REHABITATION

George Washington stood at the bow of the liner as the port came into view.

He was aware of the cameras and people around him, the helicopters above, the military ships alongside.

He thought about his parents. This was their homeland. They had left before he was born, as part of the evacuation. They had named their son after the 1st President. If only they had lived long enough to return.

Now, by virtue of his name, he was to be the first person to set foot back on that land. The radiation had dispersed. The climate was deemed habitable.

Americans sheltered around the world could finally return home.

Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).

To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

86 responses to “REHABITATION”

neilmacdon

07/12/2016

I hope that’s not a prescient story

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1. Inside the Mind of Isadora
  
  09/12/2016
  
  Hey … thanks Neil for the new word of the day.😎
  
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rochellewisoff

07/12/2016

Dear Iain,

That sent shivers through me.

Shalom,

Rochelle

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Rochelle, I’m glad it had an impact.
  
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ceayr

07/12/2016

Good story, Iain, but I felt the last line was unnecessary, you had already said it all.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks. I had in mind to hammer home, in the current climate, that it was Americans who were refugees and relied on others to take them in.
  
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  1. ceayr
    
    07/12/2016
    
    Your story, your rules!
    I thought you had already made the point concisely and expertly, that’s all.
    
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Al

07/12/2016

Appropriate that it was him to set foot on the land again.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Al.
  
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  1. Al
    
    07/12/2016
    
    🙂
    
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J Hardy Carroll

07/12/2016

By the waters of Babylon! Nice.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Ha, many thanks 🙂
  
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dmmacilroy

07/12/2016

Dear Iain,

That homecoming was a long time coming. Good story and nice use of GW’s name and the returning of Americans to America. We have not had to weather a storm like that. I wonder how we’d fare should that time come?

Yours,

Doug

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Would certainly be an interesting time. Thanks Doug.
  
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Rowena

07/12/2016

I also hope your story isn’t prophetic!
As far as the last line is concerned, in someways it is redundant but I’m Australian. So, for me the story is about America having problems but other parts of the world being okay. Don’t know whether that was your intention.
Great story though.
xx Rowena

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Partly about that, also about how America and the rest of the world would react if it was Americans who suddenly became refugees, and how attitudes might change in that case. Thanks Rowena 🙂
  
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  1. seekeroftruthweb
    
    08/12/2016
    
    In response to the above comment I thought about how our President-elect expressed a flippant attitude towards nukes. I hope he doesn’t start WWIII!
    
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Liz Husebye Hartmann

07/12/2016

“Americans sheltered around the world could finally return home.”

This presupposes the U.S. (current) unfriendliness towards refugees reverses itself. Cuz why would the world shelter the U.S. given current history in the making. I’d laugh, but it’s kinda sad…

Another stellar write, Ian.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Liz, that was the intention of that last line. If positions were reversed I’m sure American (politicians) would think again about their treatment of refugees – and other Western countries too. Many thanks.
  
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  1. Liz Husebye Hartmann
    
    08/12/2016
    
    Yep. Thanks for that gentle reminder!
    
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2. seekeroftruthweb
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Interesting comment: among Fundamentalist Christians there’s a prophecy that people in the West will be refugees, and will get treated the same way they treated refugees. (The very people who played the prophecy were praising God that many state governors said, “Refugees not welcome!” — shortly after playing the prophecy!)
  
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Lynn Love

07/12/2016

Well done for cramming so much of a post apocalyptic world into so few words! just the right amount of info to let us know what’s happened without it feeling forced. Great stuff Iain

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Lynn, much appreciated.
  
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  1. Lynn Love
    
    08/12/2016
    
    My pleasure 🙂
    
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nonsmokingladybug

07/12/2016

You are a twister, Sir. Love it. What a great take on this weeks prompt. May it be fiction forever.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  I hope so too. Thanks, much appreciated.
  
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Mike

07/12/2016

A great telling story. One could change Americans for several other nations.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Mike
  
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TraceyDelaplainMD.com

07/12/2016

And yet…. history has a way of repeating itself. Perhaps the new world will be different.
Tracey

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Maybe we’ll do it better this time 🙂
  
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Jade M. Wong

07/12/2016

Oh my gosh love this! I loved the story you packed in there, how you left most of it untold but showed us a completely different world regardless. I agree with a previous comment that the very last line is superfluous. You packed enough of a punch up until then 🙂

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aliciajamtaas

07/12/2016

At first glance, the name George Washington took me back to the “good old days” then – what? cameras and helicopters? So, I began again and read the piece beginning to end. The name worked perfectly in this scary little scenario.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Alicia, sounds like it had the desired effect.
  
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2. seekeroftruthweb
  
  08/12/2016
  
  “Good old days”: Make America Great Again!?
  
  THAT makes it chilling!
  
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Björn Rudberg (brudberg)

07/12/2016

There is a destiny in a name… great thought…

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks, I do think a memorable or meaningful name can help a person shape their life.
  
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Michael Wynn

07/12/2016

Nice take Iain. It’s a scenario you’re tempted to say will never happen but worry that perhaps it actually will.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  07/12/2016
  
  Thanks Michael. Hopefully not but you never know…
  
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Joy Pixley

08/12/2016

So much story in so few words, well done. As the others said, I hope it’s not prescient, and I appreciate the turn-around-is-fair-play nature of the situation. I find it totally believable that someone in charge would choose the person who happened to have that historic name to be the first one to return; but what an odd coincidence, to be that person, in that horrible time.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Thanks for your comments Joy. I agree, I don’t think I would want to be that person thrust into that position.
  
