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"The Fortune" Commentary

A few weeks ago, I participated in a writer's retreat where we performed an exercise in which we each drew a fortune cookie and had to write a story around that fortune.

I opened my cookie and saw this:

Fortune

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it, but I took a good look at the word "field."

Of course I knew it meant "field of expertise" but I thought "What if it literally meant a field, like a pasture?" My next thought was, "Who would care about a field and going a long way in it?" That's when I decided about a football player, and not just any football player, but a running back. And since the NFL combines were happening in Indianapolis that same time, well, that's how the story happened.

Now, I know - there aren't normally scrimmages in the NFL combines nor are there multiple fields, but hey - it's fiction, right?

Unlike "Old Soldier," this story is one of the twists I love to right. Take something you think you know and stand it on its head.

I hope you like it. Oh, and Madame Bourgeois is a nod to my friend Scott Bourgeois, who has an awesome name; thanks for letting me use it for my fortune teller!

Comments are always welcome.

Thank you for reading it! I hope you enjoyed it.