The old man stepped onto the rock, wobbling a little. The breeze tugged at his beard. He stretched his shoulders and breathed in deeply, taking a couple of uncertain steps forward. The water lapped at his feet
‘So what do you think, dad?’
The older man shrugged. ‘Nice sky.’
The younger man clicked his teeth, not really trying to hide his irritation. ‘But the water? What about the water?’
The older man stared at the gently lapping wave. How the hell did he know?
‘How old are you?’
‘What? Last birthday I was ninety seven or maybe twenty seven depending on whose translation you believe.’
‘You need to start drawing your own conclusions.’
‘When did you start delegating decision making?’ The younger man threw a stone and it skipped over the water. That at least was one skill they’d all honed. ‘You and the Big Guy had a bit of a barny last night. All ok?’
It hadn’t been an easy conversation. And He had been less understanding than anticipated. ‘You ate what?’ He just didn’t realise how bloody dull being a vegan was. It wasn’t natural.
‘Yes.’ The old man sighed. ‘I probably misjudged the moment.’
‘You need to stand up to him, dad. He can’t expect a birthday without a feast. And Yallop is the juiciest of meats.’
‘He didn’t like we’d eaten both, thought we might be able to crossbreed with its mate. I told him, really, that keeping one would always be a compromise but he wasn’t having it. Told me Yallops weren’t going extinct on his watch, banging on about how long it had taken him, world building was an art not a science, that kind of thing. Proper undermined my confidence, he did.’
‘So you don’t know if that’s it or if it’s going to piss down again and we can go back to sailing?’
‘The dove’s off on a twig hunt but I don’t know.’
It was a lie. The Big Man had said the cruise was over. He’d stop the rain as a punishment and they’d have to put into port again. ‘If you’re going to eat all the creatures of the Earth, Noah, then you can bloody well go back to living in a desert with your mother in law, rather than swanning around the planet.’
Noah sighed again and put his arm round his son’s shoulders. The waves were now a couple of cubits from his sandals. Yep the tide was receding already. ‘Look at it this way. We won’t have to live on bloody grain pie any more.’ He smiled at his pride and joy. ‘We’re meat eaters, my boy. I didn’t call you Ham for no reason.’
This is written from Sue zvincent’s #writephoto prompt
Niceeee
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thankee kindlee
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I wondered why we never see any yallops around anymore. A good one!!
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None of the bones as well. A tragedy. Yallop En Crut was an especial favourite of the Byzantium Delis I believe
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Ha ha 😂 love this His Geoffleship
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“A long time ago when the Earth was green, there was more kinds of animals than you’ve ever seen. They’d run around free while the Earth was being born, but the loveliest of them all was the …”
Stuck in yer ‘ed now? Sorry that. Excellent execution on this one Geoff. Got me good.
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Oh damn you and your ear worms, Mr Wilson, damn you!
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Oh, Geoff, you are so funny. My grandfather, a minster, is turning in his grave.
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My Great Aunt, a major in the Sally Army has the fires burning I expect… Anyway, I can’t stand harps…
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The heavens should open… Oh, wait a minute…
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noooooooo
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Oh ha-ha……..good one!
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A little bit of puffery for a Friday or Saturday..
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Excellent, Geoff.
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No more yallops? That’s a Shem…
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Indeed, Noah good indeed
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😀
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Loved this, Geoffle. Could you imagine getting hungry and wiping out a species like that? Ouch. I wouldn’t want that on my head. By the way, could’ve used Noah’s Ark during the week. It’s bucketed down. Hope you’ve had a great week.
xx Ro
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What rain in Oz. Surely there are laws against it
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No. Still raining here and despite some joy among drought stricken farmers someone around here might be exercising the pout.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thank you both
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Brilliant Geoff, love this especially the last line 💜
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Thank you Willow
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Good Job with the Noah tale. Finally I get ‘story ark’.
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Ha love it
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