Breaking with Tradition

You can imagine on a writing site that the prompt ‘Font’ would elicit many clever stories personifying Sans Serif, fighting in CAPITALS, falling in love in flowery letters, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to match some of the other authors and so went with a story that takes place around a baptismal font.

The wind blew in through the porch of the draughty old Norman church, which had been the Borthwick’s place of worship for generations and whose patron saint gave the male heirs their names.

The Sunday morning service concluded, the family moved to cluster around the old stone baptismal font. The entire clan was gathered, in their finery, to formally bestow their ancestral patronym on the newest member of the centuries old dynasty. They had all been christened in the same place and all had worn the same elaborate lace gown.

Will and his wife stood nervously together with the godparents, two male and one female as tradition prescribed for a boy.

After intoning the prayers, the vicar asked, ‘What is the name of this child?’  He held his arms out to receive him.  

Will stumbled, ‘W-Wilfrid Dunstan Oswa…’

‘You coward,’ hissed his wife, stepping forward. ‘Kyle, his name is Kyle.’

Font in St Wilfrid’s Church, Burnsall, N. Yorkshire

Author: Deryn

Born and bred in Manchester UK with a degree in French from the University of Exeter, I found myself in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 via Spain, France and Greece. And London. I have worked in the hospitality industry in marketing, as a radio and tv producer, in PR and communications for South Africa's buy local advocacy campaign and since June 2022 have been running my own content creation and PR company, Use Lorem Ipsum. I have always been a reader and writer of stories and am relieved finally to have achieved the publication of this blog. Now for that novel. I am the mother of 2 sons, middle of 3 sisters, owner of a dog and the ex wife and ex girlfriend of a number of men who clearly didn't deserve me. I am an eternal optimist for myself, my country and the planet, so don't let me down, world.

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