Every week, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (thank you, Rochelle!) hosts a flash fiction challenge, to write a complete story, based on a photoprompt, with a beginning, middle and end, in 100 words or less. Post it on your blog, and include the Photoprompt and Inlinkz (the blue frog) on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!
I’m afraid the connection of the story to the photoprompt is very tenuous. My thought was the nurturing of a helpless infant by an older couple, just as the fledgling has been hand reared.
PHOTO POMPT © Douglas M. MacIlroy
The Motherless Child
“I can’t tell you how sad I am for you, Maureen,” said Carol.
The white wall-clock ticked away the seconds. There was a smell of disinfectant. My daughter, Diana, looked peaceful now. I stroked her hand. It was smooth and soft – and already cool.
Diana’s new-born baby daughter snuffled in her crib.
“Thank you, Carol.” I took her arm, for she, too, was a grandmother to the child.
“That wastrel son of yours; who’s going to look after the baby?” ground out my husband.
Carol flinched, but I answered “We are, Ted. There’ll be legal things, custody. Will you ring the solicitor?”
Autumn Leaves 
What a sad story, and yet some hope in that there are people there to care for it.
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Dear Iain
Thank you so much for your comment. That was exactly the emotional response I hoped to evoke.
With best wishes
Penny
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Thank goodness for a loving family…
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Dale. You’re right – a loving family is a wonderful gift.
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But perhaps the ‘wastrel son’ will buck his ideas up and make a good fist of being a dad? Tragic story but you told it with delicacy and tact, Penny
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Hi Lynn
Thank you for reading and commenting. It would be great if Carol’s son did make a good dad, but I wouldn’t hold my breath…
With best wishes
Penny
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Not everyone is designed to be a good parent – I could reel off a few prize examples off the top of my head! But there are worse things than being raised by loving grandparents 🙂
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Dear Penny,
Tenuous connections to the prompt are my favorite kind. It means you’re using your imagination rather than regurgitating what you see in the photo. Such a tragic story. Well told.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
Thank you for reading and commenting. I’m glad you thought the story was well told.
Shalom,
Penny
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I agree with Rochelle! No explanation was needed and you did an excellent job of portraying a terribly sad event. Kudos!
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Thank you for reading, and your very kind comments, Alicia.
With best wishes
Penny
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This works so well for me… this is exactly why we have grandparents. Love how they handle the disaster…
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Bjorn. Maureen was fighting to be strong for her new granddaughter.
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Touching story. Glad the child has family that loves her but I fear contacting solicitors may mean future grief.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, LLDL
Because the daughter has died, and the father is not available, the child would be looked after by the state. So the grandparents need to satisfy the family court that they are suitable to raise their granddaughter. A solicitor is pretty nearly essential to do that. Let’s hope they succeed!
With best wishes
Penny
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At least the child has someone to love her. A poignant tale indeed.
Click to read my FriFic!
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Keith. The child has someone to love her, and although Maureen will always grieve for Diana, bringing up her granddaughter will ease some of the pain perhaps.
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Tragic, but the orphaned baby will have loving grandmothers. Not so sure about grandpa.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Linda. I think grandpa will be fine when he gets used to the idea. Maureen is just quicker to realise the practical consequences of the ordeal they’ve suffered, so she sends Ted away to do useful things before he says something unforgivable to Carol.
With best wishes
Penny
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Admire the descriptions- slow clock, the disinfectant, the cool body- the bare death .
The grandmothers will be the new baby’s mother, loving her as deeply as they possibly can. I feel more for the daughter- less mother here.
Wonderfully written, as always.
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Dear Moon
Thank you for reading and for commenting so thoughtfully. Yes, I’m confident that the grandmothers will make sure the new child feels loved. I wonder what they’ll tell her about Diana – and when? It would be a hard story to tell, and hard for the child to listen to.
With very best wishes
Penny
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What a sad, sad story! But the child has good grandparents who would be there for her. Very descriptive writing, Pennygadd.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Varad. I find your comment very encouraging because I’m trying to improve my descriptive writing, so thank you!
With best wishes
Penny
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Tragic tale. Beautifully told. I can’t imagine the condition of the grandparents. A joyful news that is now forever tinged with sorrow…. Very very good story, Penny.
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Dear Fluid Phrase
Thank you for your very kind words. Women still die in childbirth, but thank goodness far fewer than there used to be. It’s always a tragedy, and, as you say, there will always be sadness associated with that particular birth. However, I think Maureen is strong enough to rejoice in the child as well as grieve for her daughter.
