Crossed Letters

20 April 1746

Dear Ealga,
Meet me by the falls, beneath the rock where we
conceived our fair-haired Aednat.
You will not recognize me for I have been wounded – thrice.
The scars on my face are deep. Poorly healed. Hideous.
But, you will know me for the love
that still swells my heart
to the point of breaking
when I think of you and our wee lassie.
You will see it in my eyes.
Recognize me that way.
Come. Look for me among the stones.

17 April 1746

My Dearest Colm,
Soldiers have ransacked the highlands.
I have heard that on the morrow
troops will search the falls for traitors
and deserters. Do not travel there.
I will take wee Aednat to the ridge above Inverness.
If you still love us, join us there.
The Argyll Militia is on the march.
We can wait but two days.
Hurry! Search for us between the furrows.

 

 

50 Happy Things

1. My husband. Handsome and true
2. Freya. Our foundling kitty
3. My sisters. Two of “The Sisters Three”
4. Snow
5. Sun
6. Crunching leaves in the fall
7. An evening with friends
8. Aerobics
9. Yoga
10. My friends at Aerobics and Yoga
11. Thoughts of my parents – deceased just this year
12. Sewing
13. Gardening
14. Reading
15. Traveling
16. Did I mention traveling?
17. Hiking
18. Cooking – not baking
19. Birds of ALL kinds
20. The sound of water – lakes, rivers, the ocean
21. My friend’s cabin in Colorado
22. My friend in Colorado
23. Polka dots
24. The color green
25. Or red
26. Candlelight
27. Lavender
28. Black and white photos
29. Coffee
30. Tea
31. Tennis
32. Velvet
33. My best friend’s children
34. A good pair of reading glasses
35. Rain! Oh, yes I love rain.
36. Touching base with old friends on Facebook
37. Audiobooks
38. Clean sheets, dried in the sun
39. Wearing sweatpants all day
40. A good haircut
41. Laughing children
42. The call of a raven
43. A blue heron in flight
44. The sound of crickets
45. Drums
46. Dancing, dancing, dancing
47. My writing desk – three stories up in the trees
48. Christmas garlands
49. Horses
50. Seltzer water

Here’s how this works: set a timer for 15 minutes; timing this is critical. Once you start the timer, start your list. The goal is to write 50 things that made you happy in 2016, or 50 thing that you feel grateful for. The idea is to not think too hard; just write what comes to mind in the time allotted. You may find that if you use numbered mode, and just type what comes to mind, like me you will have enough time for more than 50. When the timer’s done, stop writing. Finish whatever sentence you’re on, but don’t add more. If you haven’t written 50 things, that’s ok. If you have more than 50 things and still have time, keep writing; you can’t feel too happy or too grateful! Add the photos, links, instructions, etc after you finish the list––the timer doesn’t matter for getting these details down; it applies to the list itself.

To join us for this project: 1) Write your post and publish it (please copy and paste the instructions from this post, into yours) 2) Click on the blue frog at the very bottom of this post. 3) That will take you to another window, where you can paste the URL to your post. (folks have trouble with this, but it’s not that hard. 4)Follow the prompts, and your post will be added to the Blog Party List. Please note: the InLinkz will expire on January 3, 2017. After that date, no blogs can be added. Scan to the bottom of this post to find the inlinkz.

Please note that only blog posts that include a list of 50 (or an attempt to write 50) things that made you feel Happy or 50 things that you are Grateful for, will be included. Please don’t add a link to a post that isn’t part of this exercise; Dawn will remove it. Aside from that one caveat, there is no such thing as too much positivity. Share your happy thoughts, your gratitude; be creative; be happy and grateful, and help us flood the blogosphere with both!

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The P.O.W.

Wednesday/Friday has rolled around once again. Today’s story weighs in at 99 words, Finally, I’m under the 100-word limit. I have good news to share. My story A Perfect Death as been accepted for publication in the October 17th edition of the on-line magazine Sweet Tree Review! I’m super excited.

I’ve seen too much, felt too much
Lost everything
Nothing is what it should have been
What I’d planned
At seventeen

They took me and bent me
Into a man I don’t recognize
I walk through my days
Guarded and stealthy

Waiting to be taken again
Waiting to be thrown into a box
Beaten and hounded
Starved
Frozen
Unbearably alone

But I’ve done what is needed
To keep me sane
Made plans

Behind this door?
Enough food to keep me alive for a year
That door?
Blankets upon blankets
What?
The last door?
Can you not hear the voices?

An InLinkz Link-up

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He Said

By the sixth month of the remodel, Frankie couldn’t bear Nancy’s screechy voice.
“You said it’d take three weeks!”
“You said pink tiles! Then frickin’ put in blue! And them stairs is too damn steep!”
“You said…” “You said…” “You said…”
When’d you turn into such a punk? Frankie thought as he said, “Yeah, Hon, I’ll fix you right up.”
Frankie went to Billenger’s Hardware, bought pink tile, five feet of rope and a sheet of canvas.
“Nance?” he said to the neighbors. “Uh, she went on a little trip.”
Nancy was right. Replacing the blue tiles with pink was a good idea.

