N is for . . . NUDE BEACH

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

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NUDE BEACH

Lisa and her dollies lay naked in the backyard, pretending they’re sunbathing at Hidden Cove.

A shadow looms. She smiles, reaches. Daddy.

But it’s not.

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King's Speech: N is for NUTS

Regular readers of The Shellshank Redemption know how much I enjoy a good quote (see Motivational Mondays) and that I’m a huge fan of Stephen King (see the King of All Days Part I and Part II.) So, for the 2013 A-Z Challenge, I decided to combine the two, using some of my favorite King quotes about reading, writing and life in general. Enjoy!

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And people who don’t dream, 

who don’t have any kind of imaginative life, 

they must…they must go NUTS. 

I can’t imagine that. 

(Stephen King)

I can’t imagine not imagining, not daydreaming, not wondering. I can’t imagine not asking “What if…?” when I look around the world. I can’t imagine not seeing monsters lurking in corners or darkness lurking beneath every façade. (Okay, honestly, maybe not picturing those kinds of things for a bit would be a welcome break for my weary mind.)

Without my imagination, who would I be?

Give Me an N! NEVER

Welcome to The Blogging A-Z Challenge April 2012! Some of the most popular posts here at The Shellshank Redemption are the Motivational Mondays. So, after consulting the tortoises, we decided to make April our Motivational Month! Please join us for this (almost!) daily dose of alphabetical inspiration. We hope you enjoy it! 

* EACH MOMENT IS A PLACE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN. (Mark Strand) *

Once, when my nephew was younger, we were all out walking and my husband and I kept saying. “Do you know what we’re going to see now, B?” And then we’d point out this or that. After a while, we ran out of interesting things to show him so we stopped and just continued our walk.

But, apparently, B wasn’t done - “What are we going to see now, Aunt Maddie?” - and he looked up at me, expectantly, waiting, sure something interesting was just around the corner, sure something amazing was about to show itself in that next moment.

Not a bad way to look at the world, is it?