“Rose Biodo, Philadelphia, 10 years old. Working 3 summers, minds baby and carries berries, two pecks at a time.” Photo by Lewis Hine, National Archives public domain.
This week’s challenge? A 150 word story (+/- 10 words) springing forth from the photo prompt and containing some thing about friendship.
The Two Baskets (A Parable)
- WEGoss2
Feeling the warmth of the earth
on her bare feet, Sophie collects the things that will be needed for gifts. She
carries baskets from Father finding each item with innocent wisdom.
She gathers two baskets. Her
fingers become stained as she selects the human and divine; her tongue already
stained by both.
The fall is sudden and the
baskets spill, mixing the fruits of creation and exposing each ones gratuitous
offerings. Blowing on stinging knees, Sophie sees in this chaotic mixture an intrinsic
greatness.
The confusion of the spill is
gathered, along with a little soil of mortal life, and placed back into the
baskets. Bringing the two baskets to Father, she smiles at the promise of gifts
in multitudinous interpretations.
He makes many gifts, some sweet-tart,
with the texture of conflict and agitation. Others are sweet and smooth. Sophie
is not to feed the babies she cares for too much; they are still young. Sophie then admires the Father’s ultimate gift, the friendship
of the human and divine breathed upon the Rose.
Want to read the other marvelously inventive entries? Head on over to Flash Friday Fiction and check them out – or enter your own!
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