PHOTO PROMPT – © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
CIRCUMSCRIBED/ASPIRATION
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn??
Not in his neighborhood! Every window just showed more dirty brick walls. His friends complained of living in tenements. He hated this building. A Chinese laundry downstairs, clattering, banging and spewing hot steam all summer. Upstairs, a sweatshop shirt factory, full of babbling Asian women, and not a word of English.
It made it difficult to concentrate on his schoolwork, but concentrate he would. He’d get a degree, and he’d land a job that allowed him to buy a posh house out in the Hamptons, surrounded by all the trees that didn’t grow in Brooklyn.
***
Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story
Archon's Den 
Lovely, hope his dreams come through.
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Hopes and dreams become the fuel that carries us forward. Thanx. 🙂
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The lure of the greasy pole. It’s such a shame that we can’t provide trees for all.
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‘A man’s reach must exceed his grasp.’ Today’s report says that there are three Trillion trees on Earth. It would be nice if everyone got to enjoy a couple. 🙂
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Here’s hoping he survives the racket. No ticky, no laundry.
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He’s probably learned to ignore the city sounds, but will be driven mad by the birdsong in his trees. How’s that working for you? 😉 😕
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Mo’ quiet, mo’ bettah.
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Dear Archon,
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one of my favorite books of all time. You wrote it into your atmospheric piece beautifully. BTW, hasn’t Williamsburg changed?
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I presume that Williamsburg is where you took this photo. It may be subjective, but it just had an NYC ‘feel’ to it. It could have been in KC. I’ll take your word that it’s changed. Between medical and financial restrictions, the closest we’ve been, is Harrisburg, PA, about 200 miles west. 🙂
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Actually the picture was taken in KC in the West Bottoms. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn took place in Williamsburg in the early 1900’s and was a poverty stricken area. Today Williamsburg is an upscale artsy area.
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Yes, Wiiliamsburg has changed tremendously. 😎
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I missed the reference, having never actually read the book. Urban change is a fact of life, both upwards and down. I had a follower who bought a house in a nice white neighborhood in Little Rock, forty years ago, but had to shut down her blog and move, because she’d become White Lady In The ‘Hood. 😦 Now I have to research The West Bottoms. 🙂
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Great take, I hope his dream comes true.
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Most of us need a dream to get us out of bed each morning. When one of us achieves his/her dream, it gives hope to the rest. Even though he lives only in my mind (so that’s what all that clanking and banging is), I hope he makes it also. 😆
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I am happy things worked out for him
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It certainly helps when you’ve got determination, and a plan. 🙂
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Well, you just described my life story. Although, my neighborhood was inhabited by Hasidic Jewish families. We had a little scargly tree in the middle of our street. I thought it was wonderful.
Yes, I did use the lifestyle to motivate me to great things. My father had a hand it that too. Now, I live in a community deemed a nature preserve. I’m successful and have a very different life. I appreciate those days as my motivation to be more. Great story ( of course 😊)
Isadora 😎
p.s. I had thought of taking the prompt that way. I’m glad I didn’t. It would have had a lot more pain. You did a better job than I would have. Bravo !!!
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Being surrounded by Hasidic Jews must have been….interesting. I’m happy that you eventually succeeded and moved on.
One of my regulars reminds me that this is cheap therapy. That’s the end of today’s session. We’ll see you again next week, at the same time.
Would you wish to state your point of origin (NYC?) or your current haven, so that I can indulge my map OCD? I understand Taos NM is an artists’ colony, but I don’t see it as a nature preserve. 😛
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Yes, it was interesting indeed. I am writing my memoir about it. The intricacies of living with a devout religious group needs a chapter of it’s own. 🙂 Love the cheap therapy session. Never turn a blind eye to a good bargain. 😊
Florida – south of Sarasota – in a small fishing town called Englewood. Lots of woods, fishing, ocean air and breezes. The town is filled with artists, writers, fisherman and nature lovers. You won’t see that on a map but it’s here. Glad we had a good session. Have a GREAT weekend…!!! 😎
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Great story and that’s a good ambition of his. Of course, I wonder if he ever gets out among all those trees, if he’ll miss the bustle and noise of the city after all.
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It’s quite possible that he will. The grass is always greener….out where they actually have grass. 😉 😕
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I’m pulling for him to make it. A dream is vital, even if you never fully achieve it.
janet
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I must have made something then. The wife says I’m quite a dreamer. 😉
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I like your play off of trees … but too subtle of an Archonian Twist. 😉
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I’m just an old softy at heart….but don’t tell anyone. 😛
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Definitely won’t tell anyone!
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Well, that would motivate me. I hope he finds happiness! Great story.
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I am happy that you stopped by to read his/my story. Thanx. 😆
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A touching story. I hope he makes it, and, after he’s settled in his posh suburb, with trees, he’ll come back and do something to help all the poor Asian women slaving in the sweatshop upstairs.
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Now there’s a bit of charitable aid which I didn’t think of. Let’s hope that, even in fiction, it comes true. 🙂
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