I am feeling rather pleased with the fact that I have managed to post something BEFORE Friday.
I also have a question that I have been meaning to ask for some time now. I notice the times that comments and stories are posted and it makes me wonder just where in the world all you Fabulous Friday Fictioneers are; it would be really nice to know. I’m in Wales, land of song (allegedly) and rugby (definitely) and laver bread… but that’s another story altogether.
Moving on – thanks as always to Rochelle for keeping us all focused and this week, thanks also to Jennifer Pendergast for the lovely photo.
Copyright Jennifer Pendergast
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
Memories of Another Life
The Guardian watches us.
I slip through the gate unobserved; a delicious taste of freedom, though confrontation will follow.
Fading memories of childhood brought hope to years of waiting. There was love and laughter in that other life I lived.
Did they ever stop searching for me? Did they ever forget me?
I will never know.
I hear the running footsteps and the loud cries ‘Valide Sultan, nerdesin?
‘I am here.’
Silence falls.
My son confronts me. Conceived by force, taken from me at birth, I fall to my knees prepared for his wrath.
Only death will set me free.
____________________________________
I have just finished reading ‘The Aviary Gate’ by Katie Hickman, for the second time. Due to the mixed reviews the book received, I thought I would do bit more research on life in the harems of the great Sultans. I came across the story of Aimee du Buc de Rivery and wondered if this incredible life were true. The photo this week let my imagination wonder a bit more.
40again's Blog 
Dee, first of all I’m from Sweden.. live in Stockholm. I found the escape from a Harem an intriguing story.. and being the mother as a concubine is also intriguing. Reminds me of Pearl Buck’s story “imperial woman” – with another end..
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Thank you Bjorn -for your comments and for letting me know where you are. I guess your timeline is much the same as mine.
Must check out the Pearl Buck story, thanks again.
Dee
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You know where I’m from Dee, Cambridgeshire UK. 🙂 Only now in France. What a great story this week. It had so many other stories behind it that I was left breathless. Good work.
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Yes, I did know where you usually are, and look forward to following your travels around France 🙂
Glad you liked this story Sandra, hope you’ve got your breath back! 🙂
Thank you for reading
Dee
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Nice work, Dee. Oh, and I’m from a place called Larbert, 25 miles north of Edinburgh 🙂
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Thank you Paul. I think I knew you were in Scotland but not sure where – Edinburgh is a lovey city
🙂
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Thank you Paul, I think I knew you were in Scotland but wasn’t sure where. Edinburgh is a lovely place to be.
🙂
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Hi Dee, I’m in Portland Oregon US; lots of rain, lots of coffee!
I loved your story. Heartbreaking in that it is more than likely not fiction for some women (even still).
Your story is wonderfully written as well.
-Rachel
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Hi Rachel
Lovely to hear from you. Portland sounds a bit like Wales…
I’m pleased you liked the story, and yes you are probably right.
Dee
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Wow, Dee! Looks like the two of us used a similar roadmap in concocting our stories. Brilliant minds think alike, you know! 😉 I like the “flavor” of the piece. It gets you there. Good job!
I live in the greater metropolitan Kansas City area, a city called Olathe, Kansas (pronounced “oh-LAY-thuh”). It is my home town. In fact, I live down the street from where I was born. Rochelle and I live just twenty minutes from each other!
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Hi Kent
Can’t wait to read yours now!
Glad you liked my story and thanks for filling me in on your location. How great to live so near to Rochelle, will look up Kansas so see whereabouts the two of you are 🙂
Dee
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You do that!
Hey, maybe the three of us can have a Skype lunch!
🙂
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I’ll have to find out how to do that !!
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Yes! Yes! A Skype lunch would be wonderful!
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You will have to tell me how to do this Skype thing… sounds very technical:)
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My father is from Kansas, although he moved a lot as a child due to the Great Depression. I still have an aunt that lives in Wichita.
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No kidding? Cool! What city was he from?
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Wow, “My son confronts me. Conceived by force, taken from me at birth, I fall to my knees prepared for his wrath” such a fantastic line. P.S. I’m in Yorkshire 😉
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Hi Helen
So pleased you liked the story, was worried the last line was too strong, but needed to get the message across.
