Photo prompt supplied & © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields
As a child he swung me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. He was tall and strong, like the oak tree in the garden, his arms like branches that offered love and protection. I listened to his wisdom and strived to live up to his standards and expectations.
Bit by bit I watched him droop as the life in him burnt out like the oak we were removing from the garden. Mum leaving started it but when I was raped his shoulders became incapable of taking the weight of any potatoes. He hadn’t protected and he hated himself.
Thanks to Rochelle’s prompt for Friday Fictioneers and who also supplied this weeks photo.
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About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
My question is could he have protected. Did Dad fail to act or was this something he was powerless to prevent? Admittedly in either situation, it would be crushing knowing your little girl needed you and you weren’t there.
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He couldn’t have done anything to stop it but it didn’t stop him feeling that he’d let her down. What he didn’t realise was that he’d given her the skills to deal with it.
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I know how he feels at least in potential. There’s nothing worse than knowing your child needed you and you let them down, even if you couldn’t help it.
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Yes I think Dad’s want to protect particularly girls and its hard when they fail even if they couldn’t have prevented it.
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Guilt weighs heavier than potatoes. Good one, Irene
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Thanks Neil. Yes you need strong shoulders for a sack of potatoes and his are now drooping.
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He must feel unbearably hurt. Emotions can be overwhelming in such dire circumstances.
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Absolutely. He had no power to stop the hurt to his daughter but it is he that is suffering most and being chopped down.
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seldom do they feel remorse 😦
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Her Dad just wanted to protect her and it was out of his control to do so. At least he gave her the skills to not let her rape destroy her.
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Was he ill, perhaps a mental illness and perhaps that’s why her mother left and perhaps that’s why he couldn’t step up even though he may not have been that far away( physically)?!So much story in just100 words.
Great story, Irene.
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Thanks Moon. I don’t think there was any mental illness apart from depression and despair that he couldn’t have protected his daughter. A wish all fathers have I think. The wife is just life but for the one who is left it hits the self esteem big time. Thanks for reading.
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A traumatic and harrowing downfall – and a father’s worst nightmare.
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Absolutely. Fathers just want the best for their little girls.
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I can’t imagine how awful a parent must feel when their child is hurt and they’re helpless to do anything to help. It must utterly crush you. Well told tragedy Irene
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Thanks Lynn. Yes – crush is the right word or perhaps with this prompt felled.
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My pleasure
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Gosh, such a sad family. You’ve managed to convey so much in so few words! Well done.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thank you Susan.
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A terrible burden for him.
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It cut him down.
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Such a sad story with a great metaphor. Well done.
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Thanks Susan. Glad you liked the metaphor.
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Loved the comparison to the tree… and no father should have to carry such a burden.
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Thanks Dale. I agree. A tough thing to have to cope with yet he gave his daughter the skills to deal with it.
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Absolutely!
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This tale just breaks my heart. I can empathise with MC, father-figure and tree equally. 😦
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Thank you for reading and commenting. Yes it is heart breaking – all deserve love, compassion and understanding.
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Trees are often revered as protectors in this part of the globe – yet they are not protected. Wonderful write.
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Thank you. That is an interesting point you noted. The same with the Dad I feel.
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I love the description in your first paragraph.
It sounds as though the girl came through the experience of rape more robustly than the father. He needs someone who can help him forgive himself.
I wonder whether the girl is now questioning his wisdom and his standards – not because he didn’t protect her from rape, but because he has not been able to support her emotionally. I’m sure, though, that her love for him remains strong, and she hates to see him brought low.
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Yes she came through well. I think he supported her during the months after but it ate him away from the inside and when it was over he collapsed from heart ache. He’d taught her to forgive but he hadn’t been able to teach himself.
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What a powerful and intense story Irene.
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Thank you Anurag
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You’ve done a wonderful job with this painful subject. When I was younger, I used to get so annoyed with my mother who went to pieces when something happened to me and I wanted and needed her to be strong and to carry me. However, as a parent myself, I now realize that being a bystander and watching your child suffer, no matter how old they are, is a suffering of its own.
My daughter started high school this week and I’m becoming more protective of her now. I’d better improve my right hook. Or, I could apply a few lessons from Friday Fictioneers. I’m a good cook. Watch out for the poisonous brownie.
xx Rowena
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LOL I’ll remember not to accept a brownie from you Rowena. Seriously though – yes you want to protect but you have to let go as well and it would be so hard if in this process something happened. High school – does that mean you don’t have to drive as far?
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Yes, I won’t need to drive as far but I didn’t go up to Wyong often, but I was at the station every afternoon. ATM she’s still wanting me to pick her up after school which I’m trying to discourage but I do see the benefits and she’s talking to me more about her day so I’ll keep it up. Well, at least for now.
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I don’t know whom to feel more sorry for. A very harrowing tale.
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Probably all of them but the girl is coping the best so perhaps the Dad and the tree.
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A sorrowful story skillfully told Irene. I can’t help but sense the sadness.
Click to read my FriFic!
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Thanks Keith.
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Dear Irene,
Such a beautiful use of the prompt. I felt for the father. Such a heavy burden to carry. You can’t be with them 24/7. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle. No you have to let go but it doesn’t stop you hurting.
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A sad a realistic tale, well done.
One grammatical suggestion. Your first line had me a bit confused. “As a child, he swung me. . .” would indicate that “he” was a very strong child who could swing her over his shoulders. Better: “When I was a child, he could swing me. . .”
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Thank you. Also for your suggestion which has given me a lot of pondering and I think you are probably right. I appreciate you pointing it out.
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OMG…that is so sad!
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Oh Irene. Reading along then the precise deliberate axe strike of the word rape and how it cut into the story and into the family. And that the narrator holds the axe so steady is powerful. I am glad that she is not diminished, though what weird guilt might she feel that the assault on her brought down her father.
(Wow, I was just coming by to see what you were up to. Vacationing soon I think?)
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It’s so hard, but i feel that it’s he who needs to be protected now… wonder if that’s possible?
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Sad story, guilt is indeed a heavy burden to bear. Maybe by showing her strength by surviving and regaining her confidence the daughter will help the father stand again.
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