Short Story

Quiet Desperation

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for OLWG #418.
The prompts appear below.
This is my story.

© Vecteezy

In the heart of a desolate Illinois town, where dust from the parched ground encrusted every surface, a single father named Frank Sullivan shuffled through life with his three children. They lived in a sagging house on the edge of town, where the echoes of laughter had long been silenced …. an ominous reminder that darkness was always waiting just around the corner.

For anyone who asked, Frank claimed that he had lost his wife to illness two years prior. In truth, Frank’s wife, Lois, was doing 25 to 40 in Logan Correctional Center for the murder of her best friend who she thought was sleeping with Frank. Since then, he had become a ghost in his own home, haunted by memories and the weight of responsibility.

The children, young and innocent, were his only spattering of color on the dismal grey palette of existence. As the days turned into months, the weight of desperation pressed down on him like the leaden sky that often hung over their small town. 

One night, after another day of fruitless job hunting, Frank sat at the kitchen table lost in thought, mesmerized by the almost imperceptible “shushing” of sand in an old hourglass each time he turned it over. His children played in the next room, their soft giggles like fragile wind chimes in the night breeze. He thought of their future, of the hunger that gnawed at their bellies and the cold that seeped through the walls; he wondered how long he could hold it together before it all fell apart.

As Frank tucked his kids in bed, he resolved to do whatever it took to keep them safe, determined to face head-on the demons he knew would follow him. He stepped outside onto the old wood porch for a smoke, a man on the edge of a dark, dangerous path.

NAR©2025
#OLWG

Here are the prompts: 1) ‘a bottle of dust’; 2) ‘fight for it’; 3) ‘she lives down by the jail’. We can use one, two, all three or none at all. It doesn’t matter; we just need to be creative.

This is “Time” by Pink Floyd

OLWG#418- An American Tragedy

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️ 🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al. and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

33 thoughts on “Quiet Desperation”

    1. Thanks, Phil; I appreciate your great comments!

      Why not? Primarily because I’m involved in a lot of different writing projects and I’m not ready to put any of them on hold to work on a novella or extended short story. At the moment I have two continuing stories which I feature when an opportunity arises. I had three but concluded one. It’s a lot of work and if I was going to take on a short story, it would require my total concentration. I’m not ready for that. Thanks for having such faith in me!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. Quiet desperation, caught and held by your in depth ability Nancy, …an amazing snippet of Franks life and perception of his plight, …what’s happening next one wonders, ….💫💐💫

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Yes indeed Nancy another amazing story! Do you ever think you might enlarge a story like this there are so many directions you could take?

    You are obviously a Queen of flash fiction.

    💜💜💜

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You’re amazingly kind, sis! You know I have written several continuing stories which is great fun. Only one did I choose to conclude; the others are still works in progress. The problem, at least for me, is not being able to devote enough time to any one on-going story because of all the other writing I do. At this point I’m not ready to focus all my attention on one project; who knows …. that could change tomorrow!

      Thank you for an incredible comment, Willow! ♡

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. Once again, Nancy, you hit it out of the park. I felt like I was right there sitting at the. Kitchen table across from Frank, sippin’ on some whiskey and taking about how to protect the young’uns and how to keep the demons outside the door. Excellent storytelling !

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you for an incredibly kind and gracious comment, Fan. These particular prompts are great learning exercises which have helped me to stretch and grow and think outside the box. I need to utilize this same creative approach in all my writing, not just OLWG. Thanks, my friend, for a great compliment!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Tell me what you're thinking. 🖊️