The 2AM Photo

A Creative Writing Challenge: It’s 2AM and your phone has just buzzed you awake, filling the room in white-blue LED light. You have a message. It’s a photo. No words, no explanation. Just a photo. Tell us all about it. And what happens next…

Emmy sleepily reached for her cell phone. It was flashing its LED light, and buzzing on the nightstand.  The display showed “You have a new message”, and the time it arrived – 2:00AM. No one she knew would send a text this late. Unless it was an emergency.

Now wide awake, she took her phone from the nightstand and displayed the message. There was no subject line, nor were there words – just an image.

The photo took her breath away, and filled her soul with a deep sadness. She stared at it, confused. Emmy had not seen the photo before, but remembered that day clearly. She and Jeff were in the National Forest, having a picnic lunch. Whoever took the picture must have had one heck of a zoom lens, Emmy thought.  It was the last time she saw Jeff. The tears that were brimming in her eyes, now spilled down her cheeks.
The deep pain rushed back to her, like a vengeful boomerang.

She had no idea who could have taken this photo.  And why would they send it to her now?

Emmy hit the “Reply” button and got an error message instead of the senders email address.

“Dammit!!” she swore loudly. Tracking down this person will not be easy.

– to be continued…

Gathering the Clan

AngelStatue  This week the family is getting together. Cousins, siblings, children, grandchildren, in-laws.  From near, to not-so-local, or many states away – we come. All of us are so happy to see each other in person. Hugs are abundant – we are a large family. A lot of catching up to do and stories to tell.

No one planned a family reunion. Who would have the time? Everyone is so busy, busy, busy. We honestly mean to  schedule a visit to see our loved ones, but then something comes along that we must do first. Then something else after that. Then, the next thing you know, 9 years has gone by since you saw your family at the last wedding – or funeral.

We are celebrating the life of one of our own tomorrow.  He will not be in attendance, but with us just the same, in our memories and our hearts.

Rest in peace, dear Mario
photo credit: aussiegall via photopin cc

Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

Locked Up Memory
I think my free spirit is in here ↑

Are you one? I certainly am not. I’m rigid, tense, and a “Type A” personality.  I would fantasize about being a free-spirited &  a “fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal”, to quote Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

I wanted to be free from agonizing over my bad skin and chubby thighs. I wanted to flirt with boys. I didn’t dare, because only pretty girls could get away with that. Boys always turn into Play Doh over pretty girls.

I was the friend of the pretty girl. Anyone who was/is the friend, knows the heartache and loneliness I’m speaking of. Being the friend SUCKS. Big Time.

Most boys were nice to me because they didn’t want me to bad-mouth them to my pretty friend. I did get asked out a few times in high school. These dates were accepted in order to appease my mother, who was starting to think I was a lesbian. None of these boys were the boy I wanted to ask me out. He and I did have many conversations though – they went like this:

Him: Do you have a pencil I can borrow?

Me: Oh, Sure.

– OR –

Him: Did you figure out the homework?

Me: I think so (I knew damn well I did, but I would not admit it), I’ll show you what I have.

I was tongue-tied around him, yet I would try to start-up a real conversation between us, unfortunately, by asking him stupid questions. At our lockers one day (we were in the same row – sigh…), I asked him “Do you have any Midol I could borrow?”  That is the kind of stupid I’m talking about, dear readers. Embarrassingly stupid.

All those memories came back, just thinking about being a “Free Spirit”.   Further proving I’m not one.

Yet.