 “This is where I grew up.”
“Doesn’t look like much, Papa.” “Many people lost their property during the Revolution of 1979… businesses, lands and houses. The junta seized everything, then left them to rot.” “And now the government’s returning it all to their rightful owners, thanks to democracy and a constitutional reform.” “Yes Kofi. Your grandfather’s estate has been released to me, his next of kin… I wish he were here to see this.” “So… what next?” “We rebuild the farm from scratch.” “A bent tree isn’t broken, right?” “Right. We can straighten this tree. It’s called healing, son.”
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logo-ligi 
“A bent tree isn’t broken, ..” love this line and with your permission shall use it in teachings to my grandsons. Beautiful .
http://myownheart.me/2012/07/05/long-dirt-road-3/
Hello Len,
I’m glad you like this line.
It’s an old Akan proverb. You don’t need my permission to use it, especially to teach the younger generation.
Thanks for coming over. I hope to see more of you.
I love reading your dialog. I struggle with dialog so it’s great to read it when it truly carries the story.
I wasn’t sure it’d be easy to follow. Thanks for the feedback.
Yours was a great read.
I like the direction you took with this one…there is something encouraging about this. Well done. Mine is here http://boomiebol.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/the-houses-secret-friday-fictioneers-76/
Thanks, Boomie. I saw ruins and thought about rebuilding so I wrote a story about it.
I’m glad you find it encouraging.
Fills one with hope, a “bent tree isn’t broken” is a marvelous line.
Glad you like it. It’s an Akan proverb.
Great story. Sad but true with so many people being hurt in wars that are not of their own making or choosing, losing so much, and even being lucky to be able to retrieve it much less rebuild it.
Touching. Thanks, Randy
This scenario’s riddled throughout history. I think it befits the photo prompt.
Thanks for stopping by, Randy.
I loved your story Kwadwo! It is touching, and there’s that sense of hope and resolution after the damage and sadness…great piece!
http://writersclubkl.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/friday-fictioneers-lone-rubble/
Thank you, Raina.
that filled me with hope. Nicely done, as others have said, the bent tree line was touching.
Thank you, Bill. I hope this optimistic perspective rubs off everyone who comes over.
Oh I love the line about a bent tree not being broken. Nice.
Thank you, CC. It seems that’s the toast of this story.
I *love* this take on the picture! Very uplifting and hopeful. Thanks for sharing this.
Mine is #15 on the Link List – here for others: http://erinleary.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/flash-friday-fiction-11/
You’re welcome, Erin.
A great moral in this story, which I shall remember.
True. Something to live by.
Thanks for coming over.
Oh, that’s great. Like the others, I love the line “A bent tree isn’t broken.” http://kaitlinandmichaelbranch.com/2012/07/06/friday-fictioneers-10/
Thanks for the lovely comment, Kaitlin.
A very uplifting, hopeful piece. Thanks for posting it.
http://stonesoupnovelist.com/2012/07/05/a-scene-the-besjian-in-the-bar/
You’re most welcome. It encourages me too.
A very neat story of loss and rebirth through the power of healing. The father you have there is very wise and I found myself really taking to him. Well done Kwadwo.
I’m on the list but for those who happen across, my offering is also here: http://womanontheedgeofreality.com/2012/07/06/reality-brought-forth/
Yes Linda. I’ve taken to Papa too. I want to be like him when I grow up.
🙂
A very moving piece, and I too loved that line – a bent tree isn’t broken. Really well done.
Thank you, Sandra.
This story was wonderful. Simple and serene in its certainty, it sweeps the reader up in its arms and embraces them with life. One of the best this weekend.
Aloha,
Doug
Wow Doug! Your comment looks more like the first paragraph of a flash fiction. Add on a few more words like those and you’ll have yourself something to post for a photo prompt. lol.
I appreciate the kind words.
Super job. Sometimes the best fictional story emerges when you just show people the truth before them which they never noticed.
