Mirrors glittered in the great hall, images of his opponent marching away in regiments to the ends of the world. Yet Henderson was not overawed by the infinite Vizier, for a similar legion marched at his side.
On the table between the statesmen, pleasant valleys, ripe fields and great cities. And a pen. The Vizier drew a line around a spired settlement. Henderson took a bustling port. Watching counsellors sighed like wind in the forest.
The Vizier said, “Let us sup and be at ease, Excellency. It’s going to be a long day.” He clapped his hands.
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 
Very atmospheric, Neil.
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Thanks, Neel
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Dear Neil,
Sounds like the stakes are high. Almighty oil, indeed. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle
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The battle continues, for what is the use of one without the other?
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Thanks, Sandra
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Very atmospheric. I loved the counsellors sighing like wind in the forest.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks so much, Susan
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The scene is set, the plans drawn. Brilliant Neil
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Thanks, Keith
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Expertly crafted piece, Neil.
No comment on the lives impacted by arbitrary lines on a map.
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Thanks so much. Oh? There are people down there on the map?
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Reminds me of the story of the wife of a Shell executive who in 1922 walked through the dunes with her husband dragging a cane along the sand, thus creating what became the Iraq-Kuwait border. Well done.
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Thanks so much, Joshua. I think these two may have more difficulty agreeing where the lines go
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Callously dividing land for oil, sounds familiar. The greed of man. You painted an interesting and thought provoking scene.
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Thanks so much, Brenda
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Arbitrary decisions in the oil business? Say it isn’t so. A nicely constructed story Neil.
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It’s not so. Thanks, Jo
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Since the first oil was discovered near Titusville, Pennsylvania, there have been armies fighting over it. It’s full value, of course, was not understood yet. When it was, the financial kings took over. I love the way you have fantasized what has been quite gruesome over the years.
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Thanks so much, Linda
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Why do I feel it’s still going to end in battle with these two? Wouldn’t trust either of them!
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I’ve known them all my life. I think you’re wise
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No looking of their shoulders to see what their circles and lines have wrought. Nicely done.
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Thanks, Alicia
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When the deals are done the counsellors sigh. And lives are altered and damaged by that powerful pen.
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But it’s the great game!
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Well, someone did once say the pen is mightier than the sword, but I guess that pen was backed up by a lot of swords. Good job Neil. 🙂
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Thanks so much
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This makes me think of the great conflicts and their reluctant settlements, with each side needing to feel victorious ( or at least needing to save face) while making concessions.
For some reason i imagined they were bickering over Vienna after the turks invaded the last time. Nothing to do with oil though.
Perhaps this is more like the superpowers waiting with baited breath while the arctic and antarctic melt, freeing upthe oil reserves hidden beneath…
I love the multiple mirror effect.
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Thanks so much, Andy. In truth, it needn’t be about oil at all. The oil may be just the refreshments the Vizier has ordered
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Such a wee instrument, that pen… and the power that it holds over so many people’s lives.
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There are regiments behind the pen of course
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Oil magnets, perhaps they should take up the game of chess.
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Tis all a chequerboard of nights and days
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Best to fight on a full belly… then we can wage war properly.
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And a little claret for the spirits
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Oh yes!
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In this case, I doubt that it’ll be ‘Oil’s well that ends well.’
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Thanks for reading
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Henderson and the Vizier were distributing the prize of conquest among themselves.
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I think they were bickering, Henderson, of course, is used to getting what he wants
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Divvying up the country between them. Such huge decisions with big consequences made so easily.
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Well, there’s no point being ill-tempered about it
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Great atmosphere.
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Thanks, Lisa
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Collaborating over a meal yet there seems to be something sinister lurking between them.
Could it be an ambush??? Mmmmm …
Isadora 😎
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In my mind they’re just negotiating as gentlemen do. But you could be right
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Lovely language and gorgeous images.
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Thanks so much
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Wow… its going to be a long day… night… ever
Well done. I really enjoyed this.
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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War games have begun not on the field but between the planners.
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War is the continuation of diplomacy by other means
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Expertly written that’s for sure..
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Thanks, Violet
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Looks more like a game, than the sense of playing with human lives. Guess that’s how politics is!
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I’m not sure they could do it if they let themselves understand what the playing pieces really are
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Maybe, but it sure would make them do it in a more responsible and empathic way rather in a sterile clinical way.
Just saying!
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So people’s lives are arbitrarily divided.
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Just so
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It is always the little people. Great statesmen think they know best, that’s why they create war…or Brexit.
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War, they say is created by old men but fought by young men
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So true, but not really wise.
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Sounds like a game for the two of them.
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Exactly. The Great Game
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The sense of power came across well in this very atmospheric flash.
In 1947 Cyril Radcliffe drew a line that set the borders for the partition of India. Around 14 million people fled across the border when they discovered the new boundaries left them in the “wrong” country It. It inspired an iconic story by one the finest writers from the subcontinent. http://www.sacw.net/partition/tobateksingh.html
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Thanks so much and thanks for the link
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For the commanders this is a mere game… almost like children playing, for the soldiers it’s so much more.
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Exactly. Thanks for reading
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So well crafted, Neil. You create a vivid atmosphere and then show the leaders, as if they are playing a game of Monopoly, despite the fact so much is at stake.
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Thanks so much, Sascha
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yes, for people in power it is only a game, always.
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Thanks for reading
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Chilling perspective.
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Thanks, Dawn
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You put us in the scene Neil. Where yours is in the past I can see it happening in the present.
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And possibly the future if we don’t learn from history
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Let’s hope we learn but I wonder……..
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