Manuel scurried, as he readied the room for the new priests arrival on Saturday, his limp more obvious when he was tired.
Recently, baffling thoughts had begun confusing him. There’d been five priests transferred from this parish. He wondered why.
~~~~~~~~~
Lourdes worked tirelessly to prepare the special welcome dinner for the new priest. Her job security helped calm her concerns about her son, Manuel’s, future.
~~~~~~~~~
Father Karavalez was reverent and handsome. The nuns giddily whispered about him.
He graciously accepted Manuel as his houseboy; one assigned to each priest.
Shortly after dinner, claiming exhaustion, he asked Manuel to assist him.
2018©Isadora DeLaVega
Genre: Flash Fiction
Word Count: 100
Photo Prompt: J. Hardy Carroll
To join Rochelle and her Friday Fictioneers challenge
click here
Inside the Mind of Isadora 
September 19, 2018 at 8:02 am
I can just feel the ordeal that are about to begin… the way you separated it into different viewpoints is impressive in such a short story.
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September 18, 2018 at 1:26 pm
Timely and sad, and so well told, it makes me ache inside.
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September 18, 2018 at 1:20 am
The whole situation is so disturbing. Congratulations on a well written story.
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September 17, 2018 at 1:23 pm
Ominous undertones here.
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September 17, 2018 at 12:09 am
Nicely done. So much left unsaid but yet it terrifies. I fear for the boy.
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September 16, 2018 at 4:02 pm
I like the three perspectives. As others said, I do not have a good feeling about Father Karavalez and fear for poor Manuel.
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September 16, 2018 at 10:24 am
Topically dark and disturbing. Well done.
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September 16, 2018 at 9:05 am
Dark and depressing. Those who are allegedly closest to a supreme being do not necessarily act accordingly, and the consequences were and are tragic.
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September 16, 2018 at 3:20 am
Very well-written. Very sad and sadly so true to life. Powerfully written.
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September 16, 2018 at 3:03 am
So sad. Having been raised Catholic, I always wondered about that celibacy thing. It just ain’t natural! Very well written, as always.
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September 15, 2018 at 11:43 pm
Querida Isadora,
Oh dear. I have a nasty feeling about the new priest. No me parece que he has good intentions. Well done. Subtle y buen escrito.
Shalom y abrazos,
Rochelle
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September 15, 2018 at 9:35 pm
Timely and disturbing. Well done.
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September 15, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Great story, Issy! Leaves a lot as a mystery….
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September 15, 2018 at 6:50 pm
There’s a lot of mystery in the subject too, PJ.
Thank you …
Issy 😎
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September 15, 2018 at 6:53 pm
Yes, there is! A very sad thing…
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September 15, 2018 at 7:10 pm
🙁
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September 15, 2018 at 10:30 am
You write exceptionally well Isadora, and you left unsaid what your readers I think will successfully fill in the blanks.. The Catholic Church along with many others have much to answer for.. And so much has been kept hidden what happens behind sacred doors.. The same is said of England and Ireland where some horrendous abuse has taken place..
On a much lighter note Isadora, Its wonderful to be here on your blog and Look forward in the future to exploring more of your creativity..
Have a wonderful weekend.
Sue 🙂
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September 15, 2018 at 9:52 am
You wrote this ominous story with great subtlety – very cleverly done!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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September 15, 2018 at 7:45 pm
I gave it a great deal of thought, Susan. Since there’s religion involved I didn’t want to be offensive
to anyone in that area. I have to admit, it took me double the time to write this one than others I’ve written.
Thank you for enjoying and commenting.
Isadora 😎
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September 15, 2018 at 7:49 am
There’s so much that isn’t said here. I liked the subtlety
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September 15, 2018 at 7:16 pm
Ah yes, Neil, there’s so much more to this story. It’s a current topic in the news.
I happened to mentally see images of the ornately carved wood in a church
I attended when I saw the wood carved clock. And, so it goes. Thank you …
Isadora 😎
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September 15, 2018 at 3:40 am
I like the way I felt like I knew the character of Manuel
“his limp more obvious when he was tired”
=
and then I am not sure how to take the ending – with the recent Pennsylvania scandals I feel as if I am “primed” to take this story a certain way – could you elaborate
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September 15, 2018 at 4:02 am
Dear Prior,
You read the ending perfectly. Yes, the recent scandals have been something I’ve been questioning.
I attended Catholic school and have confusing thoughts about how this all happened and no one stopped it
or knew about it or how they could turn a blind eye. Of course, I had no clue this could was happening. It seems more boys were affected than girls but who knows??? It’s something that has to be exposed so we can deal with the atrocity of it.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I enjoy when people read and leave a dialog producing comment.
Have a wonderful weekend …
Isadora 😎
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September 15, 2018 at 4:46 pm
well thanks for the comment – and it seems to me that it was just a select few who buried it – but they were so powerful it kept it all hidden and enabled.
