Friday Fictioneers – Emissary

~ Neil MacDonald
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Between the thought and the action falls the shadow. Between the wild and the built rises the fence. I have made walls, robust, secure structures, separating subject and object, good and evil. They say good fences, good neighbours make: this is mine, and that is yours. But here is a branch, heavy with fruit, that penetrates and overhangs my stern, geometrical garden. If I tend the pleading limb, keep it free of scab and canker, surely the apples are mine when they fall. How I yearn for this creeping emissary from the outside world!

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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

47 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Emissary”

  1. Some like this branch obey no fences!
    What we decide to do with the fruits is totally up to us 🙂

    When my neighbour’s papayas & bananas chose to fall into our backyard & on our terrace, I gathered them and handed them over 🙂

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      2. There’s neither rhyme nor reason why WordPress won’t work on different sites for different users. I’ve been having to log into WordPress for every site I visit in recent weeks, but today, though I could comment, it simply wouldn’t send my comment.

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  4. Plants, trees and flowers are no respecters of borders, aesthetics or personal preference, I like it that way though. Sorry if you eventually get 20 or so comments from me, I’ve been trying all day to comment on wordpress sites to no avail and have now switched to a different browser.

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  7. Neil, I love this as metaphor. In the real world, once the tree limb crosses the property line it becomes the problem/harvest (depending on how you look at it) of the property it is hanging over. May the MC enjoy many crunchy bites and/or quarts of applesauce from the unexpected bounty.

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      1. You’re welcome, and I’m sorry to hear you can’t post a comment on my story, thank you for sharing your comment here. I think you’re right.

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    2. By the way, WordPress is really playing me funny at the moment and I can’t post a reply on your site (It’s happened with several sites). This is what I would have said on your story “Fiction is stranger than truth! Nicely done”

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      1. Not sure what’s the issue 🤔 I couldn’t find anything in Spam or Pending approvals. Maybe it’s something to do with the subscribe pop-up? I’ve noticed that on a lot of blogs I’ve commented on recently. (My comments seem to load on clicking the X on the popup)

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  17. Perhaps he has unwittingly imprisoned himself inside his fence, in his garden with its stern geometry. Maybe the ‘creeping emissary’ will help him to break free of its rigidity. A lovely piece.

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  18. There are those who believe no on can own the land and then there are those who believe all is for the taking through force, bureaucracy or both. The Apple cares not where it lands or who devours it. Well told and quite poetic.

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  19. Gripping verse, Neil! Much to think about.
    I immediately thought of our neighbor who has allowed his walnut tree to grow over into our back yard. Normally, we wouldn’t mind; however, the walnuts are encased in a perfectly round shell the size and hardness of a billiard ball. My toddler granddaughter got conked on the noggin by one of those blasted nuts; a doctor in the ER said she was lucky all she sustained was an impressive bump. That was the day the errant branch came down!

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    1. Thanks so much. And a lovely cautionary tale from you about the perils of transgressing boundaries. And talking of tales from you, this is what I tried unsuccessfully to post on your story “That plant has a rude mouth”

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