Category: Posts

FORWARD: A Dark Canvas, Full of Light

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The Great Mother, essence of chaos, gave birth to twin daughters who were joined –
one black-eyed, one white-eyed blind.
They crafted a seed of light and planted it in the void;
when Mother touched it, the stars descended.

Rather than allow their children to fall into chaos,
the dark-eyed daughter knits a blanket to catch them as they fall.
The white-eyed daughter tied a line to the edge,
counting each row as it moves forward.

This flash fiction in 75 words was crafted for the M3 blog’s Flash in the Pan

Is there a “never again” for me?

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I remember. . .

I would totally be the kind of person who would say “I’ll never do that again!” If I did something new that I thought would be the same hassle time and time again, but more likely I’d have some idea of where it went wrong and I’d be open to doing it again. I can’t say I’ve been in that situation very much though – at least, not that I remember.

The one time I remember, my wife and I were swimming in the river. This is before we got married. I think we swam downstream a ways, and then we had to come back upstream and we had to walk through this slippery, rocky area beneath one of the bridges and it was so treacherous that we had to hold onto each other to keep from killing ourselves, and I was like, “let’s not do that again.” Needless to say, she agreed.

Then we went to this Chinese buffet in town and they always have the most horrible food – obviously the last time we were there was not the first time – but the last time was the last straw. I said, “I don’t know why we keep coming here. The food is disgusting. The meat in the stir-fry bar is obviously old, don’t bother. I swear, don’t ever ask to come here again, because I never want to come back.”

As open-minded as I can be, I can definitely hold a grudge, too. Let that be a warning!

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt and their Weekly Writing Challenge.

Pieces of paper change lives every day

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I remember:

Pieces of paper that have changed my life: report cards. I remember that I got pretty good grades in school quite consistently until the sixth grade, when I earned a D in algebra. I cried when I saw that, because I had never gotten a D before, maybe not even a C. I ended up having to go to a summer school for math that summer, but it was pretty easy compared to regular school, so thankful for small favors, right?

Books. I was such an avid reader as a kid that there were times when I was reading a different book every day. And my favorite – the one that made me want to start writing – was The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. Every page of that book changed my life.

Bills. I got under water when I was younger. Call it a witches’ brew of irresponsibility, Michigan’s poor economy, an unfaithful live-in girlfriend, and general inexperience with keeping money straight. I learned the hard way how to keep it tight, and eventually I was able to wrangle another piece of paper that chanted my life: a bankruptcy. The kind where your debts are charged off.

A marriage license: my wife and I went to the courthouse in Steele, one of the larger of the small hamlet towns of
rural North Dakota, to get that. Of course, it was a breeze. After the wedding ceremony the pastor signed it, my Dad and my wife’s friend Trish signed it, and it was official – my life was changed. That led to another piece of paper that changed my life: my daughter’s birth certificate. Both the marriage license and the birth certificate are of the utmost importance, because they represent the best part of my life: my family, Clan Ross.

None of these were found on the ground. Nothing discovered like that could ever change my life, not the way I imagine it going. I hate finding fake money that turns out to be a religious tract. That being said, I don’t keep track of every piece of paper in my life, just the most significant ones.

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt and their Weekly Writing Challenge.

Other bloggers found:

RIGHT: Finding a Different Path

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Cooper knew nobody else could do this:

each time he closed his eyes, he saw himself run toward a particular corner and turn left.

He could do this all day; his body lay shattered in a hospital bed –

useless.

Each time, blown clean out of his running shoes by a runaway sedan.

If he could find a different path, he could switch into it;

this one was beginning to cramp his style anyway.

Apparently, the multiverse was out to get him. Not once yet has he taken a right instead.

Hey – no sweat, right? He could do this all day.

This flash fiction in 100 words was crafted for the M3 blog’s Flash in the Pan

REACH: Cradle of Life

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In the beginning,
the Great Mother
whose mind boils in Chaos
did reach toward the seed of light
crafted by her daughters.

She sunk her fingers deep
until it fell in chunks all around;
embedded in the void,
burning from the touch
of primal Chaos,
her grandchildren became the stars.