Love that you live in Yorkshire, my mother and her family were all born in Hull. 🙂
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Dee, My favorite line was also the one about the son confronting her. So sad to be raped, then have a child who comes back to harm you. This was fast paced, slow paced and heart rending.
I am in Bellingham, Washington, just south of the Canadian border, We, too, have gobs of rain – makes for gorgeous country. Thanks for asking the question. It’s fun to read other’s replies.
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Good to hear from you and that you liked the story. This was a bit different for me, but the research sent me off on that track.
Thank you for filling in your whereabouts – it is good to know where everyone is.
Dee
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Oh! I hope she survives! This is a wonderfully suspenseful piece.
I presently live in California..in the San Francisco Bay area.
Ellespeth
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Ellespeth
Thank you for leaving a comment, pleased you liked the story. She will survive, she is a tough lady!
Love San Francisco, visited there once 25 years ago, always meant to go back, we had a great holiday.
Dee
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HI Dee
An intriguing story and I love the way you managed to combine your reading and writing! I didn’t understand the Turkish (?) line though – Valide Sultan, Nerdesin.
(Like Sandra, I’m currently in France, but unlike Sandra, I’ll be wending my way back to soggy England way too soon!)
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I wondered if I was being a bit obscure.
Valide Sultan – translates as mother of the Sultan and nerdesin means where are you?
Thanks for reading and enjoy the remainder of your stay in France.
Dee
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Dear Dee,
I am from the state of Confusion, and am isolated from the rest of the world by an immense expanse of ocean.
I loved your story and was reminded of the Eunch’s Lament. Very well done.
Aloha,
Doug
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Dear Doug
I’m so pleased that you liked this story.
Somehow your first sentence makes me feel a little sad; the other side of the world is a long way away. Looking at some of the replies it seems that we Friday Fictioneers are spread far and wide, yet we can keep in touch at the press of a button – WiFi permitting of course, which makes the world seem smaller for a time.
Take care of you
Dee
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Dear Dee,
You are one step ahead of Kent and me. We’ve talked about asking the same question.
I’m in Belton, Missouri which borders Kansas. Belton’s become a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri.
I truly wish we could all meet in person. I always loved having pen pals as a child. This is that on steroids. 😉
As for your story. Powerful. Particularly the line “conceived by force…”
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
I also wish we could all meet up, but love the idea that we can ‘meet’ each week through you and FF. I am delighted so many people have left comments as to their whereabouts,they are a great bunch of people and though I don’t actually ‘know’ any of them, I feel that I have come to know them, if that makes sense?
Pen pals on steroids is a brilliant description!
Glad you liked the story, all this historical research is catching…
Take care
Dee
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Hi, this is Linda and I am and American living in Athens, Greece for the past year, but returning to Bath, in the UK, in June.
Your story was delightful, beautiful in a dark way – and pretty true to that life, sad that it is.
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Hi Linda, good to hear from you. I’m pleased that you liked the story, the lives of those women were pretty dreadful, high born or not.
You have certainly done some travelling, hope the journey back to UK is uneventful. Bath is a lovely city, perhaps we may meet up one day!
Take care
Dee
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Dee, That was a well-written story as usual and very interesting. My husband and I moved about 13 years ago here to a city in India in the Western Ghats about 300 km from Mumbai. Previously we were living in North Carolina, U.S., where we raised our two children. They’re still in the U.S., grown-up and working there. 🙂 —Susan
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Hi Susan
Thank you, pleased you liked the story.
Wow – a world away from North Carolina, both in culture and temperature.Thank you for sharing.
Take care
Dee
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Wow, such drama! I could picture her falling to her knees.
I’m on the east coast of the United States in Virginia. But I work odd hours. I usually am in bed and hour before Rochelle’s post becomes live. I often download the picture on my first bathroom break and then go back to bed and sleep on it for a bit.
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Thank you Dawn.
Friends tell me Virginia is lovely. It’s nice to know the different time zones we all live/work in.
Thanks for sharing yours.
Dee
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Heartbreaking story. Very well written, in the voice of the otherwise voiceless.
P.S. I’m in the American midwest, six hours behind London time, although my insomniac posting times may not always track with that 🙂
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Hi Jan
Thank you for your comments on the story, they are much appreciated.