 

Words Hurt

It’s Wednesday/Friday and time for the merry band of Friday Fictioneers to follow our fearless leader, Rochelle, down a tangled path littered with 100 – or so – words. Thanks to all my fellow writers for contributing well thought out stories of fiction that keep me entertained for days.

“Look at her,” they said.
“Her dress is ugly,” they said.
“She is ugly!”
The girls began to giggle.

Anna studied her reflection in the lake. Her dress was sewn from gossamer silk with narrow blue stripes and golden buttons.
Her mother had whispered that Anna’s hair was “soft as eiderdown” while braiding the long blonde strands.

“And stupid,” they said.

Confused, Anna stepped into the water, ruining her silver pumps.
She swam away from shore while the girls laughed and threw stones.

When the principal announced “The Siemens award for math goes to Anna Friedland”​
Anna floated face down in the lake.

Learning to Fly

“Mother? Name things that fly.”
Rhonda glances at twelve-year-old Carl. Sallow-skinned and sunken-eyed, she knows something is wrong. Still her temper flares. “You name things that fly. I don’t have time.” Of course she does. Right now she’s merely staring out their fifth floor apartment window.
“Birds,” Carl said. “Your turn.”
“Butterflies, lightning bugs, bats, kites . . . ” Anything to get Carl to go away.
“And planes.”
“Oh, I see. Your father’s not coming on a plane or anything else. Don’t you get it? He’s never loved you.”
Carl slumps to his room, opens the window and jumps. “And me. I can fly, too.”

The Bad Idea

Once again trying to go on the light side. My first story was about playing chicken in the deep dark woods. Fill in the blanks. After deleting and starting again, I came up with a day in the lives of Maria and Roberto. Thanks to Rocehelle the Blog Fairy for the fun picture taken by Luther Siler.

Maria’s heart told her today was the day Roberto would ask for her hand. For months the lovers entwined fingers in church, secretly, so Mama wouldn’t see. And kissed beneath the Jacaranda, secretly, so Papa wouldn’t rush to yank them apart.

Oh! Roberto was happy! He had saved one thousand pesos to purchase the ring set with a stone that glittered like his Maria’s eyes. He adored her ebony hair, porcelain skin and those breasts! Grinning, he slipped the ring inside her birthday piñata.

Ten minutes later little cousin Juan smacked the paper bird. Roberto watched Maria’s ring fly into his not-future father-in-law’s eye.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Light Work

This is my 100 word contribution to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ photo prompt. Thanks to Madison Woods for the inspiring photo.

Owl eyes and wolf howls followed Tessa through the woods. Secure within her tinker’s wagon, she was content. These were the lullaby sounds she’d grown up with. The velveteen night revealed no shadows, no bend or curve in the road. Tessa wasn’t worried. The horse knew the way. For an hour, pots, pans, and jars of oil clattered and clanked their gypsy music. Tessa inhaled. Yes, the scent of newly-turned earth. This was it. She reined the horse; opened the back of the wagon. Fifteen sweaty minutes later, Roman was in his grave. He would not strike Tessa again.

An InLinkz Link-up

Win A Doodle! Hooray!

Hey, Look! A Writer Fellow!

IT IS TIME FOR A CONTEST!

Here’s your chance to win an official Mike Allegra custom made doodle!

But first, a word from Giddy Happy Mike:

This is the cover of the July 2015 issue of Highlights for Children.

Isn’t it great? I especially like this part:

That’s my story!

“Harold’s Hat,” is in the latest issue of Highlights (which is awesome)! And the editors decided to promote it on the magazine’s cover (which is awesomer)!

The issue arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. My son took one look at it, turned to me and said, “You are so cool.”

Best Fathers’ Day Present Ever.

The entire magazine is fantastic, by the way (Highlights is always fantastic). So be sure to pick up a copy for the little ones in your life. OK?

Thank you for indulging me. Now where was I? Oh, yes…

THE WIN A DOODLE…

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How Do You Say, “Sorry?”

Seven-year-old Peter loved the Fourth of July
until last year when he threw the hot wire
left after his sparkler died and it landed in
his little sister’s eye. On accident.

Daddy told him dozens of times to
put the glowing wires down IMMEDIATLY
after the sparks stopped flying.
But he couldn’t resist watching the iridescent
aluminum sail through the air, leaving
a silver shadow behind.

Now he sits with a pile of
spent wires by his hip – a glowing wire
in his hand. Carefully he presses it to
the skin on the inside of his arm and finishes
spelling TINA.