Friday Fictioneers – Ordinary Folk

~ neilmacdon
rogers-sunset
Photo Prompt © Roger Bultot

“When you know how it’s done, it takes away the magic,” Petran says.

The vaulted roof soars almost all the way to heaven. Petran painted yellow stars on the high blue ceiling. And I, of course, chamfered the columns, tapering them at the top. This trompe l’oeil makes the viewer see the chamber as taller than it really is. Long flights of stairs force the petitioner to look up towards the majesty of the dais and throne. Together, we artisans manufactured awe.

Truly, it don’t destroy the magic. Ordinary folk made this with brains and hands. That’s awe too.

 

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 point of view.

71 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Ordinary Folk”

  12. There’s a Jewish adage that says there are two types of miracles, the supernatural kind that immediately gets a lot of attention, and the kind we take for granted everyday such as life, a rainbow, a sunrise, and such.

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  19. I love how you’ve centered the attention on where the true magic happens–it’s the artisans, the ordinary folk using their brains and hands, who have built this magnificent work, where petitioners will climb to meet someone perhaps less “awesome” and magical.

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  32. That artisans can produce such works of art is indeed magic, when one thinks about how imperfect we humans are!
    My first thought about this week’s picture prompt was that it looked more like a painting than a photo, but you have taken it one stage further with the trompe l’oeil angle.

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