I agree. Thanks for coming over to comment.
I loved this story- so encouraging! Like most others, I loved the part of dialogue on bent tree not being broken. Thanks so much for this amazing story!
You’re welcome, Gargi. I’m happy to know you’re encouraged.
Beautiful – and so well conveyed through dialogue alone. Yes, the last two lines were my favourites, too.
You’ve been to ours, thank you.
http://www.lazuli-portals.com/flash-fiction/searching-for-sarah
Thank you, Joanna.
I love the story and the hope within.
http://www.rochelle-wisoff.blogspot.com/2012/07/encampment.html
Rochelle, you add on to the hope with your reassuring comment.
Thanks.
“A bent tree isn’t broken”… Beautiful!
Thank you.
lovely
Thanks.
I really enjoyed this, the history and the hope. Well done!
Nice to hear from you once again, Kathy.
Thanks for the appraisal.
I love the line about the bent tree, very philosophical. Nice piece.
http://whimsicalquestsofacuriousmind.blogspot.com/2012/07/friday-fictioneers-7612.html
Hi Jess. Thanks for the feedback. I didn’t see the philosophical dimension to it.
A very nice hopeful ending for such a desolate landscape. Terrific incongruity between the prompt and your piece. I loved it.
Mine’s here for those who havent seen it yet: http://bit.ly/N15EfJ
Thank you, Stacy. Hope to see again next week.
A great moral and a cute story of renewal. Nicely done.
I’m over at; http://elmowrites.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/friday-fiction-breakout/
Thank you for stopping by.
Hope springs eternal. Great theme of determination of the human spirit.
http://russellgayer.blogspot.com/
It does, doesn’t it? Good to see you again, Russel.
Oh, I do love this. It is much more hopeful than mine.
Thank you, Jake.
Thank you for your comment-I appreciate your thoughtful, inspiring style as well. I am following your blog, and if you are not yet following mine, I invite you to do so. Best Wishes.
You describe my writing style in a way I never thought of. Thanks for following.
Nice, hopeful story of rebirth and renewal. Upbeat and inspiring. I don’t know where it is set, but it could be in many places across the world. Thanks for reading and commenting on my story.
Ron
I decided not to focus on the setting because the story carries a significant degree of verisimilitude. It could have happened anywhere in the world.
Thanks for commenting, Ron.
An uplifting story and I loved the dialogue here, it follows so smoothly. Well done.
http://tollykitsjourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/stag-night-fridayfictioneers-flashfiction/
Thank you, Elaine.
A beautiful tale of healing, rebuilding, family perserverance. Bravo!
I’m glad to hear it, Jan.
What a wonderful subject to write about and the dialog fit perfectly!
Thank you Ma’am.
What an encouraging story and I loved the “A bent tree is never broken” .
Here is mine http://yaralwrites.com/
I’m glad you enjoyed my story. Going over to read yours.
Is this a “what if” scenario for Iran? That’s just the first thing that came to mind. I love the simplicity of the boy’s questions, and apparently along with everyone else, that line “a bent tree is never broken.” A great story.
I didn’t place the story in any particular country since it could have happened anywhere at any point in time. I think it’s the moral in the story that matters.
Beautiful, touching, and filled with hope! I loved your post.
I’m touched by your comment. Thank you for the kind words.
I haven’t seen a post done entirely in dialog in a very long time. You did an amazing job!
Thank you, Marian. I appreciate your feedback about the dialogue.
Hope and determination – wonderful things, but so much has been lost here.
Well written! You really show us the history and current situation, and the two characters.
Thank you, Sharon. Hope to see you next week with the other Fictioneers.
I really really like this! The metaphor in the last line gave me shivers! Such a great story of generations and legacy.
Here is mine!
Thanks Susie.
I like the lesson on healing that spans two generations. Hopeful and encouraging, like nothing can keep them down.