With very best wishes
Penny
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Gosh. Awful. Sounds like those grandparents will be wonderful to the baby.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Laurie. I agree with both your sentiments. The bereavement would be awful, and the grandparents will be wonderful to the baby. Mind you, I wonder how and when they’ll tell her about her mom.
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Thank God for grandparents. You handled the death of the daughter so sensitively.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, JJ, especially on how I handled the death of the daughter.
With best wishes
Penny
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A real sad story.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Yarnspinner.
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A sad story, but the child will be loved. The detail you’ve used makes me feel as if I am there.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Sascha. It’s kind of you to say such a nice thing about the detail.
With best wishes
Penny
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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Brilliant writing, Penny. I’m guessing the mother died during childbirth. At least she has two loving grandmothers. Things will work out.
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Dear Russell
Thank you for such a lovely comment. Yes, the mother died giving birth, and the grandparents will need to raise the baby girl.
With best wishes
Penny
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well I must say that I liked the bit of preface to prep for the reading –
“helpless infant by an older couple, just as the fledgling has been hand reared.”
and you portrayed the predicament quite well – and I could really feel the husband’s personality 🙂
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Dear Prior,
Thank you for reading and commenting. Your comment is particularly helpful, because it is the husband who articulates the grief and anger at his daughter’s death, albeit the target for his rage is the missing father of the child.
With best wishes
Penny
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ahhhh – well now I see even more –
and that sentence – with “ground out” and “wastrel” – is so dense and had those layers….
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So sad and touching and this has so many layers. I’m wondering if Carol’s son might be responsible for his partner’s death? Maureen is a strong woman and her grandchild will prosper, but I think her husband might need to buck up his ideas.
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Dear Sarah Ann,
I don’t think Carol’s son is responsible for her death. Even today, some women die in childbirth for a variety of reasons. However, he is responsible for abandoning her when he realised she was pregnant. As far as Ted is concerned, I think he will be a good grandpa, and a good surrogate dad, once he gets over the immediate shocking grief of his daughter’s death.
With best wishes
Penny
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I don’t think the connection is tennuous. Poignant. You showed how different people reacted to grief and decision making differently. I hope the husband gets over his anger soon and embraces having a baby in the household. A touching story.
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Dear Irene
Thank you for reading so carefully, and commenting thoughtfully. Knowing what my story has said to different people helps me to understand its strengths and weaknesses.
With best wishes
Penny
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Yes I find it interesting how different people see a story differently. Sometimes it is writing clarity or English language differences but mostly it is the experiences the reader brings to the tale.
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I hope they manage to claim the baby.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Liz.
I hope they’re awarded custody quickly so that the baby has the best possible start in life.
With best wishes
Penny
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Very moving. I hope the husband learns not to take it out on Carol.
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Clare. Ted’s anger towards the absent father of the child is really anger against the fate that has robbed him of a daughter. It’s an expression of his grief. When he realises this, he’ll also realise that Carol is not blameworthy.
With best wishes
Penny
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When I first saw the photo prompt i was reminded of a hospital. So your story fits right into this scenario as if life has got the little one its clutches. Without proper caring gentle hands to care for her, she wouldn’t make it. Nicely crafted Penny 🙂
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Dear Dahlia
Thank you for reading and commenting. Sometimes grandparents have to be the ones who provide emotional stability for a child.
With best wishes
Penny
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Hope in the middle of neglect. Such a sad tale, well written!
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Dear Lavanya
Thank you for reading and commenting. Yes, there is hope for the child with her strong grandparents.
With best wishes
Penny
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What a sad story! But where was the child’s father amidst all this heartbreak? Thank goodness for the grandparents, I am sure they will work things out. Well done Penny. 🙂
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Dear JWD,
Thank you for reading and commenting. In my version of the backstory, the child’s father had made Diana pregnant, then denied the child was his and abandoned her, some months before. You are most welcome to invent your own version! I, too, am glad there are grandparents there to look after the new little girl.
With best wishes
Penny
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I liked this in a didn’t sort of way. It’s a very sad situation the emotion and felling of which you’ve captured brilliantly
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Dear Michael
Thank you for reading and commenting. I know exactly what you mean when you say “I liked this in a didn’t sort of way.” I often feel the same when I like the writing, but find the content too dark. It’s so kind of you to tell me I’ve captured the emotion brilliantly.
With best wishes
Penny
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