Liam's grandfather had told him stories of life in Ireland, how farmers and their harnessed draft horses plowed land and brought in harvest. These images were so compelling that one day, Liam and wife Betty headed to the 'auld country themselves.
| Irish Travellers |
First few miles, Liam and Betty were filled with energy, singing every Irish song they knew, which were many. Over the hours, as energy seemed to drop and sag, they decided that left lane at the fork looked more promising and shorter to the pit stop where other renters would gather and sing more Irish songs.
Mud grabbed their wheels which locked the caravan stock still, while Billy quite happily grazed at lush green grass. Betty began to weep and Liam was dismayed, feeling betrayed by his grandfather's stories.
| This dog can track just about anything. |
Back at Caravan Travels, Liam doled over more pounds to rent a mobile trailer, hooked on the trailer hitch of his rental car, and drove off in a bright red shade of embarrassment.
Tourists. Dreamers.
The six italized words above are provided by River for the month of June. In July, another blogger will provide 6 - 12 words, and/or a sentence prompt, to capture other bloggers to leap from their genre, and take a hack at poetry, prose, flash fiction, or whatever thrills you. Post it in River's comment section, and/or link it back to your own site. We want to enjoy your writing!
Cool story! A list of random words is my favorite type of writing prompt.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Maybe you'll pop in at River's site and find the words as challenging as I do!
Delete@Carol; you'd be welcome, I'd like to see what you'd come up with.
DeleteI love the wagons. My idea of a gypsy wagon, I wonder if I could do the life
ReplyDeletefor very long as we've become too namby pamby.
You're right, we don't have that mind set. It is part of a culture that still exist.
DeleteEnjoyed your story. Many of our ancestors did deal with this sort of thing every day. They handed the strength and knowledge down to us in stories.
ReplyDeleteI love the name Liam.
Liam is the Irish name for William, and I love it as well.
DeleteTo think that my parents and yours found hitching up the horse to do farm work just amazes me.
Sure had more strength then I would. Like the comforts.
ReplyDelete...and the A/C, with all our other comforts. We don't think that way any more.
DeleteYeah, the good ol' days are best left in stories.
ReplyDeleteThe good 'ole days were not easy 'ole days.
DeleteGood job using those words!
ReplyDeleteI reckon we just aren't as tough as our ancestors were, but I hope we still have that same sense of adventure. (As long as there's air conditioning... it gets HOT here in Georgia!)
Definitely the sense of adventure! If required, we would toughen up and tackle our problems.
DeleteLove it. And I happily read about the 'good old days', but am too wimpy to live them. Running water and toilet facilities are my weakness. (My biggest weakness.)
ReplyDeleteThe first two years on the farm, we had the outhouse. One learns that indoor plumbing is a gift. I don't think of it as a weakness--just a requirement
DeleteSo sad Liam and Betty got stuck in the mud, the people who rented them the caravan should have warned them!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story! I remember being about seven years old and wanting to live in just such a caravan, travelling around. Now of course, I prefer the comforts of indoors with the TV, Aircon, hot shower and of course a handy toilet.
Travelling in a caravan is more pleasant to think about, and to actually do!
DeleteGetting stuck in the mud is never fun. Even 4-wheel drive has its limits.
ReplyDeletethis 4-wheel certainly did.
DeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteNot pleasant for Betty and Liam to get have their caravan stuck in the mud. It should of been realised as part of living an adventure of days gone by.
A nicely crafted story, Susan.
Gary
When Liam had an idealized dream of such a trip, he and betty had no practically in their tourist brains.
Deletethanks for stopping by, Gary! Is the Chevy doing well?
Ahhh...again proof the fortitude of the older generations has been bred out!
ReplyDeleteA good little tale. :)
We all begin a journey like that with confidence and bravado, not knowing the difficulties ahead. Whether it is a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, or an oil leak ten miles outside the nearest town, we believe in our ability to conquer it all. And, we do. So the adventurer within takes the chance!
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