Three Line Tales : One

photo by Jace Grandinetti via Unsplash

photo by Jace Grandinetti via Unsplash

He lays the dinner table – one plate, one knife, one fork, a neatly pressed napkin – the pattern of his life.

There were other choices along the way: a woman with hazel eyes and a warm, forgiving smile; a child who could have been plucked from the family photo album, the same unruly hair, the same jutting, stubborn chin.

But he shook them off him like snowflakes from a coat. And now there’s only one way to be.

Alone.

Written for Sonya at Only 100 Words’ Three Line Tales. See the pic and write a story to match it. See here for the other stories.

42 thoughts on “Three Line Tales : One”

    1. Thank you. Some people isolate themselves from others until the rest of us barely see them. Keeping people close – that’s what it’s all about. Thanks for reading

      Like

      Reply

    2. That photo is from the holocaust memorial in Berlin. If you’re ever remotely near the area, you have to see that. It’s the most impressive art installation I’ve experienced, requires no words or language to grasp, all visceral.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I didn’t know that. Even this small shot of it grabs at the tripes in a horribly unsettling way. A fitting memorial then. I’m glad I didn’t write anything jokey to go with it.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I don’t think there would be any danger of that, Jane – as you said yourself, it’s an unsettling enough image without knowing what it is.

        Like

      4. I looked for other images of it earlier and found a news report DJ who had to apologise on social media because he’d posted a photo of him standing on one of the tallest stones, arms thrown wide, the broadest, cheesy smile on his face. Weird what some people find amusing.

        Like

      7. It’s dimensions bespeak the atrocity, the way you approach and enter, like peeling an onion (or going inside one).

        Liked by 1 person

      9. It’s right within view of the French and American embassies, so its placement feels symbolic too.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. I’m inclined to agree that a monument of these dimensions is needed to represent the immensity of the horror of the Holocaust. The arguments that it is just another form of mea culpa and as such has no meaning is a difficult one for Germans to use and sound convincing.

        Liked by 2 people

      11. Never going to be something that everyone agrees on, though the tone looks and feels ‘right’ to me from the photographs I’ve seen

        Like

      13. People want to forget – understandable in some ways as the war slips further into history. BUT sadly, genocide is not history and as long as we remind ourselves of how current it is, then memorials like this are important to remember past victims and to educate those of us lucky enough to have been spared. Perhaps one day we’ll learn the lesson

        Like

      14. We forget too much as it is. Forgiving is very laudable and all that, but it isn’t for everybody, and it shouldn’t go hand in hand with forgetting. You can’t undo an action simply by forgetting about it. Yes, I think we do need to have certain unpleasant truths shoved in front of us often. There are already enough kids who believe the Holocaust never happened.

        Liked by 1 person

      15. Very true. Someone had put a comment on the news story I mentioned earlier to that effect – the Holocaust being fabricated. Truly, stupid people in the world

        Like

  4. Genocide continues on a daily basis. Not on the scale of the holocaust but still, it happens. We can’t forgot. We can’t isolate ourselves, as did the character in your chilling story did, Lynn, from this fact. And genocide, past and present is a fact. Please god it isn’t a fact in the future.
    Your story is fittingly chill and tells of loss just as the memorial does.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you Lorraine. Yes, sadly, always a possibility in the future, as long a human beings think their beliefs are more important than others, that groups or individuals are below them. Not sure how we change that.

      Like

      Reply

  5. “Like snowflakes from a coat” — what a perfect simile for how some people throw away relationships. It sounds like he prefers to be alone, in which case that woman with the hazel eyes is probably better off with someone who prefers to be together.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to thesilence2017 Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.