A crow snatches the dead body of a fat rat in a nondescript alleyway. The rat is too big, but the bird is determined. On wobbly wings, the crow carries its passenger into the air towards a hazy sun that the dead rat cannot reach with its pink toes alone.
Sophia Baran is a writer with a fondness for trail running with her dog and squawking at birds along the way.
Across the centuries, they lined up before Mother Time, each hoping to shine brightest—researchers, scientists, artists, bishops, professors, writers of deep sensibility. Humbly they waited, but soon saw their lights dimmed beside the child who, without thought of fame, gave his favorite marble to a classmate who felt shunned.
Elizabeth Elder is a freelance writer and publisher, a retired community newspaper editor, and resident of Putnam Lake, NY.
There were no trophies, blue ribbons, or medals to pack. She wasn’t an athlete, a cook, or a beauty. Yet spread around her on the basement floor were baby shoes, report cards, old photos, a worn dog collar—all prizes of a life well lived—all marks of a winner.
A prolific writer, Carol Reeves is loving the freedom and challenges of 50 word stories. Her memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published last year.
The day after my exam results, Dad took me to the beach. He showed me how even the flattest, smoothest stone – skimmed over a perfectly calm sea – could stumble and trip beneath a sudden wave. And how any rock, pitched directly into the ocean, could make rainbows in the spray.
Mark Farley (mumbletoes.blogspot.com) is attempting to write 1,000,000 words in 2016. Please wish him luck!
Kevin, like most men, tended to measure himself by his accomplishments. That was why he worked so hard to get his picture up on the wall at Mister Meatmouth’s Restaurant.
“I ate it all,” he told his friends, “in one sitting.” They respected him for that.
Inexplicably, most women didn’t.
This story is based on a title suggested by @KittyCatalyst.