photo by Vek Labs via Unsplash
‘Never stay anywhere more than one night. Never speak your real name, your real home town, your real destination. Lies are your only protection …’
Papa was long gone but his voice still circled Gordy’s brain. Each time someone was kind to him, each time he found more than a cold doorway to sleep in. Surely, the world was in too much disarray to notice one, lone man …
Still, Papa’s words stung him back to the cold road, to dew on his shoulders, to the familiar sting of blistered feet. His bloody mission.
Written for Three Line Tales. See here to join in.
I see a lone and lonely man, sore and wounded by his travels, yearning for another life, goaded by his father’s teachings. But what’s his bloody mission?
Suggestions please.
Word Shamble 
I live in a town with a high homeless population. It tugs at my heart every time I pass them in town. And always I wonder their stories. I like the one you’ve given to one, and kept within it a deeper mystery.
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Thank you so much Crispina. Yes, the homeless population seems to grow daily here in Bristol. Where we might once have passed one or two guys sleeping rough, we now see groups – we saw a community of six sleeping together in a shop doorway yesterday. I sad story behind every rough sleeper. Thanks for reading
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I work in a soup kitchen so I hear a lot of tales like his. It’s too bad he kind trust even kindness, nor admit any of those other things, for fear he may be at major risk.
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I think it must be difficult to trust when you’ve been through so much, been abused and let down so often. Such tragedy behind each homeless person. Thanks for reading Larry
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He has to avenge the rape and murder of his sister by a gang of six men. One by one he picks them off…
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Wow! That was dark! Could be revenge. Or a quest, I thought. A long, hard quest with the future of the world hanging in his hands … Thank you for reading Penny
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On first reading I thought Papa’s words were the kind of advice passed on by the man who has no intention of staying with the family he has produced. A sort of ‘rolling stone’. Then I wondered if he really did have a good reason for moving on, never leaving his real name etc. He has a destination and a bloody mission, so I’m thinking it’s to bump off someone rich and very powerful, maybe the one he holds responsible for the ‘disarray’ of the world?
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You’ve picked up on my intention there, Jane. Papa’s words, though they’ve distanced my MC and made him lonely, were given with the best of intentions. He has a mission to fulfill, one handed down from his Father. Someone is going to die, and it could well be this rich, powerful maniac. Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Jane
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You gave the reader a lot to chew over in this short piece.
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Thanks Jane. Glad to hear it
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🙂
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You’ve put me in mind of how many Jewish people felt after WWII. Keep quiet and keep your head down. Sadly the son has been influenced greatly by his father’s words and is homeless. Homelessness is another tragedy that becomes bigger by the day. I know in the city of Sydney there are many homeless. Good flash Lynn that really made me think.
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Thank you very much Irene. Some people have very hard lives, sadly
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Poor Gordy – I guess there’s no happy ending for him.
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No happy ending at all, sadly. Thank you for reading Jane
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It was my pleasure, as always.
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🙂
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It sounds like a man who was burned by the CIA and his father worked for the CIA too.
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