Saturday, January 8, 2011

Saturday Centus: Mama

The miracle happened on a cold, dark January morning.
You see, Mama left Daddy an eternity ago.
The cold Nor’easters of the New England coast never
agreed with her native Floridian blood.
That was her excuse.
My best guess is Daddy’s cold hearted affections,
his stormy temper,
left an unbearable, icy chill upon her soul.
Not long after, she died
from a cancer kept hidden from us.
I had planted the orange sapling
as a symbolic gesture
near her headstone the day she was buried.
I never considered it would actually grow,
let alone bear fruit.
Mysterious are God’s ways.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week Ms. Jenny changed things up and hit us with a photo prompt, instead of a word phrase, for our 100 word essay. She's a sly one, that Jenny! I had an inkling of an idea before I left for the morning's responsibilities.That inkling developed into the story above. If I had more words, maybe I could have woven a more complete tale. But for now, this will have to suffice. 

Jenny Matlock

20 comments:

Strummed Words said...

Very nice story for the prompt.
Orange

Unknown said...

Dear Polly,
What a great story for the prompt. There's a little Tristan and Isolde in the orange plant at the mother's grave. The spirit embodied in the strength and tenacity of the plant.
Nice.
Best wishes,
Anna
Anna's SC#36

Bookie said...

Interesting response to the prompt...lovely surprise in the miraculous.

Koby said...

That one gave me a misty pair of eyes reading it...great job with this (ohhh so difficult) prompt.

Kat said...

This was a beautiful take on the prompt. I like the twist of the orange being in a cold climate, rather than the snow being where it doesn't belong. Really nicely done. Kat

Lynn said...

Really neat, love the twist:@)

Tgoette said...

Wow, this was a great story! Very dark and deep, but with a wonderfully positive twist at the end. Awesome!

Kathleen said...

You are such a talented writer! I'm so very impressed!

Susan Anderson said...

Oh, yes. I liked this one. It set a mood and drew me right in.

=)

jfb57 said...

Really touching piece! Well done!

Brian Miller said...

and i wonder if she did it because she knew what was to come...nice piece polly

Terra said...

Beautiful! I felt every emotion growing...

Willoughby said...

What a wonderful story you created from that picture! I'm always impressed by your stories. You're so talented!

Anonymous said...

Aw, that was very touching take on this. Well done!

Cheryl said...

Bittersweet tale goes beautifully with that gorgeous image.

Dazee Dreamer said...

oh my. you did a great job with that prompt.

Jo said...

what a beautiful little story ... i really enjoyed this Polly!

Tina said...

Touching write, Ms. Polly. I don't think you need any more words, that was tightly done. Of course, you could write it as a traditional (as in longer) short story, but it's very moving in this format. I went for Florida, too, but in a completely different way...

gautami tripathy said...

This a wonderful take!

destined destination

Jenny said...

Polly. Sometimes when I read what you write you engulf me so totally in the story that I almost feel disoriented when I finish reading your work.

This was one of those times.

And, no, I'm not naturally dizzy.

You are just that darned good, girl.

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