it’s so strange, the things
we remember, snapshots
of moments past…
lumpy cream of wheat
~kat
Category Archives: Under 300 Words
November Naani #16
Suburbia
From Free Photos at Pixabay.com
“Did you hear about the new neighbors?”
“New neighbors? No! What did you hear?”
“Well…I heard that their name, Smith, is an alias. It seems they’re in the witness protection program. The guy was a key witness for the Bombino crime bust.”
“I heard about that trial. Cold blooded killers, they were. Money launderers too, but that case happened in New York. What makes you think the Smiths are from there?”
“Well, my Aunt Mabel’s husband’s coworker is friends with the prosecutor’s custodian and he heard that the key witness and his family were given new identities and moved to an old established neighborhood in Pennsylvania. A husband, his wife and two kids, a boy and a girl, school-aged. That description sure fits the Smiths. Husband, wife, two kids, except two boys, but hey, Aunt Mabel might have gotten that part wrong.”
“Certainly sounds like them. I hope they don’t bring criminals here!”
“I thought of that. Contacted the neighborhood association. There’s a special meeting tonight. You’re coming aren’t you?!”
“You bet I am.”
Meanwhile at the Smith’s house….
“So honey, have you met any of the neighbors?”
“Not yet. I saw a few of them at the park. I waved, but they looked away like they didn’t see me. Weird.”
“Give it time. My boss told me this was the best neighborhood to raise kids. Excellent schools. You remember it was a condition of my promotion and relocation. He knows how important you guys are to me.”
“I know. I hate moving. Hey, I overheard them talking about an association meeting tonight. We should go.”
“Great idea! Give me a minute to change and we’ll head over to the community center!”
“Perfect! Maybe it won’t be so awkward if we’re together.”
“You’re gonna love it here honey. You’ll see.”
~kat
Oh to be a fly in the wall at that community center when the Smiths arrive! I will let your imaginations finish this story, dear reader. 😉 This is a short 300 Word Story for Mind Love Misery’s Menageries Sunday Writing Prompt: Truth and Lies.
A Lovely Obsession
The quote “She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, not up close.”
~Terry Pratchett
A Lovely Obsession
I first met her when I was a child. I spent hours listening to her, drinking in tales of the love’s and lives of people I would never know, but whose dna coursed through my veins.
As I grew older I planned summer and winter breaks to be with her. She had so many stories left to tell and I couldn’t bear the thought of missing a single one.
Eventually, age and time began to take their toll. Her frame had weakened, and the light faded from her face. I moved nearby to be closer to her and continued my daily visits until the dreadful day when her voice was silenced by greedy real estate developers.
They drained her lovely moat and took a wrecking ball to her beautiful face, crumbling centuries of brick and mortar into a heap of dust. I watched, tears flowing down my face, as they loaded her into monstrous trucks, and hauled her away to a quarry, in order to build a resort on her sprawling estate.
They thought they had removed every trace of her, but I knew better. She was rooted in this place.
The hotel had barely opened its doors when rumors of hauntings spread. Patrons stopped coming. Eventually the new owners shuttered the doors of the resort for good.
I was happy to see it fail. Finally, I had her all to myself. Once again, I spent my evenings wrapped in the shadows of her abandoned corridors. After all, she had more stories to tell, and I couldn’t bear the thought of missing a single one.
~kat
A short story for Mind Love Misery’s Menagerie Sunday Writing Prompt inspired by the quote and collage above.
A Very Bad Ending
A Fairytale with a Very Bad End
Once upon a times are supposed to have happy ever afters, but this is not one of those tales….
Every 7 Years, the people of a humble village made the treacherous journey to The Scarlet Temple to bring alms, ensuring another 7 years of bountiful harvests.
On one such pilgrimage, the people had an Unavoidable Encounter with a demon known as Shadow Puppet. He lured the entourage off the well-worn path making the trip, that would normally have taken only 3 days, an Ineffable 30 days! The people became weary, parched and Famished: An Unrelenting Silence enveloped them.
Shadow Puppet whispered from the center of the throng, “The Scarlet Temple has no magical powers. In fact, it has a Cracked Facade. Your alms mean nothing. It is only your own toil and labor that brings forth bountiful harvests year after year.”
Word traveled swiftly. When the murmuring mumbling reached a feverish pitch, Shadow Puppet cleared his knobby throat and declared, “Why should you give your precious harvest to The Scarlet Temple with a Cracked Facade when you are starving and parched?”
“He’s right,” a voice echoed from their midst, “we are going to die of hunger and thirst. I propose that we keep these alms for ourselves. It is our right!”
The people hailed the idea, distributing equal rations of the putrid, Festering Roots amongst themselves. A great feast was prepared. Everyone celebrated, filling their bellies with the rotten tubers.
The next morning people became gravely ill. One by one they died until no one was left.
That’s right. There were no survivors. As a result, there was no one to give alms to The Scarlet Temple with a Cracked Facade…and ultimately, no more harvests.
“I” is an Illusion.
The End
~kat
I couldn’t choose one, so I used them all! This tale for MindLoveMiserysMenagerie Sunday Writing Prompt inspired by this prompt:
Choose one or more of the titles below and fashion a poem or story around it =)
A Fairytale with a Very Bad End
The Scarlet Temple
Shadow Puppet
An Unavoidable Encounter
Cracked Facade
I is an Illusion
Famished: An Unrelenting Silence
Festering Roots
7 Years
Ineffable
Fallen
For MindLoveMiserysMenagerie’s Sunday Writing Prompt: to write a piece launched by this quote from Sherlock Holmes (the series):
Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don’t think for one second that I am one of them …..
Seventy times seven, blah, blah, blah. Have you ever done the math? I have. 490. That’s it. At this point I have more than fulfilled my quota of this mandate to forgive. Besides, I don’t see anyone standing in line to forgive me for existing. In fact, the hits keep coming, if you know what I mean. Here are a few gems from that hit list…
“Love the sinner, hate the sin…You know we love you. We just don’t agree with your lifestyle choices….You could change if you wanted to…You have an agenda…Stop flaunting your sexuality…It’s just a phase…You don’t deserve special rights…It’s because of you we have earthquakes, hurricanes, floods…the plague (I wish I was that powerful)…You’re an abomination…God hates you…You’re going to hell (kinda thought I was already there)…and my personal favorite; the one that rips through me like a hot poker through butter…I’m praying for you.”
Please don’t. I’m trying to forgive you. I’m trying to not judge you. I’m trying to love you, but you make it so difficult.
Because there’s this too. “Love your enemies… If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.” I fall short everyday. But that doesn’t mean I don’t keep trying; 490 times 490 times and counting.
One day I’ll get it right. In the meantime I am well aware of my flaws and weaknesses. I’m no angel…but neither are you.
And there I go again. Judging you for judging me. I guess that’s why we need practice at this forgiveness thing. I should have just said, “I’m no angel” and left it at that.
~kat
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like mercury colliding... 