The Tunnel
‘Why do you keep pestering mama? She can’t tell you anything? You are
too small to understand.’
The little boy looked at his sister. She was not smiling; that troubled
him. Mama was always crying; that pained him.
‘When will papa come?’
‘I don’t know!’ she almost shrieked. Then she felt sorry for him.
‘I want to go to papa!’ he shouted back.
‘You can’t!’ she blurted, unknowingly.
‘Papa!’ he screamed.
‘Stop! He can’t come. He is gone to the other world.’
‘I will go to him….through that tunnel…. you once told me that the
tunnel opened into another world……..’
The sister stood speechless.
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A post for Friday Fictioneers on a photo prompt.
Word count 104
And now she has to commit the cruelty of explaining to him that she lied
ReplyDeletethanks
DeleteAs awful as the truth is, it's the only way to maintain mutual trust.
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DeleteI wonder how young the sister is. This has to be tearing her apart too.
ReplyDeletethanks
DeleteA terrible thing to try to explain to a child.
ReplyDeleteA touching tale, i b arora, and you tell it fluently and descriptively.
ReplyDeletethanks
DeleteDear Arora,
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad tale. And how hard for the sister to tell her brother the tragic news. Nicely done.
Shalom
Rochelle
THANKS
DeleteAh. In our effort to spare children from harsh truth, we do compound the problem. Good writing .
ReplyDeleteInnocent kid. Touching story.
ReplyDeletethanks
DeleteTruth is sometimes better than even the whitest of lies.
ReplyDeletethanks
DeleteHeartbreaking to have to admit to lying and explain the child has lost his father at the same time. Very emotional write.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble when you start with lies is you need to continue them...
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