Author Archive: Nancy
Effortless Bonding
When Henry was a puppy, we took him to puppy kindergarten so he could learn some of the basics. We had taken Theo a few years earlier. It hadn’t worked out so great for him, but we decided to give it another try. Theo is smart but stubborn. Henry is more easygoing. Perhaps being a …
Overwhelmed. But Improving
It’s been quite a while since I wrote last. I’ve been very overwhelmed. You probably don’t need the word ‘very’ with ‘overwhelmed.’ but it makes me feel better to use it. I need the extra emphasis that adverbs bring. About a year ago, I took on an extra job. I already had three part-time jobs. …
The Anniversary
Now that I have been working on Flash (short-short) Fiction, I remembered this story I wrote and posted eleven years ago. It was my attempt to think like a man, which I admit, I suck at. I’m seventy-one, and I still have no idea how men think. **** THE ANNIVERSARY Ah, damn. I did it …
REUNION
Flash Fiction – Week 3. This week’s prompt was “He said; She said.” The goal was to write a story under 500 words entirely through dialog between a man and a woman. **** REUNION He said, “What a view!”She said, “It’s lovely. Come and sit here.”“You look familiar. Do I know you?”“Yes – it’s been …
ALL I HAVE LEFT IS THIS PHOTOGRAPH
Flash Fiction Course. Week 2. I was given the prompt, “All I have left is this photograph.” Goal: Write a story in under 1,000 words. ****** ALL I HAVE LEFT IS THIS PHOTOGRAPH Everybody told me not to go. My parents, of course. My mother cried. My sisters said I was nuts. My father said …
ENOUGH
I haven’t written anything in a while, but I’d like to get started again. So when I saw that my library was offering a short course in Flash Fiction, I signed up. I am hoping it just gets my creative juices (and motivation) kickstarted. This is my first assignment. Write a short-story story where the …
Searching
This is my first Mother’s Day without Mom. I’m 71. I’ve had seventy Mother’s Days with her, so I am ahead of the game, I guess. And I don’t even particularly like Mother’s Day. There are too many women (and men) excluded from the celebration. Those whose mothers have died, or mothers whose children have …
Remembering
My mother died a month ago. She was 98. I don’t know what to write about her now. I’ve written about her so many times already; I’m not sure what else I could say. She was bright. She was funny. She was beautiful. She was kind. She was a daughter, a wife, a mother, a …
Collection Time
I’m here to collect on some debts. Some very old debts. What I am owed is: Sympathy. Sometimes you have little accidents doing something stupid. You don’t want your stupidity revealed. When you hurt yourself being a dumbbell, you kind of have to keep quiet about it. Pretending everything is fine when it isn’t may …
Fantastic
I discovered something. It wasn’t a sudden lightning bolt epiphany. But there was a lightning bolt of a sort. The kind that hits you with a gentle slap to the forehead, saying, “Duh -of course!” I’ve been working at the library for six months now. It is exactly the right job for me at this …
notquiteold 