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19.9.19

SKYLIGHT - a story in 100 words


SKYLIGHT
Every day Martha slaved in the kitchen, the outside world only blue sky, scudding clouds, or rain clattering like pebbles. In winter, snow masked the light, reducing her prison to Stygian gloom.
Her mother said she was lucky to be warm and fed, but Martha relished the weekly walk home, the crisp cold a blessed relief from the blast furnace of the kitchen range.
But home was four miles away, and when she twisted her ankle on an icy puddle she was alone. They found her the next morning, her hands frozen around a hambone she had stolen for her mother.
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This week's story is another hurried one. I am heavily involved in our local village Arts Festival, and have to dash off in a minute to lock the church so nobody can walk off with one of the lovely paitings on display. Also my elderly mother has had a few falls in the past week and sitting for hours in A&E waiting for various tests is not conducuve to writing.
Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers and to J Hardy Carroll for the atmospheric photograph that is this week's prompt. You will find other stories by following the Blue Frog from Rochelle's blog  https://rochellewisoff.com/

29 comments:

  1. Could it be sadder? Maybe. If the hambone had caused her death. But this is poignant anyhow.

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    1. Thanks Neil - 100 words aren't enough sometimes!

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  2. A tragic end to a tragic life it seems.

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  3. Your ending caught me. I had such hopes, but it really could not end well. Well done.

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  4. A tragic tale indeed, and not the conclusion I foresaw.

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    1. You're the second person to be taken by surprise - what did you envisage, I wonder?

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  5. I like the way you rotate the seasons she sees through the skylight, to bring us to winter and the climax of the story. Nice construction.

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    1. Thanks, Penny, you always make such thoughtful comments.

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  6. A life ended too soon. Very sad story.

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  7. life can be tough indeed.

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  8. Oh Liz! Such a sad ending!
    Well written, though

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  9. Dear Liz,

    Tragic story of servitude. Reminded me just a little of The Little Match Girl." Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. I see what you mean about the Little Match Girl - I'd forgotten that story till you reminded me. Must be getting old!

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  10. This is so tragic... it does remind of the little match-girl.. Killed by poverty you might say

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  11. How achingly sad this is. The poor mother has lost her lifeline, as well, I think. Beautifully written.

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    1. Thank you, Linda. Yes, one must pity Martha's mother.

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  12. Poor woman. She sounds like a slave somewhere. I gathered they weren't getting enough to eat. Great descriptions, Liz. I hope you find what's causing your mother's falls and they can soon successfully treat it. ---- Suzanne

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  13. Sorry to hear about your Mother, and I am envious of your involvement in the arts activities. As full time carer, those things are now out of reach, but lovely to hear about them 🌹

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  14. Great idea, and completing it in a hundred words 🌹

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