Friday Fictioneers – Nakba

~ neilmacdon
PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Where are we supposed to go now?

They came in vast ships, and we said, “Welcome—you must be tired.” We offered food and sweet water. Then they asked for land, only a little bit.

They built and sowed and reaped and showed us map-making. “This bit is yours,” they said, ”and that bit ours.”

“Very good, little brother,” we said.

When they multiplied and demanded more land, we refused, and they rolled a great war machine over us. Our homes burned.

Here, at the edge of the world, we huddle on the sand. Where should we go now?

.

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

63 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers – Nakba”

  4. Oddly I just finished listening to a story about the Vikings reaching North America. It all ended quite amicably, living side by side, learning from each other, helping each other. Quite a short story, the rest of what followed would take longer and make less pleasant reading. You encapsulated the cycle of events concisely and in style.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Neil, I reached for the kleenex reading your story. How many times has this horrific story played itself out across the globe over time? Humans are an inherently flawed species when they do such things to each other. 

    Like

    Reply

    1. Too many times, but I don’t put it down to our nature, but rather to the societies we build, I’m writing a novel now set in a society, 9,000 years ago that persisted for 1,000 years without conflict or inequality

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. Give ’em an inch, and they’ll take your continent. Very well told. That’s human history, though. For better or worse, if it didn’t play out like that over and over, humanity would be completely unrecognizable to us. Not a single person living today would be living today.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. What a sad and tragic history you bring to mind in this story. My country is still working it all through, and it’s recent enough to be relatively fresh in people’s inter-generational ‘memories’. You tell it beautifully, however. I note your comments about other possible histories, and I hope I get to read your coming book.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  23. This was a very sad narration and the rhetorical question at the end hammers the message home. Unfortunately, for many, there was no place to go. It might be fun to see an alternate history where the indigenous population wasn’t quite so welcoming.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  28. Wonderfully told and sadly true. It’s happened since centuries and it’s happening now and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. The question then is, should you welcome a person in trouble into your home/country or not?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment