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

Sweet Redress

November 26, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Uncategorized, Writing Tags: Bullying, Flash Fiction, Long memory, Micro-fiction, neighbors, Not Recommended, Revenge, Rumination, Weekend Writing Prompt 14 Comments

(Photo: Hannes Wolf on Unsplash)

She didn’t mean for it to happen. Or she did.

She was no saint.

Sure, decades have passed. Much water under bridges.

A better person would have let it go.

Not Linda.

Not when Marilee had deliberately spilled nail polish onto Linda’s gown on competition day.

Twenty years of rumination.

Until … Marilee’s brand new car.

Linda gifted a young neighbor with spray paint.

An aspiring painter with bad aim.

Sweet revenge.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt of: Revenge in 72 words

Her Own Shadow

November 12, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, coping, Difficult decisions, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, life-change, Micro-fiction, Photo prompt, Shadow, Waiting 47 Comments

Evening light filtered through partially open curtains. Outside the porch’s floorboards sighed. A car’s engine coughed into life. The scent of crushed leaves and motor oil drifted on an errant breeze.

She sighed.

There will be time to sort through the tangled mess inside her heart, to sweep up shards of life, to breathe out the echoes of words she wished to never have heard.

Not yet.

For the moment, she just sat.

A shadow of her former self.

In a house that wept emptiness.

And let the space behind her eyes

Hold her as she waited

To be found.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo: © Dale Rogerson

Greenhorn

November 5, 2022November 6, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Cars, Family, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Legacy, Litmus Test, Micro-fiction, Priorities, Relationships 35 Comments

“A pile of junk,” she had called it.

“My pile of junk,” Tim had responded, knowing then that if it came to choice, it would not be her he’d choose. And not because he cared for wheels and metal more than for flesh and blood. If Daria could not see why Poppa’s beloved Greenhorn was worth saving, she could not see worth where it sat.

Flesh and blood. Heart and soul. Memories and family.

His only. Family.

Daria found a man with a Jaguar.

Tim renovated Poppa’s car.

Found Miranda.

“A classic!” she exclaimed.

Flesh and heart. Worthy of Poppa’s car.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Brenda Cox

Singled Out

October 26, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Contentment, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro-fiction, Mismatch, Perspective, Photo prompt, Relationships, Solitude 37 Comments

He didn’t mind.

Not really.

She tossed him out, she did. A punishment. For being “self-absorbed” and “unmotivated.”

Fair blame, it was. If needing quiet time was selfish, and if not finding it important to climb the never-ending escalator of social comparison, spelled lacking motivation.

Emily liked that stuff.

He did not.

A mismatch more than an actual problem.

For him.

He’d have to find better insulated housing before winter. But in the interim, the camper offered everything he needed.

Shelter. Nature. Quiet. Calm.

Perhaps he’d send Emily a thank you card. Next time he was in town.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Bill Reynolds

Unlocked

October 8, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Writing Tags: Consequences, Creative writing, Just because, Key, Micro-fiction, Oops, Poetry, Run away, Weekend Writing Prompt 10 Comments

(Photo: Deann DaSilva on Unsplash)

She knew she never should have let it run

Amok.

Should have kept it

Always

Locked.

But she wobbled

At the sight of keys under the

Rock.

It ran,

Before she could even feign

Shock.

For Sammi’s weekend writing prompt of Amok in 35 words

The Waiting Game

October 7, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Babysitting, Child's perspective, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Making the most of it, Micro-fiction, Nephew, Rainy Days, Things Kids Say 33 Comments

“So I sit here…”

“…and wait,” Misha confirmed.

Clara sighed. When she agreed to babysit her nephew, she thought playgrounds and picnics. Not nonstop rain and hours in a gloomy cafe while her car was being repaired.

She looked around for the boy. Yep. There. His red top. He’s crouched behind the same table. Every. Single. Time.

“I give up!” she announced.

“Ta-da!” Misha popped out like a cork from a bottle.

The four-year-old ran to her and wrapped his arms around her torso. “Best play-date ever, Auntie Clawa! I love this Waiting Game!”

Clara smiled. “Wanna hide again?”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © David Stewart

Indefinitely

October 1, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Adversity, belief, Creative writing, Current events, Deceit, Faith, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro-fiction 39 Comments

They didn’t know when Power would return.

When they’d be allowed to leave.

Only that it would have to.

Because it had been promised. And they’d been raised to listen. And believe.

The grid was down. The streets were bare. The shelves that once were filled to the brim were naked in the lanterns’ glare.

It mattered none.

When they had faith.

Power had said, before he left, the back of the car packed with goods he “had to take to the needier elsewhere,” that they were meant to wait, “indefinitely, if need be.”

An test of faith.

Till death.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Might As Well

August 6, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Family travel, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, History, Lunch, Micro-fiction, Photo prompt, Practical thinking, Ruins 39 Comments

sandra-crook

“They don’t know how to park around here.”

Gail rolled her eyes. Just like Stella to find something to criticize, instead of taking in the big picture. And this was big! “How old are those?” she pointed at the castle’s remains on the hill. The walls stood sentry still. Empty windows portals to the past.

Mom consulted the guidebook. “11th Century. Even older foundations.”

Gail opened the window. The warm air smelled of old stone and fresh bread.

“Close that thing,” Stella groaned. “It’s probably full of plague.”

“Too late, then. Might as well stop for lunch before we’re dead.”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: Sandra Crook