Flash Fiction 55

She awoke suddenly to glowing white beckoning her from afar.

She heard whispering.
"Wake up."

Clumsily she got out of bed and sleepily wiped her eyes. Gazing out her window, just above the horizon, was the moon suspended with shadows fleeting and floating in its light.

"Hum a tune. Let's dance."

"Tra, la, la..."

Visit Flash Fiction's G-Man.

America's Symbol of Strength and Freedom

Friday June 19, 2009; Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, Arizona, USA

I had so much hope when Barack Obama won the presidency. To me it was as if he was a symbol of our country deciding to clean house and get its priorities in order. Since becoming president he has vowed 3 trillion dollars to fund education. He promised no teacher layoffs. The money supposedly has been distributed to the states. Where is it? My son was laid off from his NYC teaching job. Teaching jobs are frozen in NYC. Let me get this straight - The NYC Fellow program which was designed to take people with college degrees and help them become teachers, as a second chance career to teach urban students, is going to do what now? Train people for a third career to work on a taco line? Our children are our only chance for a strong and free future. I'm confused. Maybe it's me who is disillusioned. Maybe eagles aren't a symbol of anything really. Maybe birds are just stupid.

The Thing With Feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words
And never stops - at all

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest Sea
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson

When I read this poem Emily wrote about hope, I believe she is admonishing the person who would abash the hopeful with their feelings of negativity and anger. I think she is saying that negativity and anger destroys hope in ourselves and causes pain for those around us. Hope should be like a bird that flies freely yet perches on your windowsill to deliver the gift of song. It should be allowed to calm and console.

There are those who seemingly disagree:

Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.
~Friedrich Neitzsche

He who has never hoped can never despair.
~Geroge Bernard Shaw

Where do you stand on the subject of hope. Do you agree with Emily, or do you agree with Neitzsche? If it were an easy question to answer, I wouldn't be asking. I'm undecided.

Happy Cactus Monday

Flash Fiction Friday

She dialed 9-1-1 having enough time to scream, "My ex-husband is going to kill me," before he yanked the cord from the phone jack and wrapped it around her neck. She tried to hold the baby but instinct forced her to let go to save her own neck, as she fought to save her life.

Visit Flash Fiction's G-Man.

I'm not trying to be disturbing for no good reason. This is probably a new and troubling thought to a lot of you. But then again, there are many silent sufferers among us. I want to nudge you enough to get you to visit a significant blog that I feel is making a difference in people's lives. It is called "Violence UnSilenced" and it's providing a place where people who have survived sexual and/or physical abuse can go to share their stories. It's also a safe place where people who are suffering can go to get help. It's been nominated for "Most Inspiring Blog" and, frankly, I want it to win. You can vote once per day.

Check it out and if you think it's deserving, you can vote for it by following these instructions:

• The category page is at: http://www.socialluxelounge.com/blogluxe/
• Select the "Most Inspiring Blog" category
• Find Violence UnSilenced in the list
• Click the "Vote" button
• Fill in a name and email address
• Click the SECOND "Vote" button to register your vote.

And, while we are on this disturbing subject, there's something I'm curious about...

Let's have a philosophical discussion about survival instincts versus maternal/paternal instincts. Do I have it wrong in my Flash Fiction 55? Is it the other way around; Are maternal/paternal instincts stronger than survival instincts?

Six things that make me happy

I was tagged by Pinkerbell of "Ripples in a Small Pond." Here are the instructions:

"If you are tagged write a post on your own blog about this saying six (un)important things which make you happy. Then you need to link to the person who tagged you and tag six bloggers people of your own. Then let them know that you've tagged them, perhaps by leaving a comment on their blog somewhere or by email. Simple. If you don't want to post on your own site, or don't have time, then just add a comment on to mine here. I won't mind if you don't link back to me, it's just a bit of fun, so don't worry about it if you don't carry it on."

Tag – you’re it!!!...

Deb - Fashionably Late
Kate - Rainbow Juice
Nicci - Queen of Haartz
Granny - Granny on the web
Fireblossom - Word Garden
Stewart - Imac's Photos from the Minds Eye

#1 Northern Arizona. We have a cabin up in Concho, Arizona: It's solar and wind powered and totally green. It's where we go to beat the Phoenix heat.

#2 Facebook: I am able to keep track of four generations of relatives.

