Lowther Park Lytham
It’s July 1904 and a bright day: so I sit under a tree. I find myself wondering about the future. They say that two brothers in America have invented a successful flying machine. Whilst in Germany a chap called Karl Benz is building something they call an automobile.
Yet around me I see the gorgeous flowing dresses, the fluttering parasols, and the majesty of the horse. Whilst I listen to the quiet murmur of bicycles. But I find myself fearful for the future. For already iron rails carry steam trains and trams into towns and villages.
Footnote: Genre – Thought Stream
This Post Has 41 Comments
Your MC doesn’t know the half of it! A nice contemplation of the past while the future rushes towards him.
Thank you Lynn, I did set out to write a time travel piece, but found that I could not fit every thing in.
My pleasure Michael
You showed me what a person standing at the transition point between two eras thinks.
Great, unique take, Michael.
Thank you so much, the first few years of twentieth century have alway interested me.
That was a lovely idea, Michael. It really needed more than the 100 words you had, to make it immersive. It would make a wonderful short story
Thank you Neil, after I had played around with this story for three hours, I gave in and posted it. The story I had planned to write certainly needed a higher word count.
It’s difficult to pinpoint a time when we started heading down a worrying path. The industrial age brought with it so much good and prosperity and advances in health and science, but when you look around at the state of the world now, it does seem that it swept in a lot of bad things too. Nice contemplation Michael.
Thank you Iain, you are right about the worrying path.
Dear Michael,
Your MC has every reason to fear progress. With every convenience and technological advance came the drawbacks. Airplanes made warfare even more deadly…and the list could go on. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle, this was one time when I really wanted to use a few more words. I had to really fight to not use ten more words
Progress can be a horrible things and, at the same time, wonderful. I can, however, imagine how he felt. My Grandmother went through all the changes of the last century and the thought amazes me. In the first sentence, I would take out the semi- colon or the word so.
Thank you athling, my fathers mother told me so many tales about the ten years at the start of the twentieth century. This time I really struggled staying within the hundred word limit. In the end I just posted the story, even though I was not happy with the first sentence.
A great take on the prompt.
I was pleased to read your comment, thank you Tracey.
Great story. Very good job.
I was glad to read your comments, thank you.
Well done, Michael. So many changes happened in a short period of time. It must have been mind-boggling for those who witnessed it.
Thank you Dale, The ten years at the start of the twentieth century have always interested me. Perhaps because I heard so much about that period from my fathers mother.
If this were to be rewritten in 50 years time, I wonder what it would say! Excellent Michael.
Click to read my 99 words!
Thank you Keith, the ten years at the start of the twentieth century interested me. Perhaps because I heard so much about that period from my fathers mother.
Great take MH. There were other frightening things at the World’s Fair in the same year.
Thank you yarnspinnerr, the years at the start of the twentieth century interested me. I heard so much about that period from my fathers mother.
such is life. you lose some and win some.
The First World War certainly brought to an end a golden period for many people.
Oh! The balance between airplanes and automobiles, gorgeous flowing dresses, the fluttering parasols, and horses. What a world you have created.
It certainly was a golden period for Europe, but it ended in the First World War!
The wheels of change had turned dramatically fast in that period. I can empathize with the confusion that it would have created in the ordinary people’s world-view.
Confusion and wonder, which sadly ended in the First World War.
Effective, especially for those of us born before cyberspace became a normal part of life. So many changes in just one century!
Thank you Granonine, The ten years at the start of the twentieth century interested me. I heard so much about that period from my fathers mother.
This is great, and timeless. You could sit down a protagonist today and muse about robotics, artificial intelligence and everything that comes with it. Things happen frighteningly fast, back in the past just as much as now, just different things. We have to be aware of the bad part to appreciate and protect the good part.
That is true, sadly the golden years at the start of the twentieth century ended in war. Thank you gahlearner.
Lovely imagery of flowing dresses and horses. The fear of steam of your narrator comes across well so I can only imagine how they might feel in a few years…
Yes sadly that golden time ended with the start of the First World War.
Your character is very knowledgable and observant. He will do well. Good story Mike.
Thank you Dan. I hope he will survive the coming World War 1914-1918
You did well with the word count. The imagery of dresses and parasols, are almost like a final goodbye to the previous era whilst the iron rails bring forth the future.
Thank you Fatima, I am pleased to hear that the contrast came across. For the golden period (for Europe) at the start of the twentieth century ended in war.
The first steps towards Facebook… can you stop it maybe?
It is true that the progress of humanity brings many things to the table. Even Facebook.