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 on your page. Link your story URL. Then the fun starts as you read other peoples’ stories and comment on them!
PHOTO PROMPT © J HARDY CARROLL
Steel Town
When I was a kid, there were eight taverns in our town – nine, if you counted the Temperance. There’s only one now, and that’s closing soon – put out of business by the discount liquor store.
The houses used to be neat, lawns and white-painted picket fences. Now, every third house has broken windows. You can tell someone’s doing well if they have a working pick-up on the driveway; doesn’t matter if it’s a rust-bucket, just as long as it runs.
Bethlehem Steel closed and it knocked the heart out of the town.
I’m glad I got out when I did.
Autumn Leaves 
Dear Penny,
Sadly this happens to small towns that depend on an industry. You read similar stories all across America, too. The sense of desolation in your story is tangible. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Yes, this happens in many places.
Shalom
Penny xx
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Sure, economies change. Now we survive largely by selling each other hamburgers and insurance policies. But there has to be a better way of supporting communities going through these changes. A grim picture well painted, Penny
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Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Neil. I agree we need a better way of dealing with changes that can destroy communities.
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So many towns like this all across the U.S. I could feel myself there. Well done.
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Thank you for your kind comment. Yes, sadly urban decay is something you can find worldwide.
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Economies rise and collapse often unpredictably and unfortunately so does the communities around them. Great take, Penny!
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Thank you for your kind comment, Shweta. BTW where do I find your Friday Fictioneers story? I’ve been looking, but unsuccessfully.
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You are most welcome, Penny. I think my number is in the early thirties. It’s titled “Hard Times”. Here’s the link
https://thesoulsearchersite.wordpress.com/2021/07/16/hard-times/
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Seems a peak into an old mining town. Well written.
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Thank you for commenting, Mason. I had in mind a town with an integrated steelworks where iron ore went in at one end, and cold-rolled steel came out at the other end. But there are plenty of examples of mine closure killing a town, so you’re right there.
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Ah, the steelworks fits perfectly with your tale. Well done.
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darn, too bad for those left behind.
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Thank you for your comment, Plaridel. It was a disaster for many of those affected by the closure.
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Very vivid description of the dire situation shown by the state of the houses and the community. Towns were created around industries and once these go, the towns are left on their own. I see that here, too.
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Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Gabi. I’m glad you found the description vivid. I’ve seen a number of such closures during my career, and the derelict factories and damaged communities are melancholy. But some of them pull through and re-invent themselves, and that’s great!
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There are so many places just like this in the Rust Belt of the US. Bruce Springsteen has written several songs about it. Good yet very sad story about the reality of so many small towns these days 😦
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Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Jade. I was thinking about the Rust Belt of the US when I wrote, but you can find similar stories in many countries.
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It’s like the overlords are siphoning the energy right out of the laborers. They live the high life and we often subsist from paycheck to paycheck. Taxes never seem to go toward keeping infrastructure maintained. You are welcome, Penny.
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A sad reality. It’s a shame resources aren’t put to better use, new industries created. Cities don’t need more people.
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Thank you for your insightful comments. Industrial policy is very difficult. I think we probably need a different set of ethics to guide companies in their commercial operation. Once upon a time, all a firm needed to do was abide by the letter of the law and maximise returns for the owner. The bar is set a little higher nowadays, and most medium to large companies make at least a nod in the direction of social responsibility. It’s not enough, but it’s going the right way.
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The way money and the economy works is mind blowing. Hopefully it will improve. Everything takes time.
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Nothing more than a ghost town. Sadly, it happens too often.
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As has been said, many true stories are reflected in this. Mine was the coal mining industry in PA following a disaster. In many ways it was never the same. With the exodus, economic downturn, and immigration of many leaving worse places, recovery is only a dream, in most cases. A sad blight to see. Well done.
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It still goes on and on, I find it sad
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