Even though we have All Day, we wait until Normal Time to practice. Then I look up and see it’s 8:15 PM and no one is in jams. Then I realize time doesn’t matter. I remember distance learning kicking us into outer space where we spun – still alive, somehow – untethered.
All posts in I write
Seventh Day
I am confident we won’t have school the rest of the week. Here are 50 words about the day. This one is “No Change.” The district e-mails. The subject line is, “Negotiations continue; classes canceled Tuesday,” leading me to believe they think we could be back on Wednesday. Which is when I read the e-mail…
Sixth Day
This one is “Snowmelt.” Snowmelt flowed down the path at the nature center we visited. What a jerk, moving so freely like that, directly under my feet. I’m tensing about the week to come. Bedtimes never matter when we switch to Daylight Saving Time or the Sunday before the second week of a strike.
Fifth Day
I call this one “Too Much Not Enough.” We run in circles. We cry standing. Outside is gray. Inside is, too, until the baby plays peekaboo. Tasks accomplished like springs; push them down until you can’t hold them back any longer and damn it if they don’t knock you over. It’s way too much and…
Fourth Day
I call this one “She Goes Away.” “What is most exciting about going to Mexico?” I ask. “The sun,” she replies. “It will be sad.” And at the airport, I try not to say, “Have fun,” and yet I fail. Telling her to have fun is imposing on her an agenda. To lie is always…
Third Day: Family in 50
Our teachers are striking. Today is the third day. Reporting is that the sides — the teachers’ union and the school district — remain far apart. Let’s make things tougher and more satisfying by writing in 50 words exactly a snapshot of how daily life shows up with three little kids in the middle of…
Ribs
Flash fiction is, to me, a heart beating in your hands. I’m not talking about holding your hand over your chest and feeling its rhythm. I’m talking about the experience you’ll never have. Cupping your hands, cradling a beating heart. When I think of micro fiction, short short fiction or flash fiction, I think you’re…
Episode 14 of Read Write Review Out Now
New episode out today. Episode 14. He Finds a Tower / Short Story Club In this episode, I read what I wrote off of Prompt 1 from this three-part challenge and offer another prompt: Your main character finds a small tower buried beneath the ground. In Short Story Club this month, we’re reading “The Appropriation…
The Re-surfacing
I’m re-surfacing. I’m publishing my newsletter, Stories About Telling Stories, again. Here is the most recent edition. You can subscribe here. I’m also writing on Substack stuff that I hope will keep me motivated through the nine months of winter here in Minneapolis. I released a podcast episode, too. I can hardly wait to resign…
Noise Canceling
We are back to distance learning. Three kids, two of whom don’t read, one of whom doesn’t talk. All of whom need. I am not adjusting with any semblance of grace, but I thought I’d try to write something humorous or at least light in tone for each day that they are home, from the…