She bends over unkempt juniper shrubs and a beetle-laced Japanese plum, scissoring with vigor. with long-bladed hand shears. Down the boulevard, a few trees show tawdry highlights of orange and gold.
“I’d best get busy,” she grumbles, “While the leaves are still up, and not all over my lawn.” She snips here, shapes a curve there, and gradually uncovers dahlias, planted in the gap between shrub and front stoop. They straighten and smile, proud of their cache of hidden pollen.
Later, she rests, sipping iced tea, as grateful bumblebees, buzz and fill their leg sacks with summer’s final bounty.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2017)
Carrot Ranch Prompt (09/07/2017): In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about a busy character. It could be a busy beaver, gnawing birch trees endlessly or an executive on the go. Go where the prompt leads.
Valley of the Trolls 
Pingback: Not Now, I’m Busy « Carrot Ranch Literary Community
A most enjoyable read.
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A beautiful snapshot of summer’s final days, the unexpected bounties they hold.
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I tried my best to wring out as much as I could from this late summer weekend Liz. We had a three day music festival in a neighboring city, plus we are hosting a Garage Sale to help offset the cost of mission trips in Belize so we arranged our goods and topped it off Sunday with church in the park and what may be my last chance to enjoy some kayaking. Whew, it makes me tired just writing about it.
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Oh, those last melancholy days of summer! Beautiful flash.
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You and I were thinking alike, Liz. Though you got to your cup of tea and I didn’t!
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she deserves the iced-tea after all the gardening.
https://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/09/busy-bee.html
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(tips her glass in salute)
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Very good, Liz! You packed a lot into so few words, and I love how the pruning revealed the flower and fed the bees.
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Ah, summer.
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