Friday Fictioneers – Expedition

~ neilmacdon
photo-15
Photo Prompt © Douglas M MacIlroy

They found me of course. Writing my journal by the light of the oil lamp. I fancied a wave of warmth tickled my chilled body as the leather and paper blazed-up on the fire. The flag’s crack in the Arctic wind howled despair.

Petrie’s tone was that of a disappointed father. “You know only the official record is permitted. It says so in your contract. No individual tales.”

“You think you can own the past?” I said.

“No.” He laughed. “With my account of muscular purity and heroic suffering, I will own the future.”

 

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

80 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Expedition”

  11. Your story reflects, of course, on all of written history. Whose worldview shaped the textbooks? Would another writer’s account be totally different? You’ve set up a philosophical discussion here 🙂

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  25. To keep my own fire going, i must stamp out all the others. The desire for attention only grows as we enter the world’s stage. I fear this may be one of those expeditions where nearly everyone dies.

    Love the language in this, the crack of the flag, the morose howl of the wind.

    The last line immediately brought to mind WWII fascism–ego-driven masculine heroism (or heroics,) reaching a pinnacle of death and destruction.

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  35. Great use of contrast here: “a wave of warmth tickled my chilled body as the leather and paper blazed-up on the fire.” I wonder how often people’s voices are silenced by “official accounts” of events.

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  37. Nice one Neil, the same story will inevitably be different told by two individuals so, it’s understandable Petrie will have to control the situation if he wants to safeguard his version for posterity. Ultimately someone will re-write history though, it always happens.

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