Thank you, Alicia, for the picture which was a reminder of the western films I watched as a boy. I spent hours researching the emigration of the Scottish Highlanders to America. Mostly, they were driven out of their crofts or else were disillusioned with their miserable lives. In Georgia they secured a new future.
Thank you Rochelle for posting the prompt. Many other story contributions can be read by clicking HERE.
If you are interested my flash fiction collection. The Listener is available free on Amazon Kindle this weekend.
On The Wagon
Mary promised she would never touch another drop. Although Jim muttered obscenities.
He found brandy in a Lucozade bottle, and vodka in the vinegar bottles behind the gravy powder.
‘Look!’ said Mary. ‘They are full. I haven’t touched them.’
He poured them down the sink. ‘Are there anymore?’
‘More!’
‘The promise, no more alcohol. Ever.’
Mary held John’s hand. ‘I am fine, very sober and cheerful.’
‘I am worried.’
‘It’s okay, I’m going for a walk and some fresh air.’
Checking, John was not watching.
She drank some harsh Scots hooch from the old wagon barrel.
’I love you, Grandpa.’
James McEwan 