Photograph by Barbara Beacham ©

The Forever Reminder

The people waved at him from the bridge below. Over the years he had never forgotten. Hardwired to his memory – that particular moment in time. As a hydrologist it was his job to locate groundwater determining depth, quality and most important – the actual amount of water, usually from a place much closer to the ground than he had found himself that day. That eventful day.

Anticipating the groundwater to be shallow, he had not expected there to be – none. And so it came to pass around the globe. No more fresh, clean ground water. As glaciers melted and more fresh water mixed with the ocean, eventually all water was sea water.

Many huge factories and plants were constructed to remove salt from the water for drinking purposes, but it was never the same. Most life died or changed it’s biological nature. Some humans survived. He and his family were among the lucky ones.

When his daughter asked what fresh drinking water was, the image of people waving from a bridge, where fresh water flowed beneath, appeared in his mind. It had became a “forever reminder” of what had been and would never be again!

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Be sure and give Barb’s new flash fiction weekly challenge -” Monday’s Finish The Story a try! The rules are easy to follow: Just write a short, very short, story (roughly 100-150 words) using the photo as a prompt and begin your story with the line that Barb shares with us. This week the line is: “The people waved at him from the bridge below.” 

A good writing exercise and fun too (if you enjoy writing). For more details or to view other entries just click here!

Hope everyone has a great week ahead,

~ Penny