Free Write Yellow Leaves

Today's three Free Writers are still in two different countries but Tuesday morning, we shared a prompt by email and wrote for up to ten minutes.

Julia's Free Write

It was one of those glorious fall days, the kind that she lived for with sun and blue skies, yet no longer so hot. This year had been totally topsy-turvy and the last week she was calling the week from hell.

Yet it was all saved by a visit to her kids and their kids.

No one was hungry for the 4 p.m. snack, all parties having eaten late that day, which in itself was unusual. So, after a cursory “goûter” it was down from the apartment and out into the fresh air. The boys had chosen their scooters and bikes and were happily zipping up and down the esplanade in front of two rows of apartments buildings. A brief incursion into the park nearby, but shadows and dark held no appeal, and it was quickly back out into the sun.

A few passers-by stopped to chat then returned to their tasks. As she stood there watching she looked up yet again and that was when she noticed it: a lovely fall tree with a heart-shaped hole on one side.

Now that is the sign of a great day – the cosmos looking out for oneself and passing via nature the message that in spite of all our mundane occupations, tasks, sorrows and challenges, there are moments of serendipity – but only if we look up and not down. Julia has written and taken photos all her life and loves syncing up with friends. Her blog can be found: https://viewsfromeverywhere.blogspot.com/

D-L's Free Write: Differences

Samantha picked up a huge yellow leave that had drifted down from the tree bedecked in autumn yellow. 

"Paradise," She said to her best friend Tina, who was visiting. "I adore autumn."

She saw it as short days, PJ's early at night curled up on the couch with a book, maybe a fire. It led into winter with snow. Even in her 30s, she still built snowmen, maybe snowwomen or snow animals.

"It's the start of hell," Tina said. "That's why I moved to Florida: no winter coats, no 'shudder' pantyhose.  And then there's those awful early dark nights."

The two women laughed. Even at university in their shared dorm room they agreed on little. Tina was a techie and then went corporate. Sam was an artist and thanks to a small inheritance bought a tiny house in the woods where she produced miniature paintings, good enough to sell in pubs and restaurants to provide electricity and food.

Food was where they agreed. When Tina visited not only did they walk in the woods sharing stories of their disparate lives, they alternated cooking gourmet meals. That and they loved each other for their differences. Visit: https://dlnelsonwriter.com  She is the author of 18 novels and non fiction books.

Rick's Free Write - The Yellow Tree

They would come here often when they were young and dating. In spring when the new leaves formed. In fall when they turned to gold. Even sometimes in winter, they would sit under the bare branches and look across the fields at the mountains, shrouded in mist, sprinkled with snow.

As life grew more complex – jobs, kids, house, dogs – they visited less often until they stopped coming altogether.

Except James remembered the isolated location and when – in desperation – he had put on a ski mask and robbed a convenience store run by immigrants. It was not far from ‘their tree,’ so he hastened there, dug a hole, and buried the illicit treasure.

The storekeepers had recognized him though, from his voice, and tracked him down. They beat him badly, but he wouldn’t admit the deed and wouldn’t reveal the site of the money.

After suffering a few weeks, James died, and Marie was in agony.

When she finally found the strength to clean out his things, she found a note from him to her. It said, simply, “Under the Yellow Tree.”

So one day she made her way there, sat on the sun-warmed ground, and wondered about the why of it all. Rick is an aviation journalist and publisher of www.aviationvoices. com