by Naomi L. | November 21, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
Did I really have a nightmare? Or did a noise downstairs wake me?
Did I really forget to turn the lights off? Or did they switch back on after I went to sleep?
Did I really leave the door open? Or was it a draft in the hallway?
Did I really move that chair? Or did it push itself across the room?
Did I really sleepwalk through the kitchen? Or did the open fridge empty itself?
Did I really see my own shadow in the mirror? Or was it a phantom?
Am I imagining things? Am I losing my mind?
Or am I not alone?
by Naomi L. | November 14, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
I thought that spot in the sky was a star.
It didn’t occur to me that stars don’t waver.
We screamed as the bright lights blinded us.
I tried to run with everyone else.
But they had come for me.
The ground beneath me vanished.
No way out now.
Only one way.
Their way.
Up.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | November 7, 2014 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
Do you remember me?
How much can you now see?
Are all your memories there,
Wherever you may be?
I wanted to believe
That you would never leave,
That we’d never see the day
When we would have to grieve.
Yet I saw how much they’d strain.
I knew you were in pain,
That all their love and care
Would only be in vain.
Could you recognize
The sadness in our eyes?
How every name you’d say
Would come as a surprise?
I’m sure you always knew
The people there for you.
Your memory was strong
As your love for us was true.
And now that you are gone,
Somehow we must move on.
The pain had gone too long,
But the peace has finally won.
So please remember me
Wherever you may be.
Look down on me with grace
And see my smiling face
To know at last you’re free.
In loving memory of my grandfather, who lived his last years with Alzheimer’s before he passed away. I love you, Grandpa! I hope you remember us where you are now. We’ll certainly always remember you.
by Naomi L. | October 31, 2014 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
On the last October day,
When the sun has gone away,
The monsters all come out to play
And take over the night.
Vampire bats and witches fly
Through the moonlit autumn sky.
Hear them laugh while passing by
To fill the air with fright.
Zombies rise up from the ground.
Ghosts float by without a sound.
What fun it is to look around
And see costumes galore.
Children wanting something sweet
Get all the candy they could eat
Just for shouting “Trick or Treat!”
Outside a stranger’s door.
Light a pumpkin with a face
To decorate the haunted place
Where monsters gather to embrace
The year’s most frightening scene.
So step into our scary dreams
Where nothing is quite what it seems,
And all around, you hear the screams
Of “Happy Halloween!”
by Naomi L. | October 24, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
It was the only thing I ever feared growing up.
It started with the missing socks from my drawer.
Then the snacks in my backpack started disappearing.
The food trails went under the bed.
I thought I was done for.
One night, I saw it.
It bared its teeth.
I knew then.
“Carrot sticks!”
Vegetarian.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | October 17, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
Sometimes I wonder if it was all a dream.
I’d walk through the halls alone, always with my head down, never looking them in the eye. Maybe I was afraid they’d see too far into my soul.
Nobody ever saw into me. They only ever saw through me.
It was fear that guided me, fear that blinded me, fear that trapped me.
My solitude lasted to the end of those years. I felt like a ghost in their world. I almost believed they could feel a chill whenever I walked by.
I watched them grow and blossom into such interesting people. I knew their stories, their values, their hopes and their fears. I knew everyone’s name. Did anyone know mine?
I realized my mistake too late. I should have been brave. I should have reached out. I should have said hello every day, and asked how they were, and spent time with them any chance I had.
I should have tried to be part of their world. Instead, I chose to be invisible.
So don’t make the same mistake I did. Be brave. Live life. Choose to be seen.
Youth passes like a dream. Those who live it gain friendships and experience to take into the real world, while all that’s left for the invisible is to someday flip through a senior yearbook and scribble on the blank signature page that one question that will haunt them for years…
Did I ever exist?
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