Rodney asked him to watch his pretzel cart while he took a break.
It was another humid night. Larry sat on the wall and rested his weary feet. He looked up at the statue with the Rockefeller building behind it.
A huge white face with white hands covering the eyes. Ain’t that the truth, Larry thought, refusing to see what was right in front of them.
Rodney arrived back, ‘Pretzel?’
‘Sure,’ Larry accepted and took one. ‘Where you from, Rodney?’
‘Queens. You?’
‘Costa Rica.’
‘The country?’
‘Yep’.
‘Huh.’ Rodney and Larry looked up at the artwork. ‘Soda?’
‘Sure.’
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 stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.
My novel, ‘A Justified State,’ is available now
Iain Kelly 
64 responses to “CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS”
Dear Iain,
I enjoyed the comfortable conversation between the two of them. Well done. Pass the mustard, please.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle, I may have been too subtle, but I couldn’t look at the image and not think of the current rhetoric coming from the leader of the free world towards certain people, regardless of political views.
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Oh, Iain, I definitely picked that up. Not too subtle at all. Just the right “hint.”
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Thank you Alicia, I’m glad it’s there for a few to ‘get’.
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So well constructed, ten out of ten
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Thank you Michael
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Neat commentary on people and life, Iain
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Thank you, it’s funny how politics can distort simple concepts, like we are all humans, regardless of where we come from.
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I liked “Costa Rica” “The country?”
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Thanks Neil
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Sounds like a match made in heaven. Well told.
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Funny that people from different backgrounds and countries can get along, if you read the news these days you’d think it was impossible.
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Nice one, Iain. Loved the dialogue.
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Thank you
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They bonded over tacky art. Universal, brings people together.
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We should have more of it then! 🙂
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Lovely slice of life between two potential friends.
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Thank you Liz
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Art can say so much when we let ourselves listenJust the lessons we need to hear. Nice job Iain.
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Caught a typo too–Two “at’s”in the second to last para. 😊
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Got it, thank you!
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Thanks 🙂
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There is calmness in this story that I truly enjoyed, even as you brought in some politics ~ which I also enjoyed. Nicely done.
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Thank you so much. Maybe everyone could do with just calming down a bit…
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As Elbow once said the leaders of the free world are just little boys throwing stones. Good stuff.
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They did write some good stuff.
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Nice take. It’s amazing how often people can forget that California used to be part of Mexico, that most people who live in America are descendants of immigrants, often “illegal” immigrants, that humanity’s origins can be traced back to Africa, everybody, that we’re all human and fundamentally the same.
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Yep, exactly that. Thanks.
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Wonderful take on the prompt, Iain. Subtle and proof positive that most of us just dig each other, without judgment…
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If only all could be the same, especially those in charge… Thanks Dale
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Nice message. World is changing. Some refuse to see.
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Thank you so much
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sounds like the beginning of a new friendship. 🙂
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Thank you
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A nice little scene, and maybe the beginning of a long-lasting friendship!
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Thank you
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Timely, lovely interaction, subtle, but not too subtle and so true.
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Thank you so much, lovely comment 🙂
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A nice contemplative story. I like the natural feel of it and the camaraderie between the two characters. There certainly is far too much … “refusing to see what was right in front of them” from those disconnected from real life. Those living in ivory towers.
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Exactly that, meanwhile the rest of us just get on with life. Unfortunately it causes suffering to many. Thanks Brenda
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I liked the ease of this interaction, Iain. Very nicely done.
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Thank you
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This is another one where you have to pay attention to the title or else it just seems like a nice slice of life, which is good, but the title tells you what’s really going on. Well done and ever so timely.
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Thank you so much Sascha, glad you made the link with the title.
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I read a story lately where the key was in the title. Since then, I haven’t been so lazy? Unobservant? not to read the title. 🙂
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What a great story, Iain! On one level, it’s an inconsequential tale of two friends chatting while business is slack. But you give us a title, and a comment on the artwork featured in the prompt, and it immediately becomes a political story, and a beautifully precise one. And I love the subtlety of having Larry be an immigrant – presumably illegal – from Costa Rica – within sight of the statue that is hiding its eyes and not seeing him.
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Thank you so much Penny, glad you saw the points I was trying to make, without being too sensationalist about it.
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The undertones were sharp enough for me, lain.
Why can’t we just accept all of live life kindly? Nicley done …
Isadora 😎
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Thank you Isadora. It’s mystifying that some want to live their lives in such an angry way…
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Being angry is easy … you can hate everything … being happy requires work … seeing good in all things even the bad. 😎
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At the end of the day, we are all human, regardless of those who don’t want to see it. Nice job.
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Thank you, I only wish more would see it.
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Public art is so often for the more advantaged. The money could have been spent differently. Beautifully encapsuled.
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Another aspect to the tale, thanks Patrick
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A good story with meaning and well-written dialog, Iain. Maybe one hand should have been over the eyes and another over the mouth. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Good point, thank you Suzanne
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I suspect if you won’t look then you can’t be held responsible. I like the symbolism, political or otherwise – but you can’t keep ignoring the truth.
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Not when it is right in front of you. Thanks James
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What a good job incorporating the elements of the picture into your story. A positive message about human solidarity.
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Thank you, a bit of positivity was needed!
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Very apt observations for the current times.
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Thank you
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A simple conversation that far many layers. Well told Iain. Look away.
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Thank you Laurie
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