He said his name was Jophar Vorin, that he was looking for his long lost brother. I showed him a map, though it only seemed to confuse him more. “Where was Sakria and Euplar?” he asked. The funny thing was… we truly believed him.
Finally the Berlin authorities took Jophar; we never heard of him again — except in our endless musings ever since. I have to say it, I think the most enlightening speculation was written by you, my dear friend: “We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time.”
Copyright Francis Barker 2020
The Elloe Recorder 
Was he a time traveler?? I like the mystery surrounding your story.
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As we age, perhaps the telescope changes our perspective also. I like your style! If you’d ever consider submitting some of your work for publication, Dixie State University has an online literary journal and is currently open for submissions. You can check us out at R7Review.com. The deadline to submit this year is November 6th.
https://r7review.submittable.com/submit
We also accept photography, audio recordings, visual art, book reviews, fiction, multimedia, nonfiction, etc.
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Perhaps he was a time traveler who can never rest till something is settled between him and his brother!!
Great story!
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Wow. Very mesmerizing!
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a nice mystery, well done and welcome to d’Verse!
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Intriguing take on the prompt: who was this mysterious Jophar?
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Thank you. No one knows who he was. He appeared in Prussia around 1850, speaking a kind of broken German. The world he described was not our own but had similarities.
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I thank you
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Thank you, you may be right
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Thank you!
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I didn’t realise he was real: that makes it even more intriguing! Reminds me of The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.
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you’re most welcome!
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So glad you joined us, Francis! I love that you based your flash fiction on a true story. So much mystery in this world of ours. Maybe he was a space or time traveller. I agree with Ingrid, your story reminds me of Kaspar Houser too.
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Thank you 🙏🏻 You are right, ‘truth’ is stranger than fiction
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Mysterious…leaving the mind to consider both the before and the after. (K)
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Thank you.
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I love the mystery of this man, I had not heard of him… maybe someday we will realize that he disappeared in the present time.
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The photo drew me in. The prose kept me captivated. A lot said in such a few words. Good job!
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Of course! We’re in need of fiction and nonfiction submissions! Please consider submitting!
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