Flash Fiction Chapter Four - The Greasy Spoon

Sitting across the booth table from his first date in Alaska, Jer shook his head at the woman who was prattling on and on and ignoring her salad. He clinked the ice in his coke glass, hoping it would drown out the sound of her voice.

“And when I was thirteen, I won a baton twirling contest. Want to see the pic? I carry it in my wallet. Was wearing a bathing suit and twirling fire.”

His date grabbed for her giant sequined bag. “No, that’s okay,” Jer said. “I’m sure you look great in the photo.” He picked up a limp French fry and then set it back on his plate. Why was she telling him the story of her life? Didn’t girls stop bragging about their childhood once they reached twenty-one?”

His date rolled her eyes at his disinterest in her and flicked an over-bleached blonde strand of hair over her shoulder. “Well, okay, then if you aren’t interested in that pic…let me see…when I was seventeen I was homecoming queen my senior year in high school. But dorky Steven was crowned king and I hated him so I cut his side of the picture off.” Sallie batted her false eyelashes at him and then dropped her chin and fluttered them even more. “Would you like to see that photo? I wore the most expensive dress at the dance.”

About to take a bite of his soggy hamburger, Jer said. “I’ll think I’ll pass on that one too.”

”Well," Sallie said, her face turning blotchy. “If you aren’t into me why did you ask me out on a date?”

“You asked me out at the Laundromat. Remember?” He bit into the burger and felt grease dripping down his hands.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Sallie said. She picked up her chocolate malt and collapsed the straw trying to draw the thick liquid through it, shooting Jer a hurt look.

“I’m sorry,” he said, knowing he must be acting rude. “Why don’t you show me a photo of when you were twenty? Do you have one in that suitcase?” He nodded towards the bag.

“Suitcase!” Sallie grabbed her bag and hauled it onto her red spangled lap, protecting it from unkind words. “Of course I don’t have any photos of when I was twenty because I am only nineteen.”

Jer’s burger fell from his hands and settled on the edge of the plate. “Nineteen! You told me you were twenty-one when you helped me haul my clothes from the dryer and fold them the other day. Did you suddenly grow younger?”

Shrinking back into her seat, Sallie said, “Well, I lied. I knew you wouldn’t go out with me if I said I was younger than twenty-one. And I think you’re really cool.”

He peered at her face closer under the fluorescent lighting and noticed she had tons of makeup on…maybe three layers and that must have been why he thought she looked older than nineteen. And the frazzled hair made her look older too. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Jer scooted out of the booth seat. “This date is over,” he said, stretching to his full height. “Let me take you back home to your parents before they shoot me.”

Why oh why did he leave Mari behind? He should have been more patient with her. She was going through a difficult time with her ill mother. What a fool he had been to tear himself away from the town and people he loved. He was in no mood to start the dating game again, that was for sure. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He would give anything to be standing at a waterfall with Mari in his arms, hugging her tight as they listened to nature’s soothing melody.

He would find a pay phone and give Mari a ring as soon as Sallie was back where she belonged.

*****

I hope you enjoyed chapter four. The photo was snapped at the Lower Tahquamenon Falls.

Hugs, JJ

Chip Eating Chipmunk

When Jeff and I camped at the Lower Tahquame -non Falls last week we had visitors as soon as we parked the car at our site. This little chipmunk begged for food the whole time we were there. He looooved Pringles. :D And he had a friend!

What was funny about the occasion is that we thought we'd have a one day vacation from our pets. It's nice to spend time alone once in awhile. But that was not to be when we were outside at least. LOL

But the FUNNIEST time of all was when Jeff hit the panic button on the keychain during the night and our car blasted her horn and flashed her lights and awakened those who were already sleeping. I was soooo embarrassed. Did Jeff and I ever laugh and giggle. A car drove past just then and Jeff was hoping the campers would think it was them making the racket. I don't think so when we were a flashing beacon. LOL

We camped at the river's edge and when we awakened early in the morning we found a beautiful fog was rolling across the autumn scenery. It made for great photo snapping.

Hugs, JJ

Fiction Flash Scene - Chapter Three - The Strange Book

“Mari, this isn’t one of our books but it was in the drop off box outside. What should I do with it?”

