Until The Rain

May 8, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Canopy, Coming to terms, Finding peace, Friday Fictioneers, Grief, Loss, Making do, Photo prompt, Siblings 27 Comments

“It will only last till fall.”

“In all probability,” Tad smiled, “so would I.”

Seth craned his neck toward the canopy, so tears stream into his hair and not onto his cheeks, where Tad may see them.

Gone was the sturdy tarp of their childhood gazebo. Stripped away by time, and the remains plucked off by winter’s hurricane.

“The trees protect it still,” Tad offered gently. “The roof we have no longer hides the sky.”

Until the rain, Seth thought, but nodded. The light was soft. Perhaps the inevitable will be, too.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Lisa Fox

Unmovable

January 18, 2024Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Fair, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, hardship, hope, Micro Fiction, Siblings, Things Kids Say, Things Moms Say 33 Comments

“She’ll never,” Howey said.

“Still, she might,” Ron argued.

Howey shook his head. No use arguing. Ron couldn’t see what he chose to ignore.

Much like Mom, Ron was, if less pessimistic. Though Howey did worry that Ron, too, would ossify with hardship and time.

“If we did all the chores, perhaps?” Ron offered.

“She’d see that as us doing our duty,” Howey noted.

Ron’s face fell. He so yearned to see the fair!

“Maybe if we patch that roof she’ll thaw a little,” Howey added, seeing his brother’s disappointment.

“Thaw who?” Mom thundered. “Wash up. We go to town!”

For Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: © Jennifer Pendergast

Their Perfect Mess

September 6, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Breathing room, Discovery, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Garden, Making do, Micro Fiction, orphanage, Siblings 40 Comments

“Come see!” Charlie sprinted, pulling on Claudia’s hand so hard she almost fell.

“Slow down!” She may be older, but her short legs were no match to his flamingo limbs.

“Sorry…”, Charlie curbed his speed a smidge.

He led her around the back of Old Theresa’s abandoned house and through the broken fence. “See?!”

Claudia gawped. It was messy. It was overgrown with weeds and junk. It was perfect!

She hugged herself with excitement. She missed having a backyard. Nature. There was none in the orphanage.

“We’ll retie the net for shade. Bring stuff. Make it our secret breathing space!”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: © Fleur Lind

A Dress To Impress

July 15, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro Fiction, Party, Photo Fiction, Self sufficiency, Sewing, Siblings, Twins 21 Comments

“I’m not going!”

There it was. Mira’s famous pout.

Dahlia sighed. “Stay home, then.”

“And leave me all alone? You always think only of yourself!”

Get a mirror, Dahlia turned to the door. No use arguing when her twin was in a mood. “Party is next week, and I’m going. You do you. Now, I’m off to Fab Fabrics.”

Mira sniffled. “I don’t need another quilt.”

“I know,” Dahlia smiled. “This one’s for me.”

“You already have a quilt, no fair you’ll have more than I!”

Dahlia smirked. “Actually, it’s for the party. Gonna make me a dress to impress.”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo credit: © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Peas In A Pod

July 1, 2023Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Announcement, FlashFiction, Friday Fictioneers, Home, Just for fun, Micro Fiction, Photo Fiction, Siblings, Things Kids Say 19 Comments

She stormed in and stood, panting, hands on knees.

“What is it, girl!” Penny jumped, spilling some tea. A chain of horrible scenarios tumbled through her brain.

“She’s excited, not scared,” Margo barely lifted her eyes from the book she was destroying.

Clara nodded. Still unable to speak.

“I. Found. It!” she finally managed.

“Found what?” Penny snapped, then bit down her irritation. It was tiring, being the elder. The responsible one. The level-headed, boring, taskmaster sibling.

“Our perfect future homes!” Clara announced. “We can live next to each other, strung along the avenue like peas in a pod.”

For Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Dale Rogerson

Wall Flower

January 7, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Chinese, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Getting by, Highly-Sensitive-People, Introverts, Market, Micro-fiction, Siblings 35 Comments

Shoppers swirled through the market, ebbing and flowing and streaming and trickling and never stopping. Never silent. Not a pause.

Jiao wanted to crawl out of her skin.

Jiang’s head remained peacefully bowed over his scroll.

“Delicate like your name,” Grandmother would say, more reprimand than compliment.

For Jiao, the viscous Chi of others had always been an unwanted second skin. It weighed her down.

“Let it flow around and past you,” Jiang’s paintbrush danced undisturbed.

Easy, Jiao sighed, when you are the flow.

She tried to focus on the paints. The flowers. A quiet wall on which to hang.

Jiang – (male’s name) “river”

Jiao – (female’s name) “delicate, beautiful, charming”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt © Brenda Cox

Mama’s Trees

December 29, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Grief, Helping others, Holiday Season, In memoriam, Loss, Micro-fiction, Siblings, Tribute 52 Comments

“So, we go?”

James nodded. Better than pretending that all was as it had been. Nothing ever will be.

“It’s cold,” Maria held out two scarves. A third was wrapped around her neck.

“So, we go!” Benjamin pulled a hat over his head. “You take the middle, Maria and I will go top and trunk. We’ll trade.”

They’d walked a tree home one year when Mama lost the car. They all had cars now, but she would never drive again.

James reached for the first tree. Glanced at their list of in-need homes.

In Mama’s memory, a Christmas Walk-a-thon.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Photo prompt: Dale Rogerson

Complement of Condiments

October 20, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Funnies, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Diner, Eating out, Eccentric, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Micro-fiction, Order, Photo prompt, Siblings 43 Comments

“It is not acceptable, you see, when they forget the main …”

“…complements.” Ingrid completed.

“Indeed.” Iris’s gray head bobbed emphatically, loose bun nodding and escapee wisps trailing.

Ingrid touched a hand to her own hair, confirming the tightness of her French braid. All was in order. Good. Iris has always been unbecomingly lax with locks’ management and Ingrid could never understand it. Especially not when Iris was so particular about her condiments’ orderly array.

“I’ll get the hot sauce, then.” Iris turned toward the diner’s kitchen. “And have them hand me some mustard and mayo, while they’re at it.”

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers

Time Lines

October 16, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Writing Tags: CCC, Childhood memories, Flash Fiction, Forest, Growth, memories, Micro-fiction, Photo prompt, Revisiting, Siblings, Trees 4 Comments

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The forest floor cushioned their steps. She inhaled the scent of tree and sap and hidden wet. She had forgotten the caresses of fallen leaves and ancient bark under her feet. A flash of sun painted a memory – a small girl running barefoot in the woods, knobby knees peeking under a faded calico dress. Oh, how she had loved that dress!

“Here.”

Albert’s voice called her back into the present. He’d grown old and grumpy. It made her wonder what others thought of her. Eccentric? Obstinate? Silly? Dumb?

She followed her brother’s pointed finger and her heart quickened. A dark line circled a tree.

“Here, too.”

She turned. A fainter line hugged another tree.

Albert faced the first trunk and lifted his arms. His fingertips grazed the line.

She did the same with the second tree. Perfect fit.

Their birth-marked trees had grown exactly as tall as they.

For Crispina‘s Crimson’s Creative Challenge