(100-word flash fiction)
It all started with mangoes. There she was, hiding among her backyard trees, wolfing down the juicy, golden fruit. An innocent teen, cloistered in the inner courtyard of a Brahmin household, far from the eyes of the world.
The crash had startled the mango from her grasp. A young, ripped body had followed the fallen coconut down the tree. She had burst out laughing. He had fallen in love. Well! She too. Isn’t whatever is forbidden the most enticing?
Eventually, her folks found out. She was married off, hastily, to a Brahmin boy. His body was found in a ditch.
—
This is something that could very easily have happened 100 years ago in the south of India, in the coconut palm laden villages. Brahmin girls and women were cloistered and not allowed to move about in public view. Their contact with men was limited to only close family members and so, sometimes when they accidentally met men, like in this case, the coconut-feller, who would have been from a lower caste, romance blossomed. It was usually cut short with the girl’s marriage and the guy’s exile or death.
Many thanks, once again, to our head-mistress Rochelle, who keeps us Friday Fictioneers in line ♥
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Just Joyfulness 
A sad tale
Thanks Neil. It used to be a sad reality.
Sad. Mangoes are tempting. Poor coconut guy got killed 😦
Yes. Poor fellow 😦
A sad end for him – did her parents have anything to do with him ending up in the ditch, I wonder?
Her family had everything to do with his death.
Sometimes tragedy makes the best romance. Ask Shakespeare. Very nicely done.
Yes he did do star-crossed lovers very well 🙂
Dear Joy,
Sounds like a horrible place to be a woman. Sad ending. Love the forbidden is enticing line.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle. Honour killings still take place in India 😦
I wonder what happened to the boy?
Dead in the ditch 😦
But how?
The girl’s family arranged that. For a upper caste family it is sacrilegious for a lower caste to have the temerity to court a upper caste girl.
That’s bad 😦
A very sad tale.
Yes, indeed!
Forbidden fruit often leads to tragedy.
Always!
You tell a powerful and educational story. Institutionalized patriarchy may not be as extreme as it once was, but it is a long way from being neutralized.
Yes, honour killing still take place in certain parts of the world.
😦
It’s sad people can’t be left alone to make their own choices. Sad story.
Very sad!
interesting bit of history although a sad one.
History is dotted with tragedy, I suppose.
A sorry story indeed which is all the more disturbing being based on fact.
Here’s mine!
Thanks Keith.
I don’t think this ended well for any of them 😦
Tradition is that kind of prison 😦
Happiness turned to grief in one small act. Well done.
Thanks Alicia. Happiness was not guaranteed for low-born.
I hope her husband treats her more kindly than her parents did.
Let’s hope so. There were all bound by tradition.
Wow, that was a great story but I especially love that you gave the background information about it. It made the story much more meaningful for me, as I didn’t know this about the people.
Thanks very much. 🙂
I heard the coconut fall, and felt the terrible sadness that must have occurred so very many times down the centuries, and perhaps even today.
Yes, it did happen for centuries and in some pockets still happen. 😦
Oh no. The start was so sweet and happy, what a sad sad end. Well written.
Thanks very much Laurie 🙂
What a horrible practice!
Very much so! 😦
Same story going on for centuries. Lover meant for a union only in heaven.
Yes, still going on, unfortunately. Some people are still in the 18th century 😦
Yes, it was such a terrible crime to go against the matchmaking rules of the family. Sad end for the boy in the ditch.
Very tragic and unfair!
That’s why I don’t eat coconut.
The practice of marrying off people who are in love to separate them may be the only thing sadder than unrequited love. It’s even worse when one ends up dead. Well-told, heartbreaking story.
Thanks a lot for the well-considered comment. I totally agree. I guess the girl will live in guilt too.
Guilt is another effect I didn’t consider. Good point.
Nice blog
Thanks Sania ♥