Short Fiction – Page 2

On Her Way Home

March 26, 2021 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

On Her Way Home

Shandy loaded up her beige Opal, the same reliable car she loved so much, calling her “Baby” since the first time she turned the key and the engine softly hummed, a sweet sound to hear. Heading to Iowa, she turned up her radio, playing the sweet sounds of Jim Croce, John Denver, and many other artists with whom she could sing along, a trip back in time, with her sweet “friends” in the airwaves.

After carefully studying her maps, she decided to go through the Missouri route, trying to avoid the long prairie like drive, something which, while it would be quiet, could be enough to make her sleepy and it was not long before she saw the Saint Louis Arch and gave it a salute while driving past the way. From Missouri she would meet the wedge of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri and cross over to Iowa by way of the toll bridge in Keokuk, Iowa. Right before she came to the bridge, she looked off to the right and saw an eagle soaring, as if it were waving her on to Iowa.

Shandy waved at the eagle, “Goodbye, Illinois, thank you for your service, it was brief, but I will be back to see you soon,” as she knew that her destination was also in the border town of Burlington, Iowa and all she had to do was roll on over the bridge; the road ahead would take her to her aunt’s house and to a new life, one which Shandy was looking forward to starting anew, but she always knew she had the past to pushed her forward, as her beloved, deceased husband was always going to be the driving force for her success, with this, she would not fail, and that is what she believed.

This was my installment for this weeks Six Sentence Story. Perhaps you would like to writer a story for this week. Just go here to Girlie on the Edge’s blog hop and give us your spin on the weekly word of SERVICE

Short Fiction, short story, six sentence story

Angels in Front of Us

March 19, 2021 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Angels in Front of Us

Motel Merrion was on the outskirts of the next big city in Kentucky and Shandy was pleased with the homey look of the place, from the very moment she pulled up to the point of checking in, she knew she was in the right place and Belle, who sent her there, was right about it being a decent place to rest up; this became even more evident when the sole proprietor, Merry, strode up to the desk; she had a full head of blonde hair, curled and sprayed to the nth degree, penciled eye brows that appeared raised despite the fine line of her actual brows, coral puffs of rouge, and lipstick which reminded her of strawberries; she has a an unfiltered Camel burning in the ashtray, which she paid no care to, while she focused on Shandy.

“You must be Shandy; thank you for calling from Belle’s place, it helped me get your room ready, and I wanted to be sure you had a room close to the front so you could be close to the office, you are in a safe place, but there’s something to be said for taking that extra step, you know what I mean, yeah, of course you do; well you are all set in room 3, my lucky number, and I hope you find it to be yours, too; there’s coffee and donuts in the morning by six and just leave the key in the drop box when you leave.”

“How much do I owe you,” inquired Shandy.

“Shandy, dear, you don’t owe me a thing, I heard you are starting over and, well, I have been down that road, until I found this place to make a home for others, I was lost, and, well, I promised myself that if there ever was a woman who was in my shoes come in the door, I would treat her like she deserves to be treated, and I won’t have any money from you, I have a little cash stash for these reasons, and tonight is your lucky night.”

Speechless, Shandy tried to speak, but her throat closed up as her eyes welled with the fullness of tears, and when she found her voice, she spoke, broken but clear enough, “Merry, you are a jewel, I am going to accept this, well, because I remember that my husband would say to pay attention to the angels, they are in front of us, and, well, you are one of those angels, and, well, I will be sure to pass your kindness on to the next person I come across with a need.”

Merry handed Shandy the key to her room, Shandy reached out and gave her a hug, walked out to find her room and when she opened the door, she was greeted with a bouquet of fresh roses, clearly from the beautiful rose bushes which lined the front of Merry’s motel, and Shandy knew she found the right place to claim for her overnight home.

…..

And that is my installment of the continuing story of Shandy and Clarabelle. This week, the focus has been on Shandy, but Clarabelle will be back. She’s just not met Shandy, at this point.

You can go see what others have written to the prompt this week of FILTER HERE

Short Fiction, short story, six sentence story, writing

Theory of Love

March 5, 2021 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Theory of Love

Shandy sat on the couch, pondering what she was to do with her life after her husband passed away. She had always been focused on him and their son and the idea of doing anything different for herself was foreign. In a way, she was puzzled over what was even missing in her life. She had been a loving, supportive wife and mother, by all the ways she cared for her family. By any means, she decided one thing for certain, she had to find out if she really liked who she was and then decide if this also meant she felt self-love. She got up off the couch, ventured out for a hike, and decided to do what made her smile, knowing this would lead to one thing, in theory, that all components of a happy life for her needed to be explored, then she would know what truly fed her soul.

And this is my Six Sentence Story for the week. Come and share yours HERE

Short Fiction, short story, six sentence story

Let’s Go to the Rodeo

February 26, 2021 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Excited to be getting tickets, Shandy gave Clarabelle a call, “hi Clair, I’m ordering rodeo tickets and wonder if you’d like to go with me?”

“Oh, Shandy, I haven’t been to the rodeo in years, Herbie and I used to go, but after he passed, I guess I just lost interest, but, hmm, maybe it’s time for me to think about going again; Okay, let’s go.”

“Yea, I am so happy to hear that. When Gerald was younger, we used to take a vacation every so often during rodeo time, and there are such sweet memories of my son and husband in their rodeo duds, oh they were so cute.”

“Well, I won’t be wearing a hat or spurs, but I will be there with a good spirit, ready to make new memories, thank you for asking me, I wouldn’t have thought about going if it weren’t for you.”

“Hey, ladybug, we are a team and they have not been so blessed as to have these two fine women to grace the stands, so yee-haw, here we go to the rodeo,” and Shandy could hear Clarabelle chuckling on the other end of the line.

…..

The rodeo is an annual tradition in Fort Madison, Iowa, just about 30 miles from Shandy and Clarabelle’s story location. You can read about it at Tri-State-Rodeo We attended many years ago and it was a lot of fun.

This story is in response to the prompt word RODEO from Denise’s Six Sentence Story. Why not give it a try?

Short Fiction, short story, six sentence story, writing

Kaleidoscopes and Life

February 19, 2021 Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld

Kaleidoscopes and Life

Clarabelle and Shandy got in the habit of going to thrift shops on Shandy’s day off from work, looking forward to the many bargains, often spending time just looking and reminiscing about this and that. “Oh my goodness, Clair, look at his kaleidoscope, it is just like the one I bought Gerald when he was a child, and he loved it so much, he even researched about how they are made and spent a lot of his quiet time looking through the scope, eventually it became a thing, where for gifts we would buy him a new one, until he had quite the collection.”

“Oh, that is so nice, I love that he had such enthusiasm, no doubt your support helped, by getting him new ones to explore and encouraging his doing research, you are such a dedicated mother.”

“He made it easy for me to be his mother, as he always has had that sense of adventure, always looking for the workings behind things, and I think he will do well in whatever he finally decides to do with his education, but there’s this one thing that really sticks in my mind about the kaleidoscopes, something he said, and it really stayed with me.”

“What is that dear?”

“He said, mom, have you ever noticed that a kaleidoscope has such a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes and that makes me think of the world, and how we are all different, but working together, it makes a beautiful thing, this life, it is just amazing.”