Oranges are the Bitter Fruit was first published in SWW Decades Anthology. The brief was to write a fictional short story and link it with a person who had lived. CY O'Connor [1843 - 1902] was an Irish engineer who is best known for the construction of Fremantle Harbour and the Goldfields Water Supply pipeline which carries water 530 km from Mundaring Dam near Perth to Kalgoorlie Boulder in Western Australia.
I have since published it in The Japanese Grandmother, my short story and poetry magazine.
Below is a short excerpt from the story. You can read the rest on my website at www.authorsden.com/laurellamperd
ORANGES ARE THE BITTER
FRUIT
The boy had watched the house
since daylight.
Last night, he planned to break
in and steal food when the occupants were asleep. Then his hunger was bearable.
Now it was like a raging tiger. Getting food was all he cared about but he was
frightened. He hadn't broken into a house before.
He saw the man leave on
horseback early in the morning. Then some children left in a horse-drawn
carriage and a woman an hour later.
For a long time, there wasn't
any movement at the house and the smoke had cleared from the chimney.
When he thought it safe, he
stepped from behind a bush and glanced up and down the road. No one was in
sight. He ran across to the house and climbed the fence before fear got the better of him, and jumped down into
the courtyard.
It shocked him to see a young
girl whom he hadn't noticed, standing at an easel, painting, in the shade of
the wide verandah.
* * *
Miss Emma Napier helps her friend to escape a forced marriage. She meets Lord Desborough who is looking for a temporary wife. Emma seems the perfect choice.
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