Copyright – C E Ayr
The walls are whitewashed, the roof tiles the gentlest shade of terracotta. Inside are light-filled rooms and windows that admit cooling breezes. Outside, the road winds between wildflower-strewn fields, to an iridescent ocean and gleaming beach. Follow the road back and there’s the village, beside a chuckling stream. Friendly neighbours nod as I walk to the bakery for fresh breakfast croissants.
“Ted. You’ll be late!” I place the model carefully back on the shelf and join sombre-faced commuters packed in the dim elevator, then out to the snarling traffic and choking air of the street.
One day …
*****
We can always dream.
This story is my contribution to Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. You can read all the other stories here.
Onto the page 
Ohhh, I knew it was too good to be true. Nice story.
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Thank you, Claire. Yes, perhaps too good to be true – for now.
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Dear Margaret,
The dream vanishes and reality begins. Sigh. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Ain’t that the truth!! Thanks, Rochelle.
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This was a perfect dream… reality is seldom as good as a dream
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It isn’t, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing. We need to be kept on our toes – I’m not sure how we’d handle perfection. I think we’d soon take it for granted – or mess it up.
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Lovely story. It was so perfect I was waiting for something to go wrong…
I love the stark contrast of the fantasy and reality.
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Thank you, Ali. I’m glad there was a hint that it would all come tumbling down. Just what I was hoping to achieve.
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Beautifully described and full of longing. I loved the vivid freshness of these lines:
“Outside, the road winds between wildflower-strewn fields, to an iridescent ocean and gleaming beach. Follow the road back and there’s the village, beside a chuckling stream.”
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I’m so glad you liked those lines, Dreamer. I changed that description around so many times, so I’m happy with your response.
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The ability to dream like that is a blessing.
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That’s an interesting perspective, Sandra. The dreaming is often better that getting what you dream for.
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I love the first paragraph – sooo lovely, but too lovely. Ah, what a pity!
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Thank you, MJL. I’m glad you enjoyed the dream. It is a pity it wasn’t reality.
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Sometimes we only have dreams to get us by. Well done.
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That’s true. I think Ted really needs somewhere to escape to given the ugliness of his real surroundings. Thank you for your nice comment, Alicia.
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everything starts with a dream. if you can dream it, you can achieve it.
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That’s the spirit! Of course you can. Thanks for commenting, Plaridel.
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keep that dream fed. Lovely.
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Thank you, Patrick. We have to dream.
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Everyone here’s talking about a dream. I look at the line One day… and I see the plan! One day it will no longer be just a dream. Well written, Margaret!
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That’s the spirit! Ted’s not giving up yet. I like your comment, Martin. Thank you for visiting.
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What a lovely dream, and great description. I, too, loved the phrase with the chuckling stream, that’s such a peaceful, positive image… it had to be too good to be true. I actually expected murder or mayhem, but cold reality is even better. Great story.
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Yes – I disappointed myself a little. I quite like creating a little mayhem in these stories. However, as you say, cold reality can be harder to take than murder and mayhem. Thanks, once again, for your always encouraging comments.
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One day. Sometimes we keep waiting for that one day as time goes by. Lovely descriptive writing, I felt like I was there in the village.
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Your comment is so true, Subroto. I had a colleague who observed that she kept saying she’d do things ‘when things settle down’ – the problem being that things never seem to settle down. No good postponing dreams. Thank you for your encouraging words.
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I also thought it was too good to be true. We all need dreams. As writers, we can put them on paper for others to enjoy. That’s one of the things I love about writing. Well done, Margaret. 🙂 — Suzanne
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That’s a good point, Suzanne. Writing is an avenue to other places, real and imagined. Thanks for your input, and lovely comment.
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You swept me away for a moment, Margaret, and for that… I am very grateful to your talent as a writer. 🙂
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Why thank you, Dawn. What a nice response.
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We all need to dream.
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We do. It keeps us going forward.
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Wonderful descriptive writing. Shame it was too good to be true 😦
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Thank you, Graham. I think it’s true somewhere, for someone – just not Ted.
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And that’s a dream worth having, Margaret. I want to be transported. Nicely written.
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Thank you, Amy. I’d like to be transported there, too.
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