Once again we fire up our little grey cells and try to come up with a germ of an idea. An idea that will grow into another piece of fiction fit for Friday Fictioneers.
Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for her dedication and time, keeping Friday Fictioneers growing straight and true.
Genre: Fiction
Word Count: 100
A Family Tree
After the war we had nothing. Stripped of our possessions, we wandered the land searching for food, shelter, kindness. Maria, mourning her child, lost her mind. Men found her dancing in the field and amused themselves, then fearful of the consequences, tied her to a tree and left her.
“This can’t be true, who would do this?”
We found her after animals and birds had fed, we buried her.
“It happened” said the genealogist, handing me more yellowing pages, “there is a gravestone, with details.”
That night, the dream came again; a tree tied with red ribbons.
Now I understand.
a powerful story line ! vivid..
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Thank you for reading, good to hear from you
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Good story Dee, you can find out some harrowing stuff doing that kind of research. My own ancestry was less scary, My antecedant was deported to Australia for stealing a turnip. I wish they still did that…
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Thank you.
I am also tracing my family tree and have found an ancestor who was deported to Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania) it makes harrowing reading
Love your idea of punishment for stealing…
Dee
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Yep, I would be the first one to steal a turnip, and I would make sure they caught me!
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Awesome and terrifying…
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Thank you Bjorn
🙂
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Beautiful writing, Patricia.
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Thank you so much 🙂
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Your title is perfect with your story!
janet
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Thanks Janet.
By the way, I’ve finished Airs Above The Ground – what a brilliant story, see what you meant about my FF story now!
Have now bought a couple more books, she had a great imagination and a great way with words.
Thanks for suggesting I read her work
Dee
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great emotion and mystery that hovers over this piece. You could take it many directions
only the tree knows the true story
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Not sure where the idea came from, it just popped into my head, but I’m so glad you liked it
Thank you for reading
Dee
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A gruesome story. You wrote it well. Shivers.
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Thank you
Dee
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How sad for that poor woman. Of course, the cruel men were never hunted down and punished in those days. Nice work.
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Thank you for reading Lora. It was a bit harsh this week, not sure where the story came from…
Dee
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Nicely done Dee. This was a strong story with just a few words! Very well written. I liked it!
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Thank you Penny, it seemed to write itself.
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Those are the best kind sometimes, I think! 🙂
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I agree
🙂
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I loved the language in this. And a very powerful theme. Well done Dee.
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Thank you Sandra, glad you liked it
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Not sure why someone would give you one star for this story, it is brilliantly done. I’m tracing my family “tree” as well.
I do like the way you have told this.
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Thank you Alastair.
Once you start tracing your family tree you embark on a journey that takes you all over the place. I have spent years researching mine and have found loads of material, could write a book, if I ever manage to begin it!
Good luck with yours and thanks for reading
Dee
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I’m stuck on my father’s side. Him and his brothers don’t know the name of their grandparents 😦
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You need a copy of your grandfather’s birth certificate it will hopefully show the name of his father (your father’s grandfather, your great grandfather) and you can go on from there. Once you have your gt grandfather’s name and you can search for him and hopefully find his marriage, a copy of the wedding certificate will give you the name of his wife and also her father.
Hope this helps
Dee
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Thanks Dee. I’ll phone the Scottish BDM in a minute, see if I can get somewhere. Thank you 😀
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Here’s the link for Record Office for Scotland, http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/
Happy hunting
Dee
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Thank you so much. you have been a great help 🙂
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Dear Dee,
Evocative and eerie story. Lovely writing. Amazing how the past affects the present.
We had brilliant ideas for titles, didn’t we? Similar titles, very different stories.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
It was strange, after posting my story I then read yours and saw how similar our titles were. Though our stories are very different they are both firmly rooted in the past, which provides great inspiration for us to draw on in our writing.
Thank you for reading
Best wishes
Dee
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Dee a tragic and powerful tale. I adore the people who partake in the challenges and more so to see where their thoughts take them. I liked this read Dee- thank you. I tried a family tree trace, but alas it got too involved even before I really began.
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Thank you for your kind comments, they are very much appreciated.
Shame about your family tree, researching can take over your life if you get too involved.
I had to back off a year or so ago as I was told I was becoming “obssessed with dead people” Family don’t all share my quest to find my roots
Take care
Dee
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Powerful tale, beautifully written.
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Thank you kindly Brian, much appreciated
🙂
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a shiver ran down my spine. this is extremely terrifying and haunting. brilliantly done.
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Thank you kz glad you enjoyed it
Dee
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A dark tale, cleverly told. I like ‘amused themselves’ (well, not ‘like’ obviously!) it says so much in so few words.
Excellent stuff.
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Thank you!
So pleased you enjoyed it
Dee
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What a powerful story. It was pretty amazing to realize through research that there was an undiscovered section of our family tree in the 300 year old ct town where we had moved. 4 of the puritan founders were our ancestors. Only downside, we were sure we would have accused witches in our family tree for some reason and instead found that one of “our” founders was a witch accuser.
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Thank you for your comment. It is amazing what you can find out. One of my ancestors was on a ship that sailed just after the Mayflower. He eventually settled in Massachusetts and there is a whole branch of my family tree flourishing somewhere in America.
I just love finding out about them
Good to hear from you
Dee
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The stark way you wrote this makes this seem more vivid and realistic. I’m sure we all some pretty bad incidents in our family trees.
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Thanks for your comments David.
I guess there are lots of fascinating/notorious things hidden away in the family closets of our ancestors.
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Very intriguing.. Hinting on rebirth I would guess?
Good imagination with the tree!
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Thank you, glad you liked it
Dee
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Powerful, powerful plotline and imagery here — that’s certainly the sort of image that will stick with you! Good work.
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Thank you for reading and lovely comments. Much appreciated
Dee
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Well done story and very eye-opening. What that tree has seen!
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Thanks for reading Perry, if only the tree could talk !
Dee
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excellent — a haunting tale
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Thanks for reading Bill, glad you liked it
Dee
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Cool!
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Thank you 🙂
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Woah — you packed a lot of powerful, destructive acts here, from the war to the men amusing themselves to the animals. What a thing for the narrator to discover — but it answers her curiosity about her dream. A very well written story.
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Thank you for reading and for your kind comments. Glad you liked the story
Dee
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It makes you wonder how many people poke around in their family tree only to find heartache and news they hate to discover?
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Thanks for reading Joe, guess there are quite a few.
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You had me captivated!
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Thank you 🙂
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Well written piece, Dee.
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Thanks Ted, thank you for reading 🙂
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