Category Archives: Writing

Hanging on the telephone

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Darren creaked down the stairs. The murmur of his wife’s voice on the phone to his mother soothed his steps. She said, “Yes, we’ll be there in under twelve hours Sherry.” He saw her at the bottom, pacing just outside the kitchen.

He thought, “Tie, suit, wingtips, dress shirt, black socks.”

She said, “I’m touched. Of course he’ll deliver the eulogy.”

“What? I’ll do what?”

When he spoke, she looked up and put her finger to her lips. She walked back into the kitchen, away from him.

“How can I give a eulogy for someone who should still be alive?”

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This week, Velvet Verbosity challenged us with ‘murmur’

… Read the rest

Flori Rides a Bike (Flash Fiction 2012 Challenge)

Posted on by February 25, 2020

“Flori, don’t.” Cal was so weak he could barely stand up. Being trapped too long in a cat’s body tended to have that effect.

“Shh. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” Flori wasn’t much better off, but at least her transformation from human to gryphon and back again had gone smoothly. She wasn’t shaking violently, and her body didn’t have a sheen of sweat.

She hooked a basket she’d found in one corner of the attic and stepped out onto the stairs. At the last second, she turned around and plucked a phial out of Cal’s jacket. “No lartë.”

His mewl of protest bespoke the depth of his addiction.… Read the rest

Rent

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Lady Beatrice whispered, “Magda can’t find out.”

Lord Bertram pulled her thigh closer to his lips. “Never.”

Then the world rent open with a piercing scream and a jagged hole in the wall. Lord Bertram threw Lady Beatrice onto the bed. A crier shouted, “To arms! To his majesty’s chambers!”  Bertram scrambled into his breeches and a tunic and ran to answer that call.

And then he reappeared in the wall’s hole, but it wasn’t him at all. This man looked exactly like Bertram, but he wore a mud leather helmet and a strange mask. Instead of a tunic, he had a short coat and strange breeches. … Read the rest

Hope

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Hope is seeing  your grandmother’s flowers in your aunt-in-law’s backyard. It’s watching second cousins who have only met once latch onto each other with ease and love. It’s eating sausages cooked by a young man who fought back childhood cancer that could have killed him. It’s taking pictures as directed by a tiny girl and complying to her demand, “Me see em!” entirely to hear her squeal “Oh my GOD!” even if you just took a picture of a water glass.  It’s watching a total of ten first and second cousins ranging from 18 down to 2 years in age play joyfully together for an entire afternoon and evening, even after rain drives everyone indoors at a small lakeside cabin.… Read the rest

Notes from the road: Under Boston

Posted on by February 25, 2020

I’ve been scheduling my posts for the last week or so. If it works as well as it has been, I’m going to keep scheduling about half of them. I’ll still do plenty live, but if I can keep ahead of the flow, it will help when life (or grading) become crazy and I have to go to earth.

For example.

I’ve been on vacation since last Thursday, so I scheduled all my posts a week out. (Poor Roxanne at The Good Luck Duck noticed my prescheduled cow post on Facebook when I screwed up my scheduling function. And the accidental early publication attests to the fact that I’m telling the truth to say I totally scheduled that before Trifecta gave us a cow in the road prompt.)… Read the rest

The Right Buyer

Posted on by February 25, 2020

When she saw the house from the road, Leslie Weiner groaned and stopped the car. She hadn’t driven up to this end of town for years. She was beginning to remember why.

The house was old. Parts of it were supposed to date back to the Civil War. But it was a strange structure, built in one era and added onto at two other times. The front part of the building was all brick, but the middle and rear sections were covered with white wood siding. At least, Leslie thought, it used to be white. Now it was more moldy green.… Read the rest

Ballet camp 2012

Posted on by February 25, 2020

For the second consecutive year, my kids participated in the Montgomery ballet’s Fairy Tale Ballet Camp. It’s a compromise between doing summer lessons and skipping ballet over the summer, and it’s one Sam and Caroline both enjoy. It buys Scott and I a good measure of sanity, because Caroline’s age group meets three times a week (M-W-F from 9-12) and Sam’s meets twice a week (Tu.-Th. 9-12). Although it means having to have a kid up there every single day for three weeks, it also means a morning spent with only the other child at home all morning.

Also, they put on an adorable little performance at the end.… Read the rest

Edgy

Posted on by February 25, 2020

“Dad, it’s time to stop edging.”

Rick was middle aged. Maybe forty five, perhaps even fifty. His father Andrew did not stop pushing the edger along the sidewalk, neatly partitioning grass from concrete.

“Dad, you need to turn off the machine.”

Andrew let go of the trigger, and silence descended to the street.

“Thank you!”

“Oh! Hello Rick! Good to see you.” Andrew eased himself down to hands and knees and used a stick to work loose a chunk stuck in the blade.

“Dad.” Rick pointed to the machine, “You need to put that away.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” The old man used the handle for support and got back up.… Read the rest

An invigorating afternoon

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Today was Caroline’s first volunteer day at the pound . We walked Mandy, who jumped on everything. With her, we practiced, “Off!” A wire terrier named Sammy hated being taken out. We couldn’t walk him. But we sat and held him, teaching him the big world might not be so bad. Then we walked Angelique who was anything but angelic. She practiced “No,” and “C’mere.” And also, she trained us on leash escape tactics. Finally, we went into the cat room, where we found out Booker hates to have his neck scratched. All in all, it was an invigorating afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This is my entry for Velvet Verbosity’s 100 word challenge this week.… Read the rest

Memories Captured June

Posted on by February 25, 2020

 

This is my entry for this month’s Memories Captured link-up, hosted by Galit Breen of These Little Waves and Alison of Mama Wants This. Take a moment to head over and view the rest of the submissions. They are always breathtaking and delightful!

… Read the rest