Solo Farewell

Oblong close scattering of stones, described in text

From Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr’s photo prompt. The Unicorn Challenge (06/23/23). No more than 250 words in length.

(And no, this is not murder, but death by  cancer)

The last rock is placed. She stands back to evaluate her work. One hundred stones, enough to trace an outline. It’ll do. Her father’s body had become wasted, crumpled like a…a croissant! A little repose, in straightening out this depiction of his form. A little humor to remind her to breathe.  Continue reading

Time to Replant


Glass block terrarium, as described in poem

A friend’s gifted garden moss becomes dry and flat in its simple cup,

Wire butterfly perched on curved handle.

Too much time wasted, waiting.

Envision an enclosed glass world, layered:

Lake Superior red sand;

Rocks harvested from long-ago summers

(pale girlie feet wavering white under icy waters);

A sneeze of dirt, for the moss that yields tiny, white blooms;

Additional plants to be identified;

A snail or two, sweet company?

Budget store clarifies: Re-use from home. 

            Window well pebbles;

            Superior rocks only;

            Drainage moss;

            Dirt from the cup;

            Hollow glass block: the world.

Vision realized: on time, in budget.

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2023)

Carrot Ranch  Prompt (06/20/23): In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about grains of sand. Where are these grains and what importance do they hold? How many ways can you think of to use sand? Who interacts with the sand and why? Go where the prompt leads!

Nightshift Vision

Red sunrise over ocean horizon

Source: Matt Fraser

The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your own creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “PETRICHOR”, and here’s where you join the party:  Six Sentence Stories 

The soft pad of toughened feet on damp forest floor is the rhythm that drives the night onward.

Animals hush at her sensed presence then resume their own individual calls and clicks, but only after the shrubbery ceases to dance at her swift passage; scents of the otherworld momentarily mask the steady, calming perfume of petrichor. Continue reading

Baker’s Dozen

green eyeball

The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your own creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “BOX”, and here’s where you join the party: Six Sentence Stories

“I’ll take two of those, three of the ones with the blood red edges, a couple of Tiger’s Paws, four of the Unembellished Monkey Heads, and the big, pillowy one with the kitty toe beans sprinkled over the top –- what do you call it, again?” Continue reading

Night Shift Parts 1 and 2

Overlook of a harbor, light clouds & blue sky

©Ayr/Gray

From Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr’s photo prompt. The Unicorn Challenge (05/26/23). No more than 250 words in length. Otherwise, let your creative flag fly!

This two-parter is a snippet of a longer story that needed editing. Hope it pleases!

Night Shift Part 1

Sophie gazed out the kitchen window. The small harbor town below was glazed in apricot and rose, as the sun climbed the sky. She sipped her second cup of coffee.

Taking a sip of my own, I turned to Sophie. “What happened?”

“There was a collision: a single engine plane that shouldn’t have been flying at night. You know those people who can afford to fly to the remote lake properties often have more money than good judgment.” She spat those final words. Continue reading

Strategy: Punt and Run

The challenge? Write a story in 6 sentences, no more & no less, and if you’d like, share your own creation or just visit and comment on others’ ideas, with GirlieOnTheEdge, Denise. The prompt is “CAROUSEL”, and here’s where you join the party: Six Sentence Stories

She’d retreated to the kitchen to escape the cacophony of what had become weekly shouts and belches that took over the living room, to get herself together and decide the next big thing she needed to do.

She would start with something easy: bake a sourdough loaf, with its usual white-whole wheat mix, and add dried fruit and nuts, with a scattering of spices of indeterminate mixture; nothing calmed her like creating something with her hands that no one had ever tasted before (not that these over-enthused sports nuts her husband had gathered would be able to appreciate the craft that brought her calm). Continue reading