Genre: Metaphorical fiction
Word Count: 100
A GIRL NAMED IVY
He was the rock upon which she depended, and she the roots that kept him grounded. Her shoots started out tiny and controllable. He drip-fed them and kept her all to himself, pruning her into shape with his clipped truth.
Over time, his credibility diminished and her urge to grow escalated. “I want to see the sun,” she told him, as she clawed at his shade.
“It will burn you up,” he said, knowing that she was about to knock the top off his world.
She reached for the sky, eroding and suffocating him.
Behold that ruin she can’t escape.
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Friday Fictioneers: 100 word stories
Photo Prompt: copyright © Roger Bulltot
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Sarah Potter Writes 
Welcome back, Sarah! So good to see you writing and sharing again. Before I saw the subheading saying “metaphorical” I read your work and thought it was definitely metaphorical, and well-done for sure. I love this….seen it…hell, probably lived it. 🙂
Have a fantastic weekend, my friend.
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I’m happy to be back, Bill! Have missed my blogging friends, but definitely needed some fresh air and a break from my computer, as I was in non-creative lockdown.
If you’ve lived that metaphor, I’m glad you’ve survived it!
You have a fantastic weekend, too, my friend 🙂
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This was brilliant, Sarah. I have so been that Ivy…
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Nooooooooo – I do and I don’t believe it. Glad you have reached for the sun, Dale.
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I have, Kelvin. Mist definitely! Still am, in fact!
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Thank you, Dale. And poor you. I wouldn’t wish being that Ivy upon anyone. Am so glad you’ve survived and can bless us all with your wonderful smile 🙂
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Awww Thanks, Sarah!
Let’s just be thankful that time was short-lived and a long time ago!
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Personifying ivy without a predictable itch, great take on the prompt, Sarah.
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Thank you, Kelvin 🙂
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I am feeling like this is what a woman who is suffocating under her husband’s shadow is like. It may be metaphorical, but it has great imagery to me. Well done in capturing my imagination with it.
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Thank you, Miles 🙂 I think that a husband like that would be hard to escape, because even if you escape him physically, it would be impossible to erase him from your memory.
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Nice metaphorical use of the prompt.
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Thank you, Iain 🙂
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Does she call him “Dad”?
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Come to think of it, that’s quite possible!
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Ooh, rich! I see at least one other metaphor, of a more generally existentialist nature, so this strikes me as a most successful metaphorical foray (metaphoray?) indeed! 🙂
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Thank you, Sunshine. I take this as great compliment, as you are truly the Queen of brilliant metaphors 🙂
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Double LIKE. This is really a poetic take on the prompt. Like a ballad almost.
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Thank you, so much, Christine 🙂 Perhaps it’s because I used to sing a lot of folk ballads that I sometimes slip into this mode.
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knowing that she was about to knock the top off his world – my favorite line among many. Delicious take on the prompt. One of your best, me thinks.
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Oooo, thank you, Alicia 🙂
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Love this, an excellent take on the prompt.
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Thank you, Sascha 🙂
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Very intriguing POV here. Could just envision it so very well. 🙂 ❤ Really enjoyed it.
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Thank you, Jelli 🙂
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I’ve seen marriages like this. I don’t believe either partner should try to contain the other. They should intertwine and grow together. It makes the cord much harder to break.
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Lovely to hear you say this, and what a shame more people don’t follow your principles. All too often I’ve seen men or women being “forced” by their partner to give up their interests, despite them having had those interests when they first met and, presumably, fell in love. It makes no sense, unless the interest is something criminal or seriously destructive of course.
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Dear Sarah,
I can so relate to Ivy. Beautifully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Thank you 🙂 Ditto, I relate to Ivy, too!
All best wishes,
Sarah
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Splendid metaphor. I loved the phrase ‘clawed at his shade’; ivy is so destructive, and that’s just what it does.
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Thank you, Penny 🙂 Yes, Ivy is very tenacious once it gets a grip on something.
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Lovely.
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Thank you 🙂
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I love the metaphor… and to some extent it reminds me of Pygmalion… the pupil outgrowing the teacher…
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Thank you 🙂 Yes, that’s a good comparison with Pygmalion.
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So even if she breaks free her past remains entwined with him? Maybe one day that decaying foundation will crumble away leaving her free.
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Hopefully she will escape, although total freedom from the memory of him might take a lifetime to achieve.
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Love your analogies, symbolism. Thought-provoking aspect of human relationships.
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Thank you, Gran. Human relationships provide a never-ending source of ideas to explore through fiction!
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What a brilliant description of a dysfunctional relationship.
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Thank you 🙂 Sadly, there are far too many of such relationships out there D:
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Happens in real life 🙂 Thank you for the beautiful story.
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