“Set it on my desk and I’ll take care of it,” Mari said without looking up. “As soon as I finish feeding this information into the computer.” She had gotten behind with her library duties because she had been daydreaming about Jer and now she would have to work fast to make it up, or the librarian would raise that high arched eyebrow at her. Delores wasn’t afraid to berate her help in front of the local patrons and that was always embarrassing but it was a blessing she had got her old job back.

“Whatever,” the library volunteer said, flopping the book down as she began pushing her heavy laden cart over to the shelves with the wheels complaining.

Mari glanced at the book at noticed the gilded edges of the cover glowing under the fluorescent lighting. She reached over her desk and picked it up to read the title, THE JOURNEY. Nope, it wasn’t the library’s. But the book sounded interesting. She would take it home and read it. Perhaps it was a donated book or someone would call the next day saying they had placed it in the drop off by mistake.

*****

Later on that evening after Mari had taken lavender scented bubble bath that hadn’t soothed her, she climbed under her comforter, leaned back onto her pillows, and opened the book to read it by the yellow wash of her bedside lamp. She blinked twice when she saw the hero’s name was Jeremy, Jer’s real first name.

As she read through the first few chapters, Jeremy and Jer melded together and she found herself living the story, suspended in a time when she was still with the man she loved.

She wanted to become the heroine, Roxanne, but as she read her traits, perky and instantaneous, bubbly and a social creature – not to mention myth-like and beautiful, Mari shrunk back into her pillows and finally set the book down on the nightstand and turned off the light because her eyes ached. Roxanne didn’t care for Jeremy at the beginning of the book and somehow that satisfied Mari as she drifted off to sleep to dreamland.

Jer was standing along the shoreline, his head dipped as he pondered over their favorite red and black patterned boulder. The morning sunrise broke through the slate sky and the copper tinted grass seeds made waves of motion in the wind. But Mari’s eyes were glued on Jer.

What was he thinking? She needed to know.

She transported herself into the dream, standing in back of Jer, who no longer was a dark silhouette but washed golden in the sunrise and wearing a navy light knit sweater and jeans that fit him like a second skin. And his favorite baseball cap hid his wavy hair. She settled her hands on his shoulders.

He remained silent, not moving, staring at the boulder.

“It’s me,” Mari said. “Thank heavens you're back.”

But Jer made no notice of her standing there and touching him.

She repeated herself. “Jer, it's Mari….look at me.”

He remained a cold statue.

Panic welled up inside of Mari and perspiration beaded on her forehead. Her hands grew clammy and he moved away from her, walking into the water, his jeans soaking through. When he was waist deep Jer turned and looked at her, only his eyes were hollowed orbs and he was sightless. His eye sockets gaping holes of dark.

"NO!" Mari cried, reaching for him, trying to pull him back to the sandy shore. But he faded into nothingless like a dispelling fog and he hovered above her like a cloud of dust.

"Jer!" She screamed, her hands touching nothingness.

Mari awakened sitting up with her hands outreached. Her heart drummed against her ribcage and she heard it pounding in her ears. She tried to catch her breath but it fluttered in her lungs and refused to fill them.

She flipped back the covers and crawled out of bed noticing how shaky her legs were. Pulling her drawers open she started dumping neatly folded clothes onto her bed.

*****

Hope you enjoyed my flash fiction/ panster scene. :D

Hugs, JJ

Lower Tahquamenon Falls Photo

Jeff and I are back from our overnight camping trip. This photo was taken while standing on an island at the Lower Tahquamenon Falls. Jeff rowed me over to the beautiful waterfall rimmed island and I had an hour to snap some photos before the bulky craft had to be returned to the landing. We had waited until late afternoon to tour the island because the sun would have been too harsh for the camera otherwise. I think there is a rule that photos shot between 9 and 5 are mostly taboo, although some work out fine.

The trip started out funny. Jeff awakened me at 5 AM and I got ready in a semi-conscious state but patted myself on the back for taking my shower, dressing, tending the cats, etc and being out the door by 6 AM. Along the drive, of course, we hopped out the car at scenic spots and snapped photos, walking here and there having a great time enjoying the scenery. But it wasn't until I jumped out of the car around noon at the campground when I realized I had two DIFFERENT sneakers on. Yikes! I'm glad I brought the other pair along, or I would have had a whole day of everyone thinking I was peculiar, or wanting to make a fashion statement. LOL

In the photo above I was trying out my neutral density filter, which I am enjoying.

