Reflections

A Rare Show

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , 26 Comments

 

“So?”

Ivor fished a tissue out of a pocket, buying time. Though not really a fan, Elena’s excitement had rubbed onto him, and he found himself trying to hide his disappointment. He didn’t think he could face hers.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Elena pulled on his arm, pitch high in delight.

“It sure is something,” he managed, relieved. 

“Just like the Iron Throne, but made of crystals,” she rocked on her heels, and wriggled her fingers into his. A rare show of affection reserved for joy edging near to overwhelm.

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “I’m so glad we’ve come.”

 

 

 

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo credit: © Marie Gail Stratford 

 

Melted Bob

Na'ama Yehuda Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say Tags: , , , , , , , , 43 Comments

 

“What’s wrong with its eye?” Ellie scowled.

Malcolm squinted. “It melted, I think.”

Ellie considered. There were many stumps with faces, and most were odd-shaped. But he wanted to touch this one, which was unusual enough for someone who did not like touching anything, and he also felt the stump’s warning – if there can be such a thing – to touch it “gently.” Like it’d hurt.

“How old is it?”

“6,000 or so,” Malcolm shrugged.

“So why your Paps still keeping it?” Most oldies have been smelted. Ent energy was the best.

“He tried,” Malcolm pointed out. “Now he calls it Bob.”

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo credit: Dale Rogerson

 

For Humanity

Na'ama Yehuda Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , 22 Comments

 

A cage is a cage is a cage.

It doesn’t matter that they put colors and cute things and soft lights and children’s music. Nothing could mask the fact that they could not get out, that there was always someone watching, that there was no place to hide.

An experiment, they said. For humanity.

As if that made confiscating liberty a palatable thing. The withholding of sunlight. The absence of the outdoors.

They hadn’t given permission to rob their present as justification for the planning of others’ future.

But they were orphans. Disposable cogs in the wheels of interstellar travel hopes.

 

 

 

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Lisa Fox

 

The Way Down

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , 27 Comments

 

“The way down is longer way than it seems.”

Mama’s words echoed in her head, soft warnings or an encouragement, she never really knew. Never did ask.

Not even after.

Because she understood.

Every time the fog rolled around.

The wonder. The urge. The pull of the opaque. The damp air on her face, her heart, her bangs.

It was, perhaps, something in their blood that called their soul to enter mist.

And yet.

Torso pressed against the bridge, her city’s pulse drowning all sound,

She did not dare repeat what Mama had done.

Abandon.

Her daughter. Her young son.

 

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Roger Bultot

 

Urban Sprawl

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , 20 Comments

Photo prompt © Nancy Richy

 

The day the sun returned, the roots found joy.

It’s been an endless dreary time, asleep under the solitary plant light in the basement, curled in, unwilling to release new leaf into confinement.

Then came the roiling movement, the rumbling monster that made Earth wobble under ground. A quaking that woke ancient worries, but also a forgotten hope.

For new space can manifest after the earth moves.

New like this sill. This glorious comfy ledge. This daily warm caress.

The tendrils leapt, crept, grown. They found a mirror – of themselves – reflected in the glass.

A happy urban sprawl.

 

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

 

Unbowed

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Photo: Khamkéo on Unsplash

 

She squared her shoulders

To the wind

Words spinning past

Her ears,

And stuck her chin

Out

To the freeze,

Refusing to

Bow

Or flinch.

“So fierce,” he chuckled,

Unamused.

Survivor, she thought,

Of your abuse.

 

 

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Fierce in 36 words

 

 

Encircled

Na'ama Yehuda Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , 61 Comments

She set the biggest log in the center, then added odds and ends of driftwood to encircle it. The seagulls kept watch. Perhaps accusatory of her use of feathers.

“I’m sorry if it is one of your cousins,” she said.

A gull called. Her apology accepted?

She sat herself amidst the constellation, snuggled closer to the angel log, and drew her knees up to her chest.

“Sometimes a woman needs a circle of protection,” grandmother once said, a black eye contradicting or warning against errant timing.

“I am encircled,” she breathed into her knees. Her swollen eye throbbed.

***

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: Lisa Fox

The Math

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

(Photo: Crissy Jarvis on Unsplash)

 

It was all about the math, he knew.

The breaths, the bites and chews and swallows, the number of small steps one takes, the flickers of their eyelids.

The sum of heartbeats.

It all seemed endless, but

He only had to endure one breath at a time.

A step after the other.

A blink. Each flutter against his ribs.

He dared not calculate, but still he knew it added up.

To when the awfulness will pass,

And life came back.

 

 

 

For the Weekend Writing Prompt of Calculate in 80 words

Boxed In

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , 28 Comments

 

It took all afternoon, but she managed to not be discovered.

Rose had said that it could not be done. It only made Marina more determined.

“It isn’t proper,” Rose had said.

Well, what wasn’t proper was that lads went. Why would the lassies not?

She was supposed to be at the hotel’s library, peering daintily through lace windows at the expanse of sea.

Instead, she hid in the tiny cabin, inching it toward the water, hoping for tide’s help.

At last her bare toes touched a tongue of foam. It was worth the lashing she’d get once back home.

 

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: Sandra Cook

 

 

Guest Tested

Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , 34 Comments

 

“They only glow when Marm’s here,” Eloise pointed.

I tried to not show my confusion. Being a first-time visitor to Castle Trent was a steep learning curve, but I was not going to risk being thrown out as an impostor.

“Best not upset her, though,” Eloise added, reaching for the pitcher and pouring what appeared like air into an empty iridescent glass.

She offered it to me and I tipped the vacant vessel toward my mouth.

Tasted cordial.

“A natural,” a voice boomed and a woman manifested, transparent as gauze.

“Apparently!” Eloise smiled, “I admit I wondered. Tammy, meet Marm.”

 

 

 

 

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Lisa Fox