#Flashfiction – No place for “friendly” men

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Sannie and I spent an anxious night locked in the house with the four children. Earlier in the day a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon. As it drew ever closer, we could make out a great crowd of horseman and ox-wagons.

The Boer Commando* stopped in our yard and the commandant knocked on our door. He told us they would be resting at our farm overnight and asked for some milk. I was angry with the commandant. A lonely farmhouse inhabited by two women and four children was no place to rest with so many “friendly” men.

* – The Boer commandos or “Kommandos” were volunteer military units of guerilla militia organized by the Afrikaans-speaking farmers of South Africa. The term came into English usage during the Second Boer War of 1899-1902.

This 99-word flash fiction about gender was written for Charli Mills’ weekly prompt. You can join in here: https://carrotranch.com/2019/04/18/april-18-flash-fiction-challenge/

Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

Published

33 thoughts on “#Flashfiction – No place for “friendly” men”

  6. A novel take to many, who would not have heard of farmhouses left with women in charge and commandos of Boers. Of course, that would have been before the women were taken into concentration camps.

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  10. Pingback: Gender « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

  11. History has a way of making soldiers think they can overtake whatever they want, when ever they pass through to where they are going. Some homes in the US in the south were taken over as command headquarters or turned into hospitals during the (not so) Civil War. During WWII so many families were turn out into the street, some taken as prisoners to war camps and their homes looted for their treasures. American history wasn’t kind either to the Japanese who were put into interment camps for their own protection. Though I did read some (all too few) stories of neighbors that save their Japanese neighbors homes and properties so that when those few families returned they actually had their homes and possessions to return too.

    War makes angry people do very stupid things in the name of whatever they think is justice. There are too many present examples to name of minorities in other countries who have been kept in camps and then immigrated to other countries knowing that they can never go ‘home’ again.

    Again thank you for your inclusion of history. If we can only learn from it.

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    1. I hear you, Jules. It does feel as if we don’t learn from history but we have to keep trying. I didn’t know about the Japanese being put into internment camps in the US but it makes sense. The same thing happened with Germans and Italians living in Britain during the war. Thanks for visiting, Jules.

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      1. One would like to think that the important lessons of history get taught. But there is only so much room. I read the other day that sometimes decades of history gets squashed into a single paragraph in a chapter which leads to speculation, misinterpretation and just not enough fact.

        One of the reasons I enjoy visiting through the internet is the continued joy of discovery and sharing of history that occurs from the different places that we come from.

        I didn’t know about the Germans and Italians living in Britain being put in internment camps there during the war. My heritage is Italian. In the States 2nd on one, 3rd on the other side. My hardworking family chose to become Americans and pretty much only some food traditions were kept. Unfortunately the language was lost (at least to me since they wouldn’t teach it). I have family from both Northern and Southern Italy. And those two areas do not always get along smoothly either.

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        1. You are right about the Italians not always getting along, Jules. I have been to Italy and it is a beautiful and fascinating country. You are also right about history not been all inclusive. It can’t be as there is just to much. Unfortunately, selection by governments allows for manipulation of what is taught. I also spend a lot of time doing research and often incorporate my interests into my writing endevours.

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