A Window on Life
As a student of Confucius, Ling would often visit the pergola that his wife had had built close to the house, its autumnal colours inspired her husband to reflect, life had been kind to him. Until now integrity and compassion had always been at the forefront of any project that he had undertaken.
Mr Ling entered the pergola and cleared his mind of the anger that rested there, and allowed the sound of song birds to sooth his furrowed brow. The decision had been his alone. The valley of the Pandas would have to be cleared. The factory would be built.
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I hope Mr Ling can live with his decision, not sure I like the sound of a factory destroying the valley of the Pandas! Nice take.
Thank you. Iain. He will regret this decision,
Double standards and an excuse to do so!
He will regret this decision. A later story will tell
Dear Michael,
A sad commentary on progress. Well written though. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle.
Isn’t it wonderful how he can soothe his mind with his double standards. Sounds very familiar. Great story, Michael.
Boo. Hiss.
He knows that he is wrong, will he relent!
Let’s hope he stays there, the nasty panda-murderer 🙁
Great story!
O thank you.
Poor pandas. More optimistically, in real life, Pandas have recently had their IUCN status downgraded from endangered to vulnerable – encouraging news in such a discouraging world.
IUCN perhaps they have got it wrong. If Mr Ling has his way.
I like the foreshadowing of the harsh decision with life had been kind to him, until…
it is good to have feedback, it helps my understanding of how a piece of writing is viewed. Thank you
Great take on the prompt. And I love the dog – I used to have two border collies.
Robbie is pleased and so am I. Thank you Mike
NO, not the pandas!
I am writing a note of protest to Mr L
So sad!
Dawn I agree.
I don’t like Mr Ling! The Pandas are everyone’s, this is not a decision he should be allowed to take.
Then I will have to write a protest.
Dark and hard to envision, this progress. Nice piece, Michael.
Thank you Dawn, I was not to happy about this story, but in the end decided to post it.
That last line got to me. What is built often ruins and, in the end, can’t be un-built. Nice one, Michael.
Thank you, I agree.
I think he knows deep in his heart that he’s making a terrible mistake… like how you turned it from sympathetic to its opposite.
Thank you Bjorn, I am grateful for your feedback. Mike
Well, I guess Mr. Ling should stay and ponder a bit longer. If he’s been a thoughtful man up until now his conscience is going to cause him much unrest. May he have many sleepless nights. Good writing, Mike. 🙂 — Suzanne
Hope those pandas nab him and give him a bear hug he’ll never forget.
BTW, love the dog photo? Is it a Border Collie? I have a Border Collie and a Border Collie x Cavalier. Here they are: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/weekly-pet-share-introducing-aussie-dogs-bilbo-lady/
xx Rowena
Hi Rowena, my dog is called Robbie, he is a short haired Border Collie. I obtained him as a puppy from a friend who owns a farm, the farm breeds collies for handling cattle. Robbie was small as a puppy, but under my care filled out and is very strong. He is however a very gentle dog.