Holding the Bridge
I stood on the bridge in my new uniform, picking at the hat’s tight elastic under my chin.
“It’ll stretch out soon,” my boss said. “Remember, no one comes over this bridge.”
It was a cushy job at that forgotten back entrance to the resort.
Until the famine came and desperate people came begging.
I stood and watched as people pleaded, cursed, then died.
I stood and watched as they choked the river with sticks and garbage and clambered across.
When the boss reached the bridge amid the chaos, all he found was a bridge attendant’s hat, the elastic snapped.
December 10th, 2014 at 11:19 am
And he thought it would be a cushy job. You can’t underestimate mother nature. Nice way to end it with the snapping elastic.
December 10th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
Thanks, Amy. 🙂
December 10th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
David,
Good story this week. A cushy job turned tragic when those shut out become desperate–I fear this has been mirrored frequently in recent events. Wise is the one who hearing understands and understanding changes her ways.
All my best,
Marie Gail
December 10th, 2014 at 2:48 pm
Thanks, MG. It was a cushy job until it wasn’t. I left this story with a vague ending intentionally, to see how others would interpret it. My thoughts were different, but then, I think I needed more than 100 words to get it all in. 🙂
December 10th, 2014 at 4:42 pm
The varying conclusions of readers is part of the fun with writing 100-word stories. If we want all our readers to come to the same conclusions, we would be writing long, boring novels instead.
Cheers!
MG
December 10th, 2014 at 2:12 pm
wow, poor girl!
December 10th, 2014 at 3:14 pm
Sounds like it was a little much for one man. What got him in the end? The desperate or his conscience?
December 11th, 2014 at 12:23 am
Another dark tale from towerkeeper! 😉
hang the puppet! this is how society works too often, sometimes the puppets push their luck too much.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:14 am
Well the boss was right in a way. This has quite menacing overtones to it, the idea of people building a raft of rubbish. Well done.
December 11th, 2014 at 3:26 am
Dear David,
This was very reminiscent of Leiningen vs. the Ants by Carl Stephenson. http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lvta.html It’s a great read and short so I included the link. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed your story.
Aloha,
Doug
December 11th, 2014 at 3:26 am
Dear David,
I wonder if in their frenzy, the people killed and ate the guard or just killed him and buried him beneath the debris? Well done right down to the snapped elastic.
Shalom,
Rochelle
December 11th, 2014 at 10:03 am
Wow! This is a great take on the prompt. Sets a little panic in the heart.
December 11th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
I think that there are days when abandoning your post is the morally correct thing to do.. Love the detail with the rubber cord
December 11th, 2014 at 2:18 pm
Makes you wonder how heavily guarded the resorts in Haiti and other disaster-stricken or war-torn parts of the world. Loved the ending of your story–you brought it full circle.
December 11th, 2014 at 7:00 pm
Thanks, Jan. I haven’t been to any myself, but I’ve heard they are guarded and don’t let any of the locals in.
December 11th, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Excellent.
AnElephant loves it.
December 11th, 2014 at 7:00 pm
Thank, Elephant. 🙂
December 14th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
You have left the ending open! I’d like to think the guard abandoned his/her post and let the people in. This is a great idea. I really enjoyed it.
December 14th, 2014 at 11:09 pm
Actually, that was what I had in mind when I wrote it but since I had to fit it in 100 words, most people thought he died. It is interesting to see how people interpret things differently.
December 15th, 2014 at 2:31 pm
Such and imaginative story – tragic for all concerned, but where there’s a will… Really well done.
December 15th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
Thanks, Sarah. It is a tragic situation.
December 16th, 2014 at 2:14 am
David, I prefer to think the guard just left his hat behind when he decided the job wasn’t for him. His conscience got its way. Good story and well written. — Susan
December 16th, 2014 at 4:46 pm
That’s actually how I envisioned the story when I wrote it. 🙂
December 16th, 2014 at 11:45 pm
Dear David, I agree with Suzanne (above). I think he left his hat and decided the job and his conscience didn’t go together. Very well written and I love the rubber snapping! Nan 🙂
December 17th, 2014 at 10:11 am
You got it right on, Nan. Actually, yesterday I posted a slightly longer version that explains the situation much better.
December 17th, 2014 at 10:26 am
[…] how a story can change when seen through the window of a hundred words? Last week’s story, Holding the Bridge generated a lot of interesting ideas about what had happened to the guard on the bridge, which fit […]
December 17th, 2014 at 11:47 pm
Man, I’m sorry I missed this one last week. Very well written!
Cheers
KT
December 19th, 2014 at 4:08 am
Ooof. Pit of the stomach stuff, this. Really clever structure helping you miniature the story. Being locked in am,ber is not the way I would wish to spend my eternity. Bravo.
January 6th, 2015 at 4:25 pm
Wow, I had to read it twice, well done. Snappy, no pun intended.
January 6th, 2015 at 10:34 pm
Thanks. Yes, quite snappy. 🙂