The Third Drop-Off

July 2, 2025Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Childhood Adversity, Childhood trauma, Finding a home, Flash Fiction, Foster Care, Friday Fictioneers, Micro Fiction, Social worker 57 Comments

“Is that it?”

The girl’s face remained pressed to the window.

“Yes,” the woman nodded. This was the third drop-off today and it better be less dramatic than the previous two. It was late, and she still had reports to write.

She thumbed the folder to remind her of the names, exited the car and walked around to open the child’s door. It could not open from within. For safety. Some kids escape.

“Come,” she said.

The child blinked, swallowed hard. “It looks nice,” she managed.

The woman’s eyes softened. “Yes. It does. I hope this foster placement works out.”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © David Stewart

Memory Lane

December 4, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, Childhood trauma, dVerse, Flash Fiction, Memory Lane, Micro Fiction, Overcoming, Prosery, winter 16 Comments

(Photo: Juho S on Unsplash)

She had promised herself to never revisit those times. The best forgotten ones. And yet there she was, a small child in her lap, embers glowing in the hearth, the dog worrying a burnt crust, and her mind meandering down memory lane.

“I was where I am when the snow began,” she started.

The child shifted a knobby knee into a rib, and a cold replaced the sweet weight in her lap. Stolen coals, they were then. Collected under pain worse than whipping if she was discovered yet at the risk of frostbite and no dinner if she did not. She’d secreted an apron-full before the snow began, coating the path, incriminating every footprint.

For the payment, she bore scars.

“I was where I am,” she pushed an unneeded log into the fire. Just because. “Yet now the snow scares me none.”

For dVerse Prosery challenge

Prosery prompt: “I was where I am
When the snow began”

From “The Dead of Winter” by Samuel Menashe. Full poem here.

Every Thing

September 22, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, Candy, Childhood trauma, Dreams, Dumpster diving, Friday Fictioneers, Homelessness, Hunger, Making do 42 Comments

“It will have everything in it!”

Molly’s eyes shone in the dark and Gary was reminded of other eyes they’d seen reflecting in their torch beam. He shuddered.

“It couldn’t possibly have every thing,” he tried, just for the sake of argument.

She slapped his leg with her bare foot. “Don’t be daft. You know what I mean.”

“Chocolates?” A peace offering.

“Of course! Every kind of sweet!”

Molly’s stomach grumbled, and his answered. They were both of them hungry. At least the rain stopped so they weren’t quite so cold.

Perhaps tomorrow they’ll beat the garbage trucks to the bins.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Roger Bultot

Her Vision

December 7, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, Childhood trauma, Expectations, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro-fiction, Secrets, Self Discovery, Tenacity, Vision 43 Comments

She tried. But still she could not see.

Not the way she should have. Not the way others expected her to. Not how they could. All crisp lines and sharp edges.

There was no focus to her sight. No defined hues.

No boundaries.

No wonder others thought she had no need for any.

She used to think it was her fault. Her eyes a reflection of failure.

She’d seen a doctor since. In secret, but at least this one was hers to hold in confidence.

Her optic nerve had never fully formed.

But her heart, she now knew, saw perfectly.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

The Shut One

May 6, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: CCC, Childhood trauma, Choice, Dysfunction, Flash Fiction, Micro-fiction, Photo prompt, Regret, Secrets, Taboo, Unspoken 9 Comments

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They’ve learned to speak naught about it.

So well that they almost forgot it was. There. Tabooed.

She had tried justifying to herself later. How there had been much to cope with and such minuscule leeway. How choice never truly was, a choice.

But as well as she could explain the circumstances, she could less and less forgive. Herself for the blind eye that she’d turned. Them for making it so that she’d needed to. For making it so that they could not even talk of it amongst themselves.

The crushing price of secrets. A cost calculated not with arms and legs, but hearts.

It haunted her. Nowadays. Now-a-nights.

The shuffling beyond the darkened window. The locks. The cries. The scraps that weren’t really for the dog.

By the time she’d grown enough to contemplate a rescue, there was naught to save.

Her sister. Feeble. Gone.

For Cristina’s Crimson’s Creative Challenge

Storied Stories

January 21, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, books, Childhood trauma, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, hope, Institutionalization, library, Micro-fiction, Survival 42 Comments

childrens-library-ted-strutz

They climbed in silence, single file, the occasional foot scraping a bare concrete step.

Lindon pressed his lips. It helped stop the trembling. This was his first ‘trip’ off the ward and he wanted to look around. To look at others for their reactions. But new or not, he’d learned enough to understand that it was better not to. He kept his head low.

A scent hit him. Like Grandma’s house. Last month. Eons ago. He blinked.

The stairs ended. He looked up. His eyes grew.

His heart, too.

A room of books.

Stories. Escape.

He knew he would survive.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Ted Strutz

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

Self Employed

August 20, 2021August 20, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: CCC, Childhood trauma, Choices, Coming of age, Courage, Flash Fiction, Micro-fiction, New Beginnings, Overcoming, Photo prompt, Self sufficiency 8 Comments

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“This is not what we invested all that tuition money for, Robert.”

His mother’s voice remained soft, even pleasant. One may think she was but mildly annoyed.

Rob knew better.

It was the same voice that had sent his boyhood self to the attic without dinner for the slightest infraction. That left a small child to shiver there through endless winter nights. That told his father to retrieve the paddle and “do what needed to be done to make a man of an ungrateful son.”

“I am sorry, Mother,” Rob bowed politely in her direction. Bowed just enough to let her know that he no longer cared nor feared her. “I had made it clear that your plans did not fit mine.”

“Your father expects a partner,” she stated. Ordered.

“That ship had sailed, Mother,” he replied. “I bought the farm. I’ll be my own man. Chart my own course.”

For Crispina’s Crimson’s Creative Challenge

Newfound

January 16, 2021January 16, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, Childhood trauma, Encourage, hope, Micro-fiction, Resilience, self-worth, teachers, Tenacity, Trauma and Development, Weekend Writing Prompt 10 Comments

(Photo: Jon Tyson on Unsplash)

She lay in bed and let the day’s words wash over her.

A soft stream in the mayhem.

“You’re a tenacious child,” her teacher said, eyes smiling. “You’ve tried and tried and made this grade your own. Not everyone would have continued, but you did. I am so proud.”

Tenacious, she mouthed into the dark and tuned off shouts and thuds and cries. So proud, she curled into the glow of newfound understanding.

For Sammi‘s Weekend Writing Prompt: Tenacious in 73 words

Challenges In Adoptions of Traumatized Children

June 14, 2020June 14, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Articles and references, Professional Development, Resources and links, Speech Language Pathology, Things Kids Say, Trauma and Development, Video Tags: adoption, attachment, Childhood Adversity, Childhood trauma, Developmental Trauma, Lecture, NaamaYehuda, Presentation, Professional Development, speech-language-pathology, Video, YouTube 18 Comments

As promised in the previous post, the video above is a recording of my virtual presentation from June 3, 2020, titled: “Does He Even Know How To Be loved?” Challenges in Adoptions of Traumatized Children.”

The hour-long presentation was requested by and offered through Haruv USA, which provides professional development and training on trauma-related topics, to professionals and interested individuals. The presentation is available on YouTube.

Feel free to leave comments or ask questions. Please note that comments are public, so if you want to ask questions more confidentially, please use the contact Na’ama Yehuda page.