AnElephantCant pretend he’s a wee dude
He is huge when he stands up to his full height
But though you only reach his knees
Remember he’s just like the trees
His bark is much worse than his bite
Once again it is Friday Fictioneer time.
Where Redwood Rochelle towers over a forest of fertile fablers on a weekly basis.
And AnElephant is rooted to the spot as usual.
The idea is to write a very short story, circa 100 words, based on this picture prompt (below).
That’s it.
Copyright-John Nixon
Battlefield
This is such an easy position to defend.
If they think they can sneak up and take us by surprise, they’ve got another think coming.
We’ll hear them stumbling through the trees long before they see us.
They won’t be able to hold their battle lines, they’ll be all over the place.
Our generals reckon their generals will realise how hopeless their position is and turn right around and go home.
We’ll win the battle without a shot being fired and the war will be over in a couple of weeks.
And we can forget we ever heard of Shiloh.
anelephantcant 
If only the Civil War had ended with Shiloh – This is such a good story! You amaze me with your talent and you always have a trunk full of goodies for us each week. Thanks! Nan 🙂
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The story was great, but I have to tell you that I almost enjoy your opening poems and introductions even more! War is definitely hell.
Thanks for presenting a completely entertaining (and enlightening) entry. 🙂
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AnElephantCant deny that daft rhymes are his first love.
Doing silly intros is probably second.
He is very happy that you had fun here, he writes this sort of rubbish on a pretty regular basis.
Please visit again, and bring peanuts next time.
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*throwing peanuts* 😉
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Sadly true of conflict across the world and throughout the ages. Such arrogance is what leads to trouble in the first place. You told the story very well by choosing that particular moment, when they believed in certain victory. The contrast with the outcome is stark without you having to spell it out.
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AnElephant thanks you for your understanding, Siobhan.
He thinks it is up to each individual to visualise for themselves the stupidity and the horror of this and, indeed, every battle ever fought.
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Ouch! How easily we deny the truth and live in our own denial. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. I hope your story echoes loud in certain ears.
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AnElephant is grateful for your comment, Joseph.
He tries often to portray the obscenity of war.
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And portrayed well it is with enough warning in the text to steer us aright!
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Dear Elephant,
Your story is spot on. While you don’t say if this POV is the North or the South, I believe it could’ve been either. Well done as always, Sir.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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The ambiguity is, of course, deliberate.
AnElephant does not take sides in the folly of war.
Your praise is much appreciated, as always.
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A battle is still just a small part of a war… a simple solution that always complicates matter.
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Too true, Bjorn, no good answer except:
Don’t!
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I live in the middle of civil war country so I have enjoyed many stories from that time, yours now is included.
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AnElephant is humbled by your praise, dear Dawn.
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Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time! 😀
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But dumb as any battle and any war.
Thank you for taking the time to drop in, Linda.
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A Scottish Elephants war plan to turn around a mismanaged war! 😀 nice job there..
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AnElephant thinks there is always a third way.
And if it avoids bloodshed then he approves.
Glad you enjoyed his little tale.
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A link to ‘ Shiloh’ would have been helpful to understand and enjoy fully, for ignorant like me. Never knew ‘ …His bark is much worse than his bite.’
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AnElephant apologises to his sweet friend.
And, of course, he does not bite, but his trumpet, like his puns, can be quite awful!
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reminds me of those silly Brits thinking The Great War would be over with a single cavalry charge!
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Sadly, lovely lady, when it comes to war, the stupidity involved is in no way limited by nationality or any other factor.
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Oh, well said!
Great tale,
Dee
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Wow, detailed and packed..well done AnElephant, especially with the biblical reference.
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Glad you enjoyed, lovely friend, but in this case Shiloh is not the biblical city but a battle in the US Civil War (see discussion with Al below)
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Oh I see, 🙂 my bad, it just fit in so well still haha
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You have no bad, lovely lady, AnElephant takes full responsibility for not being clear.
He is a numpty!
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Aww :*
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Your bark is much worse than your bite? 🙂 Root out that punny stuff and leaf it alone.
janet
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AnElephant, embarrassingly, already covers most of the bad puns in his intro.
Including these tree!
Thank you for joining in!
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It’s amazing how much of a fascination you English folk have about our War Between The States. You guys seem to nail it better than we do, historically.
As for the story, terrific, Elephant. I always look forward to reading your stuff. Bravo!
(Hmmm … Rochelle a REDWOOD? Maybe as a sapling …) 😀
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Whoooaaaaa!!!!!!
AnElephant is NOT repeat NOT English!
He is a Scot.
Glad you enjoyed the story.
And Rochelle is a towering giant among the little shrubs who visit her.
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OUCH! My HUMBLE APOLOGIES for mistaking you for the “other guys.” Thank-you for correcting me. I will make note of it immediately.
Rochelle is definitely tall on the inside (she’s five feet nothing on the outside). She and I joke a lot about it. We live near each other.
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I’ve always thought of myself as more of a Bonsai tree. 😉 How’s that foot tasting, Cuz?
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You’re closer to my foot than I am. Har-har!
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Which only goes to show your flexibility, eh? I didn’t stuff it my yapper. So har-har. (with apologies to Elephant for cluttering his page with familial bickering.)
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And it turned into a massive bloody battle anyway (I did a little research 😉 )
A great story
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3,500 dead, 23,000 casualties over two days.
Pretty ghastly stuff.
And, according to what AnElephant reads, a masterpiece of mismanagement.
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Isn’t all war though?
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It always starts off with the wrong premise, of course, but these guys were not even good at it.
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