PHOTO PROMPT – Copyright – Georgia Koch
“Your grandfather used to run coal up and down this canal,” said Elizabeth’s grandmother, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of her coat and they squidged through the muddy footpath side by side.
“My father was a farmer just over there. One day there was a knock on the door. There he was, covered in soot and wrestling this poor, soaked ewe into submission on the doorstep. Well he looks up at me and says mam, you need to fix your bloody fence. The canal is not a ship dip trough.
I dam near asked him to marry me then.”
(100 Words)
Like this:
Like Loading...
Published by Carol J Forrester
Carol J Forrester is a writer and a history geek. Her debut collection 'It's All In The Blood' came out November 2019.
She has a 2:1 BA degree in history from Bath Spa University, enjoys judo at least twice a week, and tries to attend poetry events around the Midlands when she can.
Her flash fiction story ‘Glorious Silence’ was named as River Ram Press’ short story of the month for August 2014 and her short story ‘A Visit From The Fortune Teller’ has been showcased on the literary site Ink Pantry. Her poems ‘Sunsets’ and ‘Clear Out‘ were featured on Eyes Plus Words, and two of her poems were included in the DVerse Poets Pub Publication ‘Chiaroscuro’ which is available for purchase on amazon.Her poem ‘Until The Light Gets In‘ was accepted and published at The Drabble and her poem ‘Newborn’ was published by Ink Sweat & Tears.
She has been lucky enough to write guest posts for sites such as Inky Tavern and Song of The Forlorn and has hosted a number of guest bloggers on her site Writing and Works.
View all posts by Carol J Forrester
Good stuff, Carol. I love stories about how lovers from previous generations met.
All my best,
Marie Gail
It can definitely led to some fantastic stories. Sometimes reality is far more bizarre than fiction.
Lovely piece. I could just imagine wrestling a ewe into submission on the doorstep. 🙂 A great piece of history, and I loved her matter of fact ‘dam near asked him to marry me.’
It takes a bit of doing. Sheep can be stubborn things.
Great touch of history. If it weren’t for the sheep they might never have met.
should “and they squidded be as they squidded? If not , please ignore me. Love the use of squidded by the way.
It should be squidged. Thanks for letting me know.
Lovely snapshot into a life.
Thank you.
I love this.. such realism in this.. going for love ewe to love you in an instance.
Thank you. The picture made me think of the walks my gran used to take my sister and I on near the Market Drayton canal, and when we were walking she would tell us a little bit of the history of what it was used for. As far as the sheep goes it’s what they do, no matter what the fence, they will find a way to escape.
love at first sight… nice
Glad you think so.
Great imagery! Loved it.
Thank you. 😀
I can imagine it all. I bet she left the fence as it was.
Haha, if not the sheep would have probably found another way out anyway. They’re sneaky little things.
You say so much in so few words! Amazing.
Thank you. It’s a really great little challenge to write flash fiction like this. It can also create seeds for much larger stories.
I’ll try it sometime!
Dear Carol,
I was a little confused at the end of the first paragraph. Did you mean pockets of her overcoat? Anyway, the second stanza cleared everything up and made me smile. I too, enjoy those “love at first sight” stories.
Thank you, I’m glad the second paragraph cleared it all up, though I did mean the pockets of her overcoat. This was one of those piece where I really wanted a few extra words but being a goody-two-shoes I didn’t really want to go over.
Dear Carol,
I’m a sucker for a love at first sight story. How could she resist such a sweet talker? 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
Indeed, and also one so clearly adept at manhandling misbehaving livestock.
Thanks for the comment. 😀
Dear Carol,
I’m with Russell. It looks as though auto-correct got hold of your ‘of’. Good story though and great dialog and characterization. Well done.
Aloha,
Doug
Oh drat it, I thought he meant I’d failed to say which pockets she had her hands in. I’ll fix that right away. Thanks for the comment. 😀
Loved that last line.
Thank you. 😀 I’m glad you enjoyed it.
A delightful story … loved every word … but that ending is precious! Ciao, Georgia.
Thank you Georgia
Very Welcome Carol!
Well done. Adding “squidged” to my dictionary. 😀
It is a rather fun word.
Carol, I like the vivid imagery you paint here. I can just imagine it all. Great story.
-David
Thank you David, that;s great to hear.
Thank goodness for the fence not coming between them 🙂 really liked this piece, Carol.
Ellespeth
Indeed. A broken fence can sometimes be a fortuitous thing.
Great visuals and story.
Thank you Irene
Delightful. I love the lively, upbeat tone of this. Great.
I’m really glad that came across. Thank you for the comment.
Lovely story – it reminds me of ones my Grandma used to tell us. 🙂 The image of him wrestling the ewe into submission on the doorstep is wonderfully vivid.
I’m surprised at how popular it’s been with readers. Thanks for commenting.
This is an absolutely wonderful story. You paint such a vivid picture of the scene with your words. I loved the inherent joy that she experienced in that memory!
Thank you Kirsten, it’s lovely to hear my work receiving such praise.
Forgive me if I’m baa-ing up the wrong tree, but I wondered whether you’ve used the word ‘dam’ – rather than ‘damn’ deliberately, giving your story both watery and anthropormorphic dimensions. 🙂 Nice story even if not.
I really wish that had been my intention, unfortunately that was me making another spelling error as I have a tendency to do. I’m glad you liked the story though,
Sometimes, our best ideas arise from ‘accidents’. 🙂
So sweet. I could hear the accent in my head.
Which accent would that be, out of interest?
Well I’m not entirely sure if it’s what you were going for but I was hearing somewhere in between Yorkshire and Glaswegian. 🙂