A Global Warning

July 18, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Climate Change, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Future, Global Warming, humanity, Mother Nature, Short Story, Warning 20 Comments

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

They said it would get warm, but they didn’t say how quickly or how relentlessly. He thought it would take decades.

He was wrong.

Trees still foliaged but most other plants withered. Same for people.

It killed the young, old, weak, and callous. The talking heads had babbled about it before TV stopped. They couldn’t justify cooling the studios when the grid struggled to air-condition hospitals. Not that the latter did much good.

He sighed and retreated from the window. Ignored his daughter’s empty bed. They were warned. By the time they deigned to listen, it was already too late.

For the Friday Fictioneers Challenge

Cookie Crumble

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Cookies, Crumble, Flash Fiction, Just for fun, parenting, Poetry, Prompt, Stubborn, Things Kids Say, Toddlers 4 Comments

Photo by Cook Eat on Pexels.com

It is the cookie that she wants

No teddy bear, no owl, no bunny.

It is the cookie that she holds

In hand, not in her tummy.

She takes it with her to the park

She holds it all through bedtime story.

She’d bring it right into the bath

To her it’s mandatory.

Her mother sighs

Because she knows:

It is the cookie that will crumble

All over blanket, sheets, and pillow.

The cookie that she’ll have to pry the last remains of

From her child’s hand tomorrow.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt

Her Golden Child

July 14, 2018July 14, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, 3LineTales, Buddhism, Flash Fiction, Letting go, Loss, Monk, parenting, Poetry, Prompt, Short Story 2 Comments

photo by Sharon McCutcheon via Skillshare

He’d always been her golden child, born after years of sorrow.

He’d always been her precious jewel, the promise of tomorrow.

He’s gone to take the saffron robes, been hers only to borrow.

For Three Line Tales–week 128

Doctored

July 12, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Halloween, Photo prompt, Short Story, Spooky, Twins 24 Comments

PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young

“I am not dressing up as a doctor!”

Twins or no twins, he’d had it with his sister deciding their costumes. He’d been Prince Charming, Prince Un-Charming (consort to Princess Uglyanna). He’d been Mr. Smee. He’d been a screw (guess who was the screwdriver), a nail (yep, Maya was the hammer), a flower (to her bee). And those were the less embarrassing ones.

“You could be an evil doctor imprisoned by an eviler scientist,” she enticed.

“In your dreams,” he replied.

She grinned. “Or in yours. As in, literally. Tonight.”

For The Friday Fictioneers Challenge

Best Foot Forward

July 4, 2018July 4, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, 4th of July, Anthem, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Independence, Resilience, Short Story, Veterans 22 Comments

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

Mom always told him to put his best foot forward.

So he did.

He pulled it off and placed it in front of his wheelchair. It was the shorter prosthesis, the one that didn’t need straps around the hip to secure and the one he could even put a bit of weight on. Well, on good days, at least.

A sigh climbed in his chest, but he shook it off, took a deep breath, arranged the cardboard sign, and began:

“Oh say, can you see?…”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers Challenge

Meet the Beat

June 27, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Creativity, Deadline, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Just for fun, Music, Short Story, travel 26 Comments

The new piece unfolded in his head during the long flight. The chords danced to the beat of the flickering red light on the airplane’s wing and the turbulence lent base to the melody. It was perfect. He’d have written the notes right there and then had it not been for his propensity to motion sickness. Staring out the window was the only remedy. Sometimes the best inspiration.

“Let it go, let it go!” his daughter’s singing in her room welcomed him home.

And the nascent harmonies obeyed, dispersed, let gone.

For The Friday Fictioneers June 29 2018 Challenge

Coniston Choice

June 23, 2018June 23, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: Coniston Water, Flash Fiction, Lake district, life-change, New Beginnings, Short Story, travel, United Kingdom, What Pegman Saw 15 Comments

Photo: www.lakedistrict.gov.uk

She shrugged her macintosh off to use as ground cover before lowering herself gingerly. She drove two hours to get here and her hip still protested anything less cushioned than her bed, let alone damp gravel. Still, walking in the fresh air was good for her, the doctor said.

Didn’t say where she had to do that walking, and Norm was no longer around to object. He’d been terrified of flying, worried about trains, sea-sick on boats, wary around cars. Poor Norm. She couldn’t blame him. Not after what he’d gone through during the war.

Made for dreary holidays, though.

Not anymore.

She gazed at the lake, took a deep breath, and pulled the folded papers out of her pocket: The unsigned bill of sale for the house; the travel agent’s brochure for the round-the-world ticket.

For What Pegman Saw: Coniston Water Lake District