copyright © Fatima Fakier Deria
As the feisty tugboats heaved and nudged the great liner into harbour, Henry felt the sun’s heat bounce off the swell, to welcome him back to a port that had known him well.
It was a long time ago, he’d never envisaged returning.
As anchors and hawsers clanked into place, memories as rich as the verdant island vegetation consumed him.
He sighed and returned to his cabin. “It will have changed,” he thought.
“Been spoiled. My friends will be older, maybe dead. They won’t recognise me.”
Sitting by the porthole, he opened a heavy book and awaited the liner’s leaving.
Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries here.
Michael Wynn 
Quite a sad ending. I wish he’d gone and seen for himself. I guess he wanted to preserve the memories and not spoil them.
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This has been great fun. We have those who say he should have gone and others who say he was right to stay.
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Oh I love that, Michael. He decides you can never go back.
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Thanks Neil, glad you enjoyed it
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Dear Michael,
Pity he didn’t go out to find out for himself. I feel a much bigger story lurks between the lines. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. I think maybe he did take the easy option.
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You can never go back, that’s true, but at least you can create new memories. A sad little tale.
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Thanks Trent. It is sad, I suppose both ways, sad if he stays on the boat, sad if his memories are wrecked by leaving it
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Better to leave those memories unblemished. Nice work Michael.
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Thanks Iain
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It’s kind of a catch 22. Go and be potentially disappointed, don’t go and be potentially surprised.
Trent stole my words because I was going to agree you can never go back. However, you can definitely reconnect for a while…
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Thanks Dale. It’s caused quite a debate with people arguing one way or the other, but it’s one of those questions with no definitive answer, especially as he didn’t get off to see, so we could go round in circles on this one. 🙂
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That we could!
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Well done, you drew me into the story and I was saddened by his choice to remain on the ship.
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Thank-you. Yes, I think probably it was the wrong choice but he didn’t seem to think so
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How sad! I want to scream, “Go! Leave the boat! Find out what has happened in your old port town!”
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Thanks and that’s probably exactly what he should do but then again…who knows?
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It is a hard decision, perhaps he made the right one for him. This was a fine piece of writing
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Thank-you Michael. Maybe he did and maybe he’ll never know now.
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I think I would have made the same decision. Leaving places and friends behind is painful, and repeating that is opening the wounds again and again. I love the descriptions, it feels like smelling the fuel, hearing the noises in the harbour.
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Thank-you. We’ve got a bit of a debate running here. I didn’t think en writing it people would take sides with or against his decision. It’s interesting because all the reasoning so far is very valid on both sides of the argument
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It’s a great discussion. People have different temperaments and that shows.
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Sort of sad, that fear of spoiling old memories keeps him from living… and making new (maybe even better) ones.
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It is. I think he’s decided it would be sadder to have his memories questioned by finding it isn’t actually as he remembers it was. Perhaps, the others don’t put as much value on the same memories
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Mick, well-written. An easy read on my eyes. I may be in the minority of commenters. Being old, lazy, and just a bit weary, I think I would have sat and read the book, too. I’ve already seen enough pass away, and the idea of expending that much energy on loss and recuperation just seems wasteful. I prefer a fresh port and a breeze not so wrought with the past. Lovely work.
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Thanks. It has certainly divided opinion this one. Which is fun in itself. I’m pleased you enjoyed it
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Poor guy. He’s got to get over that negative attitude. I’m amazed at how old my friends have gotten. Glad it didn’t happen to me.
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It’s funny the debate this has caused. Some say he’s realistic, others that he’s negative. Personally, I would get off the boat to see, he on the other hand is afraid of losing his cherished memories to something more real
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Sometimes it is difficult to go back to a place that was once your home. In my experience, it’s never the same. Maybe Henry is making the right choice if there’s nobody in particular waiting for him there. I don’t see it as being negative, but just realistic. It can be easier to make a new home than slot back into an old one.
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I think you have it spot on. That’s certainly the side of the debate he’s come down on
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I also want to drag him out of that cabin – others do not. This opened a real can of worms (in a good way!). Good story.
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Thank-you. Yes, it’s a split decision, on the one hand you could say he’s a coward, on the other he’s a realist, realising it will have changed and not for the better
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I wonder if he could get any more disappointed than by never trying… He would have been positively surprised.
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He may have but his memories have ripened in his mind, he cherishes them and it was a time when he and his friends were fit and well, I think he doesn’t want to risk taking the shine off
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Our minds are our greatest enemy. Always thinking thinking and overthinking. I wish he’d gone to see for himself.
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I think he’s worried the reality will not support his memories and then he’ll have nothing
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Sometimes ignorance can be bliss.
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If only he had overcome his inhibitions! I could identify with this one very easily.
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Thank-you. If he could have gone shore we’d have answers, as he stayed on the ship, neither us nor him will ever know how it would have turned out. Thanks for reading.
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Sometimes, memories of what used to be are best kept that way.
I enjoyed his contemplative journey. I could have read more and more.
Isadora 😎
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Thanks, I’m glad you found it comtemplative.I was wondering if our memories grow richer with age and if there is a danger that they might be exposed in reality, as not so rosy as we imagine,which is why i think he chose to stay on the ship
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I think memories that stay in the past are bound to be remembered more favorably than if they’re brought into the here and now. My hubby went back to his old neighborhood as an adult and it wasn’t the same as he remembered plus all had changed. Perhaps, staying on the ship wasn’t such a bad thing. Your story has a lot for the reader to ponder. 😎
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Thank you. Since writing it and reading the comments I have been pondering and discussing it with friends because, everyone fall into one of two camps, those that would go ashore and those that wouldn’t and both sides have their perfectly valid reasons.
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I love the language in this.
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Thanks Dawn
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It is a tough one. I think I would have got off the boat. He missed the opportunity to visit old friends who don’t even know he’s on the boat. I bet they would have wanted to see him. Undoubtedly things would have changed, but that doesn’t have to tarnish his memories from before.
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I’m with you, I would have gone ashore but I think he was scared the others might not have found the times he was nostalgic about, so significant to them
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That was sad. Was he afraid they wouldn’t recognise him?
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Thanks, Luccia.I think he was. I think he was afraid that the memories he held so dear would not mean so much to the others.
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