22 January 2026, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2990: it’s not critical
“It's not critical to the deal, Robert, but I would like to know if you would be interested in selling me, at a significant premium, more of the family water rights that once belonged to my branch of the Ludlow family.”
“Short answer: No. Long answer: I like you and Vanderbilt and Archibald, Tarquin IV, but a lot of your branch is as batty as Astor.”
“I can't even argue with that, Robert – I will put up Tor and Tarquin V as sane.”
“Well, we'll just throw Tarquin VI in there as long as we are including your line of descendants – but he has a lot more sense than a lot of the other cousins.”
“Ouch, Robert … but yes, my five-year-old great-grand twin is about with your five-year-old grand-twin and so could run circles around some others.”
“The thing is, when you pass on to glory, Tarquin IV, Tor and Vanderbilt are going to have their hands full. They are going to have more stability with me and my brood having those additional rights because the the problem children fear me like they fear you – but when all of us are gone, I will set it up, since you asked, that all of the original Tarquin-line water rights go to Tarquin VI and his younger siblings and generational cousins when they come.”
“Oh, that is delightful, Robert – yes, of course!”
“Wow,” eleven-year-old Eleanor Ludlow said to her ten-year-old brother Andrew from their quality eavesdropping positions.
“Old men putting up things for their children's children's children – that's deep,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, because Papa is making us millionaires in advance with all these sales, and so now they are setting up little Tarquin IV,” Eleanor said.
“Can you imagine being that unselfish?” Andrew said. “I mean, our parents couldn't even see us past their drugs, and Papa and Cousin Tarquin IV are setting up stuff the two branches of the family have had for three centuries to make sure we eat into a fourth century, because 2100 is only 80 years away, and Rob and Tarquin VI will only be the age Tarquin IV is now, just 85.”
“Yeah, and I'll be 91 while you'll be 90 … so they are thinking about all of us when we are Tarquin IV's age, and making sure we are good,” Eleanor said.
“You know what this means?” Andrew said.
“What?”
“We gotta start figuring out the 23nd century for our great-grandchildren,” Andrew said, “and that means we need to learn about the water rights Papa is leaving us, because even if humans are traveling across the stars, they still are gonna need water right here.”
“Yep,” Eleanor said, and then something their 85-year-old cousin said got their attention.
“You know, Robert, when we get the winery squared away, we probably need to figure out what is going on with the remaining water rights. You have 76 percent of the old family rights and will still have 52 percent or so when you sell the winery back to me. I talked with Tor about this, and he is saying that there are branch members over here that are about to lose those rights on taxes, in addition to some the state is putting up for auction that used to belong to Ludlows. It is therefore theoretically possible that we could together hold close to what the original Ludlow brothers used to hold – but I am 85 and Tor is 62 and you and Vanderbilt are in your mid-to-late fifties. It seems to be that perhaps we could set up a Ludlow water trust.”
“That's not a bad idea, Tarquin IV, since my next suggestion was going to be why stop at what we used to hold if the state is dumb enough to be auctioning some of these things off – and the Lofton Trust can help us set that up since they hold the headwaters of Emerald and Silver Creek and therefore never have trouble watering Fruitland Memorial Park and the Veteran's Lodge.”
“Tor says the trustees tipped him off, since they have picked up everything the state was willing to sell off that was historically a Ludlow right, and were glad to see us becoming interested again.”
“I would go back to them, Tarquin IV, and see if that can be done, because here is the deal: the world is going to be very different by the time my grandchildren and your great-grandchildren are running things, and we are in this position now because life happened to our family and people didn't know how to value what they had over the centuries. If we can set up a trust to hold the water rights, with trustees focused on getting the most of them in accordance with our standards but with the flexibility to meet the conditions, Robert III and Tarquin VI will not have to figure this out all over again 50 years from now.”
“I imagine it would actually be Eleanor and Andrew, Robert Sr. Those two have a good mind for business already.”
“I do too but I was just keeping the numbers together –- in fact, if you were a betting man I could tell you how to get some money very quickly on one of our dumber cousins.”
“Oh? I don't bet, but I'm interested.”
“Get a dumb cousin and have them bet any amount that you like that Eleanor and Andrew are not somewhere listening to this whole conversation, because you know little kids don't know anything and aren't interested.”
“Oh, I'd make good money, I'm sure,” Tarquin IV said. “Tarquin VI is supposed to be asleep, but, he's not.”
“Nope,” said the five-year-old.
“And, you'd win your bet,” Eleanor said as she and Andrew came out onto the porch.
“Sit down,” Capt. Robert Edward Ludlow Sr. said to his grandchildren. “We need you to understand, after all.”
“Hey – what are y'all doing?” said five-year-old Robert Edward Ludlow III as he came running to his sister Eleanor.
“Stay and find out – your friend is here, Tarquin VI!” Tarquin Ludlow VI said.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!” the two five-year-olds said as they embraced each other and started playfully wrestling in the grass as the elder Ludlows answered questions for Eleanor and Andrew and shared the generational information