#3 Camera: When I'm stressed out taking pictures usually calms me down. I was feeling a lot of angst this weekend so I went to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and took a bunch of pictures and entered a photo contest. Dale Chihuly was exhibiting his hand-blown glass art in natural surroundings. It was the perfect photo op. Look really closely at the glass pillar on the far left about half way down - do you see the face of a Scottish Terrier?

#4 Playlist: My favorite song is "Feel" by Robbie Williams.
#5 Shakespeare: Particularly Shakespearean sonnets. I have memorized Shakespeare just in case I am ever stuck on a desert island and don't have anything to read or listen to. This is true.

#6 Birds: Here is a mini-movie I made about birds.

Please feel free to take this meme as your own, even if you are not tagged, and pass it along! I would love to know what makes all of you happy. This inquiring mind wants to know.

Irony Is The Spice Of Life

I wrote this post weeks ago and I forgot to post it. The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be. So, here it is a day later and a dollar short.

In my last post, I told you I was challenging myself to take a risk every day. I planned doing a watercolor of the saguaro + the ocotillo growing in my backyard for Risk No. 2. It came out well enough that I decided to use if for my weekly Cactus Monday post on my other blog, for Risk No. 3.

Please don't think the reason for this post is to collect accolades for myself.

David McMahon of authorblog nominated it for Post of The Day, defying my expectations.

What a hoot!

I explained in my last post that the ocotillo + saguaro reminded me of my sister. My sisters and I were traumatized as children by all of our numerous relatives who insisted on kissing us on the lips and hugging us incessantly the entire time we were growing up. To this day, the two of us feel uncomfortable with hugging and kissing, even each other.

The Cacti-pus painting is a metaphor for our fear of hugging. And then that led me to attempt to write a Shakespearean sonnet.

The purpose for my posting about this is so that you can see how my taking a risk led to an unexpected, yet welcome surprise, which otherwise might not have been realized.

I'm posting a smaller image here so that you don't have to go to the post to see it (click to embiggen).

Cacti-Pus Monday

"Ocotillo Ursula"

I'll leave you with a quote for slow-blog-day Sunday:

"I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I'm not afraid of falling into my inkpot."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Now, back to writing the meme on things that make me happy.

Inspiration

"I'm inspired...and I'm a bean counter."

Shadow is a gifted poet who had an inspiring post on her "1 door away from heaven" blog yesterday. Click here to read her poem, "Time." The second stanza challenged me to not be afraid to take a risk every day. What a scary thought... But it was an "Aha!" moment for me. I decided to go for it and keep a journal about it. Now, down to the business of deciding the first risk I'm willing to take.

Another gifted poet is Fireblossom, of the Word Garden blog. I apprehensively decided to take the risk of sending her an email describing my thoughts about a Shakespearean sonnet. I took a deep breath before I hit "send" because I was afraid she would think I'm a quacker. She wrote back saying it was one of her favorites and shared her thoughts. Well, roll me in chocolate and call me sweetie! You mean there are peeps out there, with whom I can share my feelings about poetry, who won't think I am a pickled beet? What an amazing concept. I wrote Fireblossom back and asked her if she would like to do the same for an allegorical poem, and she said "Yes." There is no way I would have taken risk No. 1, if it had not been for Shadow's inspirational prompt in her poem.

It seems that taking one risk, can lead to another. I excitedly thought about what Risk No. 2 could be. I have been thinking that I would like to try watercolor painting. Why not? I have zillions of photos I've taken this spring - one in particular comes to mind. It is a saguaro and an ocotillo growing side-by-side. When I look at it, I think they look like sisters. The problem is an unsightly background. My idea is to create a watercolor based on the photo, minus all of the unwanted noise. Although I risk failing miserably, I'm going to give it a spirited go.

Meanwhile, Sunny, my middle son, found a camcorder on his college campus that he wanted to keep badly. That's right on par with finding a money clip with cash in it, in my mind's eye. Sunny turned it into the campus police. The cop said, "Nobody would turn this in. This owner is going to think it's gone forever." Sunny's girlfriend, Sarah, said she would have done the same thing. Sunny's friend, Willy, said he would have done the same thing for a different reason. Willy said that every time he used it, he would have felt guilty. Later, Willy teased Sunny and said he should have sold it on E-Bay. Sunny told me he was setting a moral trend for his life - riding the high horse.

Now that's inspiring.