PHOTO PROMPT © Marie Gail Stratford
BABBLE
It was finally finished! Mr. Nimr Rad gazed about. The entire penthouse level, the 159th floor of his towering needle in the sky, was his living suite and office.
The building had begun well, but it seemed that the higher they built, the more communication problems they had. At first, all the crews had spoken good English, but by the end, foremen seemed reduced to grunts, waving arms and pointing fingers.
From this, the highest point for hundreds of miles, he looked down upon the milling masses, and felt an almost God-like superiority.
***
Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Fiction site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story,.
Archon's Den 
I loved the idea of the change in the building crews as the building rose. But you don’t tell us what caused that mystery. Please don’t let it be just that foreign steeplejacks are better. I want it to be about altitude
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This is a retelling of Nimrod, and the Tower of Babel. As they grew nearer Heaven, God said, “Let us go among them and confuse their speech.” They didn’t reach Heaven, but this time, technology prevailed to (finally) complete 159 storeys. 😯
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The fatigue kicked in, the sun got hotter and using words was just too stressful lol. Good job.
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That sounds like the results of the average elementary school 😦
Thanx for stopping by. 😀
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Dear Archon,
Mr. Nimr Rad? Love it. Well written progression.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I missed the name when I read it. With the name and title I might have caught on earlier, before the communications breakdown. But then, maybe I wouldn’t have….
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Despite my best efforts, communications problems sometimes occur right below the Archon’s Den header, but it’s clear that you understood. 🙂
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I felt that you would ‘get it’, if no-one else did. I’m not much of a ‘Bible person.’ I knew of the Tower of Babel, but didn’t know that Nimrod was the general contractor. I was reading a novel about magic, and just yesterday afternoon was introduced to (the Assyrian?) Nimr Rad, builder of towers. When I saw that skyscraper, I had my theme. 🙂
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Quite a tower of Babel (sorry, “Babble”!) he’s built for himself there.
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No, Babel is correct, version 2.0. I originally titled it that, but thought that ‘gave it away’, and changed it. 🙂
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Love it… Did you know that the Canadian Native Indians were often called in to work on the tallest buildings?
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Most of them were Mohawks, from the reservation in Brantford, half an hour away. They were so well-balanced and fearless, that some show-offs would take a bicycle up, and ride it around the topmost horizontal beams. Robbie Robertson, of the Canadian group, The Band is (at least partly) Mohawk, but chose song-writing instead of steel work. 🙂
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Yes indeed, Archon! I knew you’d know this… And the Robbie Robertson fun fact too!
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And he can hold that feeling, until the cheap components he chose begin to crumble
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Not cynical, merely realistic. With a blog-name of Oldentimes, like me, you’re probably old enough to remember when things were solidly constructed. Oh, the good old days! 🙂
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This is a very interesting reinvention of the Tower of Babel story. And I love Mr. Nimr Rad’s name😀
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A novel I was reading gave the name as the original and correct transliteration of Nimrod, so I decided to include it. 🙂
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Well-crafted, Archon. You know of course that Donald Trump builds towers as well…
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And possesses the same God-like feeling of superiority over the masses.
I’ve hear a lot of people refer to him as a Nimrod. 😡
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Educational and entertaining! I only knew of Nimrod from the music by Elgar. Need to check out my bible…
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Now I need to Google ‘Elgar & Nimrod.’
Thanx. 🙂
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Nice story. Understood the significance of the name from the comments. Cool.
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Thanx for reading, including the comments. Many don’t bother. 😯
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Trump Tower or Eye of the Needle?
Lily
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The story was a sort of camouflaged swipe at Trump, so I guess it’s his Tower. 😦 😯
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I was thinking of Trump towers too, not yet familiar with Nimrod, but sure will look up Nimr Rad.
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If you’ve read some of my above responses, you’ll know that I’m relying on what I’ve read of someone else’s research. Thanx for reading mine. 🙂
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Yes! Man thriving in artificial confines.
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studies have shown that rats, confined in heavy population densities become nasty and aggressive. It takes a particular type of mind to survive in the big city, especially in high-rises. Many of us do not possess it. 😦
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Great story, universal truths can be applied anytime anywhere, as you so masterfully showed us here.
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Thank you so muchly. 🙂
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