Urban Sprawl

April 13, 2025Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Growth, hope, Micro Fiction, New Beginnings, Photo prompt, Plant Life 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

April 13, 2025Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Abuse of power, Defiance, Determination, Finding a way, Poetry, Strength, Tenacity, Trauma, Weekend Writing Prompt 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

October 30, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, Domestic Violence, Dysfunctional families, Finding peace, Friday Fictioneers, Micro Fiction, Seeking safety, Stop abuse 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

September 29, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, Calculate, Current events, Endurance, Finding a way, Hard times, Math, MicroFiction, One step at a time, Tenacity, Weekend Writing Prompt 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

September 25, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Beach, Finding a way, Friday Fictioneers, Historical fiction, Inequality, Seaside, Stubborn, Things Kids Say, Women's rights 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

September 18, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro Fiction, Newcomers, Nothing is Impossible, Radiant, Testing, Visitor 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

Dismissed

September 11, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Leaving, Left behind, Micro Fiction, Moving on, Now what, Photo Fiction 29 Comments

“All done?” Miriam poked her head into the room.

Jeremiah nodded, thumbs digging into the small of his back.

“And right on time, too!” Miriam’s pointed at the window. “Dad’s here with the van.”

“I’m off, then,” Jeremiah stated. He did his part. It was bad enough seeing his whole life folded into boxes. He didn’t need to see it all taken away.

He brushed the hair off his sweaty forehead and turned to leave.

“Forgot your phone!” Miriam exclaimed.

Jeremiah shook his head. “It’s part of this. And …” he breathed, “I won’t need it where I’m going.”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictoneers

Photo prompt: David Stewart

Field Trip

September 10, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Speech Language Pathology, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Day trip, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Keeping children safe, MicroFiction, Safety, School days, Special Education, teachers 15 Comments

signs DaleR

“There it is!” Gary pointed.

Mrs. Thomas’s arm moved on its own accord to grab him. Experience. Habit. Instinct. Who knows. But by the time her hand touched fabric, the upper part of the boy’s body was protruding out of the window.

“Careful, Gary!” Her voice was soft but her pulling arm meant business.

Gary, now flat onto his seat and the window shut, could only pout.

“We will be stopping,” Mrs. Thomas soothed, “and everyone will be able to see Sign Cabin up close.”

and safely… she exhaled, firm hand on wriggly wrist. Not on my watch!

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo credit: Dale Rogerson