Copyright — Adam Ickes
This is my story for Friday Fictioneers this week. It’s a weekly challenge to tell a story in 100 words with a beginning, middle and end. It follows the picture prompt provided for that week. It’s hosted by former Girl Scout, the gracious and talented Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. This week the picture is a photo supplied by Adam Ickes. Thanks Adam.
Link: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/14-march-2014/
The Wetland by P.S. Joshi’
George asked his dad, “Why is there a bridge over the land?’
“Well son, it looks like land but it’s called a wetland. You’d sink down and get stuck if you walked on it.”
“Can they drain it?”
“Yes. They could. It’s been done. There’s a lot of life there though that would get destroyed. Also, if a bad storm comes, that area can flood.”
He remembered having been shown homes built on drained wetland.
The agent said, “We never get bad flooding here. Never happened.”
A few years later, people from those homes had to be rescued by boat.
Musings on Life & Experience 
Great lesson here. Things seem so simple when we start messing around with nature, but everything’s connected one way or another.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting, David. What you say is true. That storm and flood really happened in North Carolina when we were living there. We did go to see some new homes along the coast on drained wetland and the agent told us it was a sheltered coast area where it “never flooded”. I told my husband that it wasn’t called “wetland” for nothing. Some years later it flooded.
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I wonder if the agent honestly thought it was okay. When someone stands to make a ton of money off my decision, I tend to take what they say with a grain of salt.
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I know what you mean. They were offering free tickets to a local tourist attraction if you looked at the houses. My husband said he wanted to go and see the houses. The agent became very upset when we said we weren’t interested in buying. He had to give the tickets anyway because that was the deal. I felt sorry afterward for the poeple who bought those homes. We were told that some of them were older couples who had sold homes further north to move there. That was a terrible flood. In was in all the papers.
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Excellent take. I presume this shall be happening at many places in the next decade.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m glad you liked it. I hope people wake up to the value of wetlands. The need for valuable property seems overpowering though.
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You are so right. 🙂
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Although wetlands are certainly valuable and wonderful, the “wet” part should tell you something, shouldn’t it? So may people build if not in wetlands, so close to a river that regularly floods, that I wonder what they’re thinking. Then insurance has to bail them out, so to speak, much to often. So your story sounded all too real.
janet
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting, Janet. I know what you’re saying. I read once that insurance companies sometimes tell people that if they rebuild in those areas, they won’t reinsure them. Of course, people own that land and don’t want, to or can’t afford to, move. It’s sad. People in Egypt adjusted to the Nile floods by living on higher ground and farming crops near the Nile that needed water. People in India wait for the monsoon to plant rice because it needs a flooded field.
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The other part of that is that people build in places they like or that look great, have water access, etc. and don’t pay attention to flood history or just don’t care. In California people build in places where mud slides are likely to occur and by the ocean, people build dangerously, then expect to pay regular insurance rates. Like many other problems, there are many facets
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In England, building on the flood plains has become common-place. This winter has shown the folly of it. Timely reminder – well done.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it Sandra. I’m glad you liked it. I often wonder about people not only living on and farming land that floods, but near volcanoes. They’re just gambling with nature because that’s often where the richest land is to be found.
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Appropriate story for what’s been happening in England recently.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Claire. The trouble those poor people are having is so sad. I heard that they’re getting help from those more fortunate. Sometimes situations like that bring out the best in people. I hope things improve there soon.
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Reminds me of the 2010 flood that hit Nashville. No one ever expected the water to EVER get so high. Water can truly be devastating. Nice job!
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Judah. I’m glad you thought I did well. Every so often one of those big floods happens and it’s always devastating. That North Carolina storm and flood I used in my story happened in the 1990’s when we were were living in that state. We’re living in India at present and Mumbai has those terrible floods. It used to be a group of islands and they drained it and filled in to increase the building area. The problem is, they filled in the natural drainage channels, clogging up the only ways for the rain water to return to the sea.
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In that case, BE CAREFUL!! Floods scare me.
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Thank you. We’re actually a good distance from the coast at a higher elevation. We wouldn’t want to live in Mumbai.
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i was reading your conversation with David and i felt so sorry especially for those elderly couples 😦 they deserve safer homes especially since they’re old. an appropriate reminder…
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Thank you K.Z. for reading and commenting. That flood was sad, a disaster for many. I’m fairly certain that many of them were retired people who sold large homes and moved south to warmer weather and a location near the coast where they could live in retirement.
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With my recent bout with waters “flooding” the lower level of my house, I particularly like your take on the photo prompt. I can definitely relate…
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it. Water in your home brings trouble. I’ve experienced it also and it really makes a mess of things. I hope it never happens to us again.
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Patricia, wonderful use of the prompt and some history. Such a long history of man trying to tame nature… and never learning a lesson! Well done.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Dawn. I’m glad you liked it. I think that man is going to have to find a way to work with nature. Some have and more need to.
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Our planet depends on it!
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Your story certainly resonates with a lot of people, Patricia. Nicely done.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Karen. I’m glad you liked it. There has been so much tragedy involving weather lately. people respond to anything about it. Taming it doesn’t seem to be enough. I think we’ll all have to start respecting the natural world a good deal more.
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You’re right, Dawn. It does depend on it.
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Dear Patricia,
I think of an area in Kansas City near the Missouri River. It’s flooded many times. One has to wonder why anyone would build there. Good story.
shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle for reading my story and commenting on it. I’ve always thought that maybe the poor build in those places because they can’t afford to build anywhere else. Here in India the poor often live near the rivers and dump their waste into them. They vacate when the water rises and move back when the water level goes down. Every so often someone drowns.
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Gympie QLD is built partly on a floodplain and guess what happens after a lot of rain…….?
