Tag Archives: fiction

#SOL20 Day 28: On Boredom

As a writer, I very much stand “guilty as charged” when it comes to planting seeds…and then forgetting about them. Today I spent some time walking among the rows of drafts that I’ve planted on my blog, and I found this one. It strikes me as timely right now, especially as so many of usContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 28: On Boredom”

#SOL20 Day 27: What Needs to be Said

Dear Families, I probably shouldn’t be writing you this letter over Spring Break, during a time when we should all take distance from school, but I confess my brain is just not in vacation mode. You and your kids have been on my mind a lot over the last weeks. There’s a lot I don’tContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 27: What Needs to be Said”

#SOL20 Day 26: Teaching as TV

<<cue lights, music>> ANNOUNCER: Some say it’s the hardest profession around. Some say, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Well, we’re about to find out what teachers are made of. <<visual: montage of teachers in classrooms>> ANNOUNCER: We’ve gathered teachers from all across the nation to test their skills against one another. Each week they’ll faceContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 26: Teaching as TV”

#SOL20 Day 24: Built For This

My mom and I were chatting about parenting during today’s “shelter in place” order. She remarked on how, with four children, there’s no way she would have been able to keep two of my siblings at home. I couldn’t disagree. My oldest sister and my brother were never the compliant type growing up. But myContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 24: Built For This”

#SOL20 Day 23: Weight of the World

This slice is part 1 of I’m not sure how many. I know my protagonist has some things to figure out, and I need time with her to decide what that’s going to be. But I’m especially grateful to Fran Haley at lit bits and pieces for providing me with the inspiration to get goingContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 23: Weight of the World”

#SOL20 Day 22: Story's Return

(continuation from SOL day 3) Snow in March:Of course, she laughedAs she gazed out over the – “HEY! What do you think you’re doing?” She felt her ears redden, felt all of her body weight condense and harden into a ball at the pit of her stomach, felt her face prickle. She did not needContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 22: Story's Return”

#SOL20, Day 21: Teen Parenting, Exhibit Q

Yes, it it true that I like a picked-up house. Yes, it is true that clutter produces within me an actual physical response. Yet. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING breaks the resolve of a mother determined to leave that box from Tuesday night’s 1 am pizza order on the table until a certain 16-year-old decides he’sContinue reading “#SOL20, Day 21: Teen Parenting, Exhibit Q”

#SOL20 Day 20: Does Anyone Else Feel

Does anyone else feel, she wondered, Like a washcloth wrung within an inch of its life? Like a running shoe, its insole black with sweat and impact? Like the sponge that’s done one too many hand-washings? Like that garbage bag after someone stuffed that one. Last. Thing. In? Like the couch cushion, enduring flop afterContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 20: Does Anyone Else Feel”

#SOL20 Day 19: Shades of Silence

She sad amid the silence, and between the breath and stillness around her, she realized That there are so very many shades of silence: The tight, cold waiting to see what that noise in the night was, The prickle-eared awareness of what children are up to on the opposite end of the house, The suddenContinue reading “#SOL20 Day 19: Shades of Silence”