AnElephantCant knock down a building
Although he is large and eye-wateringly clumsy
But if he must choose
He breaks down taboos
With a strange mixture of humour and whimsy

This is a weekly invitation to write a short piece of fiction (c. 150 words) based on a photo prompt (below) provided by Alastair.
Just click on the link to find some tumbling tales of crashingly high quality in response to this week’s excellent image.
But please first cast an eye over AnElephant’s rueful rubble!

Copyright Al Forbes

The Mansion

She promises she will marry me if I build her a mansion with 100 rooms on the hilltop.
She is 6 years old.
For the next 10 years I spend every spare moment at the builder’s yard, or the carpenter’s, or the glazier’s.
That is when I am not with her.
We are inseparable until I go off to the city to study architecture.
She is now 16 and very beautiful with many suitors.
The most persistent of these is Lionel Languid, the rich man’s son.
But for 5 years she resists all advances and on my return our engagement is announced.
And I start to build.
She asks me to forget our childhood agreement.
I delay the wedding, keep on building.
She pleads with me.
We get married but I postpone the honeymoon as construction continues.
She moves out of our cramped hut into the lavish living quarters I have designed for her in the West Wing.
I continue with the main section, the entrance hall, the drawing rooms, morning rooms, dining rooms, library, ballroom.
She begs me to move in with her, says we are like strangers.
I start work on the master bedroom, the nursery, the family rooms.
Time passes, or flies by, for I work constantly.
I finally have something worthy of her, something I can offer her with pride.
I call on her private rooms to find Languid is already there.
I burn down the entire structure in one night, while they still sleep.