The Scene Setter

November 3, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Professional Development, Reflections, Speech Language Pathology, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, Being heard, Childhood Adversity, Childhood trauma, Communication failure, Friday Fictioneers, Giving voice, listening, Telling without words, Through children's eyes 57 Comments

jennifers-legos FF

“And then what happened?”

The soft-spoken woman in ugly tweeds shifted in her chair, and Thomas knew he was in trouble. He almost told. She expected him to. She was nice so he’d do what she wanted.

They all wanted to trick him. Especially those pretending to be nice. So he’d do stuff. Make mistakes. Be punished.

Thomas fiddled with the pencil. He wanted to pull Santa’s head off. Instead, he drew circles.

He hated circles.

He put toys inside them.

Made the toy-boy lie down. Ran him over.

“Well,” the woman sighed, “perhaps you’ll be more talkative tomorrow.”

Note: Dedicated to the brave children who find a way to tell, even when they tell without words, even when those around them may not see that they are, indeed, trying. May you find someone who understands.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo: © Jennifer Pendergast

Not Granted

October 23, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Asking Questions, Current events, Facts Matter, Lies, Poetry, Politics, Right from Wrong, Spin, Truth, Weekend Writing Prompt 30 Comments

(Photo: Christophe Hautier on Unsplash)

Do not take any of it

For granted.

Words that oft repeat are not

In of themselves

A fact,

Just because they are told

With sneering emphasis.

Beware of those who judge

A question

As treason,

As something one must

Automatically

Dismiss

Or risk being called

Disloyal

To a person,

For having fealty to the Truth

And the backbone

To speak.

So, yes, do

Question

Empty statements.

Do withhold permission

To deflect

Blame

From those who harm,

To those who point out

The abuse.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Question in 84 words

Untenable

October 16, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, Current events, Hard times, History, Human Rights, Migration, Poetry, Prejudice, Refugees, Seeking safety, Weekend Writing Prompt 27 Comments

the-new-york-public-library-pwoTQl2xuM8-unsplash

(Photo: The NYPL on unsplash)

They didn’t plan to bring

With them

A legion of

Trouble.

They only wished

To find,

For their

Loved ones,

A measure of

Escape.

A new home where

They could

Be safe.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Legion in 32 words

The Underside of Recollection

July 3, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Allegory, Current events, History, Honor, hope, Memory, Poetry, Promise, Tether, Trust, Weekend Writing Prompt 12 Comments

(Photo: Mick Haupt on Unsplash)

It was merely by a feather,

But nonetheless a

Tether

To a life before,

When friends were at the

Door,

And when she did not have to worry

About honor, trust, or

Glory.

She held on to the underside

Of recollection.

To the roots of love that

Promised a

Direction.

For there had been simplicity to life,

An implicit understanding

That words as given were meant

To keep,

And that the sun will rise in

The morn after a

Sleep.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Tether in 80 words

Refusal

June 17, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: CCC, Choices, Defiance, Elders, Evil, Flash Fiction, Micro-fiction, Moral compass, Orders, Photo prompt, Right from Wrong 9 Comments

ccc136

“Not all orders ought to be obeyed.”

The old man’s head was bent over the leather, but Owen read more than concentrated focus in the bony shoulders, in the jab of awl then needle bearing sinew through the holes.

“They said ‘Everyone’, Grandfather,” the youth fretted.

The fingers stopped moving and rheumy eyes met his in shared cornflower. The hue used to comfort him. A confirmation of family and familiarity. Now Owen wondered whether it also reflected the age he may well not live to be. Especially, he thought, if he did not obey …

“Look up,” the elder’s chin bobbed.

Owen squinted against glare. White sun on milky skies and swift-moving darker clouds of gray.

“You can no more change the sun’s course than a moral compass,” Grandfather noted. A cloud blotted the sun and a chill traveled down Owen’s back. “Do not obey evil. Fight it, or hide.”

For Crispina‘s Crimson’s Creative Challenge

Turning Up

June 5, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Current events, Determination, Facts Matter, Human Rights, Nonviolence, Poetry, Protest, Speaking up, Truth, Voting Rights, Weekend Writing Prompt 13 Comments

(Photo: Brett Jordan on Unsplash)

There had to be a way

To be heard,

Without becoming

What they fought

Against.

They refused to condone

Violence,

Hate,

Or putting others down

To make a point.

Instead,

They turned up

A crescendo

Of truths.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Crescendo in 37 words

Resonance

May 22, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, Briefly, Eerie, empathy, Memory, pain, Poetry, Resonance, Understanding, Unexpected, Weekend Writing Prompt 19 Comments

(Photo: Johnny Cohen on Unsplash)

The sound began

A whisper,

Only to crescendo to

A cry

That made the very

Heart

Howl

In eerie

Resonance

Of pain.

Familiar

Again.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Eerie in 24 words

Lady In Waiting

May 19, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, Flash Fiction, Freedom, Friday Fictioneers, Hopes, Micro-fiction, Patience, Refugees, Tenacity, The Statue of Liberty 60 Comments

(Photo: Na’ama Yehuda)

If he could make it there, he’d make it anywhere.

It was the axiom he had placed everything on.

He held on to the promise when his body hurt from beatings. He played the image of it in his mind when emptiness of heart and stomach kept him from shut-eye. He whispered small encouragements to himself to drown the insults that insisted he was nothing.

For he was. Someone.

He had to believe.

The words she said.

About where he could be.

Himself.

If he lived.

So he did.

And lit beneath storm clouds, she stood, waiting.

For the day.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers (Thank you for using my photo as a prompt this week!)