Personal Prison

This story is the result of day one of the FlashNaNo 2021 challenge. The story prompt: Write a story that takes place in the dark. Carmen’s nightmares, although brief, caused her constant anxiety. She perceived them as realistic dreams that often generated confusion and dread. However, the reality of her dream state never left, and...

Restart

Starting over is common these days. It used to mean picking yourself up from a devastating, life-altering situation. These days it’s a way to cheat—to erase our blunders. People no longer need to learn from their self-made disasters or fateful circumstances. The world has gone mad—we cancel ourselves to become someone different. My neighbor is...

Freefall

What is life if death doesn’t exist? No matter what happens to me, I never die. Lately, I wish for death, but then I see the flowers grow, the sun setting behind a mountain, and birds flying. I hoped for two things in my life; freedom from worry and a long, happy life. The town...

Mourn The Living

Dear Jenny, my favorite journal, I write this last journal entry with difficulty. My spirit can barely hold the pen, but let me tell you about Saturday, October 25th, 2014. The day started good. I didn't wake up with a bomb exploding in my head, and the faucet in my nose stopped leaking. The cat...

A Sunday Of Dreams

Greetings to all of my readers and fellow writers. It is Sunday. I have plans, and though it is a beautiful winter day here in my sunny state of Florida, I plan to stay inside and write. It isn't often that I have the time to devote to pure writing. Lately, I've been "fitting in"...

Can you hear the Whip-poor-will?

Some songs play well with our ears, and some songs wreak havoc with them. Then some songs evoke a magical realm that transports us to the forest of whimsical animals and peaceful creatures. One such song is that of the Whip-poor-will. Its song is like a beckoning to our ears that draws us into our...

Thoreau, Nature, and a mirrored perspective of mortality

Thoreau begins his book Cape Cod with the chapter “The Shipwreck” which is based on his own personal experiences, albeit a bit embellished, to make a point about the cycle of life and death. He begins his journey telling us that he doesn’t know much about the ocean when he writes “Wishing to get a...

What do you see when you look at a stranger?

What do you see when you look at a stranger? Does it even register that they are a fellow human being that matters to someone out there in the world? I ask you this because I work in retail, for the moment. As a sales associate, I am required to greet everyone who walks through...