Wednesday's Words on a Friday

 

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over by a moveable feast of participants when Delores had computer troubles. Sadly, Delores has now closed her blog forever due to other problems.

The aim of the words is to encourage us to write. A story, a poem, whatever comes to mind.

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please let us know so we can come along to read it and add a few encouraging words.

This month the words/prompts are supplied by Margaret Adamson and Sue Fulcher and can be found here

This week's words/prompts are: two photos.

Here is my story:

Andrew and Trevor had been best mates since they both arrived at the orphanage on the same day fifty-five years ago. Aged only five, they had both been orphaned, Trevor when his parents died in a house fire, Andrew when his parents died when the bus they were on ran off the road and slid down a cliff. 

Sticking together through thick and thin, life had not been easy. The orphanage had once been the Simpson Mansion, a fine brick building of many rooms and a large attic space. it had been handed to the city when the only remaining Simpson decided to wait out his final years in a warmer climate and headed for Jamaica. 

Andrew and Trevor had explored the entire mansion over several years, even the 'restricted' areas, which led to some severe punishment. As the boys grew older, punishments for infractions, real or imaginary, became ever more severe. The attic space had become "the punishment room" and any boy taken there could expect at least one strapping from a wide leather strap. 

Trevor knew that strap very well, since he was daily punished for wetting his bed, something he had no control over. Andrew also knew the strap, having been punished for refusing to learn his lessons. The boys were often in there together, wondering if the men who ran the orphanage had been especially chosen for their cruel qualities. 

They stood together now, aged sixty, and looked up at the iron shutters covering the attic windows, they had been added one year after a couple of the older boys had tried to escape by jumping out.

Andrew turned his back on the place, leaning against the old iron fence, and lighting up a cigarette. After being turned out aged fifteen, both boys had turned to a life of petty crimes, spending time in one prison after another, until now when they were placed in a halfway house and told to keep their noses clean for a change. 

"Place looks smaller somehow," said Trevor, "still gives me the creeps though." "Me too," said Andrew, "all those years being belted, instead of someone working out why I couldn't read." His latest prison had begun an educational system for the inmates and Andrew had been found to be dyslexic. With specialised tuition, he at last could make sense of letters and numbers, although reading fluently and adding up his budget was still in the future. Luckily, Trevor was still around to help him with both. 

"So why are we here now looking at it?" asked Trevor. Andrew drew a package of plastic explosive from his coat pocket. "I was thinking of blowing the whole place up," he said. "It's been empty for years, no one there but the rats in the kitchen." "So you don't fancy keeping your nose clean?" said Trevor. "It won't do much good anyway, blowing it up, those sadistic bastards are all gone, probably dead by now."

"I know you're right," said Andrew, "but I still want to do something." "How about you give that plastic back to Luigi for a start," said Trevor. Andrew shoved it back into his pocket and tossed his cigarette butt into a puddle. "Let's go to that cafe near the halfway and have one of them fancy cappucinos," he said. "Maybe I should see a therapist for a while, like Father Mitchell suggested."

Comments

  1. Oh, yes. I had an older cousin who, after his parents got divorced, also wet the bed and was punished.
    Those were the days.
    Sad story with a good ending.

    My Brother just complained life is so tough with all the stress, amongst helping both kids with homework.
    Huh?!
    I made my homework on my own! Kids these days are often pampered, but is that good?

    Both ways are not, I think. Especially the two boys´ in your story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Iris Flavia; I also did all my homework on my own, before dad got home from work, since he didn't believe homework should be necessary. We had bedwetters in my family too, but there was never any punishment.

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  2. Sadly I suspect that too many people over the years have wondered about the cruelty of those in charge of similar institutions.
    Well told.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elephant's Child; and we read about it in the newspapers when the now grown children step forward to get it all off their chest.

      Delete
  3. My heart hurts for young men who actually did have such bleak lives. So glad Trevor was able to steer Andrew in the right direction. He is a true friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arkansas Patti; the both had bleak lives for sure, but Trevor never had revenge on his mind.

      Delete
  4. It's awful, how badly some of those places were run. What really gets me is how the children were often beaten in the name of G-d, Who would not have had them raised that way. Excellent story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. messymimi; that's the part I don't get too. Far too many have been hurt in the name of God, not only in institutions.

      Delete
  5. Certainly not the best of places, they certainly knew what the attic is for..lovely story EC..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Margaret D; I've read some places used the cellar or a shed in the yard, it really doesn't matter where, it is always wrong.

      Delete
  6. I hope they find a good therapist.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dora; Andrew does fond a good therapist and Trevor helps.

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  7. Replies
    1. Victor SE Moubarak; thank you, I try to make the stories believable.

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  8. A sad story well told. River. Unfortunately, I know survivors of those dreadful places who are damaged for life. So many suicides and addicts. The perps should have been incarcerated themselves for life.

    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WWW; true, but sadly by the time the truth comes out, many of the perps are dead. We can only hope for better in the future.

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  9. Yes, no use punishing the building for the sins of the tenants. Trevor is a true friend for steering Andrew away from serious trouble. Surely a couple misdemeanors could be discussed over that cappuccino, whether eventually acted out or not. It's not like they've turned into choirboys in old age...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those people taking a job they're clearly not cut for always make me wonder why. Bus drivers that don't wait for people or sneer at their passengers, teachers and orphanage people who do not like children, clumsy repairmen, not a bit service minded shop people, etc.
    I'm happy that Andrew is listening to Trevor and father Mitchell. This is a perfect self contained story.

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  11. Another grand tale River. I hope the boys find a good therapist. Their sadness was felt.

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