Liquid Hope

Posted on by under fantasy, fiction, flash fiction

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Photo credit: weinstock (Pixabay public domain)

The rack of empty bottles mocked Perral.  All gone.  So quickly, too.

When the enemy fleet blocked imports from the north, he’d held a party. Boost everyone’s mood, he thought.  So flattering, who accepted – nobles who’d never graced his hall before.

When the food shortages prompted rationing, and bans on alcohol production? Cause for more galas!  Everyone came. They ate, drank, laughed.  The sophisticated, the powerful, the beautiful.  Even the infamous.  All here.

Now they avoided him on the street, half-smiling, making excuses.

Praying for the war’s end, Perral sipped the illegal homebrew. He winced. Eh, better than being alone.

Word count: 100.  Written for this week’s Friday Fictioneers‘ photo prompt challenge.  Thanks as always to Rochell Wisoff-Fields for hosting!  Click here to read other stories based on the original photo prompt (shown below).

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Photo © Ted Strutz

35 thoughts on “Liquid Hope”

    • Thank you Rochelle! Yes, he was happy to feel popular for a while. But now I think he regrets letting so many strangers drink up all his good spirits and eat his food. The war is going to feel a lot longer without them!

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  2. Eat., drink and be merry, for tomorrow we drink home brew 🙂 Hoping for better times for your convivial host. Certainly no true friends among all those people who happily drank his wine a while back. Great story on the perils of living the high life, Joy x

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  10. You can make some excellent homebrewed beer, and with a little luck some decent, house-wine quality, wine. (She knows what she’s talking about 😉 ). He just needs practice. I liked his defiance, poor bloke. A few real friends and he’ll be fine (as long as the shortages aren’t so bad that there’s nothing to brew left). I love the glimpse into this timeline.

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    • Thanks Gabi! Yes, in theory you can make good beer or wine at home — if you know what you’re doing, and if you can get ahold of the right ingredients, which are scarce in his situation. I wasn’t even thinking that Perral was making it himself, just that he’s had to lower himself to buying illegal swill instead of the “good stuff” he’s used to.

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    • I think Eneana is much like our own world that way. I’ve never personally lived in a place that was at war, but from all that I’ve read, most people spend most of the time trying to go about their daily business, as much as they can given the circumstances. And especially having celebrations and drinking and dancing and all of that, to help take your mind off all the problems and give you strength to face them the next day. Thanks for reading!

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  14. At least Perral knows how to deal with depressing news of forthcoming events. Unfortunately, his newly made friends were all false ones. I’m guessing he kept his home-made brew for himself. Perhaps just as well…
    An interesting character, Joy, and a well told story. (And I love your title, too.)

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    • Yes, he was a bit naive about his new “friends” and their motivations. Hopefully his bad homebrew is better than nothing at all, to face the upcoming troubles. Thanks for commenting, Millie, and for mentioning the title, too!

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