Author Archives: susan

262/365 – THE VISITORS

Word Count: 548 She thought it was the bright bright full moon and a chorus of tree frogs that chirped in the pre-morning dark. She looked up and behind her, over the roof of the house and saw that it … Continue reading

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261/365 – SPIDER-BOY

Word Count: 238 In the town where I grew up a lady gave birth to a spider though she’d always wanted a son. But a mother’s love overcomes our flaws and reaches beyond disappointments. She learned to diaper around all … Continue reading

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260/365 – BACK TO NATURE

Word Count: 296 She chewed deer tendon into string, wove wood fiber into paper, and spun cottonwood seeds into fabric to make aprons and jeans. She’d become a saver of the earth through little choice of her own. She couldn’t … Continue reading

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259/365 – HOLDING ONTO THE DAY

Word Count: 264 She pulled out the beans, shaking the dirt from their roots, picking off the missed beans that hadn’t already grown fat with seeds. Maybe this would be the last time she’d autumn clean her garden, maybe there … Continue reading

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258/365 – THE LETTER OF GOODBYE

Word Count: 471 He delayed his suicide until his goodbye note was read and rewritten a hundred times, tweaked as only a writer could worry words. Carlson Porter had had enough of life. Three wives and seven children and several … Continue reading

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257/365 – COYOTE AND THE MOON

Word Count: 226 Coyote shadows through the edges, tasting chipmunk in the air. The moon is sleepy-eyed and slivered, yet watches as the old dog hunts. He is hungry and he is tired of dodging window lights that flood his … Continue reading

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256/365 – CHANGE OF VIEW

Word Count: 240 I stand outside the back door and look around the yard. The trees are black against the cool blue-gray morning sky. Bushes are mere shadows that slip into the distance. The fat yellow moon is on my … Continue reading

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255/365 – THOUGHTS ON DRIVING IN ON DARK SEPTEMBER MORNINGS

Word Count: 312 Autumn Monday mornings fall like rain, two days darker, two days deeper into winter. Five a.m. is dawnless, creeping up without the sun. Eventually you flick on the headlights to drive to work. Eventually again, you don’t … Continue reading

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254/365 – SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2001

Word Count: 256 Her husband worked on the eightieth floor of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 10, 2001. At 8:30 a.m. he was exiting the elevator and hurrying out the lobby to catch a cab … Continue reading

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253/365 – ST. CLOTILDE’S SCHOOL FOR DISAPPOINTING CHILDREN

Word Count: 590 St. Clotilde’s is tucked away in the hills of Laconia, up steep winding barely two-car-wide roads of stones and dirt. Difficult to get to sure enough; much harder to leave. Jerome sat in the back seat, afraid … Continue reading

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