Written for RDP, where Martha Kennedy asks
us to get creative with the word ‘change’.
Thanks, Martha! Here’s my take.
Tag: House
Lofty Dwelling
Written for David’s Weave Written Weakly #189
where our friend Violet has prompted us to write
about some lovely artwork from the National Gallery of
Art website. This is my pic & my response. Thanks, Violet & David!
The Rent
Written for Crispina’s Crimson’s Creative
Challenge #059. I chose Pic #3.
Here’s where the image took me.
Bisnonna*
Written for The Unicorn Challenge where we are
asked to get creative in 250 words or less using
the photo below as inspiration. Here is my story.
The ambience in our house was different today, quietly busy as delivery men and acquaintances paying their respects came and went. My father and mother’s uncles directed the traffic of floral deliveries and positioned the many arrangements throughout the parlor. My mother and her aunts labored in the kitchen like silent worker bees preparing trays of food for the funeral dinner tomorrow.
We children sat meekly on the two enormous matching sofas along the side walls, eyes downcast, confused and uncharacteristically restrained. Occasionally we would glance toward the elevated casket in the center of the room and quickly look away. At 6:00 we were whisked off to the dining room where we wordlessly ate our evening meal, then returned to the parlor to continue our vigil.
There seemed to be a never-ending flow of people, a soft parade of mourners entering our house. Veiled women dabbed their eyes and men removed their hats, heads bowed. This stream flowed seamlessly from 2:00 in the afternoon until 9:30 that evening, many people lingering to reflect while caressing their rosary beads. A priest arrived shortly after 9:30; he spoke softly in our native Sicilian dialect, offering prayers and words of consolation. When he was finished, everyone except my mother’s aunts and uncles departed. My little cousins, some no longer able to stay awake, were carried home and my sister and I were shooed off to our bedroom upstairs.
It had been a long and sorrowful day. My great-grandmother, the family matriarch, had died.
NAR©2024
250 Words
*Bisnonna is the Sicilian word for “great-grandmother”.
Author’s Note: I was nine years old when my great-grandmother died. Much of that day is etched in my mind; in particular, I remember being unable to sleep that night knowing there was a dead body in a coffin downstairs in my parlor. Never ever will I forget the cold and waxy feel of my bisnonna’s skin on my lips as I, along with all the other children, lined up to place a kiss on her forehead … not something we did willingly.
This is “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.
Old Glory
The gracious Rochelle at Friday Fictioneers
is challenging us to write something creative
in 100 words or less to go with this photo.
This is my response to that challenge.
I’ve been married so long, Betsy Ross was my maid of honor!
Our first house was an impressive five-bedroom Colonial with loads of property. Fifty-two years ago it cost $68,000; today that money can buy a car.
The house was white with navy blue trim and a red door. As an excited new homeowner and proud American, I planted red and white impatiens and coral red begonias in all the window boxes.
There was no white picket fence but we did have a proper flagpole and hoisted Old Glory every morning …. much to the chagrin of my communist next-door neighbor.
NAR©2024
100 Words
This is “Our House” by Crosby, Stills & Nash
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. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 