Staunch and beautiful
These fences that partition
But do not divide.
Check out Dutch Goes the Photo!’s weekly photo challenge – fences.
Month: June 2016
Voyage – daily prompt
To the places I may never return: I am eternally grateful, not only for what you have given, but also for what you have taken. You have taken any comfort in remaining static; you have given me the tools to carve new doors. Bon voyage!
Unsportsmanlike conduct – 3LinesTales
Whack, whack, shuffle, clatter, stomp! The chaos of a thousand feet rang in her ears and she tried to drown it out by singing louder.
Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm! Cautiously, she worked her way to the edge of the crowd, fighting against flailing arms and the droplets of sweat that filled her senses. Get me out of here! She knew this many limbs spelled danger. Whoosh! A sudden thump on her back propelled her off the road. She let out a sharp cry, tumbling unceremoniously across the median. Once she’d caught her breath, she recognized the softness around her. Peonies! With a deep sigh, she extended her tongue and sucked in the sweet, sweet nectar.
© Nadia Brown
Check out Sonya’s 3 Lines Tales weekly photo prompt and join in!
Photo by Martin Zemlickis
Aimless – six-word story (daily prompt)
Uncle Percy – daily prompt (Perfection)
He dusted the vase again, noting the shadows that fell across its sloping sides; the elegant handles that glinted silver in the light. It needs more flowers, he decided. Slowly, lazily, he worked his way through the garden, picking the daisies that seemed to spring up more plentifully each year.
“That’s a strange vase your Uncle gave you,” Glenda remarked as he returned. Curled in the armchair, she was hours deep in a book – like any other Sunday. “What did Uncle Percy call it again?” She was chiding him, smirking into the afternoon.
He placed the daisies gently in the vase, smiling at the crystal water that reached within an inch of the lip. Not once had he refilled it, in the five years since Uncle Percy had died.
“A Grail,” he nodded sagely. “He called it a Grail.”
© Nadia Brown
Sugar Crumbs – 3 Lines Tales
Melting sugar crumbs –
Wistful blanket of denial
To keep the sweetness flowing –
Let it caramelize and burn!
© Nadia Brown
Check out 100 words or less‘s 3 Line Tales weekly challenge, hosted by Sonya.
Photo by Stephanie McCabe
Rebuilding the human spirit
There are moments when we stand, facing an ocean or a day, when suddenly we see something. It is the same thing – perhaps the same island, or the same face, or the same idea – but it has shifted. There is no telling how or why, but somehow, it has expanded and trickled in directions and dimensions that we didn’t realize existed. And that thing will never be contained by the same parameters again. We can feel this as it’s happening – like sand shifting underneath our feet. It opens doors, but as we see an opening widen, we realize that we are no longer looking at walls – and we never really were.
Going places – physical travel – has always been what does this for me. Maybe it happens when I’m away because I am off balance. Sometimes it’s something specific in what I’ve seen in my travels, and sometimes it’s the people I’ve met, but I always return home to a seemingly changed world. Sometimes, however, what rebuilds us is just the recognition of things we haven’t seen – in what we’ve always known. It can happen when standing over the sink, washing the same dish we’ve washed a thousand times. And maybe, at those times, it happens specifically because we are grounded at home. Whatever it is, it rekindles and rebuilds the spirit.
Thought I’d try combining prompts today – I hope no one minds!
Dutch goes the Photo!‘s weekly prompt “The Human Spirit” and
The Daily Post‘s daily prompt “Rebuild”.
Understanding – daily prompt
“But that’s just it, you see…” His mouth twisted in distress, “It’s when I begin to understand – that’s when I become most lost.”
She leaned forward, gazing thoughtfully at the young man sitting across from her.
“Excellent. I think you are ready. This will be your last appointment.”
© Nadia Brown
Simple – six word story
Life: so simple, when it’s lived.
© Nadia Brown
Lost Documents
Lost Documents Literary Magazine is a Nova Scotia based new publication that is accepting submissions for both fiction and poetry at lostdocuments.ns@gmail.com. They accept submissions from all over the world, there is no fee for submission, and their turnaround time was just over two months – not bad!
They have just accepted a piece of flash fiction of mine, and I could not be more delighted!
As a very new press, they are in the process of evolving and growing, and are, at present, non paying. If you see fit and are able to support their growth, they accept donations here.
Becoming Roots 