Water Falls #99WordStories

46 Replies

This week at the Carrot Ranch, Charli Mills challenged writes to In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the phrase, water falls. Where is the water coming from? How does it shape a story? Who does it involve? Go where the prompt leads!

Any creative ideas for incorporating ‘water falls’ into a story dried up and I was left with this piece very much a BOTS (based on a true story) about a weather event that occurred along the east coast of Australia earlier this year. It was devastating for many, and many still suffering the aftereffects are homeless.

Water Falls

The water fell, gently at first then obstinately, in unrelenting torrents, like uncontainable tears from a sky in mourning. A ‘rain bomb’, they said, a ‘one in one hundred years event’. It swelled the rivers and flooded the lands mercilessly, taking lives and homes and destroying livelihoods. Water from dams filled beyond capacity cascaded over spillways, intensifying the deluge. A supercharged natural event not experienced before, never expected again. When the sky opened just a few years later, crying those same mournful tears of loss and destruction, surely the denials would cease.  As indisputable that water falls, they didn’t.

Thank you blog post

Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.

Note: The collection of stories made in response to the previous prompt Baby Ducks Ate My Lunch, including mine,can be read at the Carrot Ranch here.

46 thoughts on “Water Falls #99WordStories”

  2. Marsha

    You all suffered so terribly. We get monsoons in AZ. I’ve never experienced anything on the scale of what happened there. It has happened in CA where we lived but not since the 1950’s. The fires make it worse burning the trees that hold the soil. It must have been terrifying.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. calmkate

    Good one Norah … I was caught in the middle of that but am safe and dry!

    Well over a thousand families lost everything … absolutely everything and it took the govt a ten days to get here and two months to come up with any kind of plan. What’s not happened since is criminal … the second flood a couple of weeks later didn’t go down too well as many had started cleaning up.

    Some of my neighbours will never come back …

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Pingback: Water Falls « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

  6. Charli Mills

    It’s painful to watch the suffering of many because of denial, Norah. Scientists long ago predicted climate crisis but now that it has arrived, its existence is still disbelieved. You’d think after the second 100-year event in two years people would at least be questioning what is happening.

    Liked by 4 people

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  7. Miriam Hurdle

    The weather turned upside down in the whole world, Norah. The rain bomb and flooding sound terrible. I’m sure Australia could use some rain but not crazy and destructive water falling like the sky is broken.
    Most parts, especially the east and northeast of the US have bad weather all year long, one after another. They have snow, rain, flooding, tornados, and more. People don’t even have enough time to recover before the next one hit.
    Well done with the response to the prompt, Norah. I hope you’re okay where you are.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Norah Post author

      To have a bad weather event one after the other like that must be very difficult to cope with, Miriam. I hope you’re okay where you are.

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  10. Mabel Kwong

    A wonderful write, Norah. And a good topic you chose too. You’d think the floors in Australia would never happen again – but they did again this year. Devastating to watch it all unfold not too long ago. Sometimes these things just happen. Hope you are doing well.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Norah Post author

      Thank you, Mabel. Yes, the floods were devastating for so many, and many are still feeling the effects. There is bad flooding in South Africa now too, and many more deaths than here. It’s tragic. I’m well. I hope you are doing well too. 💖

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      1. Mabel Kwong

        It is terrible there’s so much flooding everywhere. Hopefully things get better soon, and with the world in general. I’m doing alright as we are heading into winter. Hope it stays warm over there, Norah 💖

        Liked by 2 people

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      1. robbiesinspiration

        HI Norah, there has been very bad flooding on the east coast of South African in and around Durban. I live in the highveld so it didn’t impact us although we had a lot of rain. My house is on a hill so we’ve never had flooding.

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        1. Norah Post author

          I’m pleased you weren’t flooded, Robbie, but from what I’ve seen on the news, the situation at Durban is devastating. It’s terrible what nature can do. What man can do is even worse.

          Liked by 1 person

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