In September, when summer lingers in the valley, the sky hovers low and dusky over the city. Few brave the hot pavement. Children hide in curtained bedrooms gazing at flickering screens, grown-ups sequester themselves in air-conditioned boxes apartments, offices, sedans. No one sees Saint Francis arising from concrete statuary, the Virgin of Guadalupe stepping out … Continue reading When Summer Lingers
Written with my Tuesday writing group with the prompt: the body loves slowness. A bit of a farewell to summer! Sound is fast. Light is faster. The pungent scent of sour milk hits our nostrils fast and hard and bring instant tears to our eyes. But the body loves slowness. The body is heavy, whether … Continue reading The Body Loves Slowness
I started writing this with my Tuesday group and finished writing it with my Thursday group. Prompts included: tsunami, threat, taking your time, if you ignore it might go away. Lionel stood on Margarite’s front porch in front of the dining room window. He just stood there, doing his best to look nonthreatening. Margarite saw him of … Continue reading The Return
As many of you know, I have two feline companions, Suzanna (aka Zuzu) and Valentine. They were born in a feral cat colony, littermates and sisters, and now they are happy to be indoor cats. Obviously, indoor cats need indoor facilities. Used to be I had two criteria for cat litter: it had to be unscented … Continue reading A Tale of Two Kitties
Written with my Thursday group with prompts: Mr. I Can’t, Oh shit, Rufus said, hallways, chocolate yes indeed Matilda called Rufus Mr. I Can’t, Mr. Rain On My Parade, and Doctor No. Not because he was a doctor, not because he was a Bond villain, but because he was Mr. Negativity himself, Mr. Dark Clouds … Continue reading The Breath of the Universe
Written with my Thursday night group with a list of prompts that sounded like a grocery list! Janet perused the grocery list her father had handed her as she headed out the door. Her father was not as organized as her mother and he never would be. Janet simply needed to accept that. I mean, … Continue reading The Grocery List
Written with my Thursday night group with prompts including: no such thing as, what they taught me, three pounds of puppy cute, a mile from the nearest neighbor, a thud and a yelp, the killing began, change scares people “There is no such thing as reality,” he told me. “All this is an illusion. You … Continue reading Creating Reality
Written with my Thursday night writing group with a wild bunch of prompts, including: the dead man’s boxes (which we all changed to boxers), what is different today? No such thing as--, a jar of homegrown pansies, keep it local, later we went dancing, melted her heart Last night Betsy’s brother Tom called and asked … Continue reading The Magic Boxers
Before paper, everyone spoke in rhyme or else you’d forget what was on your grocery list. You’d go out to buy a hat and be forced to buy food for a cat, even though you only had a pet mouse to keep you company in your house. Before paper, babies were given very short names … Continue reading Before Paper
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: Angels don’t have to eat but Gabriel likes it, he missed tasting food, it looked impossible, my first reaction, or “It looks impossible,” Gabriel admitted, “but remember,” he added, pausing for effect, “impossible is my bread and butter.” Rafael winced at his colleague. It always came … Continue reading Angel Food
