Whether your preference is for reading or writing (or both), Friday Fictioneers offers you an opportunity to enjoy yourself. Respond to the photo prompt in 100 words and you’re a writer. Read my story and click on the link at the very end to find links to stories by other authors and you’re a reader and critic. Do both and double your fun. But beware! Participation is highly addictive!
Copyright David Stewart
The Missing Link
The pain announces it’s time. I grasp the bell rope, memories welling up.
The child…
…holding warm, brown eggs
…riding on Carlo, the big farm dog
…running to dinner when Grandma rang the bell
…”driving” the tractor, Grandpa working the pedals my feet couldn’t reach
The young adult…
…Grandma and Grandpa gone
…college, travel, life
…strangers farming our land
…a “For Sale” sign
The two of us…
…loving the land
…leaving secure jobs
…moving home
…reclaiming the land
I joyfully pull the bell, letting Rob know it’s time; time for the harvest; time for the new family member.
This, that and the other thing 
Ooh Janet, I loved this. There is nothing like the familiar feel of a real home. One that generations have built with their memories. Notice the difference I intend about a house and a home.
I know what you mean, Joe. In this case, they’ve also built a family there, which adds another layer of depth.
Have a great day.
janet
Really lovely Janet. And the cycle starting all over again.
Thanks, Claire. Perhaps this time the cycle won’t take them away from the land at all. The child part of this is based on my experiences on my grandparents farm in Nebraska. My grandfather told my dad that farming was to difficult, to do something else. Dad became an accountant, which worked well. The land is still in our family, although we don’t personally farm it. I’m encouraged by the number of young people going back to the land, growing organic food, etc.
janet
It takes a special breed to be a farmer. You have to love it.
What a special life you have described. Simply beautiful, Janet.
Thanks very much, Honie. I think it can be very beautiful even though it’s so hard. Perhaps the difficulties burnish the beauty.
janet
great story… as a farm wife, I understand the connections of generations of families to the land… this tells a great story. Nice job.
That compliment means a lot coming from someone who’s living on the land. Although we don’t farm, I have much respect for those who do and we care deeply about the land.
janet
Sweet story.
Thanks very much.
janet
An interesting look at the stages of life, connected by the bell.
Thanks, Helena.
janet
Very … “Amish” sounding, in a way. Good structure and narrative. Has the ring of a song to it.
Glad you liked it, Kent.
janet
You write cool stuff. What more can I say? 🙂
This is a beautiful story.
Thanks very much, Zainab.
janet
A lovely, nostalgic story, Janet, and warmheartedly told. Nice to hear your grandparents’ land is still in your family–perhaps your story will be lived by one of their descendants.
Knowing the children as I do, probably not, but you never now. 🙂
janet
This is wonderful, Janet! 🙂
Lisa, thanks so much. I appreciate that.
janet
This is sweet Janet-,to go back to one’s roots and start again:-)And I just loved that last line-such beautiful reason to ring that bell 🙂
It is a good reason, isn’t it? Even better than dinner time. 🙂
janet
Yes,I so agree 🙂
Oh so good… and I’m happy it went full circle… actually some similarities to my very first story I wrote for Visual Dare…
http://brudberg.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/visual-dare-my-grandfathers-farm/
The list is a very powerful method to convey a story.. I like that a lot.
Thanks, Bjorn. The list especially works well when I’m trying to cover a lot of ground in 100 words.
janet
— I used it once for that jar of discarded batteries…
This brings back so many memories from my great grandfather’s farm. I love that your character returned to raise her own family there. Beautiful.
Peace,
Marie Gail
Marie, I have wonderful memories from my grandparents’ farm, too. It was fun to share some of them and then embellish the rest to make a story. I did a post once on some of my memories of the farm and really enjoyed putting it together.
janet
a very beautiful story. in 100 words, i caught a glimpse of a person’s life–the joys, the trials, and i’m very happy with the ending 🙂
Yes, I’ve returned from last week’s creepy side. But for how long, we don’t know.
janet
Great story. It’s full of the warmth of family. I see how it’s somewhat like mine, yet different also.
Dear Janet,
This story made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Seriously well done. Nice to have you back in the saddle.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Really loved the coating of hope and homecoming! Touched my desire of reclaiming our old home one day ! 😀
This is a great posting with some
interesting pictures 🙂 Have a fun day…
Andro
I love the form you use to cover the sweep of generations, Janet. A truly lovely and well-written piece.
the bell bearing witness…. this gave me an idea for my story.
Wow, I really thought she was going to hang herself with the bell rope… that first line really threw me off. Love the memories and cycle of events.