Thank you also for sharing your whereabouts. I’ve often wondered where everyone is, so pleased I’m finding out at last.
Dee
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Hi Dee – great idea to share locations, I’m from England (all over, really), but now live in Toronto and took this photo on a visit to Cornell, NY.
As for your story, I must admit to being a bit confused by the facts, but totally taken in by the emotion and feeling of it.
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Hi Jen
Your photo is lovely and lends itself to so many interpretations.
Sorry you were a bit confused by the story – basically the story of Aimee du Boc set me off wondering how a young French girl would have got on after being kidnapped and brought to the harem of the Sultan in Turkey. Though she became one of the Sultan’s wives and bore him a son, her position was always tenuous; could always be ousted from favour. As Valide Sultan (mother of the Sultan) she faired little better, she was a woman after all, but a feisty one, who never gave up hoping she would be rescued.
Thank you for sharing your whereabouts.
Dee
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Right next to Turkey, here! I’m Greek, living in Athens. In spite of the exotic setting of your story, the feeling of desolation is very well rendered. I also went for a doomed female who does not own her destiny. Hmm, what’s with this picture?
Greetings from Greece!
Maria (MM Jaye)
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Hi Maria
Lovely to hear from you, and right next door to Turkey too!
I’m pleased you like this story and thank you for your kind comments.
I now have lots of catching up to do, can’t wait to read about your doomed female and the other Ff stories this week.
Bye, from a wet and windy Wales!
Dee
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Dee, this historical fiction is incredibly atmospheric and powerful. I can see and feel the scene; your story really pulls me in. Like Helen the following line: “My son confronts me. Conceived by force, taken from me at birth, I fall to my knees prepared for his wrath” is really impactful.
I am in Bellingham, WA… Pacific NW part of the US, and in the San Juan Islands. It’s gorgeous here, despite the frequent gray skies. My cousin married a man from Wales… wonderful family!
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Hi Dawn
Glad you liked the historical effort this week and thanks for your kind comments.
Thank you too for sticking a pin in the map, so to speak – San Juan Islands – sounds absolutely lovely.
Yay for your cousin, hope they are very happy.
Take care
Dee
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They are VERY happy and her blond blue eyed features mixed with Grant’s dark hair and dark yes, make for gorgeous little cousins! 😉
The San Juans are just spectacular; I never get tired of looking out my window! 😉
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🙂
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Hi Dee,
I am Satya from India… Where Taj Mahal is…
Where there are diverse cultures, religions and languages…
And I loved this story… The pain and the agony is well presented…
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Thank you. Good to hear from you all the way from India, thank you for reading and pleased you liked the story.
Dee
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Loved your story, Dee! It was so intriguing that it made me want to do some research of my own.
PS I’m in the Philippines 🙂
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Thank you kz.
Thanks too for sharing your location, we FFers are certainly a worldwide group!
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Heartbreaking story. We never really leave our past behind, do we?
I live in Wisconsin – the land of beer and brats and of course cheese! I live about a mile from Lake Michigan. Have left here several times, but the lake always calls me home!
Loved the story!
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Thank you for reading and pleased that you liked the story. Thank you too for sharing your location, I’ve seen Lake Michigan in films etc, it looks as big as an ocean and can totally understand how it calls you back 🙂
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I’m in Florida USA on a small peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico. Your story conjured up visions in my head that made me feel so sorry for the poor woman. What an excellent story. Well done. Lucy
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Thank you Lucy, both for liking the story and sharing your location 🙂
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South of England here. Good story. I can almost feel the heat of the desert, the sand beneath my feet and the billowing tents.
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Great to hear from a fellow Brit!
Thank you for reading, loved the images it conjured up for you.
Dee 🙂
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Hi Dee. First, I’m from the other edge of the Marches, I.e Cheshire, where there’s very little song and any Rugby we have comes from the bit of Lancashire we nicked in the seventies.
Great story, by the way, about something I really should know more about.
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Loved your description of life in the Marches, but I’m sure I heard someone singing when I drove over the border once…
Careful about nicking bits of my native Shire…
Thank you for reading, so good to hear from you
Dee
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