Category Relationships

We Are Family – Alastair’s Photo Fiction

freyathewriter 11 Comments

Here is my offering for Alastair’s Photo Fiction this week, inspired by the photo below.  Why not take part? And why not visit his photography and writing blog to take a look at his other photos…?

Copyright - A Mixed Bag

Copyright – A Mixed Bag

– We Are Family –

“There’s a pike in there you know. It’s got really sharp teeth!”

I rolled my eyes over my little sister’s head as she giggled, grasping Dad tightly around the waist. He winked at me, as I knew he would.

“How big is it, Daddy?”

“Ooooh!” He gripped his pipe between his teeth, screwing up his eyes against the tendrils of smoke curling around his head.  He stretched his arms wide. “It must be this big by now – it’s very, very old!”

“And very, very hungry!” I chimed in, unable to resist joining him on the joke.

Sadie peeked at me from underneath her heavy fringe, eyes sparkling and a grin forming like sun winking from behind the clouds. She poked Dad in the stomach. “Da-ad! You’re teasing me again!”

He picked her up, swinging her high above his head. He let go, and she squealed, excited, yet knowing she was safe. He caught her mid-air, pulling her close to his chest with one arm, enveloping me with the other.

“That’s because I love you. Both of you.”

Reflections – dVerse Form for All: Ballads

freyathewriter 26 Comments

– Reflections –

Mists hang low in valleys soft
The sun suspended, brings the dawn
Creatures stir, send sighs aloft
Fields jewel-encrusted, sparkle

Nature’s joys in sharp relief
To inner turmoil, loss and pain
My heart it trembles, not with grief
But contentment, long-awaited

I see the beauty through Dad’s eyes
His artist’s gift, perception
My heart it lifts, my own sunrise
His smile in mine reflected.

*****

This is in honour of my dad, who we lost this summer too soon for Autumn’s mists.  He championed Nature in his work, and his art.

Thank you, dVerse for the inspiration. Enjoy many, many more ballads here.

On the Edge – dVerse Open Link Week 114

freyathewriter 20 Comments

Here’s my latest entry into the dVerse Open Link – why not take a look at everyone else’s responses?

This piece is in honour of everyone who is striving for balance in their creative and ‘other’ lives. This year for me has been… horrible, and so my creativity has helped me manage all the incessant thoughts racing around in my head. Next year, let it be better…

*****

– On the Edge –

I watched you breathe your last
In that hospital room
With its hospital smells
And the pneumatic mattress
Which continued to sigh
Long after you  –
went

I know that nurses continued to laugh
In the long hallway
With the squeaking floor
But silence settled
In those empty moments
Right after you –
left

I write about you, over and over
In this year of my life
With my heart, broken wide
Creativity rescue me
Help me live,
Now that you are –
gone.