Hugs, JJ

Fiction Chapter Two: Living at the Cabin

The fly line gracefully curved in back of Jer, then rolled forward, catching the sun’s rays before it settled on rushing river waters, dragging with the current. As he lifted the line again and arched it in back of him, he realized that the soothing motion of fly cast fishing wasn’t working its charm like it did back in Michigan. The setting was right. His rented log cabin was not far from where he stood along the rushes in the riverbank. The sun was setting, giving the poplar trees to the east a burnished glow that normally would make his heart glad to witness the beautiful sight.

But he knew that after the sunset came the long, dark night. Even blacker with the new moon barely a silvery crescent in the sky. When the sun escaped below the horizon, Jer’s mind became less busy and he began to think of Mari again and that ache crept back into his soul, twisting his gut into knots. He had tried to fight it. Kept himself busy, even took up woodcarving to relieve himself of thinking about her. But the touch of the soft sanded wood only made him ache for having Mari in his arms once again. He wanted to walk the pine scented trails with her where he could eye up a tree burl to make her a jewelry box.

The sun lost itself in a cloud and suddenly the twilight looked dull. Jer drew in his fishing line and removed the fly, carefully stowing it in his banged up tackle box that he’d had since his grandfather had given it to him as a kid. “Dream big and you’ll catch the largest fish ever caught,” his grandfather had said, then winked and then slapped Jer on the back so hard he had pitched forward a step. That was when he was nine.

Here he was in Alaska, fishing for a big one so he could hold it to the sky and say, “Look, granddad, it took me twenty years but I finally caught it.” He was living his dream. The cabin rental lease had the option to buy. He had wanted to own the place on sight, but the thought of permanently living away from Mari had held him back. He had hoped all she needed was time to realize they should spend the rest of their lives together. But that time turned into a big, cold emptiness.

The rugged way of living and wood splitting had hardened his muscles to where his flannel shirt sleeves had grown tight and the fabric strained to button across his chest. He should buy a larger size. But the cords of tightly stacked wood should last through the winter. Back in Michigan, he had natural gas for heat. Raw power had brought in his heat supply in this time.

How he had changed. The beard he now sported made him look like Grizzly Adams.

Sighing, he gathered his gear and headed back to the cabin, wishing he weren’t alone. Loneliness was a hard thing to swallow. But he would busy himself again, putter here and there until the stroke of midnight, then crash on the empty bed, only to listen to an owl hoot or a rabbit screech or the coyotes howl.

His urges to pick up the phone and call Mari had been curtailed when he decided not to have a phone. At the fisheries where he worked, he was too busy to think of her. That was when his day was normal. But out here in the crisp, fresh air, all he did was think of how he wished she had married him and how they should have a family started already.

He wondered what she was doing at this very minute? Serving her mother soup? Fluffing her pillows, helping her with a bath? While he admired Mari for her dedication and love for her mother, he couldn't help wondering if she was also using the care she was giving as an excuse to live her own life.

Mari deserved more on her plate than what life was giving her. And he deserved more too. Was it time to let her go? To start dating again?

Jer climbed the three wooden steps and placed his fishing gear on the porch, then turned and looked to the heavens, watching the first twinkling stars appear in the dusky sky.

To be continued:

Hugs, JJ :D

At the Beach Fiction Scene

Mari followed the footprints in the sand, wondering whose they were. A male's foot, she thought, with high arches. The imprints were slightly splayed. She stepped in the prints with each of her sneakers and noticed that the prints were two inches larger. They couldn't be Jer's footprints, the ones she had hoped she would find. He didn't walk splayed, did he?

Why couldn't she remember that? It had been months since they had last seen each other. Little details of him were already becoming murky in her mind. She still could see the black wavy hair that insisted on having its own way, sending wispy loops onto his forehead, which Jer constantly swept back with his hand. She could see his deep brown eyes looking at her with longing in his heart, almost begging, as he asked her once again to move away with him to Alaska. She could see his eyelids slam shut when she had shaken her head and told him she couldn't leave her mother in her condition.

"You could hire a nurse," he had said, "and call your mother every day. Visit often."

No, that wouldn't do. She had to be there for her mother almost twenty-four hours of the day because her mother was afraid of dying.

