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13.10.16

TIP SLIP - historical fiction in 100 words

TIP SLIP

These lights? They're for Maureen - she was afraid of the dark. I can hear her now; ‘Leave the light, Mammy.’ She couldn’t sleep without.

She waved from the corner that morning, like always. I’d just sat down with a fresh cuppa when the whole bloody tip slid down over the school like lava. 
It took them two days to dig Maureen out. Tore my heart to shreds – my babby who was so frightened of the dark lying in that black slurry

Fifty years she’s been up by there in the cemetery with the other kiddies, and I still keep a light burning for her.


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This week's photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers linked instantly in my mind with the 50th anniversary of the dreadful tragedy in Aberfan, Wales, when a mine spoil tip slid down after heavy rain and buried an entire school full of children.
Thanks to Rochelle for posting her photograph on https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/  from where you can follow a link to read other stories. 
You can read about Aberfan here: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster

25 comments:

  1. Oh God. I couldn't see the second image when I began reading and then I realised. That was heart-breaking to read. Utterly heart-breaking.

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    1. Watching that programme last night had me in tears.

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  2. I agree with Helen - heartbreaking.

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  3. Your words made me think about the terrible tragedy that befell the village of Aberfan.
    Shocking, and truly tragic.
    Thank you for sharing.

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    1. It's still impossible to imagine the loss of one child, let alone over a hundred.

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  4. What a heartbreaking true story. I feel for those poor families.

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    1. The entire country watched the news for days in horror.

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  5. What a sad story retold, I had never heard it, and the second image says it all.

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    1. Almost all the village's children died in one minute - appalling tragedy.

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  6. Dear Liz,

    What a horrible tragedy. You depicted it well with the mother's keeping the light on for her.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Any parent cannot learn of this tragedy without heartache.

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  7. A mining tragedy ...... the wounds almost never heal.

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    Replies
    1. The pain softens in time but never truly goes.

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  8. Oh, Lizy - that was a beautiful tribute which brought tears to my eyes. I was just a child myself when it happened, but Aberfan was such an enormous tragedy no one who saw those black and white news images will ever forget it.

    Susan A Eames at
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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    1. I wasn't even a mother fifty years ago, but I wept with the rest of Britain.

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  9. Oh, what a great take on the prompt. And thanks for the wee bit of history.

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  10. Such a tragic tale. Heart breaking. Great take.

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  11. This is so well told, but what a tragedy. I hadn't heard of it before.

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    1. Fifty years ago such stories stayed in their country of origin - the whole of Britain was devastated.

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  12. Tragic then and tragic now. Thanks for commenting, Dahlia.

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  13. I've read about that. That was a horrendous tragedy. Good writing, Liz. ---- Suzanne

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