PHOTO PROMPT © Jan Wayne Fields
He stood gazing across the land that unrolled to the far mountains. His long black hair, secured by the band around his head, blew in the gentle breeze that tugged and pulled at him. He inhaled slowly, savoring the scents that rose from the ground, the underbrush, the trees.
In his mind, he replayed the stories of his ancestors as they lived and died in this same land. So much joy, so much pain, so much lying, so much death.
A single tear tracked his lined cheek.
Time to go home. Back to the reservation.
(I hope you won’t mind if I leave Zing and Zang waiting in the sidelines now and then. This picture was so evocative, partly because of a book I’m reading, that the story insisted on being written. Zing and Zang, with Zinnia, will return when the photo prompt doesn’t take my heart and mind in a totally different direction.)
Just Writing! 
Dear Linda,
Stunningly beautiful and emotionally evocative.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you.
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That is a beautiful write.
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Thank you!
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Such vast space would have been his heritage — but now he’s confined to a small plot of ground. One can definitely feel his sense of loss in this tale.
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That’s a testament to the power of the photo that you left Zing and Zang today. You did the prompt proud
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Thank you, Neil.
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I don’t think Zing or Zang would frolic well here. Let them rest.
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The tragedy of your lovely piece is that this has happened all over the world.
Isn’t civilisation wonderful?
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Yes, you’re right. History is the record of man’s inhumanity toward man. One tribe or clan or nation has been pushing another off the land they claim for as long as clans and tribes and nations have existed.
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Thank you for that lovely story, Linda. The treatment of indigenous peoples by Europeans was shameful. Your unnamed main character stands for all the dispossessed and exiled in their longing for their homeland. Your use of description to heighten the emotional impact is super.
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Thanks, Penny. I appreciate it. I think you could have trqansposed this story to just about any place on earth.
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Very nice! Paints a real picture.
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Wonderful evocative writing, I got a real sense of all that had been lost and destroyed.
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Well done, Linda. Seeing what civilization has done to nature brings a tear to my eye too.
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Thank you, russell.
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You painted an image that resonates with me, and I suspect many others.
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Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
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That was such a beautiful tale Granonine, and so sensitively told.
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Thank you so much .
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Beautiful Linda. The single tear said so much. I don’t think many new settlers anywhere treated the indigenous people well. You’ve captured it well.
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Thank you, Irene.
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Beautifully written. The tear on his lined cheek – so affecting.
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Thanks, Jilly.
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Man’s inhumanity to man is only equally by man’s inhumanity to absolutely everything.
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Sad and beautiful tale about one of the worse travesties in American history.
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I don’t have words to say how much I like every aspect of this story. I think that’s the best one I’ve read from you yet.
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Thank you so much. When I consider how little time I spent thinking and writing, that’s really amazing–but this picture wrote its own story for me 🙂
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This was absolutely divine, Linda… (and no, we’re good with a break from Z, Z and Z from Z once in a while 😉 )
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Thanks, Dale.
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i could feel his pain. it must be really tough to be in his situation.
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Thanks so much for reading and commenting.
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Very well written. Brings out the pain and loss well. I wish he gets back what he lost…..
https://trailbrooklane.blogspot.in/2018/04/the-overview.html
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Not likely, though, is it.
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Such a lovely story, I felt I was there during the first paragraph.
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Thank you. Best compliment any writer could get.
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Ohhhh, Gran… AHO! MIIGWETCHE! Thank you! Such a beautiful tale. I can picture my Bro standing there doing just as you described. I have seen him stand on the hills here and I have watched him weep… I have stood with him, wept with him. I shall keep this story you’ve written in my heart for a very very long time, right beside his memory.. 🙂 ❤
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Jelli, it makes my heart happy to have touched your heart. Thank you.
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Poetic. Just poetic.
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Really beautiful job.
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Thank you, lisa.
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Dear Granonine, I can see an Indian warrior in my mind with a tear rolling down his cheek. Well written and picturesque! Nice!
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Exactly. Thank you.
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Such a beautiful story. The pull of his ancestry is so strong and to be welcomed it seems. A great home-coming/ going story.
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thank you, Sarah 🙂
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A reminder of ancient people and their ways.
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Extremely evocatively written. The reservations were a crime against a whole nation. It’s very sad.
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Beautifully done. The history of an entire race can be read between the lines.
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Thank you so much. Exactly what I was trying to do 🙂
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Deeply evocative and heart touching – wonderfully done.
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Thanks, Dahlia.
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Very emotive, felt it to the pit of my stomach, I was back there with him.
Wonderfully written 🙂
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Thank you so much.
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This is so filled with sorrow… made me think of the trail of tears… the movements from reservation to reservation. History for sure can show the worst in humans.
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Thank you. I, too, thought of the Trail of Tears, as well as Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, among others.
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Beautifully written, Linda. I live in Oklahoma where the Native American culture lives on, at least in art. The tribes were treated terribly and many still live on the verge of poverty. It’s inconceivable the horrors we inflict on our fellow humans.
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Thanks, Susan. You are correct.
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You’ve captured the scene and its multiple senses perfectly, and then brought real sadness into the mix too. Nicely done.
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Thank you so much.
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What a powerful, poignant story. Your beautifully descriptive writing brought him to life.
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Thanks so much.
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You’re welcome.
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Personally I love to read a different side of you from time to time, this of course being one of them.
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Thanks, Dawn. I need to step away from Zing and Zang sometimes, although I always enjoy it when a prompt gives me a new idea for them 🙂
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Very tragic slice of life, so beautifully told Linda. I hope one day they can emerge from the reservations and take their rightful place in society. Or maybe that is not such a good idea.
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It is my understanding that many of them choose to stay with their families rather than moving into “main stream” society. I could be misinformed, not sure.
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