Literary Quote, Phrase Prompt, Short Story, Writing Prompts

Simon’s Burden

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for Violet’s Literary Quote Challenge
where she asks us to include the following line
into our writing: “Nature was continuing its
march, indifferent to human suffering” from
‘The Glassmaker’ by Tracy Chevalier. Here’s my take.

Image by Me & ChatGPT

The road to Golgotha was merciless beneath the midday sun. Dust rose in choking clouds as the procession wound upward, Roman soldiers barking orders at the gathered crowds pressing close on either side.

Jesus stumbled again, his knees meeting the unforgiving earth. The cross …. enormous, brutal, indifferent …. threatened to crush him entirely. A centurion grabbed the nearest bystander, a stranger from Cyrene named Simon, and thrust him forward.

Carry it.

Simon’s hands found the rough timber. He had not asked for this moment. He had simply been walking through Jerusalem, an ordinary man on an ordinary errand. Now he bore the weight of something far beyond his understanding.

Above them, the sun continued its arc without hesitation. Birds moved between olive trees. A lizard skittered across warm stone. Nature was continuing its march, indifferent to human suffering. The hills did not mourn. The sky did not darken …. not yet.

But Simon looked sideways at the wounded man beside him, and something ancient stirred in his chest. Nature may have been indifferent. He was not.

Two men. One cross. The world moving forward regardless …. and one ordinary soul choosing, in that grinding moment, to show up anyway.

NAR©2026

This is “He Carried The Cross For Me” by Deitrick Haddon

The Olive Trees

Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, except where otherwise indicated. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.

25 thoughts on “Simon’s Burden”

  5. Great response for the prompt, Nancy. Simon was there with his two sons, Alexander and Rufus.  Jesus was wearing a white robe, and He was being beaten mercilessly with a whip.  The Romans were yelling, “Pick up the pace, we do not have all day for this.”  Jesus had lost a lot of blood, His flesh was severely torn and they forced Him to carry His cross all the way to Calvary.  He did not have all that much further to go, but in His beaten condition it was a long journey and the last part was uphill.  One of the Roman centurions said, “This is taking way too long” and then he grabbed Simon and said, “You look like a strong man, help Him carry this cross for a while.”

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  7. Oh, Nancy! This was so well told. I am thrilled with where this quote took you. Even given the season this scenario would never have crossed my mind. And your image is perfection too!

    Thank you so much for joining in this week!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jodi! It’s always iffy when we decide to write something of a religious nature, not wanting to offend. I am delighted to know how much you liked my story; it’s definitely a challenge creating a piece in response to your literary quotes, one I very much enjoy. 😌

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      1. I think the song “The Walker” was the first one that I had ever heard from Syml, of course the tune was an absolute outstanding introduction to an amazing singer/songwriter and I’ve been hooked ever since 🎶🥰

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