter of ’39. Almost all of her friends were long since dead, save Florence, her longtime best friend.
She didn’t have a formal shop, more a foyer where she received customers when they rang the bell. (She was having a harder time hearing the bell these days.)
She looked forward today to a visit from her great-grandchildren, who lived far away in a big city. But until they arrived, Marie-Frances intended to finish the lining on this vest.
Julia has written and taken photos all her life and loves syncing up with friends. Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/
Rick is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices. com
D-L has had 17 fiction and non fiction books published. Check out her website at: https://dlnelsonwriter.com
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