PHOTO PROMPT © Fatima Fakier Deria
He was born in a tiny room that faced the canal. He grew up with the smell of the rancid water as a normal part of his life. No one ever went swimming in the canal, or dipped a cup into the oil-scummed surface to take a drink. It was for transport, nothing else. Everything got dumped into the canal–sewage, food garbage, dead pets, and the occasional human body.
He was helping on a canal boat by the time he was three. It was his whole life. His wife and children would do the same.
Just Writing! 
Maybe he was happy?
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Content, would be my guess.
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Dear Linda,
And the circles they go round and round. It sounds like he might feel somewhat trapped. Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Strangely, I read this and thought – that sounds like quite an attractive life. I’m sure I’m romanticizing it!
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Maybe. I do believe, though, that we can choose to be happy.
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Well done, Linda. You’ve captured that sense where people are born into a place in society and it’s where they belong in a way which isn’t negative or stifling and as I said, I think there’s contentment there. A sense that he is content going with the flow and has no need to conquer the world. He is happy where he is.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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Thanks Rowena. Appreciate your insight.
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A very real world for some — and even better than some others have it. Coal miners for instance. We in our world, in our day and age, are floating in the cream of the good life!
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Yes, we are, for sure.
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Interesting you should say that about coal miners. My grandfather was a coal miner in South Wales just after WW1. He was very proud of the job, because it affirmed his masculinity and gave him a respected role in his society.
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Such boats were passed from generation to generation. It wasn’t just a way of life, it was life itself.
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Yes. We live relatively close to a part of the Erie Canal. Museum, boat rides, etc. Most interesting.
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Lucky you! I adore canal holidays but live may miles from my nearest one.
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Wait. His wife would also work the canal?
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Yep. Along with her regular household chores 🙂
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A narrow life to be sure. You conjure up the inevitability very well, Linda. And I guess it’s that inevitability that sticks in the craw. He may have been happy, but if he wasn’t happy there was precious little he could do to change things.
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All too true.
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He does sound resigned to his fate. My question is, are his wife and children?
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Time will tell, with the kids. One can assume that his wife knew what she was getting into.
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When one only knows a certain way of life it may seem natural to continue in it; although, he does seem to want more. A very nices read, Linda.
Isadora 😎
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Thank you 🙂
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This is the world he knows. I imagine he could find a level of contentment… (when you don’t know better, you don’t always want better…)
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Exactly.
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You can only hope, for his childrens’ sake, that the circle might get broken at some point. Nicely done.
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Thanks, Sandra.
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As long as he was content with this existence, I guess it’s fine.
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An interesting scene you paint for us this week. Does the canal imprison him, or does it give him life…an interesting perspective and something to think about in one. Really enjoyed reading this one.
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Thanks, Jelli. Sometimes we just have to take life as it is.
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Well expressed. This is true around the world…
Do hope such dumping and disrespect to our water-bodies get stopped.
When will humans widen their horizon?
I Spy You – Anita
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This is so right! When people are born near water it becomes part of them, from cradle to grave. Great story with some lovely phrasing
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Thanks, Lynn.
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My pleasure
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Grow where you’re planted. Isn’t that how the saying goes?
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I thinks it’s “bloom” but maybe not. Anyway, the meaning is clear.
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when the right time comes, we evolve. the chain will be broken as it has always been.
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Such a great take on the prompt Linda. You perfectly captured the circle of life going round and round..
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Thanks 🙂
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Love the positive turn around. You painted a picture of something to escape rather than something that is his life’s blood. Really good.
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Thank you, Sarah.
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Sometimes there’s comfort in knowing you will do what your father did and his father and his. Caring on a life of expectation and supporting your wife (although this wife seems to be working overtime what with kids and a house to run). There’s a rhythmic peace in your story. Well done.
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Thanks, Alicia.
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You’ve taken a fascinating angle on this. We grow up accepting our conditions as normal and satisfactory, even if that does mean living amongst sewage and pollution. It’s hard to clean the place up if you’re changing people’s heritage
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Thanks, Michael. Good observations.
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An interesting take and I like it. I like how you leave it to the reader to put their own perceptions in rather than guiding us.
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Thanks. It’s a fun way to write these very short stories 🙂
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Some amazing descriptions here Linda and the life of many – some of which are perhaps in palatial bungalows. Loved it!
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Thanks, Dahlia.
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You painted a vivid picture of a family living and working along the canal and generations to come. Lovely tale! =)
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Thank you,Brenda 🙂
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I find this inspiring, the way he is content with his lot in life. Wonderful story!
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Thank you 🙂
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My sister lives on an island farm surrounded by canals. One of her jobs is to daily check the canal around the sheep and horse islands to make sure animals have not fallen in and drowned.
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My mom grew up where there were irrigation canals. SHE nearly drowned in one! She never would go near water after that.
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It can be scary especially when the wind picks up!
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