And who wanted to move to Alaska! Mari hated the snow. How long did it stay on the ground that far north? She shivered at the thought of it, at having to endure even more of the gray, bleak days that Michigan had in the winter season that wouldn't allow much sunshine in to warm one's heart. The sunbeams warmed her skin and gave her hope, a reason to keep going. They lifted her spirits and through them she was at peace with her life.

Her mother had needed her then for long term care. And Mari wouldn't disappoint her.

Jer had been away for three months and Mari hadn't heard one word from him in all that time. Her heart ached for his touch. She missed the way he gently stroked her jaw and tipped her head for a kiss that sent her reeling. Had her dreaming about her own future and the possibility of marriage.

That's why she kept strolling this beach. It had been the last place they had spent their moments together. She imagined the footprints were Jer's, and that he had decided to move back to Michigan and wanted to surprise her with his presence at this very spot. She stepped in each one, even though it meant widing her gait, wishing him into existence.

She stopped when the colorful red and black boulder came into view. It had been their favorite rock on the whole beach. The bumpy, wave-washed texture glowing red and black in the morning sun. Jer had stood on it once and a large wave had licked up his jeans, almost knocking him off his perch. How she had laughed. That's when he had picked her up and carried her into Lake Huron, threatening to dump her in the water. She had kicked her legs and squirmed, and begged him not to do it.

"Promise to marry me and I won't let you go," he had said. Her bottom only inches from the water. "You better hurry. I'm losing my grip!"

She had clasped her arms around his shoulders and leaned way back, tipping them both into the water with a big splash. How they had laughed. Since they were already wet, they decided to swim to another rock out in the lake which they considered their raft. They had so much fun that day that Jer forgot to ask his question again.

And now it was too late.

His silence could only mean one thing. Mari shielded her eyes and watched a barge shoulder the waves in the distance, a bright red tug attached to it and doing all the work.

It took two to make a relationship and she had to face it, she had let Jer down in a crushing way by not even considering his offer of marriage. At the time, she was consumed with caring for her mother. But now that her mother had gone to live with her other daughter, Mari wondered if she could have compromised somehow? Wondered if it was possible to turn back the clock?

Mari never felt more alone than in this moment of time.

****

Hope you enjoyed the panster scene. :D Will complete this photo/fiction story on my blog. Stay tuned.

Hugs, JJ

The Woodshed

Jeff has the woodshed piled high and ready for the colder season that has just begun in Michigan. He makes a great subject because he'll pose when I need him to. :D The ambience of this photo nails Jeff to the T. This is how I see him often in the winter months -hauling out more and more wood in the lantern light glow as those huge wood stacks begin to dwindle, and it's a wish and a prayer we have enough cut wood for the entire cold season.

By early spring Jeff will declare he is not hauling ONE more load in with the tattered carriers while slipping on ice here and there. It does take a lot of it to keep the house above 6o degrees during the below zero times during winter. But our wood resources are constantly replacing themselves and Jeff selectively cuts down trees for firewood.

Quite frankly, we can't afford to heat with natural gas. It's not in the budget. Who can nowadays??? And we prefer living simply when it comes down to it. That way we depend on ourselves for our heat and not on the up and down economy and the matter of gas prices jumping because somebody sneezed. We're very cozy.

You might be asking by now what my job is in the winter? Since I have serious carpal tunnel and am prone to slip and break bones, I head up the kindling seeking. That's a tough job when it's been sleeting for days and the branches are soaked and the snow is two feet deep. None of this heating process is easy. We do gather some sticks ahead but would need a whole other shed for storage of it and that isn't going to happen.

Of course the blessing to all of this is sitting in front of the golden licking flames of the woodstove with your spouse and enjoying the heat that doesn't come from a furnace. :D

Have a super day. :D

Hugs, JJ (Nancy)

Autumn Arriving

The fire licks flames in the wood stove on this chilly September morning. Autumn has arrived early and I greeted her today by walking in her soggy grass, noticing the heavy due drooping the pansies and discoloring the morning glories to a light purple, by saying goodbye to the flowers that delighted me for weeks and weeks.

Around me the leaves were quiet, as if the trees were holding their breath, not wanting to experience the frostier air, hoping for a few more minutes of chlorophyll gathering. A lazy sun's weak beams poked through the poplars, in no hurry to reach the zenith in the sky, thinking perhaps she didn't have to rise so high today.

