WALKING WITH CHILDREN

This virus lockdown has made us relish our one permitted walk each day, and given us time to dawdle – to stand and stare.

Because I am keeping a two-metre distance from my little granddaughter, she walks in front and sets the pace. She stops time and again to admire a pretty stone, a bug on a leaf, a strange door-knocker, crayoned rainbows in a multitude of windows – things we would miss if we were hurrying. So Jeff Arnold’s photo of a rainbow is most appropriate.

Here’s a little poem.

Walking with Children

Rainbows spread their ephemeral beauty

Overhead, or further away over

Yonder, the fabled pots of

Gold at their damp

Bases always just out of reach.

Instead, children enjoy their

Vibrant colours simply because.

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THANKS as ever to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers. After you've left a (kind) comment on my blog, you can read other writers' interpretations of this image by following the frog link from her blog   https://rochellewisoff.com/

I trust you are all keeping safe and well, and finding refuge from boredom in reading and writing. See you next week, DV.

HAMELIN - a story in one hundred words

HAMELIN

Clowns outside the school attracted every child to their offer of free rides at the fairground. In the scramble, only the fittest won a ticket, and Belinda had to stand and watch as her luckier classmates climbed aboard, the music blared and the ride started.

But something wasn’t right. The speed increased rapidly until the children’s faces blurred, the music became deafening, and when a flying shoe struck Belinda she backed away.

Then the noise reached a crescendo and the ride stopped abruptly – empty. Belinda, sobbing with fright, turned and fled as fast as her crutches could carry her.

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There is something about the frenetic noise of a fairground that could so easily escalate into nightmare, and this story is what J Hardy Carroll's photo brought to my mind. To read what it inspired other writers to write, go to  https://rochellewisoff.com/  and follow the Blue Frog links.

For those who don't know the story of The Pied Pper of Hamelin, there are accounts of the (allegedly) true story on Google. 

ps. If you haven't read my book A Volcanic Race yet, the link to Amazon is at the top of this page.

TIP SLIP - historical fiction in 100 words

TIP SLIP

These lights? They're for Maureen - she was afraid of the dark. I can hear her now; ‘Leave the light, Mammy.’ She couldn’t sleep without.

She waved from the corner that morning, like always. I’d just sat down with a fresh cuppa when the whole bloody tip slid down over the school like lava. 

It took them two days to dig Maureen out. Tore my heart to shreds – my babby who was so frightened of the dark lying in that black slurry

Fifty years she’s been up by there in the cemetery with the other kiddies, and I still keep a light burning for her.

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This week's photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers linked instantly in my mind with the 50th anniversary of the dreadful tragedy in Aberfan, Wales, when a mine spoil tip slid down after heavy rain and buried an entire school full of children.

Thanks to Rochelle for posting her photograph on https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/  from where you can follow a link to read other stories. 

You can read about Aberfan here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster