Perspective
The prisoner requests Cadmium Red; the guards munch juicy apples.
The prisoner requests Manganeze Violet; the guards feast on grapes.
The guards never question strange occurrences, just keep each prisoner happy until firing squad time. This one asks for oil paints, “for practice”.
“Burnt Sienna, Emerald Green, Chrome Yellow, Cerulean Blue.” The day before execution, four requests.
When the guards enter his cell at dawn, they find a reddish-brown door opening into a lush meadow studded with flowers. The prisoner puts the last touches of blue on the cloud-ruffled sky, throws down his brush, and saunters away to freedom.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleWhat an intriguing idea Juma. I do hope that the prisoner was deserving of the chance of freedom! Nicely done.
Thanks so much, Carrie. The general outline of this story has been in my head for years, so I was thrilled to see this new prompt. By the way, the prisoner’s only crime was creating beauty under a corrupt government that mistrusted any form of art. A real-life example of this fictitious prisoner was the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. She was forbidden by Stalin to write any poetry, kept under house arrest… Read more »
Hi Juma, sometimes a story tells another story. I just loved the beauty in its simplicity, and at the same time you would have loved to have seen the expression on the guards faces, I chuckled to myself here. Wonderfully told in just 100 words.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you Eric. I love to think of you chuckling at the expression on the guard’s faces! Bless their hearts.
I loved all the descriptive colours in your story Juma and how the prisoner saunters off to freedom. Also the thought that rather than apples and grapes to enjoy, the guards are now left with egg on their face! Well written and memorable.
Oh Linda, thanks for picking up on the descriptive colors! Burnt Sienna was one of my favorite crayola colors as a child, so my color listing started with that one. I looked up the others and was enthralled with the color samples online. I would so love to paint. I laughed at your switch from the apples and grapes to the “egg on their face”. Your comments are as good as stories.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI love its simplicity. The use of words and colors that make the story more colorful and enjoyable is something amazing. I can’t imagine the expression of the guards faces after the prisoner escapes to freedom. I giggle after reading that part. Nicely done.
Thank you so much, Lotchie!
You are welcome.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleHi Juma,
You’ve given us a very good story. Excellent!
Thank you, DIpayan.
You’re welcome.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleYou got me searching for information about Anna Akhmatova, Juma, and reading a few of her poems. It’s interesting and scary at the same time. But my greatest takeaway with your wonderful story is symbolic; the freedom/imprisonment is ultimately decided in the mind. In our thoughts (and with our creations) we can choose our state of mind. I want to see the prisoner’s requests of colors as a his choice to stay… Read more »
I love your comment, Christer. As you so astutely surmised, the underlying premise of this story is that we create our own prisons, with our thoughts. I always imagined a prisoner beating on the three solid walls of a prison, while the fourth wall contained an open door which he didn’t even see in his panic. I’ve been thinking about this story for many years. Thanks so much for reading!
Juma, I did not know about Anna Akhmatova. I have learned something new today. Like Eric, I can just picture the guard’s astonished face. I’m glad your protagonist got away and was free once again. How beautiful that the thing he was locked up for was the same thing that helped him to freedom. Well done.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThanks for your comments, Marianna. I like your observation that the very thing he was locked up for proved to be his salvation. Another great truth.
Congratulations Juma. Great story with an interesting background to it. Well done.
Thank you, Carrie!
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleCongratulations, Juma. I love the specific colors named in your story, and the surprise ending.
Thank you, Julie!
Congratulations Juma, lovely touch of imagination in your story – Well done!
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleCongratulations, Juma! This story was captivating from beginning to end. Well done.
Your story was one of my favourites right from the start Juma. Congratulations, well deserved.
I love your story, especially at the end when you wrote ‘saunters away to freedom’. I also loved how you described the meadow as ‘studded with flowers’, it has amazing imagery.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleCongratulations on this win, Juma.