PHOTO PROMPT – © Jennifer Pendergast
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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers and to Jennifer Pendergast for the photo.
THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Valentine and Dolly were the stars of the small frontier town. Their saloon did shows for a captive audience of locals, there for the liquor.
She sang, he played his banjo, told stories. Him, all rhinestone and white leather, her fringed cowgirl.
‘This is my life’ Valentine told people, his success story, his money, the punters adored him.
Then the gold ran out, the prospectors drifted off to other towns. ‘I am a nobody’ Valentine told himself, ‘no fans, no money’.
He took to riding the freight trains, looking for? He’d forgotten what.
Sat down in this empty place. Heard a faint tune, their song . ‘Freight Train, freight train coming down the line’…
August 9, 2020 at 11:35 am
So well put together in so few words…I like the circularity where he is looking back to those ‘good’ times; how often have we done that…
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August 9, 2020 at 7:02 pm
Thank you Richard, glad you like the circularity. I wanted to get that feeling of here today gone tomorrow in a heartbeat.
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August 9, 2020 at 9:48 am
Couldn’t help wondering what happened to Dolly. Enjoyed this.
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August 9, 2020 at 7:03 pm
Thanks Sandra, so pleased you liked the story.
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August 8, 2020 at 10:07 am
I like how the man just fell into place to become a wandering hobo. In a way like the wandering Minstrels of middle age Europe.
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August 9, 2020 at 7:18 pm
Thanks James. Interesting comment about the wandering minstrels, truly unattached to any one place.
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August 8, 2020 at 5:10 am
A sad tale. A very fluid situation, mining towns. Appearing, growing, disappearing as the situation demands.
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August 10, 2020 at 10:00 am
Thanks Ali, thanks for your comment, Those mining towns must have been transient, rich one day, in poverty the next.
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August 7, 2020 at 5:58 pm
So much told in so few words. Skillfully done. Enjoyed it.
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August 10, 2020 at 10:07 am
Glad you enjoyed it Bill. Its those freight trains, so evocative….
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August 7, 2020 at 12:18 pm
Great wild west reminiscence.
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August 10, 2020 at 10:08 am
I appreciate your comment Trish, thanks.
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August 7, 2020 at 11:14 am
All that remains are memories. A sad story indeed.
Here’s mine!
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August 10, 2020 at 10:10 am
Thanks Keith, I appreciate your comment.
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August 7, 2020 at 11:01 am
Quite a tale of life, love and loss, wonderfully crafted in so few words.
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August 10, 2020 at 10:14 am
Thanks so much ceayr, I appreciate your comment. Glad you liked the story.
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August 6, 2020 at 10:56 pm
Dear Francine,
A whole saga told in a hundred words. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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August 10, 2020 at 10:15 am
Thank you Rochelle, I’m pleased you like the story.
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August 6, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Took me back to those Wild West days, a harsh time to live through.
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August 10, 2020 at 10:24 am
Thanks Iain, I appreciate your comment. I think those trains suggest so much history don’t they.
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August 6, 2020 at 5:23 pm
Evocative. I wonder what happened to Dolly?
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August 10, 2020 at 10:25 am
Thanks for your comment Linda. Good question.
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August 6, 2020 at 5:22 pm
What a sad story. Things don’t last forever – especially if you’re in a prospectin’ town…
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August 10, 2020 at 10:29 am
Thanks Dale, I appreciate your comment.
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August 6, 2020 at 3:52 pm
Great character portrait with an important message
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August 10, 2020 at 10:32 am
Thank you Neil, glad you liked the portrait.
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