Kind of like the Penn State Sandusky scandal – where we found reports where someone reported the man in the shower with a young player and NOTHING was done.
—
sometimes it is devious hiding of stuff –
other times leaders in charge dismiss it in disbelief – like parents say “Oh tommy is so unstable he actually accused my new boyfriend of trying to touch him” the mom is ignorant and wants to assume the best and thinks the child rejects the new guy because he misses the dad or is hurt from divorce. Too often we do not listen to leigitimate comments – or kids do not speak up bevcause they felt sensations (as human) and confuse that with being a partaker when they are victim-
—
and then there are times when leaders FREEZE.
we all know fight or flight – right? It is when the body’s sympathetic nervous system engages to survive – and sometimes there is a third F
it is Freeze – and folks are shocked so much they do nada.
so I think in Sandusky’s case -t he folks around him minimized it, or thought it could never be – or they just ignored it because it was so monstrous big the mind just goes to freeze mode – and then a new Penn State sports season would start and all would be glossed over and ignored.
—
anyhow, really nice fictional connection to the current news story.
there has to be a gold star somewhere for this – especially because you did not slam this religion. That was well done.
I have some damn good friends that are catholic and they are the real deal and have such integrity and passion – and make the world better – so not all are bad – but oh my – so many have been very devious and dirty for way too long and then I heard someone say this religion had connections to Nazi Germany – yikes – beyond the scope of what I want to study – but let’s raise awareness and bring this out – and it is small posts like this that can add up –
peace
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September 15, 2018 at 7:08 pm
You make a lot of good points in this comment, Prior. I think there’s another ‘F’ in there. Fear …
You know the fear of outing something or someone and then you become the victim by being attacked
because someone wants to protect the abuser. As far as the church, I believe they were and are fearful of losing their followers.
Sure, there will always be the blind followers but they don’t want to lose the ones who might become followers
and are on the fence. I’m sure things like this have been happening for a long, long time. It just wasn’t out there yet.
In the midst of this fictional story is a Father named Karavalez. A big hoopla was made about his arrival. He was drop
dead handsome – I was 10, so I didn’t understand the whole giddy thing about boys and men – the nuns, parents, some 8th graders and priests all hung on his every word. I couldn’t tell you why.
Anywho … one cannot solve this problem in one story. But, perhaps getting it out for people to read will spark a light of something that someone should be revealing.
I think Trent’s saying is quite accurate. I like it. Thank you for sharing it. I just might pop over to Trent’s to see some more of his philosophy.
I appreciate your taking the time to express your thoughts on this entire issue. ~~~ : – )
Isadora 😎
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September 15, 2018 at 7:18 pm
oh my goodness yes – the FEAR factor is HUGE – great point.
also – the messenger or “story breaker” gets put on trial sometimes – it can be so rough!
so we call that another “F”
A friggin mess! ha
—
and the Karavalez Father sounds like a charmer – and some people just have that way – it is mesmerizing and whew – fools people.
and i appreciate comment connecting with you – because as we both know – when comment chats happen naturally it is so much fun…..
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September 15, 2018 at 7:42 pm
Oh, I’m so happy you can see the Fear Factor in it. I tend to be a fear person.
You know – always trying to do and say the right thing. I was concerned about writing
on this topic. I didn’t want to lose readers on FF. Then, I thought ‘Write what you see’.
And, I did. I suppose writing is subjective anyway. One cannot please everyone.
Yes … dialog and connecting through commenting helps to expand on what’s written but,
more importantly, it helps create confidence in the writer by knowing that what they’ve written
has stirred feelings in the reader. Garcias … big time !!!
Isadora 😎
ps: I’ve begin following Trent. I read his FF story and liked it very much. Thanks for the intro … : )
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September 15, 2018 at 11:40 pm
I thought you already knew Trent – but seeing him referenced like that might have threw it off.
—
and your comment made me think of the saying “you cannot please everyone – you are not a taco”
(or chocolate )
–
and I know what you mean.
also, glad you wrote what you saw because even though I am new to FF – I have noticed that the writers that come and go there (which I think are 70 regulars but have had hundreds come and go) well the content is all over the place and so of course this fits in.
–
and guess what? I only saw the church part of this after I posted.
I have seen many German clocks and then also have a sibling who used to have all these hand-craved accessories – trivets – a large wall art with designs of carved wood – and coat hooks – and so I saw building and then clock. Then the cross.
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September 15, 2018 at 11:40 pm
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September 15, 2018 at 4:47 pm
re: enjoy when people read and leave a dialog producing comment.
I enjoy it too – but not all pieces incite dialogue –
and then there are times when the piece might, but people are not biting (and Trent from Trent’s world said something about this – how sometimes it is all crickets – hahah – no rhyme or reason)
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