The burden – Friday Fictioneers

Published by

Thomas Charles Henry

on

January 18, 2020

Hello. It’s time for my first Friday Fictioneers entry of the new decade. The challenge is to write a 100-word story in response to a weekly photo prompt chosen by our host Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Follow the link to her blog for more information. Thank you to all who take the time to read, like, or comment.

2020 01 17

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

The burden

“Why are you crying?” She asked, softly.

The boy cradled the severed head in his hands; its petals falling away.

“I broke it,” he sniffed.

“Why does that make you cry?”

“Because it was beautiful, and now it’s not” he said. “It’s my fault.”

“Ah, but don’t you see?” She exclaimed, hugging him tight around his shoulders. “That is what makes us unique. We are the most destructive species in the universe; but we understand what beauty is and feel guilt when we inevitably cause it harm, as is our nature. It’s the burden of being human.”

4 responses to “The burden – Friday Fictioneers”

granonine

January 18, 2020

My husband grew up in northern Michigan, where the wildflower called trillium blooms in the woods and roadsides early in the spring. Because the Upper Peninsula is snowbound so many months of the year, these flowers are beloved. People used to gather them and enjoy them at home, but too many pulled them up by the roots. Now, they aren’t nearly as profuse, and I could be wrong, but I believe they have become a protected species like the lady slipper and the jack-in-the-pulpit that also grow up there. We love the beauty, and in our love we nearly destroy it.

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James McEwan

January 18, 2020

You show the best and worse of human nature in this story.

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msjadeli

January 20, 2020

If only that burden made humans stop destroying. I don’t care if humans feel guilty or not — stop the ignorant/malicious/greedy destruction.

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magarisa

January 20, 2020

Touching and thought-provoking.

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