The Friday Fictioneer Challenge: Write a 100-word story based on the photo.
Photo copyright Sarah Ann Hall
The Way Back
The Persian goblet was from the tomb of King Cyrus II. Cassandra discovered it was a time portal, a way back to the king’s temple. The portal opened with the full moon’s rise and closed when it set.
In 531 BC, Cassandra approached the temple to return to her own time and place. Through the time-travel haze, she saw a man in her apartment. He looked straight at her, raised the goblet, laughing as he smashed it against the fireplace.
In ancient Persia, the temple’s archway collapsed, clouds of dust choking her.
There was no way back, not any more.
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To read other Friday Fictioneer stories based on this photo, select the smiley blue frog.
It's a long story ... 
That’s an interesting take on the prompt, and a fascinating slant on the legend of Cassandra. She would have had accurate foreknowledge of many of the events of the period, but anything she told the people around her would have been discredited by the stories of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that she also told.
That’s a great concept for a novel!
This deserves to be a longer piece
I had a hard time cutting it down to 100 words, that’s for sure. Maybe I will revisit it, putting back everything I cut out.
Outstanding. Feeling Cassandra’s realization, shock, and frustration. Great idea.
Why did he break it? More of a mystery there!
Fascinating!
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I LOVE time-travel stories. This was a great story told in just a few words. Nicely done !!
Oh no! Now that’s a lesson in why you shouldn’t mess with time travel. 🙂
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos