Written for dVerse Prosery: Something
Shuffling Overhead. Our host, Kim, invites
us to write a piece of prose in 144 words or
less, incorporating a line from the poem
“Body” by Alice Oswald seen here:
“the dead were settling in under their mudroom
and something was shuffling overhead”
Every October, Jeremiah walked the churchyard after the rains to straighten the stones. This year the river had come up past the gate, and the ground sucked at his boots.
He knelt by the Grant plot, where three generations lay shoulder to shoulder, and pressed his palm to the turf. It gave like bread dough. He imagined them down there, shifting to make room for the water, grumbling the way old Mrs. Grant had grumbled about drafts.
The dead were settling in under their mud room, and something was shuffling overhead.
Jeremiah looked up. In the belfry, a pale face turned toward him: the barn owl, back after three silent years. He had thought her gone with the bells. She clicked her beak, impatient, like a landlady. Jeremiah laughed, tipped his cap, and left the gate open for whatever else wanted to come home.
NAR©2026
144 Words
This is “On Graveyard Hill” by The Pixies
Everything on the elephant trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicate, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.
