There are spitfires over my garden. Mrs Christie next door cheers.
“Hello,” I say. And then I add “Magnificent aren’t they?”
There’s a pause as she eyes me. “Kept us safe in the War. The Few.”
I sing “There’ll be blue birds over, the white cliffs of Dover.”
That seems to do it. She grudgingly invites me in for a nice cup of tea.
Spitfires don’t bother me. But when the helicopter comes over, I again see the barrel bomb falling and taste the choking gas.
“It must be hard for you people,” she says, and I feel utterly alone.
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
Neil MacDonald Author 
The ending packs a punch. I feel his loneliness in the tone throughout. Beautiful.
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Thanks so much
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A deceptively carefree conversation then his troubled mind plummets as it always will. The fact that Mrs Christie is uneasy but ultimately empathetic heightens the sadness. Subtle. So well written.
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She’sultimately empathetic in her own way, but it’s the “you people” that’s the killer blow for him
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Beautifully developed, Neil.
A refugee from some war-torn land finding little acceptance, I guess.
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Thanks so much
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Well meaning, but hurtful. Perhaps as she befriends him she will come to regard them as merely people the same as her, but one suspects her mind will never be changed.
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I suspect she’ll be civil to him, but not friendly exactly, because you never know do you?
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Nope! You certainly don’t.
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A great piece of writing, which should be mandatory reading.
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Wow. Thanks so much, Michael
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Dear Neil,
War has left its imprint on these two. A lot between the lines of this seemingly pleasant exchange.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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yes there is. thanks Rochelle
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Excellent depiction of PTSD. Stark contrast the romance of war. That said, the sound of a Rolls Royce-Merlin engine will bring me running out of the house. I recall once hearing two of them. I raced into the yard and was rewarded with the sight of a Spitfire and a Mustang flying in formation. There was a local airshow that weekend.
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Thanks, Joshua
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“You people”. That is pretty much it – us and them, we and you.
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yes, exactly
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The last line hit the spot. Brings out the trauma one goes through after coming from war. That’s why they say, some part of them never comes back from duty.
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thanks so much
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Well done, Neil. Am I correct in thinking that the narrator might have been German? Or, have I got the wrong end of the stick? That there’s that sense of acceptance and being neighbours but not quite. That there’ll always be that line in the sand.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Thanks Rowena. I had in mind Syrian
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Sleeper agents. Nasty business.
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I don’t follow
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Expertly written, Neil. Using the shared experience of war – old Mrs Christie’s experience in WW2 and the narrator’s in the current Syrian conflict – you show that despite this common bond, the human tendency to classify ‘us and them’ is too strong for Mrs Christie to overcome. What a sickening moment that must have been for the narrator. Really good piece – terrific writing.
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You read it perfectly. Thanks, Penny
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PTSD makes life hard… you need a good neighbor which is hard for many Syrians.
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Thanks, Bjorn
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Too much us and them-ing, these days. Sad and, in a way, inevitable.
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Yes
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You people. Huge clue. Really good writing.
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War *shared* even many decades apart. Well done. The “you people” feels defining, but not necessarily negatively, I don’t think. I hope.
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Thanks, Sascha. He felt the comment put him in his box. He may have been wrong
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I could sense the old lady’s hesitation. Maybe he is someone like a refugee. She is kind to him but sees him as an unnecessary burden somehow.
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He is a refugee, yes
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Masterful, the way you portrayed them both without actually telling the story behind the piece.
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Thanks so much, Sandra
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She’s empathetic in her own condescending way. Great closing line.
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Thanks, Russell
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That last line is tinged with such isolation and loneliness that it actually hurts to read. Fanatically written
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Fanatically written? Or fantastically?
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Fantastically. Apologies, autocorrect
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That’s what I hoped you meant. Thanks, Carol
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Oooo well told. In a flash those memories take over. I hope he is ok. I’m not sure she really understands
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She doesn’t have a clue. Thanks, Laurie
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Wonderful! So much packed in this one. He breaks down barriers by singing an English song but at the back of her mind even with his trauma he remains “you people”.
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Thanks, yes. I’m glad you saw that
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Always the nice cup of tea, such a calming effect as it encourages a friendly chat.
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And deflect awkwardness
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To me, this is a reminder of two wars. WWII – Spitfires, and Viet Nam – helicopters.
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The Syrian airforce drops barrel bombs from helicopters
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Of course they do! Thanks, Neil.
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great stuff
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Thanks so much
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The sound of helicopters is so different and does provoke different emotion and feeling. The remembrance in this giving an insight into your protagonist’s past is so well done.
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Thanks so much, Sarah Ann
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Mrs Christie is reaching out to him, but certainly not past her comfort zone. Powerful ending.
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Thanks Magarisa, I’m pleased you got it
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i guess she’s being friendly but still eyes him with suspicion .
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She thinks she’s being friendly. He thinks otherwise
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Those two words, “you people”–a punch to the gut. I’ve heard such words many times in my life by well-meaning people wearing an all-too-transparent mask of acceptance.
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You got it, Jan
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Beautifully pieced together.
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Thanks so much, Lisa
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Masterfully done
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Thanks so much, Dahlia
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