Styx and Stones

 

Tettegouche, N. MN (Source: Derek Montgomery for MPR)

His nails were dark and sharp, spreading before him as he stretched first one paw, then the other. He backed further under the Juniper hedge.

She should’ve stayed home, not taken the canoe across the water.

He’d felt the storm coming, and had refused to board with her. She’d laughed, secured her furs for trade, and pushed off, waving her paddle before turning toward the far shore.

Rain was relentlessly cruel. Thunder pierced his sensitive ears. Waves crashed cloudy red, tumbling pebbles.

 Nightfall, pressing in, might calm the storm. He’d wait here for her.

 She always came back home.

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2021)

Carrot Ranch Prompt (09/30/2021):  In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story uses the phrase, “across the water.” It can be any body of water distant or close. Who (or what) is crossing the water and why? Go where the prompt leads!

9 thoughts on “Styx and Stones

  1. Pingback: Across the Water « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

  2. Well, I saw a cat, though that’s an unlikely canoe partner on a good day, so maybe her dog refused to go along. I hope he’s correct in that she comes home to him.
    Great visuals, aurals; “Waves crashed cloudy red, tumbling pebbles….”

    Liked by 1 person

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