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Dale

08/12/2016

I’ve nothing to add that hasn’t already been said except, great take on the prompt… goes to show that a name is not just a name…

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Thanks Dale, appreciate your comment.
  
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Lorraine’s frilly freudian slip

08/12/2016

You saw the disastrous in the photo, too. Good play on the climate here towards refuge and refugees. Would others be so good as to take all of us in — great response, great name choice.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Many thanks, glad you saw the point I was making.
  
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plaridel

08/12/2016

it was quite a departure from your usual. very creative and nice.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Thanks, nice to mix it up now and then, glad you liked it.
  
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Claire Fuller

08/12/2016

Ooh, really interesting take on the picture. There’s a whole novel in this one.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Thanks Claire, it certainly does have potential for a much longer story.
  
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draliman

08/12/2016

Chilling stuff. At least by implication some of the rest of the world survived nuke-free…

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seekeroftruthweb

08/12/2016

Great job; like I said in other comments, quite chilling!

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Many thanks. I’m not religious myself but agree that treating others how you would wished to be treated is a good guiding principle too often ignored.
  
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wmqcolby

08/12/2016

Brilliant with a capital B, Iain. Put that in as one of your best.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Thanks very much, I’m certainly happy with it, glad you are too!
  
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FabricatingFiction

08/12/2016

I have goosebumps!

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  In a good way I hope 🙂 many thanks
  
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  1. FabricatingFiction
    
    08/12/2016
    
    Yes!
    
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Laurie Bell

08/12/2016

A bit of a warning here, but I like the happiness of this moment too.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  08/12/2016
  
  Thanks Laurie. I do think we will always manage to survive somehow, no matter how wrong we get it sometimes.
  
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Edith M. Field

09/12/2016

A very moving story. In spite of everything going on around him there is a terrible sense of isolation and the paragraph about his parents is particularly poignant. The last sentence made me go cold. To me, it describes a momentous occasion but with nothing to celebrate. Great writing, Iain.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  09/12/2016
  
  Thanks Edith, much appreciated and happy it made an impression on you.
  
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spicedmullings

09/12/2016

All you have to do is to change the word America to Russia or Japan to be current.
Or even to the word Palestine!

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  09/12/2016
  
  True for many groups of people.
  
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Inside the Mind of Isadora

09/12/2016

Oh my … let’s hope this stays in the world of fiction. So many nuclear talks and threats lately. This is a timely write. Well done, Iain.
Have a good weekend.
Isadora

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Life Lessons of a Dog Lover

09/12/2016

Very creative. I saw some hope in the last line.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  09/12/2016
  
  Thanks, always good to leave some hope.
  
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mjlstories

09/12/2016

‘The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons,’ is claimed by Dostoyevsky (and others). Perhaps in this day and age we should add how we treat refugees to our measure of civilization.
Clever moving story.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  09/12/2016
  
  I agree with that statement. Many thanks.
  
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gahlearner

09/12/2016

Scary and sad. It would be a miracle to restrict such a disaster to the US only, what about Canada, Mexico…? Let’s hope it doesn’t happen. Great and powerful writing.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  10/12/2016
  
  That’s true, although perhaps they were evacuated also, or worse, didn’t get away in time… Many thanks.
  
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Sarah Potter Writes

10/12/2016

That was clever, as I thought you were writing a historical cameo of the real man, then suddenly “bam”, we’re in the future. As others have commented, I hope your story isn’t prophetic, considering these rather strange and unpredictable times we live in D:
Well written.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  10/12/2016
  
  Thanks Sally, glad you liked it, much appreciated.
  
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lingeringvisions by Dawn

11/12/2016

A thought provoking story.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  11/12/2016
  
  Thanks Dawn
  
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Dawn Quyle Landau

11/12/2016

Nice job, Lain. No doubt if Americans had to finally be the refugees, we’d see things a lot clearer. Nicely pointed out!

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  11/12/2016
  
  Thanks Dawn, if only it was that simple to point this out to everyone round the world!
  
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The Reclining Gentleman

11/12/2016

Nice work Iain. I wonder how the refugees were treated when they arrived Elsewhere? And how they will fare on their return. Also I am wondering if any couldn’t get away and what happened to them?
So many questions raised by just 100 words, well done

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  11/12/2016
  
  Thanks. Indeed, such a situation would open up a lot of questions and I’m not sure what some of the answers would be.
  
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patrickprinsloo

12/12/2016

Really lovely. Full of hope and a joy to read in these dark days.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  12/12/2016
  
  Thanks Patrick
  
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patriciaruthsusan

12/12/2016

There’s great hope in your story, Iain. I hope what causes the evacuation in the first place isn’t prophetic. Good writing. 🙂 — Suzanne

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  12/12/2016
  
  Thanks Suzanne 🙂
  
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i b arora

13/12/2016

there’s hope, always

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  13/12/2016
  
  Many thanks, I agree, there is always hope, even if only a little to cling onto!
  
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magarisa

14/12/2016

What a dramatic, brilliantly written tale! You’ve expressed so much in few words.

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1. Iain Kelly
  
  14/12/2016
  
  Thank you!
  
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  1. magarisa
    
    14/12/2016
    
    You’re welcome.
    
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