Good story.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Sarah. I’m glad you liked it. I looked up Gympie QLD to find out where it is. Farmers like that land of course because it’s rich soil, but they face the consequenses.
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🙂
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Now you tell me its a wetland. My character jumps off the bridge and will surely get stuck now! A story well told and the comments were very informative.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Petruj. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize your character was going to jump off the bridge. :,( Maybe someone will come to the rescue. : )
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She’s going to have to wade through the mud herself I think.
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You’ve made my day, Petruj. I was sitting here laughing out loud at both your comments. : )
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🙂
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To say never about anything involving wet lands, rivers, or the like is ignorant if not down right lying. To believe is gullible beyond measure but so many people believe what they want to believe not what is probable or realistic. Your tale is a metaphor for that type of ignorance.
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Thanks Dawn for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m afraid many people don’t understand about wetlands. There needs to be more education about them. However, there is big money to be made from land so it gets politicized. A school I taught at had been built on drained land. Termites ate away the first gym floor.
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A good story and very close to the truth – money first, people second
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Siobhan. That’s unfortunately often the way it is.
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Such a timely story. We have seen such terrible hardship here in the UK this winter where houses have been built on flood plains. Nature always has her way.
Well done
Dee
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Dee. I’m glad you liked it. I’ve seen on TV the trouble in the UK and I feel so sorry for those people. They thought they’d found rich soil and it was. The problem of course was that it was in a flood plain. I suppose some people just didn’t understand and others decided to take a chance.
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A few years ago, I met a man down near the river. He had bought some land and was going to build a house there. I told him I’d lived in that area all my life and seen that spot under water on more than one occasion. He went ahead and built a house. Things went well for about 10 years, then it flooded the house twice in the next four years. Some people never listen.
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Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it, Russell. I don’t know why that is, but I guess some people don’t think bad things will ever happen to them. They think they know better.
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A contemporary and contentious take on the prompt. This is happening here in the UK, too. Ann
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Thanks for reading and commenting on my story, Ann. I’ve seen on TV what’s happening in the UK. That’s just terrible. I feel sorry for those people and their families.
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You have a knack for writing fiction…keep it up!
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Thank you Rosanna for reading my story and commenting on it. I appreciate your encouragement. I enjoy reading your blogs also.
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very realistic story and as some of your readers commented, certainly going to be more common as our temperatures change and conflicting management of our natural environment continues as a common pattern. i enjoyed your story, Patricia.
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Thanks Seraphim for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I see more trouble ahead unless more of us can work together.
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I like the direction you took this one. Amazingly, homes continue to built where they shouldn’t be and those disasters keep happening. Great story.
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Thanks Amy for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m glad you liked it. We have to find a way to get along with nature instead of always battling it. It’s powerful and we often end up losing.
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The county into which my spouse and I moved last year has several McMansions built over what will prove (if they haven’t already) to be sink holes. Somebody got rich off them.
Cheers!
MG
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Thanks MG for reading my story and commenting on it. It’s the same old story. I remember years ago seeing homes built on on the edge of cliffs in southern California and wondering what would happen if the cliffs gave way. Well, later some did and the homes came tumbling down because of the erosin. Anyone buying a home has to be very careful.
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Scary when nature decides to unleash her fury but still we do not care and continue to mess with it all-so we pay the price!A great take on the prompt Patricia 🙂
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Thanks Atreyee for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m glad you liked it. You’re right. Nature is scary, but I guess we still keep thinking we can win. We then suffer the consequenses.
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So right you are Patricia-sad
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Good father-son interaction and a good warning about building in wetlands. Ron
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Thanks Ron for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m glad you liked it. I think there needs to be more education concerning wetlands.
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So sad when people ignore warnings about chancy building locations…bad for the environment as well as bad for them.
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Thanks VB for reading my story and commenting on it. You’re right, it is sad.
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the price must be very attractive to get people sucked into it. and a nice view to go with it.
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This was a pleasant area, and I think they were catering to people who had sold their homes up north and wanted to move in their retirement to where it was warmer and not very distant from the water. As I remember, they were smaller homes, but I don’t remember the price as we really weren’t interested in buying and it was about 20 years ago.
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So very true.. the wetlands are so important .. but for centuries we have tried to control them… but at the end nature will reclaim their rights.
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And so sorry.. I thought I had been by your great story before… my apologies.
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No need to apologize, Bjorn I appreciate the fact that you took the time to read my story and comment. I know everyone is busy. I’m glad you liked it.
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Your story reminds me of the winter we have had in the UK where houses are built on things called flood plains. But still some people wonder why their homes are occasionally flooded.
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Thanks Sarah Ann for reading my story and commenting on it. There needs to be more education about nature. People who make money off selling land and from construction probably don’t want that. There are no doubt big money interests involved. Here where we live in India they’re building on any piece of land they can find. Something the papers call the “sand Mafia” is digging up sand from river beds and selling it for construction.
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You can’t trust estate agents 🙂
Very topical considering parts of Somerset (UK) were under water for months this winter. I can see this getting ever more common.
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Thanks Alastair for reading my story and commenting on it. I know what you mean. It’s difficult to trust those who make a profit. I’m also afraid we haven’t seen the end of the trouble with flooding.
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No action without consequence! Nicely told!
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Thank you, Riya Anne, for reading and commenting on my story. I’m glad you liked it. You’re right. We have to think of the consequences when we take an action.
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Never say Never! I know so many people in Kansas, in Louisiana, and in Florida that have had houses submerged in muck! Yuck! Great story – thanks. Nan
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Thanks, Nan, for reading my story and commenting on it. I’m glad you liked it. I know what you mean. I don’t personally know anyone but that’s happened to, but I see it on TV and I feel so sorry for them. It must be horrible trying to salvage your possessions and start up again after that.
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