My skin was cold as I observed the dark orange winter squash ripening in the garden, and I decided the tomatoes and peaches and plums that haven't ripened should finish their job inside. I better check the weather for the first frost.

The yellow ragweed smiled under a faded blue sky and I wished she wasn't so happy because I am allergic to the yellow tufts of flowers. ACHOO!

In the distance I heard the chickadees and I in turn smiled, because I know their antics would delight me in the coming cold months. Soon it's time for the feeder.

The photo was taken in the Three Lakes area a month ago. Jeff and I loved that roaming around that area because of its beauty and quietude. A perfect place for an autumn picnic and kayaking.

Hugs, JJ

Breakwall and Stone Textures

Breakwalls have always been a big draw for me when I visit the Great Lakes. I love jumping boulders to the end of the massive gray structures with Jeff so we sit down and lounge while enjoying the boats coming into or leaving the harbor. Jeff also will fish from the end of the breakwall in the years he has time to buy a license and enjoy the sport. I love listening to the his fishing rod casts and hearing the plunk of the lures in the water.

But besides that, Jeff and I also love the textures the boulders and stones and it isn't long before we have our cameras snapping away. :D I swear we could spend all day looking at nooks and crevices and shapes.

I have a basket full of smaller stones of different shapes and colors along with beach glass that I gaze at in the winter, when the snow has covered the shoreline several feet deep. I lift some of these precious - to me - objects out of the basket when I am missing the warmer weather, and the touch of them brings back memories like when the sun had warmed them to my touch. Then I can also smell the fresh water lake that soaked them for a long time. And even hear the seagull's cry. It comes back so clearly.

Winter would be longer if I didn't have these flashbacks and I am grateful for my treasures.

On another note, Jeff has blackened the woodstove with a fresh coat of paint and he has hauled in the first load of wood. He needs to brush the inside of the chimney clean and then we will be all set for keeping the house warm when the colder weather sets in. It's already chilly in the mornings and a heavy dew coats everything outside.

I'm EXCITED for the coming autumn because it will mean colorful photos. :D Right now we are at the in between time. It's kind of a yucky time for greenery because it is fading and what a time to take a photo class. LOL One more photo and I have my quota in for the lesson. I'm waiting for sunset. The class already has got me looking at nature with a keener eye and I am relishing every second I am taking the class. I learned another camera setting that works like a charm!!!

Have a super evening!

Hugs, JJ

Enjoying the End of Summer

As the end of summer winds down, I know photos like this one with Jeff lifting our kayak from the Pete's Lake waters will hold fond memories for Jef and me during the coming winter months. If we don't do enough in the summer we get cabin fever quicker when our world is a frozen landscape. Just looking at photos like this will bring back the memories of that beautiful, golden day where nature was perfect and comfortable and we laughed under the sun.

Today I wore my hooded sweatshirt and had to pull the hood up because the winds along Lake Huron were cold and gusty. A blue jay along the the highway flew into a tree and cried it's call - a signal of autumn's return. The jays become more visible this time of year as they and the chickadees start looking for the bird feeders.

Fallen leaves are already on the ground turning back to dust. The leafage on the trees is rattling more as it dries out, and the earth has a richer scent as it welcomes the renewal of life.

The yellow ragweed has me sneezing...22 times at once to Jeff's amazement. :D But I still walk and take an antihistamine.

Lake Huron has turned inky blue and looks less inviting to the swimmer as the water cools down, but the foaming waves today that roared onto the shoreline were mesmerizing. I'll snap some wave photos later on today when the lighting is right.

I've started my first photography course. Wish me luck. :D It's time to figure out the mysteries of the Canon Rebel XTi. I'm ready to move forward. :D

Have a super day and enjoy the rest of the season.

Hugs, JJ

A Foggy Swamp Photo

Don't you love an eerie, foggy swamp! There is something magical and sinister, other-worldly and scary, when a fog mists over the dead trees that have long ago been stripped of life. I always see some straggly trees toughing it out in the soupy earth, making a last stand amongst the fallen soldiers, and I am sorry for them for ending up in such a place.

Jeff says you never know WHAT can come walking out in a place like that. In fact, when we were a few miles beyond this swamp, Jeff thought he saw Bigfoot. Only because his imagination had grabbed hold of him as he watched a large man with long arms come loping out of the fog from a side road. :D

Hugs, JJ