Q for 100 Photographs That Changed The World (2022 A-Z)

 

I place the basket down gently, not wanting to awaken my sleeping baby. I cannot bring myself to look at the innumerable bundled newborns abandoned in the thickets of the forest.

My heart physically aches. How is a mother supposed to deal with this? Do I berate myself for being so selfish, so helpless in the face of absolute power? Or do I take solace in the fact, that I am not the only one, there are others like me?

Bile swells up at my throat and I turn back crisply and walk out before I taint the pristine surroundings.

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I cheat a tiny bit with Q. Because I haven’t read a book that starts with Q, I use another one which unfortunately wouldn’t make the cut in a traditional A-Z. In 2003, LIFE Magazine published 100 Photographs That Changed The World, a collection of rare pictures taken over the decades. They signify momentous decisions taken around the world, and showcase linked achievements or subsequent fallouts. I happened to pick this one up from the community library somewhere around 2010. And some of the pictures STAY with you. Forever. Smiling up at you. Haunting in their misery. Awe-inducing in their power. 

The above fictional piece based on the pictures are from as recent as 1997 when China introduced the One-Couple-One-Child policy, it kicked off a plague of child abandonment. Every year, the Chinese abandoned close to 1.3 million girl children. Other images that have stayed with me are related to Biafran independence, Nagasaki bombing, the first flight ever and the Exxon oil spill. This is indeed a must-view (barely any reading, mostly only pictures with short descriptions) coffee table book.

I have written this 100-word flash fiction for the 2022 Edition of the Blogging A-Z Challenge, a blogging event held every April. Click here to read more on the challenge! My chosen theme for this year is flash fiction driven book recommendations. Even if you aren’t a book reader, you might enjoy the flash fiction. And if you’re participating as well, do leave your blog site in the comments!