My Short Story for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers, hosted by Priceless Joy.
Photo provided by Dawn M. Miller.
Unburn The Bridges
Trying to count the years gone by, as he looked at the leafy concrete road he visualized a school boy carrying a home-made tote bag, walking under the bridge towards his school on the other side.
The Britishers had built the bridge for villagers’ convenience but, by the time people got habituated to using it, the country was divided into two and the metallic bridge soon became a rusted ‘border’ laden with moss and debris.
He looked around. Forest had overgrown where fragrant marigold and jasmine flowers bloomed once. The guava trees he used to climb to the top were now full of wild creepers.
As he sat brooding, a pair of pigeons came from nowhere. He recollected how his mother used to give him food for his birdy friends he met along this school pathway.
The pigeon pair suddenly fluttered away, vanishing out of sight over to the other side of the bridge. He decided. He too will cross the bridge and visit his old pals. No border can stop him today.
~~~
(The sub-continental borders were formed in 1947 when India got independence and was divided into two countries.)
Political borders may in time vanish into obscurity, alka, like the Berlin Wall, when bridges of understanding foster binding connections. Your story is one of tiny gems gleaming in that direction…best wishes.
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That’s not impossible to imagine. Indeed, who could have thought of such intentional and well-accepted globalization, networking via the internet and the whole world coming closer…also various countries thinking together about their common problems. Even if physical borders continue, they’ll be porous enough to allow easy mingling.
Thanks for your insight!
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Wonderful story Alka and filled with a lot of meaning. Your story is a feel-good story and I really enjoyed reading it! Thank you for participating in the Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge!
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked it. That’s encouraging.
Which means the ping-back worked only now, and not hours ago. Never mind.
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Yes, I did get the pingback this morning and I don’t know how long it had been in my email. It was there when I awoke this morning.
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That’s ok. I was just trying get the hang of technical side of it so as to be careful in future.
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Okay, I understand! Thank you.
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I wish it could be that simple! The wings of Imagination can take us anywhere…people don’t create the bridges and boundaries, only selfish, goal-oriented persons do so and you know well how far they can go to achieve those aims.
Alka I like the way you are slowly veering towards story writing and I appreciate this endeavor. Wishing you all the best!
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Yes, it’s a pipe dream of many idealists. I would say, bridges are worth creating but boundaries and borders, though they come with some benefit of organzing scattered communities into distinct manageable divisions, cause too much hatred. Only politicians and leaders gain.
Thanks Balroop, right now I’m all over the place and I need to focus. If my story writing is better than my other efforts, I can start compiling hundreds of stories that play up in my mind all the time 🙂
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Borders can divide the territory, but it’s difficult to make one forget his roots…. Nice story, Alka… 🙂
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Thanks Maniparna 🙂 That’s true. I constantly saw many of my uncles and aunties remembering their birth place but they could never go back to their ancestral land.
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Reblogged this on Stories I Need to Tell.
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