Rolade Berthier

Author on Reedsy Prompts since May, 2021

Stories (6)

6 Stories

156 karma pts

?

“Apologise? What For?” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #278

I wanted to be a lawyer but the tsunami of financial and family crises buried this dream career, never to be resurrected due to immigration, affairs of the heart, children, and professional turnarounds. Working as a freelance English language trainer in Luxembourg, I opt not to work on days when there are famous cases in court and sit in the gallery with anticipation, staring at the judges high in their chairs and lawyers shuffling between defendants and the accusers. One Tuesday morning, while quietly positioned inside an almost empty tribu...

Read story

“Helen, me, and our false friends” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #177

That can't be her. She takes the train to work. Helen sprints as soon as she sees me and kisses me on the right cheek and then on the left. "Grève, there's no train". She means "strike". Last night, a union representative wearing an orange vest and a hard hat answered a local television journalist's questions about their decision not to work today and at the weekend. Picketing is the French railroad workers' favourite sport; they are the world's champions.Unlike during the pre-COVID pandemic, there's no queue; only eight of us are lining up ...

Read story

“Where do I come from? You tell me!” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #164

Where do I come from? You tell me!“Where I come from” is a phrase that gives me goose pimples. I have answered the question “Where do you really come from” more than a hundred times, and I expect to encounter the same query any moment. Do they mean where I was born, where I have studied, worked and lived, where I have immigrated, or where I feel I belong? The local midwife, armed only with scissors, hot water in a plastic basin and a fluffy purple towel, cut my umbilical cord at three in the afternoon in soaring heat inside a 70-square ...

Read story

“Tongues wagging over Freggy” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #131

The jacaranda trees were blooming with their purple flowers, and the University of Queensland campus was bustling with students. Lea had just moved into a multicultural college, known as International House, and there was already a knock on the door of her room, which was on the second floor of G-Tower. She turned around but continued getting out jeans and personal belongings from her 20-kilogram brown suitcase that still had a Qantas etiquette. There was another knock, followed by another one."Hi, I'm Chen. Would you like to join us at toni...

Read story

“He had her in his hands” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #102

I was angry as a raging bull for many years because what I called sin seemed an experiment to him.I cannot remember much about my life when I was a toddler except what my parents and relatives have narrated for amusement to embarrass me. A family story is that at age two, I used to sit on a stool outside our grocery store waiting for the wife of my dad's cousin, Dekin, to pass by so that I could yell, "That's a beautiful lady". Every Saturday morning, on her way to the bakery, I followed her for several centimetres imitating the swaying...

Read story

“Her husband, my father” by Rolade Berthier

Submitted to Contest #102

I cannot remember much about my life when I was a toddler except what my parents and relatives have narrated for amusement to embarrass me. A family story is that at age two, I used to sit on a stool outside our grocery store waiting for the wife of my dad's cousin, Dekin, to pass by so that I could yell, "That's a beautiful lady". Every Saturday morning, on her way to the bakery, I followed her for several centimetres imitating the swaying of her hands and hips to the giggles of onlookers."No birthday party, mum, unless Dekin comes".I ...

Read story

Author bio

Dr Rolade Brizuela Berthier enjoys listening, reading and storytelling. She lives in France and is a freelance English language teacher in Luxembourg. She has worked in Asia, Australia and Europe for universities, research institutions, government departments, and non-profit organisations. She has Master of Social Planning & Development and Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology) degrees from The University of Queensland, Australia; French Language Certificate from Sorbonne University in Paris; is currently learning Spanish. She owns www.roladesocietalblog.com, which discusses cultural, economic, political & social issues and is active on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. She is the author of “The Whisper of Regrets”, a novel about contemporary challenges in relationships, and non-fiction books: “Journey to the World of Public Service Employment,” “Cross-Cultural Liaison: An Inconvenient Love”, and “Intelligence, Giftedness: Pre-cradle to Post-grave”. “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” -Phillip Pullman