Saturday 17 June 2017

THE BIG HOUSE

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2017 WEEK #25
Posted on June 14, 2017 by rogershipp

FLASH FICTION FOR THE PURPOSEFUL PRACTITIONER- 2017

WEEK #25

https://www.pexels.com/photo/architecture

THE BIG HOUSE

The library in the big house was an unknown quantity.  There were rumours in the village that it was stacked from floor to ceiling with books and papers.  Hetty had never read a book in her life.  She wasn't lucky enough to go to school.  Her mother kept popping out babies and Hetty, being the eldest, was a surrogate mother to all the children while her mother struggled through yet another pregnancy.  Her father worked at the big house.  He told her that it was another world.  Another life that wasn't for the likes of her.  All she could hope for was to enter into service when she was 12. 

Three years from now and Hetty would be out of this hovel.  Out of washing nappies, wiping runny noses.  She would be able to see all these books, maybe she would be allowed to touch them while she dusted them.  Maybe she could learn to read, somehow, someday she would read.  That was her dream.  A dream that she didn’t dare voice.  A dream she would never share with anyone.   A dream that kept her going.  A dream to see her through the drudgery of her days. 

Word count: 197

4 comments:

  1. Well done. I feel her yearning and hope she gets that for which she is wishing.

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  2. I do feel sympathy for Hetty. Nicely written!

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  3. How sad to have dreams that seem bigger than possibility. But I suppose that the dream is what keeps someone like Hetty going.

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  4. Books do seem to inspire dreams.

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