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24.3.17

BARS - a 100 word story

BARS
I was barely out of the schoolroom when Mama said I must marry Henry. “He is Sir William’s sole heir, and you will one day be mistress of the entire estate.”
Henry was pompous, with fat red lips and damp hands, but Papa had lost everything in the crash and it was our only way out of penury.
The house resembled a wedding cake with its white pillars and delicate tracery, but the railings that surrounded the estate loomed like cell bars.
My choice was stark – accept life in a gilded cage or consign us all to a paupers’ prison.
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The photographic prompt for this week's story is by  J Hardy Carrol, and posted on Rochelle's blog https://rochellewisoff.com/  for Friday Fictioneers.  I am a tad later than usual this week - today is my birthday and I've been busy celebrating! 
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28 comments:

  1. Helen Baggott 24/03/2017, 16:55

    Poor girl.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous24/03/2017, 18:59

    What a choice. I like the way this is only the start of her story. What will she decide to do? Well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. liz young25/03/2017, 13:25

      Perhaps I have a Georgette Heyer book to write!

      Delete
  3. Jo Hawk24/03/2017, 19:12

    Yuck, I wouldn't want to marry Henry either. Nicely done.

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    Replies
    1. liz young25/03/2017, 13:26

      The red fleshy lips are an instant turn-off, aren't they?

      Delete
  4. Rochelle Wisoff-Fields24/03/2017, 21:03

    Dear Liz,

    Either way, she's trapped. Well written.

    Happy Birthday,

    Rochelle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. liz young25/03/2017, 13:27

      It's a lose-lose situation she's in, and selfish of her parents to make it inevitable.

      Delete
  5. Dale25/03/2017, 02:51

    Too often was the option for some girls...

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    Replies
    1. liz young25/03/2017, 13:27

      I believe thousands of women, even now, only find love when their children are born.

      Delete
  6. Dahlia25/03/2017, 11:56

    Poor girl - well written. Belated happy birthday :)

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  7. Magaly Guerrero25/03/2017, 14:50

    Some decisions are difficult to make, when we have our families to consider. Call me selfish (and, perhaps, not to attached to wealth), but if I were her, I would run until those gates were nothing but a bad memory.

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    Replies
    1. Magaly Guerrero25/03/2017, 14:51

      P.S. I hope you had a fantastic birthday, my Aries sister!

      Delete
    2. liz young26/03/2017, 17:53

      I would run too, I think - It depends on how much one loves one's parents, I suppose!
      And thank you, yes, I had a lovely birthday, followed two days later by UK Mothers' Day, so I have been spoiled. Photos on my FB page!

      Delete
  8. Anonymous26/03/2017, 20:33

    Love the comparisons to a wedding cake and bars. Well-told. Poor girl!

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    Replies
    1. liz young27/03/2017, 10:53

      Thank you for noticing the wedding cake, Emily!

      Delete
  9. brudberg26/03/2017, 21:06

    I think there is not really a choice... as every prisoner has been taught through history.

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    Replies
    1. liz young27/03/2017, 10:54

      You are right, Bjorn - although the wedding vows give one the illusion of choice, what else can she do?

      Delete
  10. Gah Learner26/03/2017, 22:24

    I guess in the past girls really didn't have much of a choice. Running and leaving the family in dire straights would make her feel guilty all her life. Great story, Liz. Maybe the heroine can find something in common with Henry, or slowly work on him. The fleshy lips aren't his fault. As long as he isn't cruel...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. liz young27/03/2017, 10:55

      Well done, Ga, for looking for the positive in her dilemma.

      Delete
  11. Dawn27/03/2017, 19:35

    Perhaps she will grow to love him.

    ReplyDelete
  12. liz young28/03/2017, 16:16

    Thanks Sandra!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Susan A Eames28/03/2017, 18:42

    Oh goodness, I wonder what she chose. Great story, Liz.

    Susan A Eames at
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. liz young29/03/2017, 12:31

      Thanks Susan - did she really have a choice?

      Delete
  14. seaviewwarrenpoint29/03/2017, 09:58

    "Fat lips and damp hands" yeeeuck!!! :) :) :)

    Nice one, liz.

    marion

    ReplyDelete

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