Walton's Mountain
“It’s been fifty years. Why did we wait so long?,” says John Boy to himself.
To his right, Mary Ellen is softly snoring in the passenger seat.
His responsibilities as English Professor at Princeton, his commitment to caring for Mary Ellen after the accident; marrying his one true love, raising their children, and losing her to cancer has kept him far away.
He understands at a rational, logistical level, but his soul is starving for home.
The highway curves and he sees her, his family’s mountain: strip-mined, denuded of life. He punches it to 100 and makes a sharp turn.
[100 words]
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao-Talk 
Sad but realistic story ❤️💔💜
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Maggie, yes it was. Thank you.
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Seems you can never go back
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Maybe he’ll be back there again but in heaven?
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That definitely took a unexpected turn.
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I’m sure it was for John Boy.
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he’d know that nothing stays the same. he had moved on, and so had the place he called home. only memories remained, lingering for as long as they were remembered.
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I’m sure he expected some changes, but not that extreme. Maybe he can get back to it in heaven…
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Hi Lisa,
Did you take a break? I read your story after a while.
I liked this piece, there’s no feeling like HOME. :)
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Surabhi I took the month of May off. Thanks for reading and your comment.
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That’s great. I am taking a break too this summer. I will resume in September when kids go back to school and my favorite season fall arrives to inspire me. :)
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Happy you are taking some time for yourself.
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A lovely story Li. How are you doing my friend?
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Oh dear. Your story ended more tragically than mine.
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The irony is that the politicians who used “The Waltons” as their ideal of the American family are the same ones who allowed some corporate monolith to strip the mountain.
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Irony of the worst kind :(
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A sad tale Lisa – going back – you can’t recapture what was sometimes its best just to remember how things used to be ❤️
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Ange, I think that was his best choice. Not sure what was going through his mind when he veered off of the highway :(
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I love this little bit of fan fiction!
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V, thank you. I was/am a huge fan of the show.
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A touching tale indeed, Lisa, I could see their faces as I read it.
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Keith, thank you very much <3
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You know, I’ve never watched a single episode of the Waltons. Great writing, Lisa.
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Thanks, Nancy. I think of my grandparents when I think of that show. They lived in very different ways and times.
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I hate when people make molehills out of mountains. Life scarcely turns out how we hope. Sometimes, it just takes that one thing to push us over the edge. In this case, literally. You captured that well in only 100 words.
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Well said, Nobbin, thanks much. I hope they both survived and the MC got the help they needed.
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No, you don’t. That would undermine the potency of your story.
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I enjoyed what you had written, Li. And, gosh, those Waltons… fab series. I loved those!!
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Chris, The Waltons and Northern Exposure are the two series I turn to to anchor me. Glad you know about The Waltons :)
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There’s no place like home… and this is no place like home for him.
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Thank you, Jen, yes.
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Dear Lisa,
A fan-fic well done. I think you could write this into something larger. ;)
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thanks very much.
Shalom,
Lisa
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Lovely but a sad reminder that everything changes. Nicely written
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Thank you, Laurie. “Everything changes” is true but applied to what Walton Mountain was to what exploiters did to it seems like minimization.
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Indeed, very true
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Beautiful mountain range.
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Poor John Boy… returning to what was is never the same. Keep the memories and maybe build a new mountain…
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A sad one Li 🤗🤗💜💜
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