At The Bottom Of a Well

Brad MacDuff
Author: Brad MacDuff
Word Count: 147
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At The Bottom Of a Well

Self explanatory.

At The Bottom Of a Well belongs to the following groups:

All Out Emotion, All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical, Art Inspired by Dreams, Creative, Talented, and Unknown, Flash Fiction, Freedom to Shine, Live, Love, Dream: , Up & Coming Writers and WMG

He finds himself at the bottom of a well. Not that he’s fallen in – his was a slow descent. The walls are tight and the air is close. He knows he built these walls, dug himself into this pit, but that knowledge is no help. He wishes for ignorance, to be blind again. But she tilted his head, showed him the breeze and the sun he’d forgotten for so long. Showed him that what he’d thought was contentment was merely existence in the damp belly of the earth. Then she’d left. The sky above became a pinprick, a memory – one that torments him with the sight of what might have been.

There is only one direction remaining – he begins to climb. One hand after the other, he will continue to climb, until she is the pinprick at the bottom of a bucket of stars.

  • lianne

    lianne

    It’s such a difficult climb too – the walls are slick with damp and mold. Perhaps we can send down a rope for each other! “He knows he built these walls, dug himself into this pit, but that knowledge is no help.” No, the knowledge is no help – for even knowing that we were willing participants in our own entombment doesn’t alleviate the pain – in fact, sometimes it makes it worse. And we each climb at our own pace!

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    I’d love to send you a rope! It won’t do a lot of good if we’re both in the same well, but at least we can play cat’s cradle. How about I give you a boost and you tell me what’s up there?

  • lianne

    lianne

    Lol – I’ve occasionally managed a glimpse over the edge before slipping back in but the view is pretty spectacular if I recall. Let’s hope our wells are side by side so if I throw a rope – or vice versa – we still have the leverage to enable the other to get to the top!

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Done, I’ll haul you up first, then together we’ll drag Butch up.

  • butchart

    butchart

    my god… talk about the modern day 3 musketeers… we are quite the crew aren’t we…............b

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Pretty close, but my French is almost as bad as my Chinese… I don’t know how much of a musketeer I am.

  • lianne

    lianne

    Deal!!!!

  • butchart

    butchart

    hows your spanish…. the tres amigos…....... my “dust” well was getting lonely…. what’s that old saying???

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    I’m not sure what saying you’re referencing… as soon as you mentioned the Three Amigos I had a flashback

  • butchart

    butchart

    ha…........ misery loves company

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Ahhhh… true indeed.
    I don’t know if I can forgive you for reminding me of that movie though… I thought I’d share that bit of misery too…

  • butchart

    butchart

    my most sincere apologies….....

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Alright, you’re forgiven… even for making me think of Martin Short.

  • PJ Ryan

    PJ Ryan

    it’s nice to sit at the bottom of a well sometimes … it makes the air and light above so much more precious …

    xx

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Very true. But it’s also easy to forget it’s all up there.

  • here goes

    here goes

    brilliant writing brad….well done!

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Thanks for reading, commenting, and favoriting! I appreciate it, and it’s always nice to see a new face (new for me anyway).

  • here goes

    here goes

    my pleasure…knowing the darkness always makes us appreciate the light that much more

  • melodious

    melodious

    wow, this is remarkable writing, so wonderful to read!

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Thank you so much Mel. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

  • Holly Ringland

    Holly Ringland

    oh boy. these words of yours… they had me turning this way and that way, trying to see the right way up… the darkness… the stars. you write beautifully brad.

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Thank you Holly. Are you sure it’s not the lack of sleep that’s making upside down and downside up?

  • Holly Ringland

    Holly Ringland

    oh yes, well-slept, sane writer… pick on the freak trying to write a novel! ha. sleep-deprived or not, i still love this piece.

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    I never claimed to be well slept or sane… just sane enough to watch you crazies pound away for 30 days! How is it coming? Oh, and thank you again.

  • MariahS

    MariahS

    I love this :)

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Thank you ; )

  • sleepyeyedrar

    sleepyeyedrar

    The bottom of the well, is lonely, cold, and the silence screams ~ Once liberated from such a prison it’s existence is only in dreams.

    Nice work Brad!

  • Brad MacDuff replied

    Thanks Sleepy. You’re familiar with the place then?

  • mistletoes

    mistletoes

    Very deep, very thought-provoking…thank you Brad.

  • KEITH  R. WILLIAMS

    KEITH R. WILL...

    THOUGHT PROKING PEICE I LIKE IT

  • lolowe

    lolowe

    Wow, short and yet so incredibly powerful.

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Tags:

pit, stars and well