Blossom True

Posted on by under fantasy, fiction, flash fiction

fallen-sonny-abesamis-flickr

Photo credit: Sonny Abesamis

When Jayanta Illiq married Jarissa, it ended generations of war between their peoples.

At the wedding, she gave him a rare orchid.  So pure was her love that it never stopped blooming.  Soon, both lands were filled with them — Jarissa flowers, ever-loves, miracles-of-peace.  For years, everyone thrived.

But Illiq came to believe that peace and love were owed him, not earned.  One day Jarissa disagreed with him, and he struck her, hard.  Her face fell.

The petals of a thousand orchids drifted to the ground from withered stems.

By morning, the war resumed, this time lasting until none survived.

Word count: 100.  Written for this week’s Friday Fictioneers challenge.  Big thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting and for Roger Bultot for providing the original photo prompt, below.

To clarify for new readers: “jayanta” is a title for a ruler in Layor.

ff-roger-bultot-flower

Photo © Roger Bultot

59 thoughts on “Blossom True”

      • It helps me narrow down which flash fiction challenges I can do in any given week, since some photos just don’t translate well into an obvious Eneana-friendly image. I’ve learned to find the photo I’ll use *first*. The most frustrating thing is writing the story based on a certain part of the original image and then not being able to find a free photo that portrays that.

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      • I limit myself by only responding to those pictures that give me a clear idea or inspiration. But I do agree, there are too many out there to try to do them all.

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      • My “problem” is that I can get inspiration from just about anything — it’s more a matter of whether I can find a photo of the Eneana-version of the object in the original photo. That and whether I can write it in time given my work schedule. I find that if I don’t post a story to the challenge page within 24 hours, it has a much lower chance of being clicked on.

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    • Thanks Iain! Royal marriages have often been used that way, to cement truces. This one was unusual because they actually loved one another. In the original conception (oh, if I only had 200 words!) it was more clear that Jarissa was the first-daughter of the opposing jayanta and was much beloved by her people, and that their obvious affinity for each other helped bridge the animosity between the two groups.

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    • Thanks Sandra, glad you enjoyed it! As with all the legends I write about Eneana, I’m not revealing which parts really happened and which might have been made up by bards to make the tale sound better. 😉

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    • Yes indeed, and aren’t all relationships flawed in some way? It seemed like enough people in the two lands must have still been seething with resentment, to jump back into war so quickly. But then, what a dramatic moment that would be, that all these beautiful flowers — the ones that represent peace for your country — suddenly all drop their petals at once. I can see how that would set off the powder keg!

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  9. I needed wanted to find a positive spin on the outcome, but your last two words stopped me dead for a while. Then I thought what if Jayanta foresaw this as a possible outcome and used some type of statergy to deflect the outcome from occurring.🙂

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    • Sorry, no positive spin this time. It’s a classic fable — if you’re given a wonderful gift and don’t properly appreciate it because of greed, vanity, etc., you lose the gift and even more. The jayanta had his chance, and he blew it. 😦

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    • I agree — but in fairy tales they either turn out to be great or to be horrible, right? In the longer version I had in my head, there was more lead-up to this, where he was starting to feel entitled and jerky, and when she was pleading with him to show mercy to one of her countrymen who she said was wrongfully accused, he got all upset for her disagreeing with him in public and that’s the final straw for him. But wow, he sure did pay for it… Thanks for reading Dale!

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  16. Oh, wow, that was a good one. What an engaging write. This is something to keep and share for the next generations. So many things can be read into this in so many ways. It is one of those timeless tales. Can you tell I really liked this one? Hehehe. 🙂 ❤

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  18. That’s so sad, I guess there is danger in receiving exactly what one desires. So sad he hit her and probably continued to, that everyone died for his arrogance. Lovely write!

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  20. It’s funny how being freely given respect, honour, love – or whatever – can often come to be taken for granted. In Illiq’s case, he has become petulant and full of self-importance and uncaring for anyone but himself. His behaviour causes him to lose everything that was once so important in his life. My sympathies are with Jarissa. 🙂

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    • Yes, you’ve nailed it exactly, Millie. If only it were the case that in the real world, people who acted so entitled and mistreated others got their comeuppance like they do in fables. Although I agree with you about poor Jarissa — unfortunately Illiq took everyone in both countries down with him.

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  22. Beautifully done! I felt I was there and want to read more!
    I found your blog on FF and look forward to exploring it further in the coming days.
    Hope you can stop by mine also. 🙂
    – Lisa

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    • Interesting, i hadn’t linked this one to current events, but bad things happening, yes I can see that. I don’t normally write about real-life politics, but it’s funny you mention it, because I did so in the story before this one, Water Way. Now that is definitely happening right now, right at my local airport. Thanks for reading Jane!

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