Under the Mango Tree: 101 Tales (3)

REPEATING HISTORY

Challenge No.45 - M.A.S.H.*

Your Characters. Create a game of M.A.S.H for a character of your creation. Next, write a scene in their life story based on the result of the M.A.S.H. game. *

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The aim of the marking of the anniversary of a disaster, especially one that is one hundred years old, is certainly not to replicate the event. The night of 19 June 2048 in a deadly re-enactment of the Castries Fire of 1948 saw the city consumed by fire... again.

The city was lined with meters and meters of bunting for the celebration; once the blaze started, acted like transportation lines for the fire. Celebration turned to horror as citizens watched the fire run from structure to structure igniting all in its path. Despite the advances in firefighting techniques and technologies it may as well have been 1948 for the apocalypse unfolded with a vengeance.

When the morning dawned smoke hung in the air, itself rancid with the lingering smell of loss and death. Now, as then thousands were left homeless, homes were raised to the ground and numerous businesses were lost.

Somehow like the kissing couple on VE Day, the Afghan Woman on NatGeo, and Enid Rising Sun, the first woman and Taino, to set foot on Mars, Jaden Labadie found herself becoming the face of the disaster and an instant celebrity. A photographer had taken a picture of her reaction to the loss and the image had gone viral.

Jaden Labadie was of dual Afro/Indo heritage and as with many with such a combination, she was a gorgeous woman. She'd leveraged her beauty by winning the Miss Independence Beauty Pageant, which came with a fully paid scholarship to a university. It had been the only reason she'd taken part. When the photographer spotted her, he'd followed and taken the now-famous photo.

She was now a graduate of Harvard University, with a major in Linguistics, and an assignment to the Ministry of External Affairs. After graduating, she married Christopher Joseph. They were among the many young families lured back, first to Saint Lucia and then incentivised to live in Castries. With two young children, a boy and a girl they qualified for many of the tax concessions and grant funding.

Now the fire had levelled everything and everyone. Upper, middle, low income, none could be told apart. All were homeless. All were in yesterday's clothes. All needed help.

The Saint Lucia Red Cross were first on the scene with food for all ages. Makeshift housing started to pop up.

Jaden with her family, now lived in a shack and looked like she was about to spend the rest of her days as a Celebrity in that shack, how ironic. These were the moments when it was just overwhelming.

Christopher hugged her tightly, as she rested her head on his shoulder. Their children watched as he pronounced.

"Everything can be replaced. Let the fire have it all. It shall not have us."

© 14 April 2022

* M.A.S.H. stands for Mansion | Apartment | Shack | House

* Played the game: https://mashapp.com/play-mash-online-free/

* RESULT for the story above.

You will graduate from Harvard University (majoring in Linguistics), and after graduating you'll marry Christopher. You'll settle down in Castries, live in a Shack, and spend your days as a Celebrity. You and Christopher will have 2 kids (1 girl and 1 boy).

The End!

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