Friday Fictioneers – Ancestor

~ neilmacdon
linda-kreger-prompt
PHOTO PROMPT © Linda Kreger

With each day I am moving into the time before. I am becoming an ancestor. My limbs are frail and my breath comes heavy. Never again will I chase down a deer.

But the young ones sit at my feet and ask me “In your experience, how is this done?” And with every answer, they venerate me more. I move in a loop, catching up now and again with the era of my forebears.

 

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.

67 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Ancestor”

  16. There’s the cycle of life. The old have to teach the young so there’s someone to take care of them. The young have to learn from the old to take care of themselves. The young have to take care of the old so there’s someone from whom they can learn. Nicely told.

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  24. Well done, Neil. Sound like a school teacher, but I have kids and it gets ingrained into you. I really loved this line: “Becoming an ancestor.” I’m obsessed with history and in particular family history so that really resonated with me.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

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  25. Ageing is a natural process. After sometime, one has to get out and make room for the next generation and share his experience.

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  31. A good story, Neil. I’m becoming an ancestor but I’ll have to do it by never having chased down a deer. It’s good to know our grandchildren listen to us better than our children did. Getting old is no picnic for sure. You make the best of it. Well done. 🙂 — Suzanne

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  32. Lots of interesting comments provoked by this story! Interesting idea, that only in a fictional world would the old be perceived by the young as having anything of value to offer.

    I think it is more likely that today’s youth has been distracted so much, by sparkly ideas and fools’ gold gadgets, that they may fail to recognize wisdom, which is truly worth its weight in gold. Which begs the question: what does wisdom weigh?

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    1. Thanks so much, Andy. I’m not sure it’s so much that young people willfully ignore what the old try to teach them as that their world is so different that what the old try to teach doesn’t seem relevant

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