PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
November was a cold month for fireworks, especially on the river, but it was a special day for Charles and his young bride Elizabeth. They held hands as they watched, bundled up as they were in heavy coats.
“It’s over,” she murmured. Charles put and arm around Liz.
“Not soon enough,” said Charles. “Poor Elliot.”
“My brother succumbed to the terrible influenza, not mustard gas or artillery shell.”
“He still died in war,” said Charles.
“But no more will perish as he did,” said Liz.
“Armistice Day.” Charles stood a little taller. “The war to end all wars is over.”
It’s Wednesday and once again time to participate in Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ 11 July 2025 edition of Friday Fictioneers.
The idea is to use the image above as the inspiration for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
My first thought when seeing Roger’s photo was the climax to the 1981 film Blow Out (a great political thriller which I highly recommend). But that was set on the 4th of July, and I just did that last week.
But the thought of war is still on my mind, so I decided on another ironic celebration.
The end of World War One was celebrated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. That was supposed to be “the war to end all wars,” and perhaps at the time, people thought they had finally reaped a world of lasting piece.
Oh, I also threw in the Spanish Flu or the Flu Pandemic of 1918-1920 since is was the deployment of forces from around the world that allowed the virus to pass to such a large population.
To read other stories based on the prompt, visit inlinkz
Cover art for “Far Futures: Book Four”
My crime noir short story “Last Wish of a Dead Man” is now available in the Raconteur Press anthology Dames, Derringers and Detectives: Moggie Noir. The story requirements included a hard-boiled detective, a murder, and especially a cat. The third in my “Margie Potter: Haunted Detective” series made the cut.
Also, my horror short story “Haunting Chloe” is now available in the ghost story anthology Haunted Places (universal link) by Blackbird Publishing. Pick up a copy of each, give them a read, and don’t forget to leave honest reviews at Amazon and Goodreads.
Additionally, my short story “Awash On Titan’s Shores” was accepted into the “Far Futures: Book Four” anthology, to be published this coming December.
The same publisher included my short story “Confluence” in Book Three of that series last year.
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We keep saying “never again” and it keeps happening
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The slogan “Never Again” never meant that such horrors could or should never occur again. It meant that we are resolved to never let them occur without doing all we can to prevent their occurrence or to mitigate it. It is not wishful thinking. It is a vow, a resolution, a reminder. It was specifically developed as a reference to the Nazi Holocaust, but it is not entirely inapplicable to other atrocities.
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Never again didn’t mean never again? OK
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Of course the slogan meant what it says. But without the complete verb and predicate it is subject to misinterpretation, just as you have done.
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To Neil and PL, given that I had a max of 100 words to play with, I had to err on the side of brevity. Yes, I’m sure people thought there would probably be wars in the future after 1918, but I wanted to highlight how many people and governments think we can put a stop to these things without accounting for human nature. From a Biblical standpoint, we can expect war to continue until the Almighty ends it for us.
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Methinks ProclaimLiberty has a problem commenting!
As for me, I think like, Neil, that “never again” seems to be a phrase to invite things to happening again…
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I think there was a technical glitch in PL’s replies causing the same ones to appear multiple times. I deleted the excess.
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There definitely was. I was teasing.
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Okay. 😉
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We have different ways of engaging in warfare these days. Oh the ingenuity of man!
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We also keep doing war the old fashioned way as well, Sandra.
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James, I like the layering of the story. Such is the human plight to cultivate its weakest (war) genes. It will be the end of us all.
Congrats on all of the publishing you’re getting!
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Thanks, Lisa.
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You’re welcome.
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How will war end when hatred is still very much here?
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If left to human beings, it won’t.
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In the words of the great Edwin Starr “War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!”
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I remember that song from high school.
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wars are inevitable in this world it seems…
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Indeed it does.
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James, a beautifully layered piece, my taid (grandad), at 16 years old, signed up for the army and fought in France on the Somme. As a young girl, I would ask him what it was like. He never wanted to talk too much about it, but used to say, ‘it was the war that was to end all wars’. I always thought it was a miracle he managed to survive.
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It’s a miracle anyone survives. Sometimes their bodies come back but who they were before never does.
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never again, how often do i hear that? but hope springs eternal.
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We always need hope.
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“The war to end all wars is over.” So begins a new war over and over for thousand of years in the past and the future.
Your story makes a great point about the state of human’s thirst for war.
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This is usually because of human greed. Generally, we fight wars because we want someone’s stuff or they want ours.
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A good reason to celebrate. I just wish the peace had stuck a little longer.
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Me, too. Maybe someday, Laurie.
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You have painted a poignant scene of tribute.
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Thanks, Clare.
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Yes, never again.
Somber story.
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Thanks.
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