Post 1484. Thursday March 23
Friday Fictioneers
At the manor, a log fire crackled before a food-laden breakfast table. Maids fetched and carried, servants moved discreetly. Outside, a chauffeur readied a gleaming limousine for his master's trip to the factory.
His workers tugged their forelocks as he walked twixt clanking machines, a handkerchief pressed to his face.
His workers tugged their forelocks as he walked twixt clanking machines, a handkerchief pressed to his face.
Times were good.
*
At the decrepit tied cottage, a chill wind whistled through broken windows. Five scruffy urchins played on the filthy floor. Their mother, large with child, struggled to feed them. Hopefully, her husband would earn a shilling today to buy food tomorrow.
Recently a child died and was buried in a pauper’s grave. They couldn't pay a doctor.
Soon their eldest would be six and sweeping chimneys at the manor.
Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers and to J Hardy Carroll for the picture.
.
It was ever thus, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it was Sandra
DeleteI'm appalled at what children were required to do not more than 100 years ago. Today we do not even allow them to play outside without an adult hovering. That too seems dark.
ReplyDelete...the opposite extreme. Thanks Denise
DeleteDear Keith,
ReplyDeleteStriking contrast between the servants and the served. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
https://rochellewisoff.com/2017/03/22/24-march-2017/
Well done. Gave me chills.
ReplyDeleteThank you Darla
DeleteTwo sides to every story, as always.
ReplyDeleteSuch is life. Cheers Iain
DeletePerspective is everything. What might be a great life for one might be a life of dark struggle for another, that's why it is so important we stay tuned to each other and what's happening in the lives around us, sometimes we can do something to help.
ReplyDelete...sometimes. Thaks Josie
DeleteAnd so it goes... the rich feeding off the poor...
ReplyDelete...and the poor go without. Thanks Dale
DeleteYou did really well to bring out such a good contrast in so few words.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much
DeleteThe best of times and the worst of times, and as you were born, so you lived. Not much has changed in some parts. Ask Nike.
ReplyDeleteThe same but different. Such is life. Thanks Jane
DeleteI loved it. It's like the beginning of a Dickens story.
ReplyDeleteThat was in my mind as I wrote. Maybe I'll be as famous as Dickens one day - or not! Thanks so much
DeleteSuch a sad tale Keith, but very well done. :)
ReplyDeleteSuch was life back then. Thanks Kat.
DeleteWell, we don't have children sweeping chimneys anymore, but there are plenty of that age working in Third World sweat shops for a bowl of rice a day, making goods for us to buy in our high streets and online -- lots of stuff we don't need. I'm sure there are also plenty of underage slaves smuggled into Western countries who stay under the radar as far as the authorities are concerned.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it's a tragedy, whenever and wherever. Just now, I think things have got particularly materialistic and although things have changed from 100 years ago in many ways, we still have vast inequality.
Thank you for your contribution Sarah. You are, sadly, spot on. Will things change? Not in our lifetimes I fear.
DeleteLiked the dark shadowy pattern of the story...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sangbad.
DeleteThe haves and have-nots. And guess who does all the actual work? Nice one!
ReplyDelete...and the rich get better. Thanks Alistair
DeleteTwo parallel existences, different to extremes; well told. Well done, Keith! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. Thanks so much Sascha.
DeleteTime has passed, backdrops have changed, but the contrasts remain. Very well sketched.
ReplyDeleteIt does and I imagine it will forever be so.
DeleteStartling contrast. And very applicable to today's world, too, when we consider the differences between the quality of life of the 1% and society's poorest.
ReplyDeleteSome things never change. Just the detail. Thanks Magaly
DeleteIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
ReplyDeleteIndeed it was.thanks Rommy
DeleteLove the flip. It showed us both sides of possibility. Very good take on the prompt.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words
DeleteFantastic - you create the opposing scenarios in very few words, this manor house which causes so much satisfaction and so much misery to opposite ends of the scale in society which is still applicable today. Very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteIt may appear different today, but beneath the surface it's still the same. Thanks Rebecca
DeleteHe'd stepped out of the limousine and strode over to the waiting workers, intent on getting HIS message across. 'It is the way it has to be' he explains. 'For my glass to be much better than half full, their measure has to be short, so much shorter. It has always been so, is now and ever will be! Q.E.D!'
ReplyDeleteFlourishing a dismissive wave he turned on his heel and strode on up the steps, fawning acolytes on his coat tails. In mid-stride across the threshold the plate glass sliding doors snapped back shut, weaponised as guillotine blades for today.
Wow!A sub-story all of its own. Cheers Rambler.
DeleteTo quote Dickens from tale of two cities
ReplyDelete"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
That sums it up perfectly.
Deleteso many people through history have lived the darkest imaginable lives while others grew fat. Nicely drawn contrast, Keith
ReplyDelete...and still they do. Thanks Lynn.
Delete...as still some do. Thanks Lynn
DeleteDark times indeed!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly were - for some. Thanks Dawn.
Delete