Get Your Furnace Checked

/ Liz H-H
Homeless person in a thin blanket, in a windy blizzard

Source: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Bundled in yards of heavy cloth and batting, the only signs of life are a red nose and beady eye.

Lamplight softens the tragic scene, but the furnace is out.

Add to that, a window broke, and rain and bitter night pulse inward.

Now flat, now horizontal, rain turns sleet to snow, and feeble attempts to block the window with cardboard failed miserably.

Kettle calls a shrill alarm, and quilt unrolls to free its occupants, cat first, then human.

Even so, a thermos of tea won’t see us through to daylight.

This is surely our final moment alive: Farewell!

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2023)

Carrot Ranch  Prompt (09/19/2023): In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes a blanket. Any interpretation works! What happens to a story when you give a character the prop of a blanket? Is the blanket the story? Is it a memory container, a source of comfort, or smothering? Go where the prompt leads!

16 thoughts on “Get Your Furnace Checked”

  1. Liz I have discovered that my Gym/yoga pants are almost as good as long-janes! Having an extra layer helps. Always good to get a furnace fix before the baaaad weather!
    Fun read. Stay warm and cozy.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Pingback: Blankets Collection « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

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