This flash fiction in 50 words was crafted for the M3 blog’s Flash in the Pan

Dreams may come true, but. . .

· 2 Comments ·

I remember:
When I was ten, I don’t think I really had a concept of what I wanted to be career-wise when I grew up; the only thing that I knew was that I would be older. Perhaps that lack of focus, the unavailability of a solid goal to guide me, was part of the reason that I am still not where I would truly like to be in my desired profession.

I used to tell people I wanted to be a pediatrician, though, because I wanted to give kids shots and make them cry. I’d heard it somewhere and thought it was funny at the time, and since I like to make people laugh I would tell them that. I’d get some laughs, probably because people were all, “kids say the darnedest things!”

But really I look back with my current perspective and realize that I wasn’t taking my future seriously. But why should I have, the kid asks? Indeed, I could have used some explanation of why I should have a goal – a serious goal to work toward achieving. Chunk it up, hit small milestones on the way – don’t float through life all laissez-faire, because that’s where the scam artists step in and ruin your track later on; because when you fall behind it can be so hard to catch back up.

It takes more discipline to be disciplined when you’re not used to exercising discipline on your own primal desires. And so I would tell this kid, start with the end in mind, and make sure that everything you do from now on has something to do with where you want to end up.

You always write your own story.

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt and their Weekly Writing Challenge.

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GO: An Unfortunate Engagement

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“Are you okay?” Dex lowered his weapon slightly.

“I. . . ” a strange tilt of the head – “I think so.” – or was he just stretching?

“What are you doing here?” Dex recalled scattered reports – “everyone evacuated right before the robos rolled through.” – of robos staying behind, disguised as people. Was this “civilian” one of them?

“I was hiding.”

Weird. “You’re lucky they didn’t find you.” The robos were adept at finding people.

Suspicious, Dex reached for his radio. Better call for backup, just in case. The guy’s eyes blazed laser red; without thinking, Dex fired. The back of the man’s head exploded, not with sparks but bloody gore.

Had he been mistaken, the eyes a trick of the light? He was human after all.

Go. Just go. You have others to worry about.

He coughed twice, his throat dry; suddenly he didn’t feel so well. He took off, leaving the body behind.

This flash fiction in 150 words was crafted for the M3 blog’s Flash in the Pan

An anonymous letter

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Dear Rob,

You wander through your life on autopilot, struggling with the challenge of balancing out your intelligence with the urge to run away from responsibility. Not that I am trying to criticize your ways, but they leave much to be desired, and as I am 22 years older than you I should know what I’m talking about, right? Let me give you some solid advice that you should seriously consider.

I envy the opportunity you have to do things right, and the wealth of spare time you have to use at your discretion. Go to school unfailingly. Do not skip classes, and don’t stay home sick or play sick to stay home. Forget video games – they’re a waste of time. Work hard to succeed and attain good grades. After high school don’t take out loans to go to college. It’s a scam. Lose weight, make more friends, learn to not take yourself so seriously. Curb your temper and adjust your attitude. Get on a regular sleep schedule and get tested for narcolepsy. Don’t let them prescribe you Ritalin. Don’t bother with the medications because none of them work right. Just be careful driving and don’t drive tired.

I would like for you to follow this advice, but I have a feeling that you may not; that’s fine. You will understand where you went wrong someday, and you will try your best to do it right moving
forward. The past doesn’t exist, the future doesn’t exist. All that matters is that you do what’s right now.

Sincerely,
Mr. Anonymous

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt.

Who’s Busy Now #FridayFictioneers

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At first, I built the effigy as an artistic statement; the bees were dying off for some reason. It was “colony collapse disorder”, and I thought it was larger than life.

They asked to display my work, and I agreed when they told me I would get free publicity: a write-up in the local paper. I didn’t realize how dire the situation was –

that for every big discovery, there’s something bigger; pollenating robots came along just in time to alleviate the extinction of honeybees, but will we always be so fortunate?

Here I am, waiting for the next big thing.

This post was prompted by Friday Fictioneers.