No More – Friday Fictioneers – 02/07/14

Amy Reese,

It’s time for Friday Fictioneers. Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, our wonderful host, for her dedication to this group. I am so grateful to her.

Thanks to Dawn for the photo this week.

For more fabulous stories from the Fictioneers, click here.

Genre: General Fiction (100 words)

Copyright – Dawn M. Miller

No More

Mary could never get enough light. Whenever she watched news about missing children, she thought of her Tommy as if she were experiencing it fresh. Mary dragged in lamps from garage sales for the missing kids on TV, and she left the light on for them, too.

We stopped counting the years when our kids graduated from high school. Tommy would have been twenty the morning Mary got the knock on her door. She wept, gripping tears, while her body convulsed, demanding their release. Then she collected herself, and methodically removed each lamp from the house, her shining light extinguished.

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95 Comments

  8. Amy,
    There is a lot of possible symbolism in this. What came to my mind when I read it was that she was metaphorically putting a lamp in the window for someone lost out in the night, or that the lamps represented the glow of her hope, or that they were similar to candles people light for others in a cathedral. I’m not sure what you intended, but that’s what came to my mind. In any case, very well done. Very powerful stuff.
    -David

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    1. David, all of the above applies. I appreciate your thoughtful comments. It definitely represented the glow of her hope. That’s so poetic. And, as if in a church or cathedral. It was a means to get herself through the pain. Thanks so much!

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  29. Dear Amy,

    What a horribly, touching story. I can’t imagine, nor do I want to, what this mother felt at that moment. Truly her light was gone. I saw my mother in law go through this with my husband’s brother who was killed in a car accident in 1974.

    Wonderfully written.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Dear Rochelle,
      It was a tough one to write and I wrote one sentence over and over, feeling like I couldn’t possibly express the agony of what she might feel. I’ve never known anyone who has experienced this. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your mother-in-law. That’s so sad. The only thing that helps me is thinking that death is not the end. The older I get, the more I believe this. Thank you.

      Amy

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      2. Ah, thanks! That’s very kind of you to say. Practice makes perfect. I always treat this as an exercise to say more with less. Amazingly, it gives me great ideas for longer stories. I’m working on a longer story I’m going to put out there in longer bits. Soon.

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      3. Excellent. I’ll be there. I keep trying to shy away from longer stories, but that’s what I really like to write, but I hate burdening people with them. I figure the words will figure out how many are needed, and that’s that.

        Looking forward to it.

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      4. I know! I’ve always had a problem with that, too. What I’m going to try to do is to put out shorter bits (but longer than 100 words) more often. Of course, this means I need to produce a steady stream of writing. It’s my plan anyway, and you heard it first! Oh now I must do it!

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      6. Hey, go for it!! You have my support. I think fiction on the blog is a tough one. It’s hard for people to drop everything and get into a character and a story. I think this could work. Try it!!

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      7. I think I might. Fiction is tough for me too but it’s what I like to write. Can’t remember who it was, but someone noted in their blog post that their life is interesting, so many stories to write about. Well my life is a bit dull, so I make up my stories – and love it. Just love it.

        Thanks for the permission, and for the idea.

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      8. Oh, great! I’m glad I could help. My life is pretty routine, too and don’t have a lot to say there, unless you want to hear me go on and on about my kids. I don’t really agree with throwing up a post just to be posting. There’s already so much to read, right? I can’t wait to see what you do! I hope it works!

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