True. Nothing can keep a person down when they are hopeful.
Wonderful story and very moving. War forgets about the people it leaves behind, left to pick up the pieces and start again. My favourite line
“A bent tree isn’t broken, right?”
Going to stick with me this one.
Picking up the pieces may be tedious, but the benefits far outweigh the input.
great message
Something to live by.
That is the best line ever. Thank you for the awesome share.
You’re welcome and thank you for reading.
Lovely, moving, touching. My vote for an A this week. “A bent tree is not broken” … I’m borrowing it to post on my blog and on my desk. Hope you don’t mind. I’m on the list and here…
http://www.triplemoonstar.blogspot.com
Hello Lora,
Please feel free to use the proverb. I’m glad you like it.
Wow, Kwadwo. You’ve captured the ills of a revolution and the benefits of a subsequent, gradual democratic dispensation so beautifully with only 100 words. Well done.
Hello Celestine,
This week’s reading spree was not the same without your offering. I hope you join us with a poem or prose for next week’s photo prompt.
Thank you for adding to the diorama of perspectives to this story.
The bent tree line is wonderful advice that all should take to heart. Excellent story.
Well said, Adam.
What a wonderful tribute to justice and determination. I think they will definitely restore what was theirs to its glory. Very poignant story.
I share in your optimism, Jeffery.
Smooth dialog, good job. I like the positive direction your story took.
Thanks Jeanelaine.
This is a piece where you are definitely telling, rather than showing, and it feels like non-fiction (I’m not sure if that’s what you were going for or not).
To repeat what’s already been said, “A bent tree isn’t broken” is a lovely line. 🙂 I did have trouble trying to picture straightening the tree. I would almost suggest that the tree is stronger/more unusual/better for the change (rather than trying to make it what it once was). Definitely keep “It’s called healing, son.”
I needed to Google, and I’m afraid I was completely unsuccessful (lack of world history knowledge on my part). Was it the 1979 revolution in Iran, Nicaragua, El Salvador, or Ghana? (Or was it somewhere else entirely?) My best guess was Nicaragua (that popped up most when I included “junta” in my search). (It was a little disturbing for me to realize how many revolutions were going on that year!)
I would have liked to have seen the motivation for returning to the old property. The father doesn’t seem fierce in his determination to return to the land (he is hesitant (“Well…”) when his son says the property doesn’t look like much), and the boy goes from criticizing to helping explain the government’s motivation to wanting to return to the land (the father doesn’t have to win him over for the son to change his mind). The son’s change of heart would be easier to accept if the father was explaining everything (“And now the government’s returning it all to their rightful owners, thanks to democracy and a constitutional reform.”).
The feeling the reader has of “Why go back?” is strengthened by the passage of time (it has literally been one boy’s lifetime, and (if this is happening today) more than thirty years). These people have (presumably) built a new life wherever they are, and the father is no longer a young man. For him to start from scratch again, even on the old family property, takes an incredible amount of motivation, and readers really need to feel that to believe in it (“the government won’t keep us down,” “I have always dreamed of this day,” “we will make the farm new again so your children can inherit,” etc.). [You can also go the other way and make it feel like less of an undertaking than it is (removing “from scratch,” for instance, would help with this).]
Thanks again for taking a look at mine. 🙂
My story was inspired by historical events that are not limited to any given country.
I think it’s something many people in countries with a history of coup de tats can relate to.
In a bid to get the story to be exactly 100 words, I found it quite a challenge to give all the information you’ve suggested.
I believe it can be done, though. It’s just a matter of practice, which is the purpose of this meme. My editorial skills have improved since I joined Friday Fictioneers.
Thanks for the critique, Stacey.
It’s always a pleasure hearing your thoughts on my work.
That is a beautiful story. A proud heritage and history to pass down to the next generation. Well told.
Hello Joyce,
I’m glad you could pass by. Thank you for the profound statement.
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