She Checks, Mate.

October 31, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Speech Language Pathology, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Abilities, Autism, Communication, competition, Creative writing, Disabilities, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro-fiction, Short Story, Siblings 24 Comments

PHOTO PROMPT © Jeff Arnold

Matt tapped his lip and danced his foot but I knew it had nothing to do with planning his next move.

“Is your mom home?” he grumbled.

“Yep.”

“So?”

“She’s not going anyplace,” I answered.

“Not like she understands any of this.” Matt was too proud to admit that her presence affected his concentration.

“Tammy’s staying.”

He scowled but must’ve heard the edge in my voice, and dropped it.

No one messed with my little sister. Nonverbal doesn’t mean stupid. Also, Tammy was memorizing all his moves. She’d show me, and next time Matt and I play, I’d win.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

First Anniversary

October 30, 2018October 30, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Accidents, Creative writing, FFfAW, Flash Fiction, Grief, Heartbreak, Loss, Micro-fiction, Relationships, Writing Challenge, Writing prompt 10 Comments

He was coming home for the first time since and I wasn’t sure what to do with the mixture of emotions swirling in me.

Trepidation. Hope. Regret. Grief. … And woven between them the pleading thread that it will magically make it as if nothing had happened. For I wanted — oh, so wanted — to undo what could not be undone …

Nothing subdued the anxiety, so I just stood by the window and waited. For days now anything I touched and every room I’d entered was seen through his soon-to-come eyes: the new cover on the sofa, the oval mirror at the entryway that had replaced the one I’d broken in a fist of pain, the small rocking-chair just where it had always been. This window.

And the steps. The wretched spot where Ella’s head had hit so hard when she fell that the stair’s edge chipped.

“You should’ve watched her,” was all he’d said at the morgue. Or since.

Twelve months ago today.

(Wordcount: 162)

For the FFfAW writing challenge

Freeze Flow

October 30, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Climate Change, fpj-photo-challenge, Frozen, Glacier, Melting, Mother Nature, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, slippery, travel, Warning 4 Comments

Photo: Inbar Asif

Take heed where

Out of the blue

Slides a clear

Frozen flue,

Weeping ice

Telling you

That more change

Is in queue.

For the Tuesday Photo Challenge: Slippery

Sufficient Space

October 30, 2018October 30, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Accommodations, CFFC, Dormitories, Make room, Personal space, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Rest, Sharing, travel, Trekking 6 Comments

Photo: Amitai Asif

Side by side

Close together

They won’t really

Worry whether

There is sufficient

Personal space,

Just scoot a bit

And make a place

So this bed

Can rest another

Weary head.

For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: places people live

High-Tail

October 29, 2018October 29, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Beautiful, Black and White, CB&W, Dogs, Freedom, Ko Samui, Nature, No Filter, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Thailand 5 Comments

Photo: Na’ama Yehuda

Silver light danced on waves

Under skies of

Mercurial clouds,

And she pranced

On the sand

Tail up high

Free and proud.

(Note: No filter or editing was used on this photo. These were the true colors that day)

For Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: tongues and tails

Dastardly Display

October 28, 2018October 28, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: Flash Fiction, Halloween, Micro-fiction, Mystery, Photo Fiction, Pumpkins, Short Story, Villain, Writing Challenge, Writing prompt 12 Comments

IMG_1432 (2)

Photo Credit: Rick Spaulding

“Which one’s yours?”

Mary shrugged.

“C’mon, which one?”

There was a moment’s hesitation before she shrugged again, and I grinned. Perhaps she wanted me to guess.

I took another look at the display. Mary was talented enough to create any of those pumpkins, but she wasn’t one to think outside the box. So maybe not the clown or minion. Did she even know about ninja turtles? I pointed at the shark.

She shook her head, and I was about to guess again when I noticed how tightly she held on to the edge of her blouse. Mary was taciturn but not prone to nervousness.

“Is everything okay?”

Her chin was halfway into a nod when she paused and her upper lip trembled.

A ball formed in the center of my chest. She’s scared, I realized as my body mirrored hers. Suddenly all I wanted was to get her out of there.

“Forget the silly display. Let’s get some air and you can tell me what happened.”

“But it is the display,” Mary murmured, her eyes darting to the table. “I’d made a unicorn. I came early to set up and…” she shuddered, “… I saw the clown eat it.”

For the Sunday Photo Fiction Challenge

Pumpkin Pile

October 28, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Autumn, Fall, Market, Orange, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Pumpkins, Shopping, Sunday Stills 5 Comments

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

Orange heads

Large and small

Shelved and perched

In the mall

For each person

To haul

Home a flavor

Of fall.

For the October Photo a Day Challenge: Pumpkins

And for Sunday Stills: Orange

Water Weave

October 27, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Beach, Beautiful, Dramatic, Ko Samui, Nature, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Rainstorm, RDP, Thailand, Tropical 8 Comments

Photo: Na’ama Yehuda

And the clouds

Bowed

To ocean

Weaving rain

Waves to sky

Kissing veils

Onto mountains

Drenching wet

Speeding by.

For the RDP Daily Prompt: Drench

An Arrow Spent

October 27, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: competition, Creative writing, Flash Fiction, Loss, memories, Micro-fiction, Reminisce, Short Story, Siblings, Writing Challenge, Writing prompt 2 Comments

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

She used to splice the water like an arrow, undeterred by swells.

She’d always been better than him, though he never admitted it and she was too proud to brag and sometimes too overconfident.

They pretended playful competitions but those inevitably turned into dogged races that left them near exhaustion. Luke even capsized once, far from shore. He was upset by her gaining on him and so tired that all he managed was to slap the water with his oar and spin his boat into the wide belly of a wave. Nearly spent herself, she barely managed to help him into hers.

She’d give everything to race him again.

She gazed into the bay. She could no longer row. Her boat rested, overturned. Perhaps it kept her brother company. He, too, was beached, six feet below.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Arrow in 135 words