Short Story, Word Challenge, Wordle

The Topper

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for MLMM Monday Wordle #456.
Our twelve prompt words are shown below.
Here’s where they took me. Thanks, Di!

content, fairy, huge, joyful, look, pretty,
reception, residents, step, swipe, tinsel, wobble

Image by Me & Copilot

The nursing home’s reception area gleamed with tinsel draped across every surface. Theresa, activities coordinator, took a careful step back to admire her work. Pretty good, she thought, though something felt missing.

“We need a tree topper,” announced Mrs. Chen, one of the residents, wheeling herself closer. Theresa made a mental note.

Mrs. Chen chuckled as Alex, her great-grandson, tried to swipe at a teddy bear ornament hanging from a low branch. She watched approvingly as his mother redirected him away from the tree toward a rocking horse. It had been delivered that morning along with several boxes of gifts for the residents. Alex climbed aboard with joyful determination, making it teeter dramatically. The horse creaked and swayed, and suddenly Alex pointed upward, laughing.

“Look!” he shouted.

Everyone turned. Somehow, in all the decorating chaos, no one had noticed an antique fairy peeking out from the top branches of the huge tree. Her porcelain face was serene, her wings yellowed with age.

“That’s mine!” Mrs. Chen gasped. “From my childhood home. I donated boxes months ago, before I moved here. I never thought I’d see her again.”

Theresa smiled as the old woman’s face transformed, decades falling away in that moment of recognition.

“She’s exactly where she belongs,” Theresa said softly.

Mrs. Chen nodded, content at last, as Alex’s rocking horse continued its gentle wobble.

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This is “Fairy Lights” by Sophie Janna

MLMM Monday Wordle # 456

All text and graphics are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.

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