Did You Ever Wonder...?

I've been a bit behind on posting my flash lately. I haven't been writing as much of it because I find it's taking more time from my novel writing than I would like. I'm only doing a couple a week now. This was my entry for Menage Monday over at Cara Michael's blog. The prompts were "do/does/did [ ] ever wonder" and a birth - either literal or figurative. The picture was of this beautiful graveyard:



I started several different stories. I wasn't really sure where to go with them. They all ended up way longer than the 200 word limit. Once I realized the idea wasn't going to shorten, I would leave it and try another. It's kind of like brainstorming. I just thought you'd like to see some of the places my mind went with this. I'm going to post all three story ideas. The first is the one I submitted because I was able to make the idea short enough. The second will be my first idea. And the third my second, just to make it difficult. :)

“Momma, I’m scared.” Isadora fell to her knees on the crunchy leaves, then laid down on her side with her hand stretched across the ground in front of her. “I don’t know how to do this alone.”

She listened for a moment to the wind blowing the willow leaves. They hung low enough one brushed her shoulder. She liked to think it was her mother’s comforting hand once again.

“Did you ever wonder what life would be like without me? It never occurred to me to imagine life without you. I guess I took you for granted. Not only the cooking and cleaning and such, but also the little things: a smile on a hard day, that crinkle in your eye when I was being silly, your strong hands that could do anything, the way you would turn up the music and dance with abandon to celebrate anything, a shoulder to cry on.”

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “‘Don’t let life get you down’ you always said, but it’s hard, Momma.” She sighed, “I’m gonna get up and take it ‘one step at a time,’ and I promise to remember everything you taught me. I’m gonna make you proud.”

Next:

Do you ever wonder if she knows how things turned out?” The crunch of the leaves underfoot and the shade from the willows made this an extremely pleasant walk.

Lillian glanced at me sideways for a moment before answering, “Not really. Sorry. I know you think about her all the time, but either she was right and she’s in heaven or I’m right and she’s nothing, or you’re right and she’s on her way back around. I figure, what’s done is done.”

“Why do you even come with me?”

“Because you need it. I don’t pretend to understand it, but I’ll come with you every week for the rest of your life if you want me to. At some point, you’ll look around and see the peace in this graveyard and realize that her body is at least at rest and you don’t need that tie to the past and you’ll be able to move forward.”

“But remembering our past helps us to move forward.”

“You’re not remembering, you’re living there still. Mom will always be a part of you, but you need to start living your life now.

Yeah, I just stopped this idea... I kind of liked it, but it just needed too much backstory for me to move forward with it. Comparing different ideas on death would have been interesting, but I didn't want to do it too quickly and offend everyone by not giving a good picture of their postitions. Anyway, next:

“Why are we coming here now?”

“Because I want to do it before he’s born.”

“You don’t have to come to the graveyard to do it.”

“Yes, I do. Do you ever wonder if he was sorry?”

“He shot himself didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but was it because he felt some sort of remorse, or because he didn’t want to go to jail?”

“Your guess is as good as mine…probably better. Besides, you don’t want me to answer that question you just want to wonder about it.”

“It’s so peaceful here. Do you think he’s at peace?”

“No. I don’t think he gets to be at peace. But if it makes you feel better, then yes, he asked God’s forgiveness before he blew his brains out.”

“You’re not helping…Ohhh!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I think…Ow…that maybe I should sit.”

“Where? We’re in a graveyard!”

“Here’s fine.”

“That’s someone’s tombstone.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“We should go to the hospital. Or at least your doctor.”

“I’m fine. I’m not due for a few more weeks.”

“Kids are born early every day. That looked like a contraction.”

“Labors are long ordeals. I’ve got time to finish this first. Help me.”

I liked this one a lot, but I just couldn't figure out how to shorten it. I wish the word count was longer, but, alas, it's not. I really wanted to add description and movement, but I knew I didn't have the words to waste, so I skipped it all. I think it would add a lot to it if I was able to put it in. Ah well, sometimes things aren't the way we want them! Anyway, I moved on to the first one I posted and sent that one in. Hope you enjoyed my brainstorming process! :)