[Sherlock Holmes ACD] --- Live in Hope (JWP#08 2015)
Title: Live in Hope
Theme: Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2015
Prompt: #8 The Ballad of Reading Gaol
[clik to see]"I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky,
And at every drifting cloud that went
With sails of silver by."
--Oscar Wilde
Author: Alaylith
Rating: General Audiences
Universe: ACD
Characters: Narrator (never mentions who it is, but I will tell you at the end, but maybe you will know beforehand ^^)
WordCount: 329
Summary: I look at him and see a prisoner living in freedom and hope is the key to the chains on his soul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have never seen a man like him.
I am still a young man, but I have met many men in these few years - especially those haunted by their decisions.
But no one has ever been like him.
The foreigner has given a false name, but names are nothing - my own name was given to me years after my birth; my first name lost in the whispers of memories.
He had choosen his own shadow to hide and I do not need to know his true identity to see his plight.
That british (not norwegian as he had claimed) man runs from his past, he runs from his faults - he runs from his own life.
But when he looks up to the sky he has the eyes of a prisoner; as if his escape does not bring him freedom but captivity.
Only once did the foreigner mention that he left something (but his eyes told me that in reality it was someone) behind, something so very important.
When I asked him about it, about why he left it, he just gave me a small, sad smile and said that he had no other choice.
I could see the pain, the suffering, the longing in his eyes; whatever reasons he had they must have been grievous.
Nevertheless the rightness of his choice never calms the storm raging in his heart or numbs the pain in his soul, so whenever he looks up to our sky, he sees another one.
Another sky far away and his wishes sail like clouds from ours over to his sky, trying to reach what has been left behind.
I see him now, standing in the garden of our temple and I lower my head in silent prayer as I always do when looking at him.
For one thing he has gained from leaving something behind.
Sigerson has found hope and I pray he will never lose it, because then he himself will be lost forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have not realized who the narrator. :)
It's the Dalai Lama - originally I started with the idea of a (random) monk, but then changed it.
The only hint for the Dalai Lama himself is the name:
At the time of Holmes's hiatus the Dalai Lama was Thubten Gyatsho (27. Mai 1876 - 17. Dezember 1933). He was 'found' and recognized 1978 and got his (new) name 1879.
Otherwise it could have been anybody, but I thought it interesting to think about what a man like the Dalai Lama would make of Holmes.
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Theme: Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2015
Prompt: #8 The Ballad of Reading Gaol
[clik to see]"I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky,
And at every drifting cloud that went
With sails of silver by."
--Oscar Wilde
Author: Alaylith
Rating: General Audiences
Universe: ACD
Characters: Narrator (never mentions who it is, but I will tell you at the end, but maybe you will know beforehand ^^)
WordCount: 329
Summary: I look at him and see a prisoner living in freedom and hope is the key to the chains on his soul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have never seen a man like him.
I am still a young man, but I have met many men in these few years - especially those haunted by their decisions.
But no one has ever been like him.
The foreigner has given a false name, but names are nothing - my own name was given to me years after my birth; my first name lost in the whispers of memories.
He had choosen his own shadow to hide and I do not need to know his true identity to see his plight.
That british (not norwegian as he had claimed) man runs from his past, he runs from his faults - he runs from his own life.
But when he looks up to the sky he has the eyes of a prisoner; as if his escape does not bring him freedom but captivity.
Only once did the foreigner mention that he left something (but his eyes told me that in reality it was someone) behind, something so very important.
When I asked him about it, about why he left it, he just gave me a small, sad smile and said that he had no other choice.
I could see the pain, the suffering, the longing in his eyes; whatever reasons he had they must have been grievous.
Nevertheless the rightness of his choice never calms the storm raging in his heart or numbs the pain in his soul, so whenever he looks up to our sky, he sees another one.
Another sky far away and his wishes sail like clouds from ours over to his sky, trying to reach what has been left behind.
I see him now, standing in the garden of our temple and I lower my head in silent prayer as I always do when looking at him.
For one thing he has gained from leaving something behind.
Sigerson has found hope and I pray he will never lose it, because then he himself will be lost forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have not realized who the narrator. :)
It's the Dalai Lama - originally I started with the idea of a (random) monk, but then changed it.
The only hint for the Dalai Lama himself is the name:
At the time of Holmes's hiatus the Dalai Lama was Thubten Gyatsho (27. Mai 1876 - 17. Dezember 1933). He was 'found' and recognized 1978 and got his (new) name 1879.
Otherwise it could have been anybody, but I thought it interesting to think about what a man like the Dalai Lama would make of Holmes.
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