I’m laughing but not at you, just at the way things can be taken so differently. I’m glad life not only didn’t end but went on. 🙂
janet
Right? It’s funny what different readers see in the words… I reread it, but still missed that.
Right? It’s amazing how different readers find different stories in the same words. I read it again, and still missed that piece. I was glad for the happy ending, as well. 😉
full circle. Beautifully written
Thanks a lot, Bryan. I’m glad you liked it.
janet
Our stories are very close aren’t they? Different enough, though along the same vein. I liked it! For some reason as soon as I saw the bell that’s what came to mind. Glad I was in good company. 🙂
Funny thing about that…I was in good company, too.
janet
The bell represents a lost time for me, a returning to the old. You captured the passing of time, past to present really nice here. Beautiful, Janet!
Thanks, Amy. That bell reminded me instantly of my grandparents’ farm, good memories for me.
janet
It’s nice when that happens with a prompt!
Very beatiful, a story filled with love.
Ummm…that should be “beautiful .”
My mind saw what you meant.
Back to the real me, right? 🙂
janet
I really enjoyed this, Janet. When I started to read, I thought it was heading towards a sad ending. I’m so pleased it heralded a new beginning. 😀
After a short time in FF, I found I expected something bad most of the time. Just trying to be counter-cultural with this one. 🙂
janet
Oh, I understand that! 😀
As I’ve commented to Rochelle before, if the twist at the end becomes normal, isn’t the real twist not to have one? 🙂
Haha, yes! We discovered the same at our last Writers’ Circle meeting this week. Surprise is good 🙂
So lovely Janet. I love how you’ve used the bell is the symbol of continuity as the cycle of life repeat itself in the birth of a new generation… and also how you’ve referred to the new birth as a harvest, of everything that has come before…
Good morning, Nina. How lovely to read your comment as one of today’s first. I’m always glad when a story works for the reader in the way I hoped it would. Enjoy your Friday.
janet
Janet,
this is so close to my brother-in-laws experience in some ways. He and his wife left corporate jobs in the city to move to the country when they inherited a farm from his wife’s family. Now they have 4 kids and are full-time farmers. Beautiful, touching story.
-David
As I mentioned earlier, I’m encouraged by the number of young people going back to the land. It’s such an important thing.
janet
Ow, this is beautiful, Janet. 🙂
Thanks so much I’m glad to see you this morning.
janet
Oh, I love, love, love your story. So sweet and moving.
Thanks so much and thanks for stopping by.
janet
Very nice Janet. Full of emotions.
Beautiful rendering of a sweet life…full of hard work…and rewards.
It’s a very different life than most of us have but one with rewards often commensurate with the difficulties.
janet
Lovely happy story. Rings my bell!
Nothing quite like having your bell rung…and right before the weekend, too. My husband played rugby for many years and most of them had had their bells rung any number of times!
janet
I’m forth generation on this homestead and my son and his family live on it too. You can’t make a living on less than 100 acres anymore, but at least you can grow much of your own food. I can relate to the dinner bell. Nice story, Janet.
Thanks, Russ. Growing much of your own food is a good thing. Seems like lots of people remember the dinner bell. Good memories.
janet
What a great story!
So powerful and strong – the story is wonderful. Thanks for writing such a good story and with a million memories embedded. Well written and absolutely Awesome! Nan
Nan, thanks for reading and enjoying the story. I’m glad it brought out lots of memories.
janet
i enjoyed the style you chose to present your story, also the theme of a family farm. hopefully small farmers can stay around for a long time.
Thanks, Sun. I hope the small farmers grow and grow. Have a great week.
janet
Lovely. The simplicity of the piece touched me, and besides, I’m a sucker for happy endings like this…. happy beginnings rather to a new story 🙂
Happy endings are my tendency, too, so I have to sometimes make a concerted effort to do something else. But this one insisted on happy. Glad you enjoyed it.
janet
I love the way you cram so much story into this – very clever, and a lovely uplifting story.
Excellent!
Thanks, Scott. It’s much appreciated. How are things with you?
janet
Good and Bad. That’s pretty normal, I guess. I am happy and things are getting done. I like that.
Hope you are doing well, too.
[…] If you’re new to Friday Fictioneers, hop to the bottom of the page * and find out what it’s all about. My 100-word story follows the picture and the blue link to the rest of the stories is after that. This week’s story, although it can, I think, stand on its own, turns out to be a continuation of last week’s story, but that’s all; a continuation, not the second in a series. Sandra’s picture just played too well into what I’d written such a short time ago and I succumbed to the urge to write it. In face, I couldn’t yank my mind/muse away from it so I gave in gracefully. If you want to read the previous story, you can find it here, but don’t feel you must: ” Harvest.” […]