SONORAN OMENS

~ Iain Kelly

‘This is what they’ve said they wanted.’ Frank said.

‘This is what happens when you leave rich folk to run a country.’ Bill countered.

‘Rich folk that have never even set foot out here, never mind have to settle here.’

They scratched their heads and looked from the rocky desert in front of them to the plans they held. Across the crumpled map was a thick line.

‘I don’t see how a wall will protect us.’

‘No use in complaining, we best just get on with it. The railroad is coming and they want the natives kept away.’

***

On a rocky outcrop the chief of the local Yaqui tribe looked down at a group of pale-skinned men unloading tools from horses and wagons. He had seen the troubled omens for the future.

War was coming, brought by the white man.

photo-20170102154635569
© Grant-Sud

Written as part of Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. The challenge is to write a flash fiction story, in around 150 words based on the weekly photo prompt. For more information visit HERE.

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

Published by Iain Kelly

39 year old writer, avid film viewer and book reader, employed in the media industry as a television editor.

37 thoughts on “SONORAN OMENS”

  3. Let’s hope we can avoid another, divisive wall being built. Congrats on your book Iain – read the first story and what a cracker. Great stuff

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      1. Hope the self-pub is going well – the book looks very good online. How have you found it? The set up, doing the layout etc? And how are you finding the promotional side of it? That’s the bit I always find daunting. Do you have a novel ready to go? Best of luck with it all Iain 🙂

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      2. Setup and layout was quite straightforward I found, so long as you are confident editing your own work. With Createspace/Amazon it is just laying out a Word document and adding cover. They have templates for it all if you want help. The promotional side is the tricky bit, although I haven’t done too much as I was treating this as a practice and not expecting any great amount of sales. Task is to write the novel in the first half of this year and see if there is any interest from agents or publishers, and if not I can self publish. Promotion for that will be harder and I think I will need to investigate more. We’ll see how it goes! Do you have any new year writing plans?

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      3. Wow! That’s quite a timetable you have lined up for yourself. I could do with some of that speed – been writing my current novel since April last year. So one of my goals is to finish that asap and send it out to an Alpha reader, then hopefully rewrite and out to Betas later in the year. I also have a YA novel that’s done and been seen by a few agents (all ‘no’s of course), been shortlisted in a small comp and got through to second rounds in an open house last year. Not sure whether to keep sending that out, rewrite or just put it on Swoonreads, where if it gets enough reads (a very long shot) it could be picked up by Macmillan publishing who run the site. Also have a serial going on here (The Devil of Moravia) that I want to put on Wattpad when it’s done. And keep blogging. And enter a few short story comps. Too much? 🙂
        Do let me know if you want help spreading the word on your short story collection – more than happy to share links / tasters etc. I like your writing, Iain, so just let me know 🙂 Oh and Happy New Year!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! Finding the time for it all is always the most difficult part. I’d appreciate any help spreading the word so feel free to share links or tasters wherever you please! And likewise, if you want me to share or advertise any of your work just let me know – definitely one of the best writers that I follow. It’s a crowded market so every little bit of exposure helps. Happy new year, hope it’s a good one for you 🙂

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      5. Ah, thanks Iain. Will organise something later in the week for your book – anything you’d prefer me to do or not to do? Could just post a link or could share a bit of the first story. Let me know. Happy writing year to us both 🙂

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  12. A topical story, very nicely done Iain. Unfortunately, there are some lessons from the past that just don’t seem to have been learned. Good luck with your book. I hope it’s doing well. 🙂

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