Crimson’s Creative Challenge #26
Jeff strained on tiptoes atop his post. But still no sign of his relief.
Do not leave your post, they drummed into him when first he enlisted. And his post was to guard this stretch of coast.
Bored, frustrated, he sighed. Not a sign of a boat, a ship or a plane since a fortnight after he came. Not since that awesome day the ground shook fit to break, and blackness fell from the sky. How long ago was that? The gorse and the bracken had sprouted and grown since then.
He looked again at the crumpled grease-stained paper. His orders. Perhaps he’d misunderstood, not able to hear since his return from the front. He ought to have told his C.O.
Mutton Jeff, that was him. Deaf.
Written from Crimson’s Creative Challenge #26
The photo was taken on from the beach just north of Lowestoft (at Lowestoft Ness, the most easterly point in Great Britain), where many of the defence installations remain from WWII.
crispina kemp 
I love the way you created the character and then added his physical defect as a definer. He was so much more, but never the less, deaf, says it all.. So well done.
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But it was because of his deafness that he hadn’t neard whatever was the devastation that ended the war … and probably most of the life on Earth.
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Oh boy! Have you ever told a huge story in few words.
Brilliant, Crispina.
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Tons of thanks, Dale. huge smiles.
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😀
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I found this rather telling, touching. Nice way to bring an old fort back to life!
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Not my normal style, but then the photo isn’t my usual, either. And when I took the photo it was with intent to capture the late summer/autumnal cast to the vegetation.
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Ah, I can see that now that you’ve said it.
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Needless to say, I used a different photo for *autumnal colours* 🙂
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A short and sweet tale indeed☺️
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I thank you. I thought I’d break with quite a long run of poems, and go for prose instead.
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And you made an amazing transition💖
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I thank you. I’ll probably be back to poems next week 🙂
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I really like how you wrote this! Very nice!
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I thank you, Susan. I confess, I did struggle a bit with this one. Which considering I’m the one who picks the photos might seem a bit weird 🙂
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Great story. 🙂 So much story in so few words. There’s certainly a poignancy to it…Poor Jeff…
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Thank you, Sammi. Guess my head went into overdrive. That’s when most said in least words happens.
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