Free Write -- Gondebaud

 

Today's prompt was a the statue of Gondebaud, (475-516) King of Burgundy. This was Rick's prompt, a photo taken in Geneva. None of us knew about the King, although on research, his most notable act was to bring German and Roman laws together. 

Rick's Free Write 

King Gondebaud was despondent. Why could he not get his subjects to obey his directives?

He had the gold crown. He had the gold sword. He had the royal robes.

Was it his tiny hands? Or because he was short (he was barely 5 feet tall)?

Did they not understand he came from a long line of prominent royals (well, his father, at least)? He was no different than Napoleon Bonaparte; small but mighty.

He sat on the throne his father had made when he crowned himself King of Leman. The people had laughed at his father too. When they put him in prison, Gondebaud took over the family throne. He decreed that all neighbouring countries should pay him tariffs. They laughed and ignored him. He decreed that the wine growers of Leman should join his army. They laughed, too, and went back to their vines.

Gondebaud announced that he would take a beautiful wife. He expected a long line of candidates. When no one showed up to audition, he turned to his friend Geoffrey, who always was surrounded by young women.

“I know,” said Sir Geoffrey, “we’ll pretend to hold a beauty pageant and you can claim the winner as your wife.”

“Okay,” said Gondebaud, “as long as she’s shorter than me.”

“For that,” said Sir Geoff, “she’ll have to be about 12.”

D-L's Free Write

"I did it. Allison Barrett. Dr. Allison Barrett. Dr. Dr. Dr."

Her advisor had called to say she had passed her orals. The diploma, the formal degree would follow. 

Her advisor had his doubt she would find enough information on Gondebaud for a thesis on the 5-6th century Burgundy king. 

Yet over the past five years, she worked on morphing her thesis into The Life During the Reign of King Gondebaud.

She worked with climatologists, who talked about the weather of the period, map makers who recreated the farms and small villages. She discovered the crops grown, church records, and cloth remnants.

She joined archaeologists on a dig and included photos of the pottery found in her thesis.

She worked hard to learn the ancient French. She already knew church Latin. 

For four years she had lived in Burgundy imagining what it would have been like in Gondebaud's time.

Her parents came for lunch. "Find a real job. Go to Grad school. Get an MBA. Become a lawyer."

It was a most unpleasant lunch.

As she was leaving, her mother followed Allison to her car. "Don't listen to your father," she whispered. "Follow your own dreams,"

She kissed her mother. 

She had followed her own dreams.

Julia's Free Write

Had he not have saved the prince from a wild boar attack, where would he have ended up?

The prince had taken him to the king, vaunting his sureness and quick actions.

The king, always happy to cater to his beloved son, had taught him to wield more than a stick.

It had been a rich life. Very eventful. Born in a cave, he had risen to becoming a soldier. from there, and on many battle fields, he had proven his worth.

But although he rose to new heights, he was a mortal and inevitably entered the ground.

Half pink, half green, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand, honored, he had become a statue, placed in a niche, halfway up a stone wall. 

Rick Adams is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices.com, a weekly newsletter reporting the top stories about the airline industry. He is the author of The Robot in the Simulator. AI in Aviation Training.  

Visit D-L.'s website  https://dlnelsonwriter.com, She is the author of 15 fiction and three non fiction books. Her 300 Unsung Women, bios of women who battled gender limitations, can be purchased  at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/300-unsung-women-d-l-nelson/1147305797?ean=9798990385504 

Visit Julia's blog. She has written and taken photos and loves syncing up with friends.  Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/