The Ball And The Bread

May 21, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Bridge, Childhood, Creative writing, Flash Fiction, friends, Micro-fiction, Oh-oh, Photo prompt, Pond, Things Kids Say, Trouble, WritePhoto 15 Comments

Photo: Sue Vincent

“You’ll stand on one side of the bridge, and I’ll cross it to the other.”

Millie considered.

Sylvia could be tricky. Sometimes the spunky neighbor was a delightful friend. Other times … not so much. And that’s not counting mishaps. Millie lost tally of how many times her playmate had landed her in trouble.

Millie’s hand rose to absentmindedly rub her backside. It still sported a bruise from the last ‘adventure’ Sylvia took them on. That tree limb would never grow again, and Millie’s piggy bank was half-emptied from the fine her parents had levied.

She looked at the pond. The water lilies floated serenely on the surface. A dragonfly hovered before dipping elegantly to paint a ripple. A frog leaped and splashed and swam underneath a wide green leaf. A bird chirped nearby.

It was perfect.

“I’m fine just relaxing here on the bank,” Millie decided.

“We won’t disturb anything,” Sylvia countered, flinging a braid behind a shoulder.

Millie shuddered. It was one of the things that were uncanny about Sylvia. Millie was positive the girl could read minds.

“I brought a ball,” Sylvia enticed. “And bread.”

The ball must be Denny’s, Sylvia’s brother, and almost certainly swiped without permission. The bread? Well, that was probably not ill got.

“No ball,” Millie said, then sighed. Somehow she always gave in to what became a kind of bargaining, when she in fact wanted none of the options to begin with.

“Great!” Sylvia scampered across the narrow bridge. “I’ll toss bread crumbs in the water and make some waves. You corral. Let’s see how many frogs we can get!”

For Sue Vincent’s Write Photo

Small Staple

March 15, 2020March 15, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Good stuff!, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Childhood, Food, Forage, History, Making do, Malva nicaeensis, memories, Nourishment, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Sunday Stills 18 Comments

Photo: Na’ama Yehuda

Small and humble,

It fills bellies,

When there’s no

Choice of grain.

The green leaves,

The tiny fruit,

Pantry for

Times of pain.

For the Sunday Still’s challenge: #Close and #Green

Yards of Yard

February 25, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Backyard, Childhood, delight, Family, fpj-photo-challenge, Just for fun, Perfection, Photo Challenge, play, Poetry, travel, Yard 4 Comments

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

They looked outside the window into

Yards and yards of yard,

And knew this house will be one where

All play will thrive unmarred.

The world that spread

For miles ahead

A guard for

Childhood’s boulevard.

For the Tuesday Photo Challenge: Yard

In The Blackest Night

November 5, 2019November 12, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, Black, Childhood, coping, dVerse, Finding a way, hope, memories, Night, Poetry, Tenacity, Worry 12 Comments

Photo: Hongmei Zhao on Unsplash

In the blackest night

She woke

To hear the flutter of her

Heart

Singing melodies of courage

In her ears.

As the hours ticked

Long seconds full of

Ink,

And stretched worries

She had long learned how to

Blink,

She held on to

Wisps of memories

Mirrored in her unshed

Tears,

And recalled the echoes

Of abandon

In the giggles

Of her very early

Years.

For the dVerse Poetics challenge: Black

Preview Warmth

May 12, 2019November 12, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Beach, Childhood, Family, Photo Challenge, Photography, playing, Poetry, Simple pleasures, Spring, Sun, Sunday Stills, Warmth 9 Comments

Photo: Na’ama Yehuda

Feel the midday

Glow expand

Sense the gently

Heated sand.

Dampened clothes,

Digging hands,

China they’re intent

To find.

Make the most

Of wonderland.

It previews warmth

So close behind.

For Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge: Warmth

Big Brother

July 27, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Admiration, Childhood, Encourage, Patience, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Safety, Siblings, Things Kids Say, Trust, WitsEndChallenge 5 Comments

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

I will go, Big Brother

To the end of the earth

After you.

In spite of fear

I will try to repeat

All you do.

But I’ll still

Just in case

Reach for

And draw courage

From you.

For the Wits End Challenge: Childhood

My Neighbor’s Bike

July 2, 2018July 2, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: Bicycle, Childhood, Courage, Going downhill, memories, neighbors, Ride, Sharing, SYW, Thrill, Turn taking 6 Comments

Photo by Afta Putta Gunawan on Pexels.com

My first bike

Was a neighbor’s bike.

“Too many hills,” my mom had said

As if topography in any way diminished

The accelerated thrill

Of legs off pedals

From the top of the rise

To our street.

There was no arguing

Or vowing to share and never fight.

We knew her words were code

For “we cannot afford.”

But my sister’s friend across the street

Did have a bike

And with it the absolute power to dispense

Rides, routes, direction, and duration.

There were no training wheels

To ease one in.

There was no question of admitting

Complete lack of experience

And risking an evaporated offer.

So it was guts and trepidation

A stranglehold on the handlebar

And the utter exhilaration

Of flying.

For Cee’s Share Your World Challenge

What’s a View?

March 27, 2018March 27, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Memoriam, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Childhood, fpj-photo-challenge, Heartache, Joy, memories, Photo Challenge, Photography, Revisiting, View 4 Comments

Photo: Na’ama Yehuda

What’s a view

To you?

Memories of times

Long gone

Askew?

The roads since traveled

But still

Due?

The sights you did not know

You will one day reclaim

Anew?

What is a view

To you?

This post is dedicated to memories of all childhoods and sunsets, times gentle and not, and to Frank’s beloved pooch, Ransom.

The Tuesday Photo Challenge

Express to Play

October 19, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Ideas, Life and love, Reflections, Speech Language Pathology, Writing Tags: Adventures, Childhood, Express yourself, Fun, inspiration, play, The Daily Post, travel 1 Comment

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

Take the express train

To a fun-filled day

Recall the awe

Of speed and sway

And hold on to

The gift of play.

For The Daily Post

Pedestrian

October 4, 2017October 4, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Good stuff!, Life and love, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Childhood, delight, Fatherhood, Photo Challenge, Photography, Taking in the view, walking 8 Comments

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

This photo makes me smile.

The vistas and the light and play of shade and stream and sun, yes … But more than anything, the path and the story it tells: the measured step of the dad with the baby on his back, keeping one eye on the older one; the exuberant skip of the boy; the plastic bag tied to the father’s carrier, containing who knows what but probably some leftover drink and snack; the other people in the background, strolling, skipping, taking in the fresh air and the sights.

A timeless story. Set in any place, in every language. Humans walking from one place to another, the oldest mode of transport since we’d swung down from the trees to become bipedal and free up our hands.

For The Photo Challenge