Na'ama Yehuda

  “I don’t know what to make of it,” Arlene shook her head. “Of the sunset?” Molly’s already reedy voice rose higher. Arlene took a deep breath. She forgot just how literal her sister-in-law was. “No, the sunset is beautiful,” she stated. “And the arches.” Molly turned to face Arlene. The glow from the ball of fire in the distance rendered one of her cheeks fire-orange, the other ashen-gray. “So…

    “There!” Tim pointed. “The rough without the diamond,” Robert snorted, hands shoved in the pockets of his too tight jeans. Melissa giggled.  Tim felt his heart sink. This was exactly what he wanted. How come the others could not see? “You’d do better in the junkyard,” Robert walked away. “He must’a hated you to leave you that” Melissa pranced behind him. “I’m sorry,” Tim whispered to the old…

  “So?” Ivor fished a tissue out of a pocket, buying time. Though not really a fan, Elena’s excitement had rubbed onto him, and he found himself trying to hide his disappointment. He didn’t think he could face hers. “Isn’t it amazing?” Elena pulled on his arm, pitch high in delight. “It sure is something,” he managed, relieved.  “Just like the Iron Throne, but made of crystals,” she rocked on her…

  “What’s wrong with its eye?” Ellie scowled. Malcolm squinted. “It melted, I think.” Ellie considered. There were many stumps with faces, and most were odd-shaped. But he wanted to touch this one, which was unusual enough for someone who did not like touching anything, and he also felt the stump’s warning – if there can be such a thing – to touch it “gently.” Like it’d hurt. “How old is…

  “When, Mammie?” Sally fidgeted on Bella’s lap. Bony butt on bony thighs on a hard bench. It hurt, but Bella ignored the discomfort. “Any second now,” she responded. The crowd’s hum amplified the thumping in her chest. Heart to ribs. Heart in throat. A rumbling started. Imperceptible at first, then a rattling that shook the ground, and a moment later, sound. Two beams shot up. Lit the night…

  “Is that it?” The girl’s face remained pressed to the window. “Yes,” the woman nodded. This was the third drop-off today and it better be less dramatic than the previous two. It was late, and she still had reports to write.  She thumbed the folder to remind her of the names, exited the car and walked around to open the child’s door. It could not open from within. For safety. Some kids…

  “You must rock them or they’ll never hatch.” Emilio sighed. His arms ached. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he’d traded a cushy private school spot for an ATM position. Early mornings, late-night assignments, mediocre food, bedbugs. A ton of work, literally. Zero glamor. He’d quit but this would give his parents the last laugh. “Apprentice-To-Magi?” they’d chortled when he told them he’d…

  A cage is a cage is a cage. It doesn’t matter that they put colors and cute things and soft lights and children’s music. Nothing could mask the fact that they could not get out, that there was always someone watching, that there was no place to hide. An experiment, they said. For humanity. As if that made confiscating liberty a palatable thing. The withholding of sunlight. The absence of the…

  It wasn’t supposed to end this way, but no one really knows how things end once started. Not really. Not entirely, at least. And everyone knows nature is unpredictable. This mishap simply proves it. And anyway, it cannot be her fault when it was they who did not bother to say what they mean, nor mean what they were saying. She literally heard them say they wanted a Lava Cake as celebration.…

  “The way down is longer way than it seems.” Mama’s words echoed in her head, soft warnings or an encouragement, she never really knew. Never did ask. Not even after. Because she understood. Every time the fog rolled around. The wonder. The urge. The pull of the opaque. The damp air on her face, her heart, her bangs. It was, perhaps, something in their blood that called their soul to enter…

“You know how to work it?” Timothy hurriedly stuffed his bag. “Sure,” Liz shrugged. “Been a while, but not like it is rocket science.” Timothy paused. An odd joke…but he didn’t have the time to explain anyway. “Just make sure to bring water,” he pressed. Liz shooed her brother out. He’s been hovering ever since she’s been discharged. As if she’d never lived in a City. Never used a phone. So what…

Photo prompt © Nancy Richy   The day the sun returned, the roots found joy. It’s been an endless dreary time, asleep under the solitary plant light in the basement, curled in, unwilling to release new leaf into confinement. Then came the roiling movement, the rumbling monster that made Earth wobble under ground. A quaking that woke ancient worries, but also a forgotten hope. For new space can…

Photo: Khamkéo on Unsplash   She squared her shoulders To the wind Words spinning past Her ears, And stuck her chin Out To the freeze, Refusing to Bow Or flinch. “So fierce,” he chuckled, Unamused. Survivor, she thought, Of your abuse.     For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Fierce in 36 words    

She set the biggest log in the center, then added odds and ends of driftwood to encircle it. The seagulls kept watch. Perhaps accusatory of her use of feathers. “I’m sorry if it is one of your cousins,” she said. A gull called. Her apology accepted? She sat herself amidst the constellation, snuggled closer to the angel log, and drew her knees up to her chest. “Sometimes a woman needs a circle…

(Photo: Crissy Jarvis on Unsplash)   It was all about the math, he knew. The breaths, the bites and chews and swallows, the number of small steps one takes, the flickers of their eyelids. The sum of heartbeats. It all seemed endless, but He only had to endure one breath at a time. A step after the other. A blink. Each flutter against his ribs. He dared not calculate, but still he knew it added…

  It took all afternoon, but she managed to not be discovered. Rose had said that it could not be done. It only made Marina more determined. “It isn’t proper,” Rose had said. Well, what wasn’t proper was that lads went. Why would the lassies not? She was supposed to be at the hotel’s library, peering daintily through lace windows at the expanse of sea. Instead, she hid in the tiny cabin, inching…

  “They only glow when Marm’s here,” Eloise pointed. I tried to not show my confusion. Being a first-time visitor to Castle Trent was a steep learning curve, but I was not going to risk being thrown out as an impostor. “Best not upset her, though,” Eloise added, reaching for the pitcher and pouring what appeared like air into an empty iridescent glass. She offered it to me and I tipped the vacant…