Time for another entry in Friday Fictioneers challenge, courtesy of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. If you want to give it a try, check the info on her blog. 100 words more or less, inspired by a photo, here we go….
Copyright – Sandra Crook
May the 17th, 1325.
It is done. After so many years, it is hard to believe the last stone is in its place. I grew up and grew old building my church. Someday the whiteness of the walls will turn into different shades of gray and the roof tiles will lose their boldness.
But I hope the pointed arches and the ribbed vaults will survive and serve as mementos when my time is long forgotten.
I hope someone will stand here thousand years from now and think: They were capable of greatness, after all.
That would be enough.
Pierre de Chelles
Great story and, deep down, I suppose it’s what we all aspire to.
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Glad you liked it, thank you!
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Dear Loré,
You know I’m a sucker for historical fiction. Good job of research and writing.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I enjoyed writing this, I love to do the research. Thank you, Rochelle!
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Brilliant piece of research, culminating in a sensitive story that strikes a chord with many of us, something to mark that we were here. Well done.
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Thank you, Sandra. You gave as a very inspiring photo this week. 🙂
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I am glad that you stretched well Loré. I guess we took off on the same direction, but its a different aspect of Dijon that held my attention 🙂
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I loved it! 🙂 Thank you for your kind words.
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Interesting. I look at a church and wonder how many died or suffered to produce that?
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That is a great PoV. I enjoyed reading Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth, it tackles that exact subject.
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I like the idea of this which could so easily be true. The creater, the builder imagining us, and you, imagining him.
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Isn’t that amazing, looking into the future looking into the past. You caught my intentions, thank you so much!
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Great story. Funny that the photo took you to 13th/14th century France. It took me to a scene from the Three Musketeers!
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Thank you. As long as my imagination takes me on those crazy travels, I don’t care where I end up, 🙂
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Great story. Extra credits for all your research 🙂
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Thank you, I enjoyed the journey.
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Wonderful research and story. 🙂 Liked the letter style to the fiction too.
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Thank you, much appreciated.
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The stretching of the facts to your story worked fabulously well Lore. 🙂
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Glad you liked it, thank you.
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Good thing you stretched and stretched…because the story turned out very well!
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Thank you!
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That’s so true! They were indeed capable of greatness. Glad you stretched it 🙂
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Thank you!
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I think he got what he wished for 🙂
Beautiful building and beautifully written story!
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Thank you, Cheryl!
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I like the research you did and gave us the story of the building – great stuff.
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It seems it was worth it. Thank you, Sally!
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And people will stand ,state and admire the architecture and exclaim the greatness of the creators/builders of the impressive building.
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Indeed they will.
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And that’s exactly what happens, we stare and marvel at the faith and dedication of these builders who worked such wonders that last through the times. Wonderful story.
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Yes, we do admire their dedication and hopefully so many sacrifices ordinary people had to suffer for such buildings to come to life. Thank you.
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Historic architecture always brings the creators of it to mind. You showcased that perfectly in your writing of this story. Excellent take on the prompt. Well done …. !!!!! 😊
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That is very kind, thank you!
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Love your stretch! Old buildings do that, don’t they? Get our imagination going on the whos and whats that went into its construction. Loved this.
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When visiting old buildings, I always wander who was standing there before me. Glad you liked it. 🙂
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Amazing the inspiration that a photograph can instill. Wonderful that you did all that research for a 100 word story, well told!
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Thank you, much appreciated.
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A lovely legacy for him. And we do visit old buildings and wonder at the expertise of the architects and constructors so long ago.
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Yes we do. Tnx!
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It’s difficult for us to fathom the centuries of building that went into the cathedrals of Europe, isn’t it? Here, a four-bedroom house will go up in a fortnight, causing me no small concern over the structural soundness of the dwelling. Besides that, I think it does cheapen our appreciation.
All my best,
MG
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Thank you, I couldn’t agree more.
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Fascinating take on the prompt and I love how you have the architect writing about it. But is it Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon? My googling skills had led me to believe that it is Hotel de Vogue of Dijon, a mansion of the seventeenth century, built in the French Renaissance (http://tinyurl.com/p9erqsw). Either way it does not matter as your story captured the spirit of the builder so well.
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You are right, I never saw the roof windows on any church. 🙂 Glad you liked the story, thank you!
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well done Lore! the longing for greatness though names be lost and monuments shrouded in mystery!
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Thank you, Cybele. I think if we’re honest we all long to be remembered when everything we ever knew is forgotten.
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You captured the longing for something to last beyond one single lifetime. Well told.
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Your words are so kind, thank you.
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