Friday Fictioneers – the Yagnobi

~ neilmacdon
frost-on-the-tombstone-liz
PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young

My name is Rahmathon. You look hungry after your trek – I can sell you a sheep if you like. Yes, you’ve reached the Yagnobi. My people have lived here in this high valley for more than a thousand years. We tend our cattle and cultivate our wheat. Yields are poor, but without bread people are not people.

We have forgotten who we were – Sogdians. From Samarkand we once traded glass all the way east to imperial China and silk all the way west to Byzantium.

I can make you a good price for this tender little lamb.

 

Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields  to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.

Fancy sharpening your skill with writing exercises? The Scrivener’s Forge offers a new exercise every month to hone one aspect of your craft. Take a look at this month’s exercise on character and likeability

 

52 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – the Yagnobi”

  4. Oh, my mind went so sci-fi. Then I read Rochelle’s comment and now, I’m gonna hafta go out and look up these people. I see pagan rituals and sacrifice of an innocent. The lamb as a metaphor … so much in this my tired, frustrated brain is having trouble sorting it out.

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  7. I love what the story does not say. It makes the tone of the narrator super ominous, and it leaves us wondering about the person he/she is speaking to. What will this person/soul (whose long trek makes me think of the Underworld and darker places) will do? I hope the sheep are fast on their feet.

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  12. I’ll trade sheep for grain (Civilization reference – that is one of my favorite games to play)

    I’m with Magaly, there’s something interesting in the undertones of what isn’t being said. The line about people not being people without bread made me think of cautionary stories where people will do some previously unthinkable things if it means they can silence the growls in their stomachs for a little while.

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  13. At first I thought you were creating a fictitious people and then the references to silk and China had me googling too! Good for you on teaching us all this week!

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  15. Of course I had to go to Wikipedia, too. What a sad story their history is. I now read it as a remote group much more cautious towards strangers. Beautiful writing.

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  20. I think the google searches for Yagnobi skyrocketed after your post! Central asian peoples are so diverse in cultures and languages. Intriguing cultures too. The communists suppressed many cultural and religions that few survive in authentic form today. Wonderful post, enjoyed the glimpse into history. Thank you.

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