Flash, Short Story

The Ark Accord

Written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt #403
using the word β€œtheory”. In 81 words, this is my story.

Continue reading “The Ark Accord”
Movie Blog

Want To Watch A Movie?

Every Christmas (and Easter), I like to get in at least one Bible movie. I have been enthralled by these movies since I was a child and they still hold a powerful message for me. The Nativity Story (2006) is a drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph’s life when they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

In Nazareth, teenager Mary is betrothed to the local carpenter, Joseph. Mary is visited by an angel and told that she will fulfill a prophecy and as a virgin give birth to God’s son. Mary’s pregnancy brings her the scorn of the community and Joseph struggles to believe her seemingly outlandish story. Meanwhile, a census forces every man and his family to return to his place of birth. Joseph and Mary set out on a long and arduous journey to Bethlehem …. and danger is with them the entire way.

Here’s the trailer:

I’ll save you a seat. Enjoy the movie! πŸŽ₯  🍿 πŸ₯€

NARΒ©2024

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy ~ The Sicilian Storyteller, Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.

Short Story

It’s All Going To Be OK

Written for Six Sentence Story ~ β€œtonic” and
Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie, Sunday Confessionals ~ β€œsweet”

Β© dreamtime

It doesn’t happen very often but last Sunday was a rare babysitting day for us; our usual days to watch our 4-year-old granddaughter Colette are Tuesday and Thursday but both our son and daughter-in-law (Colette’s mom & dad) had to work over the weekend. That was a rarity for them as well, but one is a librarian and the other a doctor and with both the library and the hospital open every day of the week, they sometimes pull a weekend shift but seldom do their rotations coincide as they did last Sunday.  

My husband Bill has been having good and bad days this month, thinking about and missing his twin brother who died suddenly on April 2, so our son has been extra considerate, asking if watching Colette at this time is too much of an imposition; we answer without hesitation β€œNot at all …. in fact, just the opposite!” 

Colette is always fun to be with but recently she has been a true blessing and a much-needed distraction …. a tonic, a balm for our sad and broken hearts, a healing magical concoction of love, joy, sunshine and humor blended with a combination of innocent wisdom and an intuitive nature that defies her tender age. 

We were looking through some old photo albums with Colette …. snapshots of Bill and his brother as babies, as kids growing up on City Island, our wedding photos …. and even though Colette knew Bill’s brother and saw them together many times, seeing those photos left an impression on her, especially the ones of Bill and Jim when they were babies; it’s true, you know, that when our kids and grandkids are little and they look at us, they only see us as we are and have no idea we were ever any younger than we are right now. 

One particularly sweet photo of Bill and Jim brought tears to my husband’s eyes and though he tried to hide his tears, they spilled through his fingers causing Colette to ask why he was so sad and we explained that Uncle Jim was gone, that he had left us to be with God in heaven; she thought for a second, put her little hand on Bill’s and said β€œWell, that’s ok, Grampy; don’t worry because God will take good care of him and it’s all going to be ok.”

NARΒ©2024

This is Stevie Wonder with β€œYou Are The Sunshine Of My Life”

Bill and Jim, suntanned towheads in Montauk, 1950

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.

Uncategorized

GREAT GIG IN THE SKY

I have a burning question. How many of us can honestly say we’ve seen God … not just seen Him but had a full-blown conversation β€“ a religious experience replete with images and epiphanies? Ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred perhaps unless, of course, while under the influence of mind-expanding, hallucination-inducing psychedelic drugs the number would increase exponentially.

That is exactly what happened one night when my fiancΓ© emerged from the bedroom after an hours-long LSD trip and announced to all in the living room, β€œI have just seen God and I now know there’s no such thing as everlasting death.”

Being in various stages of synthetic delusion, our reactions ran the gamut from β€œHeavy, dude!” to β€œWhat-the-fuckedness?!” to fits of hysterical laughter. Undeterred, although somewhat unsteady and quite high, my friancΓ© wound his way through the mass of pillows strewn about the room and situated himself in the middle of the floor like the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Fifteen pairs of glazed-over eyes watched while he went on to explain how God revealed to him that the followers of Pythagoras were extremely superstitious and mystical. They believed that the human soul was trapped in a continuous cycle of death and reincarnation. Although the body dies, the soul lives on, lying dormant in a constantly spinning dimension of the universe where it patiently waits to be catapulted back to earth, implanted into one form or another of the female species, and is reborn. And this cycle of death and reincarnation can be experienced by an individual an infinite number of times.

Minds officially blown, we all agreed this new-found knowledge was indeed β€œheavy” and required more contemplation while listening … again … to Dark Side Of The Moon. But I, who was always somewhat preoccupied and frightened by the thought of dying and ceasing to exist for all eternity, wanted to learn more about this amazing concept. I found it calming, hopeful and profound. So my future husband and I discussed this astounding, all-encompassing theory which I took fully to heart. Suddenly I was filled with a warm peace, a confirmation that the soul lives on, returning after mortal death. How ineffably comforting.

Soon I found myself drifting off to sleep in Bill’s arms as Pink Floyd played softly in the background:

β€œI am not frightened of dying. Any time will do, I don’t mind.”

NAR Β© 2018

Reposted for C.E. Ayrs MinMin challenge Rock n Roll – Min Min Challenge.