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Ross Tarran, 19 Jul '12

This place was a new start...

This was a place of community.

This was a place of modernity.

This was a place of new ideals.

This was a place of respected traditions.

This was a place of health.

This was a place of happiness.

This was a place of friendship.

This was a place of optimism.

This was a place of fun.

This was a place of laughter.

This was a place to grow up.

This was a place to live.

This was a place to love.

This was a place to grow old.

This was a place to be proud of.

This was a place to show the world.


This place was a new start.


This place still stands, but we are not there.


This place is Pripyat, Ukraine.

Comments · 7

Page 1 of 1

  • Ross Tarran said...

    Almost certainly bending the definition of fiction, but never mind. It just came out...

    I have the ultimate respect for those who gave their lives to help safeguard the health of potentially millions of others in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, 1986.

    • Posted 10 years ago
  • Jamie Thomas said...

    Well done, you have written in a very different style, but it is still very good. I love burrsts based on something historical or something grounded in reality because they add that dimension of reality to it. This is pretty good, you did it justice.

    • Posted 10 years ago
  • Ross Tarran said...

    Thanks @Jamie Thomas, glad you liked it. I thought it might be a potentially controversial burst due to the format, but pleased if it means something to some, or inspires others to find out more.

    • Posted 10 years ago
  • Jessica Cambrook said...

    It was the format that caught my eye! The repetition really brings across the greatness of the city. Honestly, I had to Google the place and was very creeped out to realise it's a ghost town... The twist at the end gave it an interesting twist from such an innocent and happy beginning. I love unique fiction so thanks for this!

    • Posted 10 years ago
  • Ross Tarran said...

    Thanks @Jessica Cambrook and @Liam Volk, pleased that you appreciated the unusual format and felt that it worked as I hoped.

    Jessica: yeah it is a creepy place, sad but also fascinating to read about the situation people had to deal with as best they could at the time. Chernobyl Reactor 4 and Pripyat stand as cautionary reminders for those dealing with nuclear energy. Reactor 4 was where the explosion happened; the other three reactors continued to be used, with the last finally being shut down in December 2000!

    Liam: it must have been so chaotic and terrifying when the disaster had just happened, it seems the Russian government tried to cover up the details of exactly how bad it was until radiation sensors at a power station in Sweden showed warning levels!

    • Posted 10 years ago
  • Mikey Jackson said...

    Don't apologise that it's "different." That's what makes it great.
    It shows you're an artiiiiiiiist.

    • Posted 10 years ago
  • Ross Tarran said...

    Thanks @Mikey Jackson, glad you appreciated it. This site is quite relaxed so I didn't really need to worry about the format, I just hadn't seen anything like this on here when I wrote it!

    • Posted 10 years ago