Photo Copyright: Rich Voza
“Hellloooooo!”
“Hellloooooo!”
“Who said that!” three year old Sam asked his father.
“Me.”
“No, who said it back?”
“That is an echo!”
“Echo?” Sam repeated.
“It is what happens when your voice is reflected back to you.”
“Can I try?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Sam!”
“I’m Sam!” he heard the hall echo.
Sam turned to look at his dad. “You have fun at work don’t you?”
“Sometimes.”
His father slipped on his lab coat, the one with the Penley River Oncology Center logo. Then he took Sam’s small hand and turned to leave.
Joe's Musings 
Hi Joe,
The father-son interaction is sweet. Ron
Nice job on the prompt!
Hi Joe – Thank you for this charming story.
Hahahaha! Neat! Great! I like it! Thanks, Joe!
Oh how little Sam knows! The little the better.
‘Sometimes’… a lot said there, in that one word.
Perfect take to this pic… I thought of the light echoing back when I first saw it… wish I had thought of it… Nicely done, Joe.
Dear Joe,
Welcome to Friday Fictioneers our diverse group of writers I prefer to call family.
Your story touched me. I wondered where in the hospital they might be to where they could yell and hear the echo. Nonetheless I loved the poignant contrast between Sam’s innocence and harsh reality.
I look forward to reading more of you in the near future.
shalom,
Rochelle
Yes, Rochelle that thought occured as well, but the 100 words was my goal and it precluded a further explanation. Thanks for the kind words.
Nicely done! I thought you were going quite somewhere else with this, imagining the echo would say something different back the second time. So the ending was doubly chilling…
Dear Joe,
I can tell the father hears echoes of his own father in the hallway with his son. Nice lesson on life and time.
Aloha,
Doug