Photo credit: Tony Oxborrow
Tallen stumbled, weak from walking. Some adventure this had turned out to be. His coin had run out weeks ago, and the few Pyanni who’d hire a raggedy-looking foreigner paid little.
He’d hoped to find a welcoming-house here, in the city’s foreign quarter, but wandered in vain.
Finally, Tallen turned a corner and saw it. The traditional round door. The paint was faded and chipped, but the street in front was well swept.
Inside, someone sang cheerfully to a lute, people laughed, dishes clanked.
He brushed the dirt from his clothes. Straightening himself as tall as he could, he knocked.
A crack appeared, and a silhouette.
Tallen raised his palm in the sign of greeting and bowed, touching his forehead.
The door opened wide. The woman was tall, red-skinned, in northerner garb. A Pyanni. He stepped back. He would have to keep looking.
She smiled. “Hello, my friend.”
As he choked back a sob, she pulled gently on his sleeve.
“We’re so glad to see you. Come in, please. Are you hungry? We have soup.”
Inspired by this week’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge — thanks to Priceless Joy for hosting! See the original photo prompt below, and click here to read the other stories and to submit one of your own.
Photo credit: Uday
He almost lost faith.
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I’m not sure he had much faith in these strange Pyanni people up to this point — but hopefully he has a more positive view now!
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I was wondering why he thought he would have to keep looking when the Pyanni woman opened the door to her home. It’s great that she was so welcoming to him – he certainly needed that at this point in his life! Great story, Joy!!
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Glad you liked it, Joy! In the first part, it says that he’s a foreigner who’s been traveling in Pyann, and is poor and raggedy looking, and has not has good experiences trying to find work with the local Pyanni. So when he sees that the Welcoming House is run by a local instead of by a foreigner like him, he assumes that she will not be kind to him. But she is.
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Oh, I see! Thank you for explaining!
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I’m sorry that it wasn’t clear to begin with, my bad! Sometimes it is hard to squeeze so much in with flash fiction, but it is interesting to try.
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What I love about all your stories is that you offer little glimpses into this world you built. Love the idea of the welcoming-house, and how you make him confront his prejudices. Great stuff 🙂
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Thanks Sonya! There are definitely prejudices on both sides of this particular cultural/racial divide, but offering help in time of need hopefully is one way to chip away at them.
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Emotionally spot on. The smallest, unexpected kindness when we are feeling everyone and everything is against us can be as moving as any deeply held devotion.
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Thank you, so glad you thought so! Yes, when you’re at your lowest, what could be more moving than an unreserved welcome and offer of help, especially from a stranger?
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So nice. Tallen found a welcoming place. Perhaps, a place he can work in or for and call home. Love this world you created. You’ve done it in so much detail.
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Thanks, glad you enjoy it! I think the Welcoming Houses are only for feeding and sheltering those in need, but at least he’ll be able to rest and relax a bit before heading back to his home country,
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Yes for sure, sounds like in his circumstances and time, travelling was difficult .
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I love the welcoming – it is heartwarming. Definitely what is needed today 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by! And yes, I agree that we all could use a little more welcoming kindness. 🙂
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🙂
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This is such a nice story. What a lovely welcome! After that, things can only get better for Tallen, I hope 🙂
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Thanks Sammi! I hope things work out better for Tallen, too — maybe a little less adventuring and a little more planning ahead next time!
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I’m so glad he managed to find someone willing to look past him being a raggedy-looking foreigner! Hopefully he’ll manage to find more non-prejudiced Pyanni. A very enjoyable read, Joy. 🙂
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Thanks so much Lou! Yeah, the prejudices against the “other” can run high in these parts of Eneana, on both sides. And being raggedy and poor doesn’t help. But hopefully there’s always a Welcoming around the corner. 🙂
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This is a lovely story! Delighted to read it!
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Thanks for reading and commenting – glad you enjoyed it!
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My pleasure!
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The main message I get from your story, Joy’ is that there are good and bad, kind and harsh people in all ‘races’. And I liked the way that message came through in Tallen’s story. After being turned away by so many Pyanni, eventually he found one, kind and helpful … and welcoming.
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Yes exactly, Millie — plenty of goodwill and badwill on both sides of any fence. In this case, I think most readers immediately side with Tallen, but try thinking of it from the locals’ perspective. They don’t have to be such bad people to not go out of their way to help this traveler. Imagine some young foreign man shows up, a stranger, he looks poor and bedraggled, you don’t know if he’s dangerous, maybe he’s trying to trick you, steal from you. He asks you if he can work for a little coin — but if you have any work that needs doing, you’re probably already paying someone you know to do it, someone local that you can trust. What kind of “extra” work and extra coin does this stranger expect you to come up with? So the fact that he says the local Pyanni pay “little” at least indicates that some of them are hiring him and paying him *something*. And for all we know, Tallen isn’t the first guy who’s asked this week, or even this morning! So to him, these locals seem awfully unfriendly, but to them it could be totally different.
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I agree. We should never jump to conclusions before we know all the facts.Your story definitely worked for me. 🙂
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It is a lovey story with a deft touch of mysticism.
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Thank you! I’m trying to get little touches of the world out in these bite-sized stories. 😉
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Well told… and ending with a possibility of hope. Enjoyed!
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Glad you thought so Roger, and glad you enjoyed it – thanks for commenting!
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A warm welcome for Tallen. I know he will have good things to see behind that door.
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Yes, he will be much happier tonight than he has been recently! Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Jacqueline.
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My pleasure Joy.
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Ah. Speak friend and enter!
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Yes, exactly! Tallen apparently knew the right thing to say/do. 🙂
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