THE MILL
„Now, that you've got my money and property, won't you also take care of my children?“
Grandfather broke his observing silence, facing the Bolsheviki, still plundering his mill.
Grimly, the poorly uniformed leader hushed him away:
"We've got what is ours. You want to live? Take your breed. Go!"
I took the first event coming to my mind after thinking about the money term.
It's a true story.
I don't actually know if money was also involved in my grand dads question but I thought it fits the message as "money" today is much more associated to a secure life than back then where people lived more self sufficient. Or more so where my family was located.
I must say that limiting myself to just 50 words was a positive perceived challenge because it very effectively made me thinking to use as much descriptive terms I can put in the story. What else it made me aware of that the description of a "poorly uniform" I took out of historical context as the Bolsheviki - also known as red army - were working class people.
If you are interested in reading the whole story, I provided you with a two part article titled with "Why being political is a very personal thing. The story of the Russian Germans - from my family's point of view." Part one and part two.
After having written the 50 words, some others visited me during the day. :)
Your recommendation to write first, let it rest and come back, is a very good one! Thank you.
I don't know how often I am going to write 50 or more words. But for sure this is a lot of fun and it doesn't eat much time. It's a very good exercise!
The 50 word short story contest is a courtesy from @jayna - she gives the prompts as well as the guidelines for participation.
Photo by Agence Producteurs Locaux Damien Kühn on Unsplash