New Order

June 6, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Cautionary tale, Current affairs, Dystopia, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Loss, Micro Fiction, Photo Fiction, Propaganda 19 Comments

She stood at the back and tried to make herself as small as possible.

Not easy, with her stature and attire.

Still, she hoped the shadows would afford some obscurity. Bad enough to be made to attend and be tallied. It would be worse to be noticed. To be named.

The speakers roared. The bands played deafening propaganda.

She stood. She clapped. She swayed as necessary.

She stayed alert. Her life depended on it.

But in a corner of her mind, she was a child still, pumping feet toward a blue sky. Still free. To believe. To think. To be.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Ted Strutz

To The Naga’s Protection

April 22, 2023April 23, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Difficult decisions, Family, Friday Fictioneers, grandparents, Gratitude, Loss, love, New Beginnings, Thailand 26 Comments

“The Naga will protect you, Laang Chaai.”

“Yes, Yaai,” the boy swallowed tears and nodded to his grandmother. Even at his tender age he knew that his Yaai’s love would not be enough. Her body bent over like a broken bamboo, the shape of rice-paddy work even with no paddy to bend over.

The wrinkled hand touched boy’s head, devastated to give up her laang chaai. His mother had died in childbirth, yet she never thought of her grandson as an orphan. Till today.

The monks will raise him now.

“Khawp khun khrap” the boy bowed, palms together over heart.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: © David Stewart

Glossary:

Naga – semi-divine dragon-serpents in Thai culture which possess supernatural powers and are the patrons of water

Laang Chaai – grandson

Yaai – grandmother

khawp khun khrap – thank you (when said by male)

For A Good Cause

April 1, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: children, Cookies, Creative thinking, Evidence, Flash Fiction, Funnies, Poetry, Things Kids Say, Unrepentant, Weekend Writing Prompt 14 Comments

(Photo: Angiola Harry on Unsplash)

It did not matter that

The evidence was there for all

To see.

The crumbs.

The chocolate stains.

The broken shards of Nana’s cookie

Jar with

That crack from when Pawpaw drank

Too much and thought he was a

Knife thrower

But missed

The block.

It didn’t matter she was

Caught.

The child was

Unrepentant.

“Cookies are for eatin’, Nana.

No good letting them go stale

In that

Pot!”

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt of: Unrepentant in 69 words

To Life

March 6, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Good stuff!, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Birth, Breath, dVerse, Find a way, gasp, life, Poetry, Poetry prompt, Quadrille, Struggle 29 Comments

(Photo: Christian Bowen on Unsplash)

She strained

Against walls which

Heaved

About her.

She tensed limbs and

Tucked her

Chin

Fighting for a

Purchase

Around her.

And still the world

Convulsed.

Impossible in

Pressure.

Till sudden

Light.

A gasp of cold

As air

Rushed

Into lungs

To life her.

For dVerse quadrille poetry challenge of: gasp in 44 words

On A Treetop

March 4, 2023March 4, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Birds, Cradle, Flash Fiction, Memory, Micro Fiction, Nesting, Nursery Rhyme, Poetry, Treetop, Weekend Writing Prompt 15 Comments

(Photo: Frank Eiffert on Unsplash)

Clear as daylight.

A cradle rocking

On a treetop.

No baby.

Thank God.

Or was there?

Was the movement the wind,

Or a small living thing?

She felt her heart flutter in

A memory

Of falling.

Heard a rustle and shuddered.

Ran for the

Ladder.

Climbed.

Swallows nesting

In the cradle.

Wide open mouths.

A child’s toy

Flown off a balcony.

Made home.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt of Treetop in 63 words

Adrift

February 4, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Challenges, Creative writing, Find a way, Helplessness, Key, Lost, Mental Health, Poetry, Trying to help, Weekend Writing Prompt 17 Comments

(Photo: Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash)

They would have gladly helped.

If he had let them.

If only he had found

The key

To what his dreams

Put forth.

If only he had known

How to identify

What were so many

Opened doors.

Instead, they watched,

Helplessly muted

To his ears,

As he fumbled,

Lost,

Amidst a maze of what

Were to him

Opaque,

Endless,

Walls.

Their lifelines loose,

Adrift

In the current

Of his

Half-formed

Words.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt of: Key in 71 words

Palm Pay

February 2, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, City life, Delivery, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Just because, Micro-fiction, Near Future, Photo prompt, Problem Solving 51 Comments

Miranda’s concentration was broken by the distinct whistle. She paused the script and ran to the window.

A man was peering at a tiny screen on his wrist.

“Hi!”

He looked up. “Miranda?”

“Yeah, that’s me!”

He tapped the square. “Package by Ele-Vator.”

“Thanks! Palm Pay okay?”

He nodded. “Try. They got range issues today.”

“No worries,” Miranda smiled. “Lemme pop out.”

She slipped a leg out to straddle the sill. “How’s that?” She lifted her hand.

The man raised his.

A small buzz in her palm.

He checked his screen. “Perfect. Done. Ele-Vating package now. Have a good one!”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: Alicia Jamtaas

The Right Thing

January 25, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Building, Creative writing, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, love, Micro-fiction, orphanage, Photo prompt, Project 50 Comments

“I’ll take the summer off and get it done,” Meyer stated.

“It will take more than a summer,” Bette pointed out. She loved his enthusiasm. She liked half-done projects less. And this one mattered. Immensely.

Meyer’s intended retort fizzled at the look in his wife’s eyes. Love lived there. Love will have to live here, too.

“It has good bones,” he said instead.

“All it is, is bones,” she chuckled. “More likely we’re looking at two years.”

Meyer nodded. “We’ll liquidate other holdings.”

He wrapped an arm around his wife. “It is the right thing, Bette, to build this orphanage.”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

A Word In

January 21, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Writing Tags: Banter, Dialogue, Family, Flash Fiction, Just for fun, Loquacious, Micro-fiction, Projection, Relationships, Weekend Writing Prompt 22 Comments

(Photo: Hal Cooks on Unsplash)

It’s not my fault

That she won’t stop

Talking.

My side of the family has never been a

Chatterbox.

My papa says nary a word.

My mama can hardly be called

Garrulous.

It is your relations who are incessantly

Loquacious.

With them one cannot get a word in sideways.

A dinner lasts three weeks.

A quarrel, half a century.

So do not come to me

Complaining

About Junior’s wordiness.

“You should listen to yourself,” you say?

Shifting blame is something

Else

Your whole family does

Pretty much endlessly.

For Sammi’s Weekened Writing Prompt of: Loquacious in 88 words

Space Saver

January 19, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Creative solutions, Finding a way, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Laundry, Micro-fiction, Sisters, Space saving 55 Comments

small-load NaamaYehuda

“It won’t fit.”

Sandra looked up from kneading. Mollie’s face was red with exertion.

“What won’t?” she asked, resuming the stretch-fold-stretch-fold rhythm. Working dough relaxed her. The knowledge that each pull and press moved energy from her muscles into what would later feed them. The cycle of it.

“The laundry. Nothing fits.”

“That’s odd,” Sandra noted. “I washed linens in it just the other day.”

“But nothing fits!” Mollie’s voice shook. “Not a sock!”

Sandra paused. She forgot how easily her sister got flustered even by simple things.

“It’s a Space-Savor model,” she offered. “Have you tried shrinking the items first?”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers