Naledi’s secret

Posted on by Fatima Fakier

PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young

The shimmer caught her eye. At first Naledi thought it was a bottle, dumped by the storm. She let go of Mother’s hand and leaped over a broken door to get a closer look. She squealed, her hand flew to her mouth. She peeked behind her, Mother dabbed her eyes and Father rubbed her back.

She poked the shiny red stone, the gold necklace twisting around it. The storm fairies brought it here! Naledi clutched it to her chest. She knew exactly where to hide it: in her jewellery box Father gave her on her birthday.

96 words

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At this very moment Cyclone Dineo has hit Mozambique. What was first a tropical storm was upgraded to a full cyclone status in the last twenty four hours. It’s effects will be felt as far as South Africa and Botswana, where I live. Although it will have weakened and only heavy rainfall is expected in the northernmost parts such as the Okavango delta. It is quite unusual to have cyclones in Southern Africa, perhaps global warming is to blame. The last cyclone I remember personally experiencing was over a decade ago in Cape Town, but that was considered an exception rather than the norm.

This week’s flash fiction is inspired by Cyclone Dineo. Praying and hoping the destruction is minimal and no loss of life will occur in my neighbouring countries.

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Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers. Why not give it a try? Read more flash fiction here.

28 thoughts on “Naledi’s secret”

    1. Thanks for reading Liz, and for the unique photo prompt! We’ll have to wait and see. It literally is just making landfall now, Mozambique bearing the brunt of it. There are live tweets going if you want to follow.

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  10. Thinking of you in the storms. We had a nasty storm here yesterday and more rain, lightening and thunder now. The clouds yesterday had a real sinister quality. We had a blackout,but fortunately lights came back on before it went dark.
    Hope your storm clears without too much damage.
    xx Rowena

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      1. I live in Greater Sydney but we’ve just spent 3 weeks in Tasmania and there was so much to share that I still haven’t arrived home on the blog. I think I’ve been back 3 weeks.
        Hope the floods settle down quickly.
        xx Rowena

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    1. Thank you Michael. The storm has lessened to heavy rains. If news reports are reliable, Mozambique has had some structural damage and a few deaths. Not much, but one life lost is always one too many. We’re okay in Botswana.

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    1. Thank you for reading and for your well wishes! We are okay, just more rain than usual. But it comes after a dreadful drought, so it’s welcome too. Prayers for Mozambique which was devastated by the storm.

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