Time to Reconnect

Posted on by Louise Bunting
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Photo Prompt – © The Storyteller’s Abode

Time to Reconnect

She hadn’t written to them in far too long.

Back in the early days, Felena had penned letters weekly, though each one had simply been added to the stack in her drawer. Eventually she’d forced herself to stop. She’d needed to move on.

It was now over a decade since anything had actually been delivered to the house.

Felena read through her words for a final time before sliding the page into the envelope, the familiar address setting memories dancing through her mind. She’d been so young back then. So wild. And carefree – until her mistakes had caught up with her.

That final missive to her parents had been tear stained and smudged as she’d explained the reason for her decision, her apologies profuse. She’d known her actions had brought them pain. Plus she’d left them with a heavy burden to bear.

But now it was time to reconnect. Her years within the temple, hiding behind concealing veils, were over. She needed to see her son.

Even if he had no idea who she was.

Word Count: 175

To read the other entries, click the little blue frog.

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This post is for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge. This week’s prompt was provided by me.

The photograph was taken at Warwick Castle, and is of part of a display with waxwork figures showing people from around 1898. At this date a party was held that was attended by the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward (who later became King Edward VII), and a young Winston Churchill. The woman in the picture is, I think, Daisy Grenville, Countess of Warwick, a woman who had affairs with several powerful men of the time, including the prince.

Daisy had become the semi-official mistress of the prince after he became involved in a scandalous affair caused by a vicious letter that she’d sent to another lover, Lord Charles Beresford, on learning that his wife was pregnant. The letter was intercepted by the man’s wife, who, horrified, gave it to her solicitor for safekeeping. The prince tried to persuade her to give it back, but Lady Beresford said she would only return it if Daisy stayed away from London for the season. Daisy refused this, and the prince and Lord Beresford got into a fight over the situation. The whole quarrel only came to an end when the prime minister, Lord Salisbury, stepped in and helped an agreement to be reached.

If you’d like to know more about the scandalous life of Daisy Grenville, you can check out her wikipedia page here.

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18 thoughts on “Time to Reconnect”

  1. What a delightful and juicy little tale! Funny the importance of letters. Nowadays emails create equally rocking scandals… I look forward to reading more about Daisy.

    Them royals was kinky! lol 🙂

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  2. Lovely take Louise. She needed to what was right inside, not what her parents or society thought was right,

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  3. Hard to reconnect after so long. Especially with her children – there are a lot of awful times ahead for your character. I went to Warwick years ago and loved it. Tussauds have turned it into a bit of a history theme park I suppose, but what a place and what history!
    Great story Louise and let’s hope she can become close to those she loves again

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    1. Reconnecting is definitely not going to be easy for her, but I think she’s determined to do so, and determination can take you a long way. I’m glad you enjoyed the story, Lynn. 🙂
      Warwick is a lovely castle and while some of the Tussauds additions were good (like the waxwork figures), the place was very much like a history theme park. We did enjoy watching the jousts, though. 🙂

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      1. Oh, I love a reanactor. Ever since I visited a place called Kentwell Hall in Suffolk as a kid – a Tudor manor house that every summer fills its grounds with Elizabethan football and cooks and serfs and all speaking in the lingo of the day. Do love a joust – or a trebuchet demonstration 🙂

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    1. It was good to write flash fiction again after a month of novel writing – they’re very different to do! And I always like a little bit of history. Thanks for visiting, Ali. 🙂

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  6. Wow! That could be the start of a longer story or even a book! Great story, Louise! I’m glad she made the decision to see her son because she has gone through years of struggle over it.

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    1. Thanks, PJ. I have to admit that Felena is actually a secondary character in the novel I’ve been working on for NaNoWriMo. I’d intended to write something completely different for this prompt (I’d had an idea since I sent it to you!) but Felena insisted on some of her story being told. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂

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    1. Felena is actually a secondary character in the novel I’ve been working on for NaNo. There is definitely more to her story -though most of it is told through other eyes. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it, Cybele. Thanks for visiting!

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  9. So emotive and love the background story. Your story made me think that letters are hard to write sometimes and makes us really sit and think out our thoughts before we write in down unlike using an electronic device where a backspace or delete can change our intent in a flash. Well done Louise!

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