Hiroko stood for the longest time, lost in memories, as
her eyes took in the immaculately tidy cottage she’d once thought of as a
second home but had not seen in far too many years.
She’d been so excited living in a city so very
different than the small village of her youth, she’d not made time to return here
as often as she should have.
Now, the knowledge she would never again have the
chance to sit with Soba over a plate of ginger cakes and hot tea, listening
to the traditional folk tales filled her with overwhelming sorrow.
This story was written for the weekly Friday Fictioneers flash fiction challenge based on a photo by Raina Ng. Please follow the InLinkz click button below to view the other imaginative tales.
This kitchen has created a few sad tales...I am not sure I can look at it anymore....Anyway, I like how you speak in your natural voice but I am not big on "so very different than the small village of her youth"...outside that you have a natural writing ability...now go on and insult me on my blog!
ReplyDeleteI like it. I like the play of having someone named Soba, too. If they'd had a child, perhaps he would have been Udon. :-) I also like your title.
ReplyDeleteMy bad...I went off a Google search that Soba was the term for one's grandmother. LOL
ReplyDeleteSoba, which sounds like sob, sobbing, somber. works for me.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeffrey,
ReplyDeleteYou can't go home again, at least according to Thomas Wolfe. Regret is a powerful emotion, and you evoke it very well in this story. Ron
Dear Jeffrey,
ReplyDeleteYour story grows in sadness and somber power with each reading. A warning to us all not to forget where we came from.
Aloha,
Doug
Nicely nostalgic piece. Enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI liked this very much, and I hope Hiroko will enjoy tea and ginger cakes with her own offspring someday, and regale them with Soba's stories.
ReplyDeletePowerfully sad. http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/fridayfictioneers-the-empty-heart/
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed by the number of sad tales the picture of a kitchen inspired. You're is quite powerful and well written.
ReplyDeleteI know a Hiroko! But she would not neglect her soba and then regret it..well done!
ReplyDeleteA story deftly told. We all live with some regret unless we die when we're two. Good job.
ReplyDeleteOne cannot go home "again" without feeling some sadness, grief, loss, regret or pain. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad story. My grandma crept into my dreams last night. Strange.
ReplyDeleteMost people can relate to the sense of loss in your story as our busy lives leave so little time for simply visiting with our loved ones. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is the emptiness of the kitchen that has conjured up these sad tales. A good story evoking that regret.
ReplyDelete