Thirty Days, Day 20 - Fast Fiction Challenge 2010: Once Within Memory
Title: Once Within Memory
Word: truffle
Challenger: zapaper
Length: 200 words exactly There had once been something called a chocolate truffle.
The younger of those present would snigger at the tales when they heard older people mention them with fondness.
There had once been hamburgers.
Less tolerance of this was expressed by the younger generations at what was regarded by them as an abhorrent practice. This had less to do with the rights of animals and more because of the now widely held belief that humanity at least now possessed common human dignity.
There had once been universal education.
And again, as they did upon hearing the older generation reminisce about long extinct qualifications, those who had been born more recently would sigh, as if to excuse the stories, and the people who told them.
There had once been naturally born children.
And those without navels openly laughed at their forebears, blatantly mocking the ugliness and blemishes that everyone of the older generation carried on their bodies.
There had once been elections.
Only the very old remembered these, and their recollections were either listened to with barely disguised impatience, or with irritation that was not disguised in the least.
There had once been freedom.
But no one talked about that any more.
© Lee Barnett, 2010
This story is part of the 2010 Fast Fiction Challenge, written for the Thirty Days Project. New challenges can be made here.
The Fast Fiction Challenge - The Book; now available from lulu.com and, if you're in the US, via Amazon.com here; 180 of the best fast fiction challenge stories from the first three years' challenges... Buy it now.
Word: truffle
Challenger: zapaper
Length: 200 words exactly There had once been something called a chocolate truffle.
The younger of those present would snigger at the tales when they heard older people mention them with fondness.
There had once been hamburgers.
Less tolerance of this was expressed by the younger generations at what was regarded by them as an abhorrent practice. This had less to do with the rights of animals and more because of the now widely held belief that humanity at least now possessed common human dignity.
There had once been universal education.
And again, as they did upon hearing the older generation reminisce about long extinct qualifications, those who had been born more recently would sigh, as if to excuse the stories, and the people who told them.
There had once been naturally born children.
And those without navels openly laughed at their forebears, blatantly mocking the ugliness and blemishes that everyone of the older generation carried on their bodies.
There had once been elections.
Only the very old remembered these, and their recollections were either listened to with barely disguised impatience, or with irritation that was not disguised in the least.
There had once been freedom.
But no one talked about that any more.
© Lee Barnett, 2010
This story is part of the 2010 Fast Fiction Challenge, written for the Thirty Days Project. New challenges can be made here.
The Fast Fiction Challenge - The Book; now available from lulu.com and, if you're in the US, via Amazon.com here; 180 of the best fast fiction challenge stories from the first three years' challenges... Buy it now.