Swell

PHOTO PROMPT - © Dee Lovering

The Aristocrat sat at the massive desk, in the power wing  of a historic building ,overlooking the watery square, pen poised over the Immigration directive. His  infertility had ensured dedication to his people.

He eyed the picture and yellowing letter. He had sown his seeds in African soil in his youth. Could she be his? Blue blood in a black body? Should he find her?

He watched a refugee boat being denied landing. Thanks to his signature the borders were safe.  His pride swelled , recalling his ancestor’s perilous, successful voyage to conquer the world.

Hours later, his only descendant drowned in the swell of the Mediterranean sea.

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The above 100 word story is written in response to the 100 word photo challenge posted by Rochelle Wisoff-Field each week. PHOTO PROMPT – © Dee Lovering

Click on the ‘blue frog’  below to read other amazing takes, that fellow Friday Fictioneers have, on the same photo prompt.

37 responses to “Swell

  1. Serves him right, although he’ll probably never know, so I suppose it’s just unfair on the daughter to say that. I like the line “blue blood in a black body”. Just a suggestion, but I wonder if the arisocrat could have a name to make him feel more like a character rather than a commentary?

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    • I was thinking about naming his Christopher….but that was too obvious. I have trouble naming characters in short stories such as this. Maybe a name like ‘Henry II’ would have worked to show the aristocratic lineage…Thanks for the suggestion.

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  2. Nicely done. Life: so easily made, so easily taken…

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Hiding behind the power of the pen it’s easy to ignore the fact that immigrants are persons. Don’t even get me started on sowing seeds without taking responsibility for them.
    Tracey

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    • That’s true and most importantly they don’t realize all are one race: human. I have read of news stories where a ‘white’ couple gave birth to a “black” baby and then with DNA testing realize that they had an African ancestor several generations back.

      P.S – I hope i used the politically correct expressions here 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Too close to reality. Clever ending with much impact.

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  5. Little did he realise he’d be effectively signing his own descendant’s death warrant. Consequences…

    Liked by 1 person

  6. From his vantage point it would be political suicide to admit that he had fathered a child from another race. It probably never occurred to him that his conquering ancestors were considered unwelcome immigrants too. A nicely written and well constructed piece.

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  7. he must have accepted her as his own and then she drowned. how sad could that be?

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  8. Nicely crafted story and sadly very close to real life.

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  9. A very effective story about a horrible person.

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  10. Wonder if he ever really understood. Intriguing story from first to last.

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  11. So sad that his prejudice and xenophobia caused his daughter’s death. Humans can be so clueless and petty. We are all the same–one human race!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. The prices we pay…. Great and heart wrenching story. Perhaps he never knew his loss.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. So sad.. How we cannot even understand the cruelties we cause. There are so many things that’s wrong in the world.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. What a powerful response to the news and this photo! I like the way you pulled it all together. The title is excellent!

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  15. We will never learn from the past mistakes that have been made. Your story sums that up very well. Alicia

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  16. You pulled this story together nicely. It’s rich with details and well executed. I like how swell has double meaning here. Such a sad end!

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  17. You’ve fitted a lot into the story. He’s so full of self-congratulation, and yet he has so much he should be ashamed of. Well constructed.

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  18. Dear Ansumani,

    There’s a lot of layering and story between the lines. I read it twice and glad I did. This makes me sad and angry at the same time. Well done.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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  19. Intriguing story on prejudice and race. Nice one.

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