PHOTO PROMPT © Ceayr
The women gathered at the fountain each day: Elodie – her single, long brow dipped in a frown, always a fresh hole in the same, worn smock; Ottilie – tugging her sleeves to cover the bruises; Maribel – pregnant for the seventh time despite the empty cradle at home.
Other women came and went, cooling hot cheeks in the fresh water. But these three would stand apart, heads so close their hair mingled, their voices lost below the burble of water.
One thing is true – they all vanished on the same day, leaving the water to speak alone.
***
Written for Rochelle Wisoff-Field’s Friday Fictioneers, the best writing prompt on WordPress. See here to join in the fun.
Word Shamble 
Lovely as always. It is interesting to see what people are writing about as we watch the mountain slide down towards us. Be well and be good to yourself
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Thank you, Josh – appreciate that very much. Yes, we live in ‘interesting times’. We knew a pandemic would come but theory is always different from living through something. You and Karen keep safe, and your families
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Chilling… as expected from you 🙂
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Ha! Thank you. I take that as a great compliment 🙂
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🙂 As ever
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Mysterious and atmospheric. Just lovely!
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Chilling, engaging and beautifully written. As always.
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Thanks so much Sandra
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Oh, how sad. I’m wondering—was there anyone who missed them? Where are they now?
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Ooh, good questions. Though it could be that they conspired to disappear together, leaving their unpleasant home situations behind. Thank you so much for the comment and for reading
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Poignant and scary all at the same time. Brilliantly written Lynn
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Thanks so much Michael. Glad you thought so
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Excellent Lynn, the omission of information draws the reader in and hints enough to guess their individual stories. Well done.
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Thanks so much Iain. Really glad you thought so and thanks for reading
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You’re welcome 🙂
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Beautifully written, as always. You’ve made this deliberately enigmatic. The women are archetypes of women who have been thrust to the bottom of life, dirt poor, abused, kept constantly pregnant. Those attributes are often found together, to a greater or lesser extent, in one woman. And then, one day, the woman vanishes, short life over and never fulfilled. Desperately sad and appallingly true. Excellent writing, Lynn.
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Thank you so much Penny. Yes, sadly, so many women find themselves in similarly awful situations through unfortunate circumstances. My only thought was that the women might have been chatting, planning their escape together. I hope so. Thank you for reading 🙂
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sad… yet mysterious.Nicely written.
Randy
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Thanks so much 🙂
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What a great opening. Keep it and write a novel to follow. Seriously!
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Aw, thank you! What an encouraging thing to say. Glad you enjoyed it
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You are welcome, Lynn.
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Intriguing!
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Thanks Dawn
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You write these short, hints-at stories so well.
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Thanks so much! Glad you think so
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Praise where praise is due 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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🙂
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Classical allusion, social realism, fantasy, mystery — how well you meld these genres together in such a spare text. I second all the above praise heaped on your writing, Lynn.
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Ah, thank you so much Chris! That’s a really lovely comment, gratefully received
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You truly are a mistress of this genre. You lull us into thinking this is just a sweet gathering spot despite the reasons they gather and then knock the wind out of us.
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Aw, thank you Dale! That’s truly lovely of you to say so. Really glad you liked the story. As with others, I’m tempted to take it further, but we’ll see. Thanks again
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Oooh! Cool!
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Dear Lynn,
Amazingly constructed characters. I was particularly touched by “pregnant for the 7th time with an empty cradle at home.” Every word set where it belongs. Emotional, enigmatic and tragic.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you so much, Rochelle. That means so much. Yes, I don’t know how women carry on with pregnancies in light of such heartbreak. Such a tragedy losing one baby, but several – the heart can only take so much, surely. Thank you again
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Ah, The Three Graces indeed. There is such a calm in your words then that last line ~ took my breath away. Lovely.
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Ah, thank you so much Lish. I’m so very glad you like it and felt it worked. I very much appreciate it. All the best
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And all the best to you! I love your work.
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