Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

© irene waters 2015

“I’ve found a secret drawer in Dad’s bureau” Charlie’s daughter told her sister. They looked out at the mountains ringing Lake Geneva contemplating breaking in. Their excitement rose as they saw an envelope hidden in the back. 

“This confirms Great-Grandma was a gypsy. Dad was born in a caravan. No wonder MI5 couldn’t find records of his birth.”

“But why didn’t he tell. He could’ve re-entered the USA but he let them believe he was a bolshevik.”

“Yes and he could’ve got that knighthood 20 years earlier.”

“Charlie Chaplin was not only silent in movies but also in life.”

This week Charli has given us a prompt to look at an old mystery.

May 20, 2015 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write about an old mystery in the current time. Is it a discovery? Is it solved? Does it no longer matter, or does it impact innocent generations in between?

Respond by May 26, 2015 to be included in the weekly compilation.Rules are here. All writers are welcome!

My story is a BOTS and the mystery of Charli Chaplin’s date and place of birth remain just that — a mystery although the finding of this letter in 2011 perhaps gave weight to the assertion in his memoir that his  “grandma was half gypsy.”

For further information on the actions of the FBI and MI5’s investigation see here.