The Hundred Candles is inspired by the May 21 Carrot Ranch prompt, but it started out as a Six Sentence Story of 297 words. Though I hadn’t intended to, I went ahead and whittled that down to 99 words. This week’s SSS prompt word is “right” and both versions also include last week’s prompt word, “eternal”, as if that makes up for me missing out on the six sentence fun last week. Denise is the prompter for Six Sentence Story time and the link will be open Wednesday evening at GirlieOntheEdge. For the Carrot Ranch prompt to “write a story about a hundred candles”, respond by May 26, 2020. Use the comment section to share, read, and be social. You may leave a link, pingback, or story in the comments. If you want to be published in the weekly collection, please use the form.
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(Six Sentences, 297 words)
All the old stories — Since time began, the stories always started— were as much about all the Sovereigns upholding their duties and making ceremony over the keeping of these little eternal flames as they were about The Hundred Candles themselves.
At one time anyone with even a modest education could recite what each candle represented and even now most people at least recalled that they had to do with ancient ways, ancient heroes, and longstanding mores and morals.
Nobody really believed anymore that the tradition of the Sovereign keeping The Hundred Candles burning was anything more than just that, tradition; nobody actually believed that if the Sovereign failed to maintain this tradition ill fate would befall the people; nor did they believe a Sovereign would ever not keep this custom.
When the people put into power a Sovereign that was not like the others they weren’t bothered that his pride was not in their traditions but in himself; he was different and they felt a thirst for change, felt emboldened by his pride; some even cheered when he said, “The Hundred Candles are just any old candles, ordinary candles that burn out and get replaced, so the right thing to do is to not waste one more candle or one more minute on this ridiculous pastime.”
One by one The Hundred Candles sputtered out, and even though the sun still rose and set, and the birds and flowers still brightened the land, there was a darkness felt as an invisible enemy silently snuffed the lives of the people, one here, one there, more and more, adding up to hundreds of hundreds dead.
There are few left to recount the circumstances of that time, but the stories always begin, When time stopped and the world forever changed-
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(99 words)
Since time began, the stories always started— the old stories about the keeping of these little eternal flames, The Hundred Candles. Though the details and specifics were largely forgotten, most people still recalled that the candles had to do with ancient ways and longstanding mores.
Nobody actually believed anymore that if the Sovereign failed to keep The Hundred Candles burning ill fate would befall the people; neither did they believe a Sovereign would ever not keep this custom.
The few left to recount the circumstances of that time begin their stories, When time stopped and the world forever changed-
Makes me think of the candles we may be snuffing out as we send COVID patients to nursing home facilities, that hold our most precious lights of eternal history. 😦
Beautifully written!
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Just updated that post with a 99 word version.
Thank you for your comments. It feels kind of dystopian fairy tale-ish. I don’t like dystopian but there it is.
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We live in dystopian times, perhaps…
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Excellent. “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.we aren unfortunately, living it. (K)
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Yes. We are.
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I really like the first one with 297 words, and how they were snuffed out one by one. Mysteriously dark.
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Thank you. I think I prefer the fuller story of that too. When the story came I knew I could do it in six and didn’t think I’d even go for 99. But then I decided to see if I could in fact get it down and I don’t dislike the 99. It’s all just a puzzle. Yeah this one’s dark and unfortunately pulled from the headlines as they say.
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Great and timely stories. I like that you posted them together; it’s a great example and lesson on editing and using less words. The larger story provides us more context and the short seems like a great blurb for the larger “book”. 🙂 My skin prickled reading this because it is a kind of reflection to what we’re experiencing. It often starts with someone believing they know better than everyone else. The difference between revolution and destruction (IMHO) is a person or people who are arrogant and self-centered versus a person coming from a place of compassion and love.
Thanks for provoking me thoughts! 😉
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and validating my efforts. (See previous post, All About You) You might consider leaving a blurb of your own at the Saddle Up Saloon this week where folks are asked to promote their own blogs.
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Thank you for the encouragement. I’ve been pretty absent and behind lately but I’m looking forward to making my way across many blogs, including a visit to the saloon! 🙂
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It’s always open.
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Wonderfully mythic story. Old stories and legends have roots in actual events and are dismissed at our peril. Tolkien would be proud.
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Wow. Thanks! Unfortunately, yeah the actual events.
Thank you for coming by, I appreciate your comments.
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Well told, both of them! Our pride, i think, is indeed snuffing us out in ways we do not yet see.
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Maybe our pride is the invisible virus.
Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful and incisive comments.
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An allegory for modern times, non? .
Nice job on both! But I too am partial to the longer version 🙂
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Modern times? YIKES!
Sometimes it takes a Six. Other times it’s 99. (I see a theme, a common thread, but… I’ll just grin and beer it)
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Such a stark tale and a wonderful example of how fiction finds truth.
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That’s an allegory for our times. Deep. Dark. Portentous. Sad. I like the longer one best.
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The longer one is the one I set out to write, which is strange because I had Charli’s prompt in mind, and almost left out the SSS prompt word, but I knew it could be told in six sentences but wasn’t sure about 99 words. But I like the challenge and to see how different versions come off, so…
Anyway, glad as a writer if the story worked, sorry as a citizen of the Earth that it is what it is. But there it is.
Thanks as always Buddy.
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Good story worth telling, regardless of contraints. Of any kind.
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Fine effort and even finer results. Great sixes.
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Thank you.
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A great cautionary tale.
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Afraid so.
Thank you for coming by.
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Boy do these words ring true in so many ways. Fantastic job of whittling the SSS down to just 99 words!
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Thank you. Yep, too true.
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The sad times that mark the transition between cautionary tales and recorded history.
thought-provoking wordage, yo
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Thank you. Hasn’t history always been a cautionary tale?
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